Is Freelancing Your Way To True Freedom?


by Steve Smith - Date: 2007-01-19 - Word Count: 1511 Share This!

Are you looking for:

· a way to work for yourself that doesn't demand any
start-up capital?

· a business whose premises can be your own home,
and which doesn't require any stock or specialist
equipment?

· a way of working that gets you out of the grind of
corporate "Dilbert World", but doesn't involve you
grappling with the endless government regulations
that oppress many new small businesses?

· a more relaxed, yet financially comfortable and potentially highly
lucrative way to make a living?

If you answered yes to any or all of these (and which of us
wouldn't!), maybe you should consider freelancing as a way
forward.

Broadly speaking, this will involve you providing services to
a hirer for specific, finite projects or tasks. Payment is therefore
usually per project, but may occasionally be by the hour or day.
In any event, however, you will want to have an idea of how
much you need to earn per hour or day, in order to calculate the
fee you will quote when pitching for particular projects or "gigs".

A great variety of occupations and skill sets can lend themselves
to freelancing.

Writing of all kinds, for example, has traditionally provided rich
pickings. Amongst many opportunities, you can write direct
marketing copy for the internet or traditional mail order; you
can write catalogues and brochures; reports or technical manuals.
And if your powers of endurance permit, you can ghostwrite
articles or even complete books and ebooks. Much depends on
the kind of writing with which you are comfortable.

And of course, there's much more to the production of first rate
written material than just the actual writing. There's the initial
research; then later there's copy editing and proof reading, while
many projects will also require illustration and perhaps graphic
design, and all of these can provide lucrative assignments for the
suitably skilled freelancer.

But there's much more to freelancing than this. You could think
about a whole range of business services, from book keeping and
accounting to marketing and almost any sort of consultancy, always
remembering that the more specific your service the better you'll do.

You can offer web design and software development, foreign
language translation or out-placement support, to name just a few
more at random. The point is that the list is just about endless, and if
you have a real hard think about your career to date you're almost
certain to think of something you have to offer. But a quick flick
through your local phone and business directories will stimulate this
thought process if you're having trouble.

The key point to bear in mind, though, is that the more specific the
service you decide to offer, the better you'll be rewarded. As with
any business, it's carving out a tightly focussed niche that will bring
you the best results. And in case you're still wondering what that
freelance niche could be for you, I repeat: don't neglect
your current or most recent full time employment.

Now granted, this may not be the kind of work you really want to do
(why else would you be thinking of leaving after all?), but if you've
been in your job any length of time you almost certainly have a
knowledge and expertise that someone, somewhere, will be more than
happy to pay you for. And they will likely pay you handsomely, too,
since they're getting your knowledge and skills without all the additional
financial, administrative and regulatory burdens that go with actually
employing someone.

I remember that this worked very well for me when I first broke out on
my own. I can still recall the look on my boss's face when I suggested
that although I was quitting I could continue on a freelance basis to
provide him with the monthly reports that had been an important part of
my job. Not only did he agree straight away, but he didn't bat an
eye at the fee I proposed, leaving me wishing I'd been brave enough
to ask for more!

Now, the reports in question concerned the implications for my
boss's business of the roll-out of the UK's new financial services
regulator a few years' back - about as interesting as it sounds!
But the point was I had a real niche of expertise that my boss could
not easily or cheaply replace. So the deal was a win/win for both of
us.

And there's another point here too. Once you're free from the
tyranny of the telephone, not detained in time wasting meetings
and no longer exchanging banter over the water cooler or coffee
machine, you'll probably find you can produce the agreed work in a
fraction of the time it used to take you in the office - and the time
saved can be used to bring in the much more exciting assignments
that you really want to do. Plus you get an invaluable financial safety
net while you're establishing yourself.

And make no mistake: you're going to need this, because freelancing
can be tough in the early days if the work's slow to come in. You may
well have days when you sit at home waiting for the phone to ring or
an e-mail to click in, anxious for some sign that the world hasn't
entirely forgotten you

In fact I have a rather downbeat rule of thumb here: however long you
thought it would take you to get going - double it. However much
money you thought you'd need to live on in the meantime - treble it.

You're also going to have to be very realistic about the amount of money
you can ultimately expect to earn. You see, the great benefit of
freelancing is also one of its main disadvantages. That is, you really are
pretty much on your own.

Amongst the important implications of this is that unless you go down
the route of sub-contracting, which is akin to running your own company
with all the hassle that entails, it's quite difficult to leverage your time
effectively. That's to say you can only profit from the amount of work
it's physically possible for one normal human being (ie, you) to do in a day.

So once you're established and your work diary's filled with assignments
your only way to keep your income increasing is to increase the amount
you can charge per hour or per project. Now, this isn't too much of a
problem if, for example, your name's Jay Abraham, one of the world's top business
marketing and development consultants, whose time is routinely worth $000s
an hour to his delighted clients. But you have to be realistic. There are few
superstars in any walk of life, and freelancing's no different.

Now please don't think I'm trying to put you off. Absolutely not! But I do
want to stress that freelancing should not be seen as an easy way to
riches. You will probably have to work as hard, if not harder, than the
average "Corporation Man", but your rewards in terms of personal
satisfaction and real ("who can fire me now"?) security will be infinitely
greater.

And in pure cash terms, too, you should eventually out-perform
your corporate rivals by a considerable margin. The top tip again is that the more
ultra-specific you can make your niche, the more chance you have of
becoming the "go to"man in that field; and the more you can charge for your
services as your reputation and client list develops.

But to the true freelancer, perhaps, all this talk about money and security
is in the last analysis irrelevant. The clue is in the very term "freelancer",
because it's the freedom of the way of life that's the key to it all.

You may be like me and happy to be sitting down at your computer when
the rest of the world's long since asleep. Or you may work best in those
pre-dawn hours. You may want to work around your kids' or your
partner's lifestyles, or to be able to head for the beach or the golf course
on a sunny day during the week (knowing you can catch up at the weekend
when it's usually raining!) The real joy of freelancing is that it's entirely
up to you when and for how long you work, subject only to your client's
deadlines and the amount of money you want to make.

So if you want to look further into what freelancing can do for you,
here are just a few of the many sites which will show the kind of services on
offer, what clients are looking for, and where you can advertise your own
expertise if you decide to give it a go.

www.elance.com

www.rentacoder.com

www.scriptlance.com

www.guru.com

In addition to the above, you can of course advertise through your own
website, in the relevant trade press or perhaps directly through one of the
many e-mail list building sites now springing up.

Thanks to the web, it's never been easier to get started. And of course,
there's no need to give up the day job until you're good and ready.

Steve Smith

January 2007


Steve Smith is a freelance copywriter specialising in direct marketing.
Right now Steve is also developing Sisyphus Publications Online as a
dedicated provider of the very best in business and wealth creation
resources. So for more free information get over to http://www.sisyphuspublicationsonline.com

Related Tags: self-employment, niche, freelancing

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