Students That Freelance

Some student freelancers are probably freelancing from either a college dorm or an apartment in which they live. For me, I am freelancing from my home, where I live with my parents. No matter where you live, an amount of security is always nice to have. For those on their own, probably the desire to be safe and secure is more than if you live with your parents, but nonetheless, the following tips will help protect you in your freelancing.

Get a Post Office Box

Growing up, my family always had a post office box. We never really had a mailbox at the street until we moved when I was days from turning 18. Ever since I moved, I never really used our address for anything other than shipping packages. Some of the benefits that I liked about using the post office box are that my mail was always safe, secure, and dry. These were the main reasons I now use the same P.O. Box address for my freelancing.

It makes me feel safe knowing that my address of where I live is not online anywhere (my website, LinkedIn, etc) and no one in the general public can come knocking on my door, which is a relief! Also an added bonus was that I always knew client checks would be safe in the P.O. Box, and that my client’s checks weren’t floating around, could get wet by being in the elements, and someone couldn’t easily steal it out of my mailbox either.

For a student freelancer, finding a way to mask your address will help to protect you wherever you are living because your clients or anyone else who has your address can’t come and find you. Also, as mentioned above, always having a secure feeling about checks coming to you and will be in good hands behind lock and key at the post office is also a huge perk.

If you live in the United States, your local USPS office should have available lockers on hand for you to rent, at reasonable rates. I have a fairly small box and I believe it is around $35 a year (but don’t quote me on that). Of course, they have various sizes, but more than likely the starting student freelancer only needs the smallest and basic box. For more information on renting a post office box (for United States residents) visit the USPS website.

Open a PayPal Account

A method of getting paid as a freelancer that is becoming rapidly popular is online money transfers. In some countries, the standard to pay anyone is through a bank transfer, but in the United States, businesses still write checks. However, for those that want to pay you online, PayPal is a great option.

I have a PayPal account that I use to accept payments from clients. This helps me stay safe and secure knowing that my bank information is not out for anyone to get (you do know that someone can get your account information easily off of a check, right?). PayPal also offers the convenience and timely receipt of payments if your client uses it.

I highly recommend getting a PayPal account if you plan to send money to other freelancers or anyone who is not a major organization. Although proper precaution in any online transaction should be taken into consideration, PayPal offers the way to send money while masking all of your personal information and only identifying you by your email address to others. Chances are that if you are freelancing, you have your own email separate for freelancing only, so it is ok if that email is made public.

For more information on how to open a PayPal account, along with reading all of their benefits, check out their website.

Google Phone Number

One of the recent additions to my security arsenal, you can say, has been a Google phone number via Google Voice. I didn’t really like the fact that I was giving out my cell phone number to clients, and I really wanted to post a phone number on my website, just not my cell phone.

Google Voice number is basically a phone number you can register for online for free that can be used to mask your current number. Originally designed to consolidate all the numbers that people tend to be tethered to, it is a great way for student freelancers to mask their cell phone numbers or any other personal number from clients and the general public. You can still use your cell phone (matter of fact, you have to have some sort of existing phone to use Google Voice), but no one will know your cell phone number.

I use a Google Voice number to act as my business number that I can give clients and feel safe about my personal cell phone number not being given to the masses. It is also great because if I ever needed to get a new cell number, I can easily just move my Google Voice number to another phone; a great feature for student freelancers who may be constantly changing their number.

Learn more about the benefits and security potential a Google Voice number has here.

Lesson of the article: Take the time to protect yourself as a student freelancer as you start your endeavor into the business world.

What are some other ways as a student freelancer that you can protect you and your identity?