You are doing fantastic! You just booked a client and you are on your way to making even more money.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, it is important that you have a quick chat with your client and you know, get to know them a little. This is where our Chat/Messaging Feature comes in.
To achieve customer satisfaction, communication is a big deal. You and your client have to be of one mind and on the same page.
Perks of using the Chat/Messaging Feature
Transparency: Our chat/messaging feature gives you the transparency required for any business deal. In case of any misunderstandings, you can always refer back to the chats for clarification purposes and the chats can serve as proof.
Ease: The Chat Feature is easy to use. Here’s how you do it:
-Log into your dashboard
-Click on the search bar, and look for the service you require
-Compare search option
-Click on the chat symbol to begin conversations with the Service Provider
Start chatting
Brilliant: You can tell when your client is online, offline, typing, or has read your message.
This chat/messaging feature is a cool way to keep your clients abreast of any changes or new developments. It works both on the app and website. Today is a good day to try it out.
Now and again, a client or service provider has to cancel a booking due to personal reasons or unforeseen circumstances. Cancellations suck but there’s always a solution to these and that’s what we will show in this article.
How to Cancel Booking as a Client
Amanda booked a makeup artiste on BookingsAfrica.com. She and the make-up artiste have discussed and finalized plans, looks, and meeting points but something comes up on Amanda’s end and she has to cancel the booking.
Here’s how Amanda should go about the cancellation
Log in to your Client account
Go to your dashboard and look out for ongoing booking
Click on the particular booking and then cancel
We would suggest that before this cancellation, you have a chat with the service provider but this isn’t a critical step.
However, you must also know that our cancellation policy protects all users and as such, if any client cancels a booking less than 48 hours before the time of completion, we charge a penalty fee to that client. The client is obliged to pay 50% of the agreed Service Provider’s rate.
This penalty charge is our way of ensuring that there is a fair treatment to any user on the platform be it, a client or service provider. This is just one of the benefits of using Bookings Africa.
To know how to cancel a booking as a service provider in case of unforeseen circumstances, read here.
Few things in life have RELIEF written all over them like taking your wig off or taking off your shoes after a long day of work. Using Bookings Africa has that very same effect. I mean can you beat having to get organized, get booked, and get paid all in one place?
And that’s not all, there’s more.
The features of the Booking Africa platform are tailored to the freelancer’s everyday, work-life needs. It helps freelancers with their promptness and professionalism towards their clients and it also ensures that the freelancers have a well-rounded online profile. The Bookings Africa App is even more fitting as it is very on-the-go in terms of ease.
Frankly speaking, everyone should sign up as a freelancer on Bookings Africa.
Need more convincing, check out these benefits:
Professional Profile: Optimum professionalism is guaranteed when using BA (Bookings Africa). The registration process for both clients and service providers is very easy to navigate. You can upload your portfolio, pictures, and videos thereby increasing your versatility and credibility. Here’s an article where we share how to upload your portfolio.
Guaranteed Payment: Our wallet tab shows you where to find payment transactions. The Escrow wallet shows you where your money is stored before a booking is completed and then the available wallet shows payment after a booking is completed. With this, you are assured of your payment and you can track your finances. The whole process of transfer is also automated so yeah, big win for us the non-techies.
Upload work portfolio: No need for any external links. All information about you and your freelance gigs is all in one place. You can upload your portfolio right there on the app.
Social media Promotion: After properly uploading your profile, you are provided with a unique link that you can share on all social media platforms. This link can help you get more bookings. And if you want to go the extra mile, you can run sponsored Ads on your services and convert your special link to a landing page for all leads. Cool right?
Access to a Client Demand: We want our freelancers to be as professional as possible and so we went ahead to create an app for you. Via the Bookings Africa App, you get notified as soon as a client books you. You also get access to all your scheduled appointments. The features of this app set a freelancer up for success.
Note: If a booking is not confirmed within an hour, Bookings Africa automatically declines on behalf of the service provider/freelancer. So we encourage you to download the app on Android or iOS.
Ability to Set price rates and availability: You can set competitive prices and your available time on the Bookings Africa site or app. You can choose to earn a fixed price or charge per hour, you can also decide to work on Sundays if it is your cup of tea. The site embraces any availability you set, allowing you time for personal things. The best part has to be that the setting is haggle-free. No frustrating back and forth. Whew!
Penalty charged to clients for late cancelations: We protect the interest of all users. As such, if any client cancels a booking less than 48 hours before the time of completion, we charge a penalty fee. The client is obliged to pay 50% of the agreed Service Provider’s rate. Service providers need to not worry about the intricacies because we resolve the challenges. However, if you experience any challenges, contact us.
Track sales, growth, and credit history: Joseph Assah, a Bookings Africa service provider, spoke about the tracking benefits of using the app. You should be able to track if you are advancing in your freelancer career in terms of sales, ratings, reviews, and income.
The Bookings Africa app gives you access to all these analytics without you paying a dime. The Gig Industry is growing so rapidly, join the train today!
You are allowed to have a maximum of three professions on the Bookings Africa platform.
Before we get to the how let’s tell you why you need to have multiple professions on your profile.
At Bookings Africa, we believe that Africans are super talented and deserve an equal playing ground in the world and so we created one of the largest gig markets for Africans, by Africans. Most people have multiple talents and as such, our platform is optimized to accommodate this diversity because we believe in unlocking your earning potential. More professions, more money; it’s a no-brainer.
Just so you know, a profession is different from a service. Service providers signed up on Bookings Africa are professionals who offer various services. A profession is a broad category or a specialization while a service is any activity rendered to benefit another person. For instance, an accountant is a profession while book-keeping is a service. You can set up three different professions on your profile but you can offer as many services as you want.
We encourage all service providers to add more professions to their profiles as this increases their earning potential. Users can search up to 30 different professions on Bookings Africa.
Sign Up for Multiple Professions in 3 Simple Steps.
If you are a new service provider, follow all three steps but if you are an already existing service provider, you can jump to step three.
Sign up on Bookings Africa: Bookings Africa is only available to registered users. You’ll need to sign up as a service provider with accurate details.
2. Complete your profile: Provide all the necessary information as required. Ensure that you complete setting up your profile and with valid information.
3. Go to Your Account: On your account dashboard, click on My Services. Click on New service and then fill out the required information for another profession.
Unlike celebrities, influencers/influencing is one of the fastest-growing professions in the 21st century. If your goal is to become an influencer in 2022, you need to be armed with the resources to launch you to success.
In your quest for financial freedom, be sure to explore all options available and influencing is one of the ways to financial freedom.
Influencer as the word implies refers to an individual who can convince a set of people to like a service, product, or person without sounding like a salesman. Influencer marketing is the newbie digital marketing method that is making a lot of waves in such a short while.
Once an influencer has a large and loyal following, can sway people’s decision-making process, and is known as an industry leader, brands and businesses are willing to pay their rates to grow their businesses.
Now, you might ask, “How much do influencers make?”. Influencer marketing industry grew from $1.7 billion in 2016 to $9.7 billion in 2020. In 2021, it soared to $13.8 billion and has reached $16.4 billion in 2022. This is an indication of steady growth and it will only keep growing as the world keeps growing digitally and advancing in technology. In fact, our Bookings Africa top influencer spoke about this here.
Here a few ways to kickstart your journey as a social media influencer:
1. Pick a niche: In Influencer marketing, niching is a big deal. You can decide to influence in two or more related industries but brands interested in working with you must know you for a particular niche.
For instance, you can decide to become a beauty and fashion influencer (this is one of the top influencer jobs). Your branding or social media posts can revolve around hair tutorials, make-up hacks, and fashion tips. Alongside beauty influencing, you can also add a few lifestyle posts. These two industries: beauty & fashion and lifestyle, are closely related and do not have so much disparity.
Niching is important because it helps your visibility. It assures your potential partners and collaborators that you know your stuff and it establishes your position as an industry leader. If you are just starting as an influencer, take some time to learn about industries, then find one that matches your skills and gifts. If you already started without having this knowledge, it’s okay to start over or rebrand from where you are.
2. Start Branding: You’ve picked your niche. The next thing is to start building your brand. This will involve you creating clean, crisp content regularly and posting it on your feed. In this digital age, videos reach a wider audience so you might want to infuse lots of high-quality videos on your page.
At the stage of branding, you should decide what your brand tone and voice would be. Be intentional about being authentic and real because if you start a brand in a certain way, then you have to maintain it.
Tip: No one likes fake people so be yourself every time.
3. Build a community: Since influencer marketing is big on loyalty and numbers, you should be focused on building a community. Your community is your tribe. You build one by responding to DMs and comments as respectfully and as often as you can.
People like to be acknowledged. So if your content is relatable and speaks to your audience’s gain and pain points, they’ll appreciate you. Influencers are known for adding value to the lives of their communities so ensure that your posts are interactive and engaging.
Talking about engagements, most brands will only work with influencers who have a high engagement. So ensure that you can notice the active contributors in your community. A fair engagement rate for an influencer is between 6-7%. Any percentage above 10 is considered to be viral. Use influencer engagement tools to calculate your rates frequently.
4. Networking: The world is a global village and you never know who views your content. As much as you can, support the craft of other influencers, collaborate, and partner with other influencers.
Attend events relevant to your niche and network. Talk about what you do as often as possible and just enjoy being you.
5. Sign up: If you are looking to take your influencer work seriously, then you have to sign up on the Bookings Africa Platform as an influencer.
Ensure that you set up your profile properly and set comparative prices. This will help your visibility and help you make more money.
Becoming a Bookings Africa influencer is a great way to grow in your career but you need to have something going for you. You can become a Digital Influencer on Bookings Africa by registering on the website or filling out this form.
On a regular basis, which do you frequently use: Web or Mobile App?
There are so many reasons why people will have different answers to the question above. Depending on the device type and sometimes functionality, one will always be better than the other.
The invention of technology has served the human race a great deal. Information that was inaccessible has now become available at your fingertips (literally), with the innovation of websites.
Bookings Africa has a website as well as a mobile app and this is great because you have options to choose from.
The major differences between the Bookings Africa app and the website include the following:
1.. On the web, updates can take place without the user realising it. It is an automated process that takes place online. On the other hand, mobile apps users are required to download and authorize each update.
2. The app does give you more flexibility and the speed to accept bookings quickly on the go.
3. You can also track your growth as a service provider via the app.
4. On the website, you can read the blog, get first-hand information about Bookings Africa, and have answers to a wide range of FAQs. The mobile app doesn’t have this feature but you can definitely set up your profile or book a service provider.
Features of The Web and Mobile App
The Bookings Africa website is home to over 15,000 service providers. On the website, a service provider can set up their profile, or collect payments. Also, a user can Search, Compare or Book any service provider of their choice. The website has certain features that the Bookings Africa mobile app doesn’t have.
Again, depending on what function you want to perform and your preference, you can either choose to use the app or the website.
Through the app users can search for a variety of talent or service providers, compare their prices, book online, pay securely and provide ratings and reviews for services across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa; all from the comfort of your mobile device. The app also has this cool feature where you get to call the service provider you have booked via video.
On Bookingsafrica.com, you can host a masterclass. This is a service that is best organized via the website and on a computer. We recommend you host your masterclass sessions on the website because you will have more control than when you use a mobile app.
Bookings Africa has one of the best freelance apps in the world. It can be downloaded on the app store or on the play store app for free. You are assured of a seamless and excellent experience when you get on either the app or the web.
If you need to make more enquiry, you can chat with our customer service team directly, click here.
Congratulations! You’ve finally decided to sign up as a service provider on Bookings Africa. The next question on your mind is, “How do I get clients on Bookings Africa?”.
First, you must understand that an attractive profile is one of the determining factors that will set you apart. Therefore, it is imperative that you set up an outstanding profile and then go ahead to set your availability and prices.
Let’s talk about pricing a little. African local markets are known for one thing: haggling. Everyone who shops in any local market always haggles. Typically, the buyer has in mind a product he wants to buy and then goes on to find a seller that suits his budget, preference, and perception.
At Bookings Africa, we allow our users have that same marketplace feel: Search, Compare, Book. So how do you become the choice service provider amongst many others?
Guide User’s Perception
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. In setting up your profile, how you describe your service is key. Most users want to spend as less time as possible on the platform when choosing a service provider. Help them make that process faster by guiding their perception of you.
To win a client over, think like one. Ask yourself these questions:
Am I impressed by my profile?
Does my profile make a good first impression?
Will I book me?
If a haggard-looking salesman and a finely-dressed salesman approached you to sell you a book: HOW TO BE RICH, who would you rather buy from?
Perception is how something or someone is understood or regarded. It is true that you might know your onions and that you know your work well but if your packaging looks mediocre, no one will patronize your service.
Always put your best foot forward. Fill up the video and picture segments in your profile with mouth-watering proofs of your work that leave your potential clients thirsty for your services.
Conduct A Market Research
No one starts off building a house without considering the size of his pocket. That’s the same way no service provider should kick off their freelance career without first conducting market research. You should have an idea of what users look out for when considering booking services in your category.
What amount is too high? Which is just right?
Conducting market research saves you the stress of guessing or adjusting your prices now and then.
Hers’s a quick way to conduct market research:
Ask your friends, family, and acquaintances how much they would be willing to pay for the service you are offering.
Create a questionnaire that will reach a wide range of audiences, asking them their pricing preferences for the services you offer.
It is important to remember that your value matters in the decision process. Do not undercharge just to please a market you have no interest in serving and do not overcharge when you know you’ll underdeliver.
This takes us back to perception. How you want to be perceived determines your pricing strategy. When you think of Toyota, you think of affordability and durability. When you think of Ferrari, you think luxury. Depending on how you want to be perceived, conduct research in that line.
If you want to be an affordable brand, research the unique selling points of an affordable service provider on Bookings Africa. If you only offer premium services, ensure that your target audience also book freelancers.
The more informed you are, the more informed decisions you make and ultimately the more competitive your pricing.
Pricing Strategy
Setting competitive prices is a strategic move businesses use. Freelancers can also adopt these strategies to their advantage.
Sell your services in a bundle: Let’s assume Dave signed up as a Videographer on the Bookings Africa Platform. Dave can add as many services as he offers under the profession: Videographer. That means he can decide to sell his services in bundles.
His services can include:
Video Shoot only (N35,000/Physical)
Editing Only (N30,000/Physical)
Video Shoot and Editing only (N50,000/Physical)
Video Script Writing only (20,000/Virtual)
Scripting, Shooting, and Editing (70,000/Physical)
In actuality, Dave offers three major services under the Videographer profession but he has also created two extra bundle services. When potential clients know that they can save money booking a bundled service, they will most likely book.
Coca-Cola uses a similar strategy. Customers always go for an offer that saves them money.
This pricing strategy is highly effective and can also work for newbie freelancers on the Bookings Africa platform.
Another pricing strategy is to gradually increase your pricing as your clientele increases. The strategy here is to start at a lower price than you would usually charge and then grow your client base on that fixed price. After a while, you can gradually increase your rates.
This goal is to ensure that all your booked clients rate your services and leave a review on your page. This enforces your credibility and professionalism as a freelancer.
Setting your availability
Once your profile and pricing are sorted, the next thing will be to choose your available working hours. You want to choose days that work for you.
Simple techniques for determining your availability include:
If you work a 9-5 alongside your freelance hustle, you might set your available hours for weekends.
Leave a day open for all Bookings Africa gigs. For instance, depending on the type of services a hairstylist with a physical store offers, he/she shouldn’t fix any client’s books on Wednesdays. Wednesdays should be reserved for potential gigs from Bookings Africa.
Work only when you can excellently deliver on the job.
In summary, pricing and availability are two variables that must be set with precaution and honesty. Freelancers can grow their careers in no time. When the price and time are right, you are sure to get bookings.
Bookings Africa is one of Africa’s largest gig markets with over 15,000 registered service providers. Freelancers from many walks of life call it home. You can hire makeup artists, chefs, photographers, actors, event planners, accountants, and other professionals through the platform.
Since the appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have been compelled to adjust to new techniques of hiring and outsourcing. The innovation of technology has also helped facilitate this quick transition.
Irrespective of whether you own a business or work as an employee, we all have goals. These goals stem from childhood dreams and our ever-evolving ambitions. Outsourcing or hiring a freelancer is one of the many ways you can achieve your goals faster.
Reasons Why Businesses Outsource to Freelancers
Businesses and organizations discovered that their employees don’t need to be seated behind a desk, dressed in business attire, and work a standard 9-5 schedule. With the stay-at-home policies that came with C0VID-19, most employees were under obligation to work remotely to meet and exceed deadlines.
As a result, businesses turned to expert freelancers to get their new goals achieved.
Apart from running their firms, business owners have other goals and priorities, and hiring full-time employees can be time-consuming and difficult at times. Having full-on staff will usually necessitate the presence of freelancers on-site, to supervise and, on occasion, take on additional tasks that should normally be handled by their employees. Business owners will have less time to devote to other areas of their lives as a result of this.
Some business owners and even employees require time to learn a skill or engage in recreational activities with friends and family. Others want to enroll in a professional training program, or simply travel. The central objective is that people want to free up time. More and more people are looking for ways to do less but earn more.
Rather than allowing their workload to suffocate them and prevent them from pursuing these goals, they hire freelancers to relieve the pressure and provide them with the time they require.
Four Ways to Achieve Your Goals
By hiring a freelancer, you can develop a flexible schedule and make more income or profit either at your job or business.
The following are four compelling reasons to hire a freelancer.
1. Cost-cutting: Employees who work full-time require a lot of upkeep. Business owners must also pay salaries in addition to paying costs for electricity, water, and office space.
Not only that, but business owners are also responsible for expenses such as training, end-of-year incentives, and health insurance. Freelancers on the other hand help to reduce these costs. They do not require a space in the office. They also aren’t included in company and employee benefits.
When you engage freelancers, the terms are laid out in advance. There is no expectation of long-term work, so if your numbers decline, you can abruptly stop sourcing tasks to freelancers.
You won’t have to worry about computer log-ins, health-care issues, or potential legal issues. Hiring a freelancer is simple, and you may change the contract before making a final decision to ensure that your business is set up for success at every stage of the process.
When it comes to employing freelancers, pricing is also a significant plus. The majority of freelancers charge industry-standard rates for their services.
This means that outsourcing tasks to a freelancer will boost your profits and free up funds for other uses in your small business budget.
Individuals who also want to cut costs can Search, Compare and Book on the Bookings Africa platform to see the best fit for their budget.
2. Scheduling flexibility: Freelancers are known for their availability on-demand. Many freelancers in their various skills provide services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These experts are used to working in a variety of environments and have a track record of meeting deadlines. Because most freelancers don’t get paid by the hour, they’re also eager to complete projects. You can expect your work to be completed on time even if you engage a freelancer on a retainer or package agreement because the freelancer isn’t paid until the job is delivered to you.
It’s a win-win situation for both you and the freelancer you hire.
They also want to establish a positive working connection with business owners like you so that they may anticipate more work in the future. This suggests they aren’t scared to go above and beyond to fulfill a tight deadline while still delivering high-quality results.
Once you’ve established a great working relationship with a highly competent freelancer, they’ll be able to provide you with the flexibility you need so that you and your full-time workers can focus on other time-sensitive projects.
3. Specialized expertise: You might not realize it, but the majority of freelancers are just as talented and capable as full-time employees. Some freelancers are specialists in their profession because they work to develop their skills regularly.
This is because, to get new freelance jobs, freelancers must keep up with industry trends, and businesses can easily tap into the expertise of these talented freelancers.
As a business owner, if you need help with a project, such as a web design, copywriting, or creating templates for an e-mail campaign, you know that there are times when no one is available to pick up the slack. So, it all falls on you.
Finding a freelancer who has spent years honing that skill, offers more insights into how to make that project a success and also takes the pressure off you.
A freelancer’s experience determines how much value they can add to your business. Without investing in internal resources or adding a permanent job to their payroll, the company can profit from the freelancer’s experience.
Freelancers are flexible with their time and so can meet targets, they are resilient and often have good time management.
4. New perspectives: Freelancers are hired primarily for their creative abilities. They can see beyond the situation and generate new ideas that can benefit businesses. They appear to be always relaxed working from home because they are not in a work environment that could put pressure on their performance. As a result, they can brainstorm and find business loopholes.
Taking breaks and setting their work hours are two things that help freelancers create a clean environment in which to generate fresh ideas.
These are just a handful of the reasons why freelancers rather than full-time staff should be hired.
More than 15,000 freelance service providers are available on the Bookings Africa platform. Bookings Africa can help you find whatever type of freelancer for your business and personal needs.
There’s no debate that the freelance industry is highly profitable and almost everyone is asking, “How do I make more money online?”
There are several ways to make money online these days but for the purpose of this article, we will focus on freelancing as a source of income. It’s exciting to see the projections in the Gig industry and there are several ways you can partake in this growth. Before we proceed, you must understand what qualities clients look out for when choosing a freelancer to work with.
How to earn from home
1. Become a Freelancer: One of the best ways to earn extra income right now is by freelancing. Becoming a freelancer is relatively easy. If you are still wondering why you should become one, you should read this.
Bookings Africa is one of Africa’s finest gig markets; created by Africans for the betterment of Africa. After you sign up, follow the steps below to begin your journey of earning from home.
2. Set up a professional booking page: In the online space, there are lots of distinguishing factors and presentation is one of them. Potential clients will sieve through your appearance i.e. your profile before they take a look at your offer (price).
Always put your best foot forward when setting up an online profile and by best foot, we mean to get all the professional help you can. You might want to hire a professional photographer to help out with your display picture. You need a clean and crisp image with all your facial features displayed clearly.
In addition to a great headshot, you also need a great bio. Your bio should immediately tell us what you are about. A great bio should contain your name, your role as a service provider, and your biggest aspirations.
Fun fact: You can also include a quirky fact about you that will help your target clients easily relate to your personality.
3. Create an inviting offer: Your offer is the unique selling point that distinguishes you from freelancers offering the same services as you.
To set up an offer, you’ll need to ask the following questions:
i. What can I do effortlessly? Can I sell it as a service?
ii. Who will I sell this service to?
iii. At what price will I sell this service? What are my competitors offering?
Based on your expertise and brand, your offer will differ from other service providers. Ensure that you do not charge lower than your worth just because you want to get clients but set competitive prices that make your offer attractive to your target clients.
In setting an offer, it is also important to package your services in a bundle. A make-up artist should not only offer make-up as the only service. You can include complementary or other services such as gele-tying. This way, you can charge higher and your clients will be happy to pay because you are saving them the cost of hiring more than one service provider. Likewise, a French Tutor can offer tutoring services and sell French materials that will aid learning. Whatever the offer you create, ensure that your clients will be happy to book your services. How you do that is up to you and your creativity. A great offer helps you to make money from home.
4. Excellent customer service: Clients love to be treated like royalty even if they aren’t. As a service provider, it is your responsibility to assure your clients of first-class treatment regardless of the nature of your offer.
From inception, always remember to speak politely, be honest about what you can do, and be your authentic self. You might not always like all the things your clients do or demand but you can learn to manage client expectations by being clear about what you offer and then taking your clients through an onboarding session.
Always endeavor to keep your clients at ease and satisfied. Excellent customer service always brings about referrals and great reviews/ratings.
At the end of every service, ask for a review.
5. Import clients: Before setting up your gig account, you might have had a few customers. If you do, inform them that they can only book you through your Bookings Africa page. This way, you add credibility to your sales page and you have access to analytics of how your freelance business is doing.
Furthermore, importing these clients will give your freelancing a professional touch. To make the import stress free, you can offer to set up their customer profile on the Bookings Africa platform and also offer discounts to clients who book you through bookingsafrica.com.
The use of referral codes will further boost your sales online. This is one sure way to make money online.
6. Broadcast: Do not sit on your hands waiting for clients to search you out. Be proactive. Post your business on your social pages, and tell your friends and family about what you do too. At events, network by informing people about how your freelance services can ease stress in their life.
No matter what you do, never be silent about your work.
The Gig industry is gradually becoming saturated but that’s not a reason not to join this winning team. It has however become your responsibility to position your services in an attractive way potential clients cannot resist.
Working from home is very profitable. Play your cards right and you’ll earn more while doing less.
