15 Professionals and Cons of Being a Freelance Author

On this submit, I’ll be discussing the principle execs and cons of freelance writing. Whether or not you’re contemplating a radical profession change, or just thinking about incomes a bit of additional cash on-line on the aspect, this one is for you.

I’ve been doing freelance writing for a few years now. Whereas I completely love the advantages of being a contract author (and there are lots of – which is why I do it), there are positively a couple of downsides as I’ll clarify under.

If it is a profession you’re contemplating, be certain to take a look at my submit on the greatest freelance writing programs on-line, and my evaluation of the Knowadays course (which is presently providing a 25% low cost utilizing this hyperlink and promo code GOATS25).

For me, the largest benefits of freelance writing embrace the flexibleness to decide on when and the place you’re employed, in addition to the flexibility to resolve precisely what sort of work you wish to do. Nevertheless, on the flip aspect, there is no such thing as a job safety and no assured paycheck every month.

It’s essential that you simply bear this stuff in thoughts when deciding whether or not or not it is a profession (or aspect hustle) that may be just right for you. Total, I believe the disadvantages of being a contract author are vastly outweighed by the quite a few advantages. However, it’s good to take into account what’s best for you.

Professionals of Being a Freelance Author

Listed here are a few of the key benefits of being a contract author. This listing displays my very own private expertise, in addition to the experiences of different those who I do know who work as freelance writers. There’s various overlap between every level, however I’ve damaged them down for the sake of readability.

Keep in mind that each job is totally different, and each freelance author is exclusive. So, the precise execs and cons of being a contract author will range in response to every particular person and their particular person circumstances. Nevertheless, the next are some basic benefits which are prone to apply to most individuals.

1. Flexibility

Considered one of my favourite issues about freelance writing is the massive quantity of flexibility it presents. As a freelancer, you will have whole management over your schedule, together with when, the place, and the way a lot you’re employed. This flexibility might be particularly useful for individuals who have youngsters or different commitments.

It’s onerous to overstate fairly how a lot of a recreation changer this flexibility is, significantly when put next with a “conventional” job – i.e. full-time, in-person employment. You possibly can set your personal hours and take as many breaks, or as a lot day off, as you need. It’s superior!

For instance, for those who’re feeling burnt out, wish to attend a pal’s wedding ceremony in Italy, fancy a spontaneous street journey, or just want a change of surroundings, you may take a day (or every week, or a month) off with out having to ask for permission out of your employer or boss.

After all, you continue to have to handle the expectations of your shoppers. Nevertheless, the dynamic is completely totally different from being an worker. You simply have to allow them to know what you’re doing – you don’t have to ask permission. It’s an essential distinction!

2. Autonomy

One other main perk of being a contract author is the autonomy it supplies. This goes hand in hand with flexibility (see above). As a freelancer, you’re your personal boss. So, you set the foundations – together with the way you wish to outline “success” in your profession.

You’ve gotten whole freedom over which shoppers you wish to work with, which tasks to just accept, and the way you wish to deal with them. The period of time you wish to spend researching and writing is solely as much as you, as is how a lot cash you resolve to cost on your work.

You even have management over your profession development. No extra inflexible employment hierarchy with another person dictating when or whether or not you get a promotion! Personally, I discover this degree of independence actually liberating and rewarding.

I’m a lot extra motivated understanding that I’ve whole company over what I do and the place my profession takes me. It additionally permits for lots of private progress and growth, as I’ll develop on under.

3. Various Initiatives

One of the vital thrilling points of being a contract author is the truth that you may work on no matter tasks you need. Some freelance writers select to specialize and area of interest down greater than others. However, primarily, the selection is yours.

If you wish to tackle a various vary of tasks and discover a number of totally different niches or industries, you may completely try this. Once more, you get to set the foundations (therefore the autonomy, above)!

So, say you’ve all the time fancied dabbling in artistic fiction writing. However, you’re additionally a fan of doing a little bit of journey writing and completely love writing persuasive advertising copy. As a contract author, you may select to do all of this stuff in the identical week, offered you handle your time nicely.

You possibly can develop your ability set and discover new subjects as a lot as you need. This not solely helps to maintain issues fascinating and difficult, nevertheless it additionally provides you the chance for steady studying and progress.

4. Talent Growth

Following on from the earlier level, selecting to work on a various vary of tasks is, in my expertise, a sure-fire method of creating new abilities and broadening the vary of your experience.

For instance, as a contract author, you would possibly select to write a weblog submit for a web site at some point, craft social media posts for a model the subsequent, draft advertising emails the subsequent, after which assist write an e-book or white paper the subsequent… And so forth – you get the image.

Additionally, you may select to have a variety of shoppers throughout a broad spectrum of sectors (e.g. journey, advertising, monetary, enterprise, and so forth.) which helps to make sure you’re always studying. Having a various vary of tasks helps make you a extra versatile author with a broader set of abilities.

Moreover, freelancers usually must handle their very own admin and enterprise operations. For some folks, it is a drawback of being a contract author. Nevertheless, you could possibly see it as a chance to develop transferable abilities akin to time administration, group, and monetary admin. See Additionally: greatest apps for freelance writers

5. Work From Wherever

One other huge perk of being a contract author is the flexibility to work from anyplace. I’ve gotten paid to do freelance writing from some superb locations all around the world, together with once I was dwelling as a digital nomad in Mexico, Costa Rica, Albania, Italy, Sri Lanka, and even a distant nook of the Scottish Highlands.

Generally, your shoppers don’t care the place you’re, so long as you get the work accomplished to a sufficiently excessive customary. Once more, that is completely totally different from most employment relationships. (I actually hated being employed, in case you hadn’t figured.)

So long as you will have a steady web connection overseas and an influence outlet, you may mainly work from just about anyplace on the earth. That is big for anybody who loves touring and having the ability to do it for various weeks per 12 months of annual depart.

It’s additionally one of many the explanation why freelance writing is such a widespread job with digital nomads and different distant staff. In reality, that is the principle purpose I selected to do it.

6. Networking Alternatives

Being a contract author can open up alternatives for networking with folks throughout a variety of sectors. For those who select to work with a various unfold of shoppers, you’ll have the prospect to construct a wide-reaching net {of professional} relationships.

That is clearly an effective way to develop your skilled community. Connecting with fellow writers, editors, shoppers, and different professionals in numerous niches can result in a wealth of recent job alternatives and but extra worthwhile connections sooner or later.

Plus, having a powerful community may also assist give you assist and sources that may be helpful sooner or later. It’s additionally an effective way to construct your personal private model and get your title on the market.

7. Work-Life Steadiness

In my view, it’s a lot simpler to take care of a wholesome work-life stability as a freelancer than as an worker. I say “in my view” as a result of it’s a little bit of a contentious debate, and I’ve had discussions with different freelancers who disagree with me on this.

I’ve heard folks say that working for your self can provide you a worse work-life stability. In response to these folks, as a result of freelancing is inherently much less steady than employment, there’s a bent for freelancers to overwork to compensate for it. That is positively true to an extent.

Nevertheless, in my very own private expertise, it doesn’t must be the case. Whereas being self-employed does, after all, include its personal pressures, and requires appreciable self-discipline and onerous work, autonomy is vital.

The large quantity of flexibility you acquire means you can select the way you wish to construction your work life. So long as you’re capable of handle your time successfully, together with consciously permitting your self sufficient downtime, you will have the ability to engineer a tremendous work-life stability.

8. Artistic Freedom

Artistic freedom is a serious benefit of being a contract author. As a freelancer, you will have the chance to work on tasks that actually curiosity and encourage you. And, conversely, there’s no person forcing you to do any tasks that you simply actually don’t wish to do.

Moreover, the elevated choices and management over your profession trajectory (mentioned above) means you can select to give attention to areas that offer you extra artistic expression if that is one thing that’s essential to you.

For those who select the best tasks (and shoppers), you may get a variety of private success out of your work. It additionally means that you can select to put in writing for publications or shoppers that align together with your private values and beliefs.

Cons of Being a Freelance Author

Whereas I actually take pleasure in freelance writing for the entire causes mentioned above, it’s not excellent. (No job is, proper?) There are positively a couple of downsides to being a contract author, which I’ve set out under.

I’m not attempting to place anybody off right here from changing into a contract author. I simply need you to enter it together with your eyes open, having made an knowledgeable resolution. That stated, not all of those points will have an effect on each freelance author, however I’d nonetheless advocate contemplating the next.

1. Unpredictable Earnings

For me, one of many biggest disadvantages of being a contract author is the shortage of economic stability. As an worker, you usually receives a commission each month, on the identical day, typically the identical quantity. This makes it simpler to plan financially as you will have a predictable earnings.

As a contract author, it’s the alternative. Your earnings can range drastically from month to month, and never all shoppers pay on time. Some months you would possibly earn extra, some months you would possibly earn much less. For those who don’t get any work, you don’t receives a commission in any respect.

This lack of economic predictability might be difficult to handle. It’s essential to have a buffer of money in your account if doable so that you simply’re not left in a precarious monetary state of affairs when you’ve got a quiet month or, for some other purpose, your earnings drops off.

2. Requires Self-Self-discipline

Freelance writing requires a substantial quantity of self-discipline. Since you work for your self, it’s good to be your personal boss. This implies setting deadlines and objectives for your self, being organized together with your time, and guaranteeing you retain your self on monitor.

It’s essential to have the ability to stability the workload of a number of tasks, whereas on the similar time maintaining together with your different duties and basic life admin. Talking frankly, this was a little bit of a problem for me once I first began working for myself.

Generally I additionally discover that working alone for lengthy intervals of time could make it tougher to remain motivated, given the shortage of colleagues and coworkers to present assist or recommendation.

Finally, you want to have the ability to inspire your self to work onerous and write creatively, even on days while you don’t actually really feel prefer it. It’s additionally essential to have the ability to stability work with rest to assist keep away from burnout.

3. Doubtlessly Isolating

Being a contract author might be isolating at instances, particularly for those who work remotely by your self.

Earlier than changing into a contract author, I used to work in an workplace in London. Whereas I actually didn’t benefit from the workplace politics and performative tradition, there was not less than all the time any person to go for a espresso with, or to cease by and have a chat.

Now I work for myself, I discover myself needing to make extra of a aware effort to socialize with different folks. It’s not an excessive amount of of an issue for me, however it’s one thing to consider.

Whether or not or not this is a matter for you relies upon, partly, in your persona – together with how introverted or extroverted you’re, and the way a lot you wish to socialize usually. Working from coworking areas can be a great way to get a dose of social interplay and fight emotions of isolation.

4. Lack of Job Safety

This one ties in with the purpose about unpredictable earnings. Typically, being a contract author doesn’t supply the identical job safety {that a} conventional 9-5 job does.

Most nations all over the world have authorized protections in place that supply staff a level of job safety. These range from nation to nation (they’re significantly robust in Europe in contrast with the US). Nevertheless, the important thing level right here is that these protections principally apply to staff solely.

As a freelancer, employment regulation protections usually don’t apply to you. If considered one of your common shoppers abruptly stops needing your companies or their enterprise goes below, that’s too unhealthy for you – you’ll want to switch that earnings from someplace else.

This lack of stability might be powerful, particularly when you’ve got monetary commitments akin to hire, a mortgage, payments, or childcare prices to pay. It’s additionally why I’d all the time advocate having a number of totally different shoppers to diversify your earnings streams and defend your self from sudden adjustments.

5. No Worker Advantages

Workers usually obtain advantages akin to medical health insurance, paid day off, and retirement contributions from their employer. Sadly, these perks usually are not usually out there to freelance writers. That’s the worth you pay for all that freedom!

Which means you’ll have to cowl these bills your self, which might be pricey. Medical health insurance, particularly, generally is a big expense for freelancers, particularly in nations the place healthcare isn’t free. It’s essential that you simply finances for these extra prices.

And, whereas that is positively not monetary recommendation, it’s extraordinarily essential to have monetary provisions on your retirement. In any other case, previous age goes to suck – critically.

6. Having Too Few (or Too Many) Shoppers

One other main con of being a contract author is needing to strike a stability between the variety of shoppers you will have at one time. As mentioned above, as a freelancer, you’re usually not assured a gradual stream of labor, and it’s frequent on your earnings to fluctuate significantly.

Some folks select to try to fight this by doing a lot of work for one or two shoppers. Nevertheless, what occurs if considered one of these shoppers abruptly stops supplying you with work or goes out of enterprise? Dangerous issues, so far as your funds are involved.

So, as we agreed above, it’s essential to diversify your earnings streams. Nevertheless, working for plenty of totally different shoppers comes with its personal challenges, together with managing competing deadlines, expectations, and usually greater ranges of admin and problem.

It’s a tough one and requires you to strike a superb stability, which isn’t all the time straightforward. In reality, that is one thing that I typically discover most difficult about working as a contract author.

7. Extra Admin

As a self-employed freelance author, you usually must deal with extra admin than an worker. This consists of duties akin to consumer outreach, invoicing, organising and paying right into a pension, holding monitor of your bills, and managing your personal taxes.

Freelancers are normally paid gross with none deduction for tax, so it’s good to be sure that you retain adequate information to allow you to file your tax return annually. You additionally want to make sure that you truly find the money for to pay your tax invoice at any time when it falls due – don’t make that mistake!

These admin duties require you to be pretty organized. They can be time-consuming and, for many individuals, a bit overwhelming. But it surely’s essential that you simply carry on high of them to maintain your online business working easily and stop additional complications down the road.

Professionals and Cons of Freelance Writing: FAQ’s

Listed here are solutions to some steadily requested questions concerning the ups and downs of being a contract author.

Conclusion

For those who’re thinking about being a contract author, it’s essential to assume critically about whether or not it’s a profession that’s appropriate for you. There are numerous execs and cons of being a contract author, which range from individual to individual and job to job. It’s important to weigh up whether or not the professionals outweigh the cons.

For me, the advantages of freelance writing enormously outnumber the disadvantages. However, after all, everyone’s totally different. Both method, I hope this submit helped make your resolution slightly bit simpler.