Leaving The Treadmill: The Five Biggest Advantages of Freelance Writing

Writers are needed everywhere. It is one of the most ubiquitous professions of the world. Be it newspapers, magazines, comic books, websites, blogs – they all require writers. You can become a writer in two ways. One – Take up a full-time job in an office of your town that is recruiting writers. Yes, this will be a day job. Two – Offer your writing services to different clients and charge on per project basis. This is known as freelance writing. Both of these options have their pros and cons and it is advisable to analyze them carefully before deciding which path you wish to choose. Discussing of all such details won’t be possible in a single article. Here I will focus on the biggest and most obvious, yet sometimes misunderstood advantages of freelance writing.

You are your own boss

Image courtesy – Wavebreakmedia of Depositphotos.com

This is the biggest advantage of freelance writing and deserves to be mentioned first in the list. Freelancing means freedom. There will be no boss to question you why were you late on a particular day or why did you take a leave without permission. You can adjust your working hours. Some people work best early in the mornings. Others are night owls. Freelancing will allow you to choose your own timings, work when you work best. Also, you can do freelance writing from any place you want provided it has a computer and an Internet connection. Many people do it while travelling the world.

Do what you love, love what you do

Image courtesy – Yurizap of Depositphotos.com There is much debate amongst experts on whether you should choose a career in a niche which you love or you should grab a well-paying job that is being offered to you from a different niche. Both sides have their proponents. No matter on which issues they disagree, but both sides agree that if you are able to make a decent money in something that you love, you must take it. So if writing is your passion, freelance writing allows you the opportunity to do something that you love and earn money from it. Besides unlike other mundane professions like of call center employees and receptionists, writing lets you continue your education even after college. As a freelance writer you will have some flexibility in choosing the topics on which you want to write and hence you can choose the ones which interest you the most and the research that you will do for the articles will impart you with a lot of knowledge. There is no guarantee that you will enjoy every moment of your work, but choosing a career in something that you love will make life easier.

Make as much money as you want

Image courtesy – Nikoli Sorokin of Depositphotos.com

Spend some time in business school and you will learn that it is impossible to become a millionaire by working in a 9 to 5 job. Why? Because your day job will pay you the same amount no matter how hard you work. That’s a constraint on your earning capabilities. Yes, there are some offices which provide incentives and things like that but if you are a writer on a full-time job, there will be hardly any incentives. On the other hand, in case of freelancing the more you work the more you will earn. It is completely in your hands how much money you make. Also, most freelance writers do entrepreneurial activities on the side such as writing ebooks, tutoring online, selling video courses, etc. This lets them earn even when they are asleep. In addition, you may check top rated paper writing services and send your CV. Such companies usually offer high payment for freelancers.

You can choose your Clients

Image courtesy – Monkey Business of Depositphotos.com If a client is too demanding, if he needs ten revisions before he finalizes an article and never pays you on time you can always walk out. You can stop working with him at any time. Unlike a day job, you are not bound under any terms and conditions imposed by your employer such as serving a notice period, etc. Similarly if you get a nice client who is always humble and courteous to you, who is satisfied with your work and never creates a fuss on payment you may want to keep him for life by giving him some discount and being extra careful with his projects. Of course you can’t choose the people you want to work with in a full-time job.

You are running your own business

Image courtesy – Kirill Kedrinskiy of Depositphotos.com

This is a very important factor. When you are working for a company your writing is helping that company grow and cherish. Whatever hard work, whatever ideas, whatever intense research has gone into your writing will only help that company prosper. You will just be paid a fixed amount and that’s it. On the other hand if you are a freelance writer then most probably your “office” is your blog. Whatever content you will write for your blog will go on in making your blog more and more popular and hence will help you build your own business. Starting a business and then seeing it develop and cherish is like planting a tree and then seeing it grow tall and large. No other emotion can match this feeling. So that’s all for now. Have you ever tried freelance writing? What are your personal biggest advantages? Let me know in the comments below.

About the Author: Laxman Papineni is an experienced business development guy, Entrepreneur and presently co-founder at Sponsored Giveaways - a marketplace that connects potential advertisers with targeted bloggers to promote products trough giveaways. Bloggers make money and advertisers build buzz. You can catch him on Facebook or Twitter

(dpe)