Freelance 101 Academy

Freelancing Terms
You Need to Know

Prepared by
Saheli Chatterjee
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NON-TECHNICAL
TERMS
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Brand Awareness:
The extent or level to which a potential consumer can
recall and identify a particular product or service.
Increased brand awareness is one of the two customary
important goals for a digital advertising campaign (the
other being a conversion of some kind).

Brand Identity:
Brand identity refers to the visual elements and
personality of a brand. It encompasses everything that is
associated with the brand, such as its logo, tagline, color
palette, typography, and overall design system.

Clip
A Clip is a writing sample or published article.

EOM
End of Month (EOM) is the common term used to refer to
the last day of the month.

Niche
A specialised segment of the market for a particular kind
of service. It can also be described as your area of
expertise. Eg; Digital Marketing
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USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

It is the one feature of a service or product which makes
it unique from the rest of the competitors in the market.
Eg; MacBook is known for sleek, state-of-the-art design,
user-friendly, reliability, innovation, and being a 'cool'
alternative to the PC.

CLV (Customer Lifetime Value)

Customer lifetime value represents the total amount of
money a customer is expected to spend in your business,
or on your products or services, during their lifetime.

CTA (Call to Action)

A call to action refers to the next step you want your
client/audience to take. Eg; Save Now & Share with your
Friends

SMM (Social Media Marketing)

It is a form of Internet Marketing that utilises social
networking websites as a marketing tool. Eg; Instagram
& LinkedIn Marketing

VA (Virtual Assistant)
A Virtual Assistant provides professional administrative,
technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients
remotely from a home office.
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SMO (Social Media Optimization)

Social Media Optimization helps you to build a
reputation, encourage more engagement, build trust,
improve technical aspects to get found when someone
looks for you. Optimization includes - Who you are, What
you do, How others can benefit from you.

Eg; LinkedIn & Instagram profile Optimization (IG Coach

which can 10X your business sales through Instagram
Organic Marketing).

Deliverables
Clarify exactly what the freelancer is expected to
complete or produce. Eg; an initial project strategy
report, the budget report, a progress report, a beta
product, a test result report, and any other quantifiable
aspects of a project that mark a completion.

Project Estimate
A project estimate is an assessment of the likely cost,
duration, and scope of a proposed project. It is typically
presented in the form of a document that outlines the
timeline and resources needed for successful completion
of the project.
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Retainer Pricing
Retainer pricing is a type of billing model that involves
making a long-term commitment with a client for an
agreed-upon fixed fee, which is often paid on a monthly
basis.

Scope Creep
Scope Creep is a term used to describe the gradual
expansion or increase of a project’s scope beyond its
original plan. It often occurs when new features,
deliverables, or other changes are added to a project
after it has already begun.

It may be bad for a project as it leads to missed delivery

dates, exceeding the budget , and poor quality of the
final outcome.

Scope of Work
The scope of work consists of the detailed requirements
and expectations of a project or task. It defines all the
activities, materials, services, deliverables, and timelines
that are necessary to complete the project. It outlines
the responsibilities of both parties involved in a project,
such as the client and the service provider.
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Proofreader
Got great grammar and writing skills? Proofreading
editors check for minor errors like verb tenses,
capitalization, and proper word usage.

Ghost Writer
Write articles and blogs on behalf of other brands or
people for which one can’t claim the credit for writing.

Legal Writer
Write letters and documents to be used by lawyers,
judges, and others in law.

White Paper Writer

White paper writing is a technical form of writing. It is an
expert research document.

Invoice
An invoice is a document issued by a seller or supplier to
the purchaser of goods or services. It typically includes
details such as the quantity and cost of the goods or
services provided, any discounts applied, and the total
amount owed. The invoice may also indicate when
payment is due and how it can be made.
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Net 30
Net 30 is a payment term that requires the customer to
pay an invoice within thirty days of receiving it.

Fair-Use
Fair Use is a doctrine in U.S. copyright law that governs
the use of copyrighted material without the permission of
the copyright holder.

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

Also known as a confidentiality agreement, this is a
legally binding contract that establishes a confidential
relationship between your company and the freelancer.
It ensures that the freelancer will not share any sensitive
information they may obtain with others.

Intellectual property (IP) agreement

This agreement establishes the transfer of intellectual
property rights from one party to another. In the case of
working with freelancers, this usually means that the
freelancer is transferring the IP rights of their work to the
company.
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Non-compete
A non-compete agreement is a contract in which the
worker agrees not to work with other companies that are
considered competitors of the hiring company for a
specified period of time after the work relationship ends.
These agreements also prohibit the worker from
revealing proprietary information or company secrets to
anyone outside of the hiring company.

Data Protection Agreement (DPA)

If a freelancer needs access to sensitive company data
in order to complete their work, you will want them to
sign an agreement that compels them to comply with
your company’s data secrecy and security policies.

Kill Fee and Cancellation terms

Provide terms for compensating the freelancer in the
event that you need to cancel the project before it is
finished. For example, you will pay the freelancer a
specified rate for the number of hours they worked so far
even if the client cancels the agreement.
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TECHNICAL
TERMS
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CR (Conversion Rate)
Conversion Rate is the rate of visitors who are converted
into paying customers.

CTR (Click-through Rate)

A metric that measures the number of clicks advertisers
receive on their ads per number of impressions.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of increasing
the quantity and quality of traffic to your website
through organic search engine results.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

Search Engine Marketing is a form of internet marketing
that seeks to promote websites by increasing their
visibility in search engine result pages.

Ad Audience
The total number of people that have been exposed to
or could possibly be exposed to an ad during any
specific time period.
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A/B Testing
A method used to compare different versions of digital
ads or website landing pages in order to determine
which one performs better. A typical A/B test for ads
involves running the two ads simultaneously and then
measuring which version gets a better response from the
audience.
A/B Testing can also be done while posting content. Eg;
Posting 2 same LinkedIn posts but one with Image &
other without image.

Ad Exchange
A technology-facilitated marketplace that allows Internet
publishers and advertisers to buy and sell advertising
inventory in real-time auctions. Ad exchanges are a
departure from the historical method of buying ad
inventory, where advertisers and publishers would enter
price negotiations in order to show ads on a particular
website. With an ad exchange, an auction is conducted in
real-time, providing instantaneous bidding for ad space
that’s available across the Internet.

Ad Impressions
The number of times an ad has been served, regardless
of whether the user has actually seen or interacted with
the ad in any way.
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Ad Serving
The delivery of an ad from a web server to the end user’s
device, where the ads are displayed on a browser or an
application.

Above the Fold

A term derived from the print advertising industry. It
describes the area of a web page that’s visible before
the website visitor scrolls down the page. Note: There is
no set pixel size for the fold; it will vary depending on the
visitor’s screen size and resolution.

Ad Targeting
Delivering ads to a pre-selected audience based on
various attributes, such as geography, demographics,
psychographics, web browsing behaviour, and past
purchases. (Also see: Behavioural Targeting, Contextual
Targeting, and Geographic Targeting.)

Bounce Rate
A bounce is a website visit in which the visitor looked only
at the single page they landed on, did not interact with
it, and then left the site. The bounce rate expresses such
visits as a percentage of the total visitor sessions, within
a specific time frame.
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Contextual Targeting
Selecting audiences based on the type of content being
displayed on a particular webpage. An example of
contextual advertising is placing ads for hair care products
on the Vogue website.

Conversion
When launching a campaign, advertisers select a
specific action or set of actions they want audiences to
take. Each time a member of the audience takes this
action, it is counted as a conversion. Conversions include
actions such as signing up for a newsletter or making a
purchase on a website.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
Pricing model where advertisers pay vendors or publishers
based on the number of clicks received in a campaign.

Cost per Acquisition (CPA)

The cost of acquiring one customer. Typically calculated
by dividing the total amount spent on an advertising
campaign by the number of customers acquired through
that campaign.
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Cost per Click (CPC)

How much an advertiser pays, on average, for each ad
click. CPC is calculated by dividing the total amount
spent on a campaign by the number of clicks generated.

Cost per Lead (CPL)

How much an advertiser pays, on average, for each ad
click that results in a lead conversion. CPL is calculated by
dividing the total amount spent on a campaign by the
number of leads generated.

Cost per Thousand (CPM)

Metric that shows how much it costs to serve 1,000 ad
impressions. Also used as a standard measure for buying
display ads, as inventory is generally sold on a CPM basis.

Cross-Device Targeting
Serving the same buyer-targeted ads across multiple
devices. Cross-device targeting allows advertisers to
reach their audiences in a sequential, repetitive manner
regardless of the device they’re on, whether it’s a tablet,
desktop, or smartphone.
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Of course, there are many more

terms in freelance communities but
these are the minimal basics you
need to remember. Hope it helps
you to navigate your course better!