There are many people out there who are considering a career in freelancing, but they are deterred by the possibility of an immediate pay cut. It’s true that when you first start out, there is a distinct possibility that you’ll be making less money than you were at your previous job. I definitely recognize that a freelance career isn’t for everyone, but there are benefits that extend beyond the potential for making more money in the long run.
Playing with Editorial Samples
Now, I’m only speaking from my personal experience as a freelance writer working primarily from home, but most of these points should still apply to freelance professionals who work in other fields. This isn’t one of those points.
For my part, one of the better perks to working as a freelance technology writer is that I cam provided with a variety of review samples. I get to use new smartphones, tablets, cameras and other consumer electronics all the time. You might remember when I wrote about how product reviews work and how I don’t get to keep most of the products I review, but it does mean that I have some “new toys” in the office on a fairly regular basis. If you write in a different niche, you may get other relevant editorial samples or invitations to relevant events too.
Pursuing Personal Interests
When you work for someone else, you generally have to stick to the projects that are assigned to you. While it is not exactly true that I only do what I want to do, freelancing does allow me to be somewhat selective in the projects (and clients) that I do choose to take. For instance, I never had any formal training when it came to electronics or gadgets, but here I am writing about smartphones and tablets. And it is through this pursuit of personal interests that I have been able to develop a professional expertise.
When you freelance, you have the freedom to “change gears.” A studio photographer may try his hand at wedding photography. A blog theme designer may try coding Android applications. It’s really up to you.
Capitalizing on Time Freedom
This is a big one. You don’t need to request vacation days and wait for approval from a higher-up. While you can’t just pick up and go on holiday–you need to prepare for it ahead of time–freelancers do have the relative time freedom to create their own schedules. You’re not bound to conventional office hours if that’s not when you are at your best or if other responsibilities in your life happen to pop up.
A Complete Picture
Money is important. It is positively integral to our functioning in the modern world and I don’t want to discount the value of making more money at your job. That said, money isn’t everything. There are many factors that go into having satisfying work and freelancing can address several of these factors. You have autonomy and you are challenged with something new every day. And that’s part of what makes this kind of work worthwhile.
That first point is one of the main reasons a lot of people try to get into writing about tech, I think. The problem in many cases is that they want to do it for the gadgets but their writing and reviewing style isn’t up to scratch. Of course, for those that are good writers and reviewers it’s a brilliant fringe benefit!
And a lot of people assume that companies will instantly shower them with new gadgets that they can keep, but that’s simply not the case.
One of things I love about being a district tech support is that I am afforded the opportunity to test all of our new technology. Perfect example are the Kindle Fire and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tab 2. I get to keep mine a lot longer than you do though.
I would think that the companies that say keep it are the ones that expect a better review, or thinking that you will give them a better review based on the bribe of keeping the product.