Is freelancing the way to go? 3 truths you need you know
Digital nomad. It’s a hip, almost whimsical term that conjures up some idealistic images.
In reality, a digital nomad (or freelancer or gig worker) could be be anyone. Yes, it might be the lone adventurer who travels the world with nothing but a backpack and a laptop.
But it’s also the work-at-home parent who left the rat race to spend time with family, the ambitious high school student trying to start their own business, and the senior executive-turned-consultant who wasn’t quite ready to retire. It’s any of these people and more. But is it you?
The allure of the cool, lackadaisical title can certainly be tempting. However, anyone thinking of entering the world of freelancing needs to know what they’re getting themselves into. Getting a foot up in the gig economy can involve a lot of hard work. And even once you’ve secured a decent client base, you still need to keep excelling in order to secure your next paycheck.
While there are many outlets that share tips and tricks, there are few that actually state the reality of gig work. We’re about to embark on the cold, hard truth of the freelancing lifestyle and help you decide if it’s right for you. Here are three things you should know before jumping in!
1. Getting started requires true grit
When you apply for a full-time job with a company, they spend time and resources training you, and even pay you for the time spent. With freelancing, things are different. The onus is on you to train yourself in your chosen skill and to build up a reputation.
There’s no one to hold your hand and show you the ropes, and you’re left to figure it out for yourself. Sure, there are countless blog posts, guides, and e-books promising to show you the way, but the reality is, no one is going to hand you gigs on a platter.
You’re going to have to find clients, impress them enough to hire you for a job, and then dazzle them even more so they’ll give you additional work or a great testimonial. Elna Cain is now a successful freelance writer, but has described how she got paid $1.62 for her first content mill gig, and never did manage land any work with sites like Upwork or Guru.
If you’re not prepared to take a lot of rejection, do a few projects for less money than you’d like (or even for free), and to deal with some fierce (but hopefully constructive) criticism, then this might not be the career for you. On the other hand, if you’re ready to market yourself, get as much experience as you can, and continuously improve based on feedback, then you’re all set.
2. You won’t really be your own boss
One of the great allures of leaving a full-time job is the day you get to wave goodbye to your boss and to never have to take orders from anyone again. However, after completing your first gig as a freelancer, you’ll realize you just traded in your old boss for a new one.
What’s more, if you have multiple gigs on the go, you now have more than one boss to please.
A study by BrightLocal found that the average number of clients for freelance SEO experts in 2016 was 12! As a gig worker, you’ll more than likely answer to multiple people, all of whom expect different things from you, often all at the same time.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. Being a freelancer typically gives you a more level playing field, so that you work with clients rather than for them. If you can get your head around this mindset and look at every new gig as a collaboration, then you’ll feel that you’ve indeed escaped the boss-subordinate relationship.
3. Stability is just not an option
When you’re working in a salaried position, it’s easy to take that regular paycheck for granted. And it doesn’t end there. When you add in paid vacation time, stat holidays, a benefits package, and a pension plan, the value of that job becomes a lot higher.
Once you leave to become a full time member of the gig economy, these are the things that you may quickly start to miss. If you go on vacation and don’t work, you simply don’t get paid. You’ll have to set up your own health insurance and pension payments, and figure out your own taxes.
To add to this, you also have the uncertainty of paychecks and whether you’ll even have any work in the following month. With contracts typically ending after a specific period, or clients being able to end them at short notice, you literally might not know where your next paycheck is coming from. And yes, some clients actually disappear without paying, even after the work has been completed.
Of course, none of this is unmanageable, but it’s something you have to consider before jumping in feet first.
In order to be successful in freelancing, you need to be incredibly organized, dedicated to your trade, and to be okay with some instability in your life. If you’ve read all of this, and you’re still dying to give it a go, there is nothing stopping you!
