Every year, more and more people choose to work for themselves and try new methods of earning a living. According to the New Yorker, the network model replaces the organization model. Jobs become more temporary and informal, which is good because more people get engaged in entrepreneurship. This article was writing by team of authors Writers-House.com.
Freelance writing is one of the methods that allow people to be their own bosses. While the economy evolves, everyone can try new approaches and make a living in a new way. In this article, we are going to consider a few things which are important for every freelancer:
- Where to find jobs online
- What background you should have
- Strong and weak sides of personality
- How to choose a company
- Deadlines
- Reasonable and unreasonable demands
- Etiquette
We hope that this article will help you understand what it is to be a writer, and what opportunities such a career offers.
Good Time to Enter Freelancing
Modern people have countless work opportunities and can choose from among the thousands of jobs that make you independent. Thanks to the internet, companies contact their potential customers directly, and workers can easily find an employer. The internet helps balance supply and demand.
In this article, we are going to talk about freelance writing. Although there are many other freelance jobs, some facts about freelance writing apply to other types of freelancing as well.
Millennials Are Switching Jobs
Millennials are a generation characterized as less loyal to employers and companies. They are searching for the innovative working environment. According to Gallup, 21% of millennials changed their jobs in 2016, and 60% stated that they are searching for new job opportunities. These numbers indicate both preferences of this generation and their adaptation to the new conditions. Such a tendency makes freelance writing an attractive opportunity to build a career regardless of the current job.
Freelance: What Is It?
This term appeared during the Middle Ages and was used when talking about a warrior who could be hired and so had a “free lance.” Such mercenaries didn’t have a master, they just worked with different clients for themselves. Thus, there’s no surprise that this term evokes so many romantic associations even now.
From the legal point, freelancers are owners of their own business. It’s a sort of one-man business based on multiple contracts with various clients. Even if a freelancer doesn’t own a business formally, the nature of freelancing remains the same.
Since a freelancer has only one employee (who is also an employer), there is no paperwork associated with human resources. In addition, such freelancers as copywriters don’t need any resources, converting their knowledge directly into money.
According to the data of the Freelancers Union, 34% of the American workforce, which is 53 million people, described themselves as self-employed in 2014. Moreover, experts expect a 50% increase of such a number by 2020.
Taxes
In the context of taxes, freelancers are considered independent contractors. Thus, freelancers should pay taxes as follows:
- They have to make estimated quarterly tax payments. Unlike taxes for normal employees, your taxes are not deducted from the paycheck, so you need to be your own accountant and pay taxes every three months. However, if you forget and do it at the end of the year, the penalty shouldn’t be too severe.
- You also have to pay an additional 6.5%, which is a self-employment tax. If you had an employer, such a tax would be equal to 13%.
- Freelancers must fill out a 1040-MISC form. This tax form is necessary for all independent contractors.
- Your clients must fill out the W-9 form, providing information on the type of work and the amount of payment.
These are just basic facts about taxes. This article won’t consider this issue in more details, however, there is a lot of information available online, so we suggest getting acquainted with all the rules that apply to freelancers.
Another important thing for every freelancer is a proper time management. If you have a regular job (“9-to-5”), your employer manages your time for you. If you’re a freelancer, the situation changes. For example, you can wake up later, take breaks whenever you want, and continue to work at night.
Such a flexibility of schedule has both positive and negative sides. On one hand, nobody tells you when you should or shouldn’t work. On the other hand, nobody lets you know when you need to work in order to complete all the tasks on time. When you work for yourself, nobody can fire you for not working. Instead, you will just lose money.
Freelancing or Publishing?
Becoming a freelance writer, you must properly assess your writing capacities. In addition, you should understand what kind of writing is the most beneficial for you. For example, it’s hard to earn money writing poetry or fiction, unless you’re a talented and experienced fiction author who has a good agent. You can also submit your articles or short stories to magazines and get paid in case they agree to publish them. This kind of writing job is different from contracts that require you to follow the requirements of a certain client.
Even if you send your poetry to magazines and get paid for it, this is a sort of freelancing. However, this is a somewhat different kind of job, so let’s make a distinction between publishing and freelancing itself.
- Content
Publishing is focused on expressing the author’s ideas, while freelancing implies following the instructions of a certain client. - Attribution
Publishing involves getting byline credit, and the author gets copyright after publication. Freelance writers usually don’t possess copyright because all rights to their content go to the client. - Pay Schedule
When writing for magazines, sometimes you may need to wait for several months until they respond to your submission. Working as a freelance writer, you have a stable flow of work, getting paid weekly, immediately, or biweekly. - Genres
Writers who publish their works choose their genre. It may be fiction, poetry, essays, or specific requests from some magazines. As for the freelance writers, they are usually engaged in blogging, journalism, essays, and any other types of orders from clients. - Earning Potential
In the case of publishing, it’s rather low, unless you have a great experience and reputation. Unlike this kind of writing, freelance writing is always in a great demand.
We are going to use the term “freelance writing” when referring to writing that meets someone else’s demands, not creative writing aimed at fulfilling the writer’s literary ambitions. Of course, both types of writing can be called freelance writing, however, this distinction will help us clearly indicate the focus of this article.
Strong and Weak Sides of a Writer
When you’re a freelance writer, you can figure out what are your strong and weak sides. For example:
- If you’re perfectly familiar with social media and stay up-to-date with all the current cultural trends, blogging may be a perfect choice. There are many websites that need good content for their blogs. You can become a blogger on a regular basis if you don’t have problems with following the given instructions.
- If you used to write good term papers in college, you can make academic writing your job. You can also work as a tutor and help students who don’t have enough time or knowledge to cope with difficult assignments. In this case, you also must be able to provide in-depth research.
- If you’re a good writer but have no idea of what to write about, consider ghostwriting. There are many people who want to write and publish their memoirs, a novel, or another book but don’t have the necessary writing skills. They are usually looking for a professional writer who can help them put their ideas on paper.
The Importance of Deadlines
As we have already said above, the main challenge for any freelancer is managing time. Since there’s no one who would tell you what to do, you must care about getting everything done on time and meeting deadlines.
Your reputation and name have a big value. Your clients must see that they can trust you, otherwise, your business will close down in no time.
Uber: a Case Study
Uber is a good example of how important reliability is. Before Uber appeared on the market, the only way to get a taxi was to call some company or look for a driver on the street. Taxicabs became a synonym of low reliability, especially during a busy time, when there’s no guarantee of a cab showing up at all.
Uber completely changed the situation on the market and introduced new standards of service. A monopoly of taxicabs was destroyed at the very moment when a new option appeared. People started using Uber because they could see the car and evaluate the quality of service. Uber’s reliability is the only reason why this app disrupted the industry.
Meet Deadlines, Be Trusted
When accepting a contract, a freelance writer is responsible for meeting the client’s specifications, including a certain deadline. Just as professors in college, clients don’t want you to submit your work when it’s too late. The difference is that in this case, you won’t get a bad grade — you’ll just lose money.
Sometimes, you can talk to a client and ask for an extension, however, it’s possible only if you already have a good reputation and this client has worked with you before with no such incidents. Most often, deadlines cannot be changed, and most clients are very sensitive about this issue.
When you miss your deadlines, clients understand that you’re not reliable. They can quickly find somebody else for their order, and your professional reputation will be damaged. Thus, if you don’t want to feel like a taxicab that was replaced by Uber, you must understand the importance of accountability and value your customers’ time.
Where to Find Jobs
There are companies that help clients find freelance writers. For example, there is Writers-House.com, as well as many platforms like Upwork (previously known as Elance and Odesk). According to the Upwork website, the scope of services includes web and mobile development, content writing, admin help, social media marketing, graphic design, SEO, and other types of projects.
If you decide to work on such a website, you have to create your profile and provide all the necessary information about you as a writer, including special skills and the desired compensation. After this, you can browse the platform, looking for new projects and clients. Writers need to place bids, and customers can choose a freelancer with the lowest bid or the best experience.
There are many websites where you can search for clients, and most of them require you to create a profile. You can also use your own methods. For example, you can post your ads on Craigslist, or even post them in other cities, as your location doesn’t matter when you work as a freelancer.
Freelance Work and Platform Work
Platforms don’t employ. Platforms are just mediators that help you find a client or a platform itself may be your client. In return, they get a certain percentage of the money that you earn. For example, Upwork takes fees for transactions. However, this platform also provides securities, building a trustful environment. For example, the company holds your client’s cost while you’re working on a project.
You can also try to search for clients yourself, but such a choice has its considerable drawbacks.
- Credibility. Most clients, especially those who are not going to meet you personally are more inclined towards working with a trusted middleman instead of relying on a writer’s trustworthiness. Platforms also protect writers from frauds and perform some important functions, such as customer service.
- Workflow. Most writers don’t know enough people who can become their clients. Platforms always have a lot of work for freelancers so that every one of them can make a living. Most people who are interested in custom writing search for freelance writers on platforms, and you should take it into account.
How to Choose a Company that Hires Freelancers
When you’re a freelance writer looking for a job, it’s important to choose a right company that will provide you with clients, unless you want to try doing it yourself. The main thing is to find a reliable and legitimate company and not to fall for a scam.
- Think of who the marketing strategy is primarily aimed at, writers or clients?
- Make sure to choose a company based in the U.S., or at least in another English-speaking country.
- Are the prices high enough to satisfy your demands?
- Is the content on their website engaging? Does it explain what the company is doing?
Let’s talk about these four important questions. First of all, legitimate services are interested in attracting new clients more than on searching for writers. Good companies are located in the U.S. because they care about copyright and work with native speakers. If the pay grades seem to be too low, it means that this company provides services of a low quality and so is not trustworthy.
Some companies put a lot of effort into attracting writers. If you see that a company is more concerned about getting more writers than clients, it usually means that you’re dealing with scammers. According to the Harvard Business Review, legitimate companies aim their value proposition towards attracting customers. If a company is mostly focused on attracting writers, it means that delivering services isn’t its primary agenda. Such a company is, probably, just trying to play you.
It’s also important to make sure the chosen company is based in the U.S., UK, or another English-speaking country with an effective legal system. Some companies claim that they’re located in the U.S., while in fact, they are based in some developing country in Asia or Eastern Europe. It’s easy to check the real location of a company, so don’t forget to do it.
A company’s website is the first thing you must familiarize yourself with. The website reflects the level of professionalism. For example, there are companies that own several websites with similar generic names. In this case, you’re probably dealing with scammers. You need to work only with credible websites.
In addition, if you contact representatives and they answer in broken English, it means that the company isn’t based in the U.S. or outsources its support representatives from third-world countries. Therefore, such a company doesn’t care about the quality of its services and is not reliable.
Finally, you need to compare average pay grades with the prices of the chosen company. If the pay grade looks too low for an American specialist, it means that such a company isn’t located in the U.S. or isn’t fair to its writers.
Some companies post their payouts on websites, and you can see that orders cost $6-$45 per page, which is a huge difference that cannot be explained if it’s a legitimate business. Such companies usually work with non-American writers and don’t care about the quality of their papers.
Of course, not all companies that work with foreign writers are bad. For examples, there are platforms like Upwork with many writers from India who are willing to work for less money than any American writer would agree. Despite the low price, such writers sometimes are qualified and do a good job, which is proved by their high ratings.
Client Etiquette
Communication skills are of special importance for any freelance writer. You also must embrace the fact that your clients may not have such skills. Indeed, people who have great communication skills, and writing skills in particular, usually don’t need to order writing services online. Thus, you need to be patient and always try to understand the situation.
Sometimes you may deal with clients who talk to you in a too informal manner. You don’t need to respond the same way, because your reputation is based on your level of professionalism. You must make a good impression when writing as well as when talking.
There are also many clients who have unreasonable demands. If you are planning to build a career in freelancing, you need to get used to such clients. You must be able to explain what demands are reasonable or not and why. The truth is, even clients who want you to do impossible are manageable. You just need to do your best and present a good work. In this case, you will have solid arguments when arguing with them.
The most important thing is to act like a professional, no matter how your clients act. You also need to provide good papers to feel confident when talking to clients with unrealistic expectations. If your client is rude, you don’t need to express aggression, instead, you can show a good example, demonstrating what proper communication is.
Unreasonable clients can be classified into four major categories:
- Clients whose demands change with time so they request the content which is completely different from their initial instructions. In this case, you can try to cooperate, if possible. You also need to clearly indicate that you are responsible for fulfilling the original instructions only.
- Clients who want their paper to be done sooner than their initial deadlines. Tell them that it’s not possible or try to cooperate for an additional fee.
- Clients who have unreasonable expectations about the work as a whole. Let them understand what are your capabilities, and what is impossible to do.
- Clients who don’t provide the necessary materials on time. Keep working as you can if there’s no response from your client.
When working with unreasonable clients, the main thing is to be honest. You need to honestly explain what you can do and what is impossible. Most often, clients respect this. However, if a client doesn’t agree, maybe he or she just doesn’t know what they want, so it’s better for both of you not to work together and to move on.
Personal Experience
The author of this article has good experience in freelance writing and believes that there are four main ingredients of your success as a writer:
- Time management
- A balance between work and play
- Professional relationships
- Your will to improve your writing skills
There is a reason why time management is so emphasized. Freelance writers don’t have any bosses who would plan their work and suggest schedules. People who work for somebody need to get to work and complete their tasks on time, otherwise, they’ll get fired. The phrase “on time” has nothing to do with freelance writers. They only have deadlines, and meeting the deadlines is the most important thing.
Professional relationships are all about your reputation. Your clients must see you as a reliable and trustful professional. If they see that you’re indeed reliable, they will return to you and make new orders. They will recommend you to their friends. If you’re just making your first steps on the way to a freelance career, it may take some time to find enough clients, and recommendations will help you.
The Life of a Writer
You also should understand that freelance writing is different from other jobs because writers spend almost all their time by themselves. They are not surrounded by co-workers, and their work routine lacks the element of socialization. Sometimes, you may need to take breaks in order to socialize and to be able to stay focused.
You also need to manage your time in order to maintain relationships with your friends. Fortunately, freelance writing implies the most flexible schedule possible so you can make your living without sacrificing relationships and other things that make you happy.
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