Freelancing

One of the finest self-employment ideas ever thought of is the one involving freelance work. There is nothing like being your own boss and setting your own hours. There are perks in self-employment and there are some not so good perks about being in the independent business of freelance writing.

What’s Good About Business Freelancing?

Being a business writer requires you to think like a business owner. It would be better to treat each decision like a business decision. You must ask yourself a few questions. One would be if the client is good for your freelance writing business. The other would be to ask yourself if the pay is what you are looking for.

The versatility of work schedule is a great benefit of treating freelance writing as a business. This creates chances to have more time with the family. In addition to that, you could also work more efficient hours and take breaks at any time you like. Best of all, you have no geographic restrictions to a certain spot. You have access to potential clientele the world over.

What’s Bad About Business Freelancing?

Self – discipline is always needed when it comes to freelance writing. It is also needed when it comes to venturing into freelance writing as a business. Without self – discipline, nothing would work for you. Freelancing is a big responsibility. There is no one to hide behind if something goes wrong. Since you are partly boss of the hours, the organization and when the work will be finished, you can’t blame anything on office politics. There are no villainous bosses or co – workers to point the finger at if you don’t complete any assignment by the deadline.

Freelancing also doesn’t have great financial security. There is a lack of income security and job security. Trying to deal with the threat of not having great financial security can be matched with going from check to check. The only thing about working a day job is the steadiness of income generated. With being a freelance writer and running a writing business, income has more of a potential to become uneven.

Freelancers also do not have health benefits. Many day jobs have health benefits for their employees just in case of work – related injuries or illness. Freelancing means being semi boss and watching your own back. So if you get sick or hurt, the responsibility falls on your shoulders.

Freelancers also have a huge disadvantage when it comes to pensions and full-time employee rights. Part of the perks of working certain day jobs is working towards receiving a pension. Since freelancing falls solely on you, there are no other employees. So there isn’t any need for employee rights under federal and state laws.

Writing is an art similar to painting and sculpturing. The differences between doing those arts and freelancing writing is a writer does not own his/her work. A sketch artist usually signs his/her work at the end. A freelance writer usually acts as a ghost writer or some other specialized writer who agrees to give up copyright at the expense of being paid and published by the clientele.

Setting Your Work Rates

Before you decide on your charging rates, you should look at how much experience you have as a writer. Usually freelancers with more experience ask more for their work. Likewise, specialized knowledge in a specific field, an extensive portfolio and good clientele referrals should be well-thought-out. The freelancers who are just beginning get less money because of their lack of experience in the writing field. In addition to that, accounting, collections and marketing must be considered.

The goal of any business is to earn money. Setting freelance writing rates is no different. When you set your own rates, it is important to remember that fees should cover the expenses. A plan should also be implemented for your writing business to earn a profit after all the expenses are paid.

Product Pricing

For a writer, experience is very important.  Product pricing is usually based around it. The more experienced a writer is, the more a writer can ask for. The most experienced writers can ask for dollars per word. The least experienced writers can ask for cents per word. In addition to that, the length of the task can also be a deciding factor. Larger writing gigs usually bring in more money and press to the writer.

Equipment and Tools

Not one writer is free from mistake – making. For the writers who make mistakes, it is seen in print. Sloppy writing with spelling and grammatical mistakes can debase a writer. Proof reading and a few tools can eliminate a few mistakes which can enhance any writer. These tools are:

• Spellchecker
• Online Thesaurus
• Online Dictionary

Writers usually use Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. Some writers still favor pen or pencil and notepad to jot down notes.

Sources:

http://www.themanager.org/Resources/Freelancer.htm