There are many different reasons why someone would choose to embark in a career in freelance writing in the first place. Some people are drawn to the relative time freedom that it can afford. Others may be drawn to the sense of ownership that comes with running your own business. Others still may see freelancing as an intermediary step between losing one job and finding another.
The Easy Road?
Whatever the case, it is very common for people to approach freelancing with the expectation that it represents the easy road. They think that waking up at noon and working in your pajamas is the easiest job in the world. And then, it hits them: this is a real business. This is a real job. And doing the freelance thing isn’t actually any easier than holding a conventional job. In fact, in some respects, it can be quite a bit more challenging. Perhaps that was part of the appeal in the first place.
Now that I’ve been freelancing full time for a few years, I’ve also come to another realization. When I first started, I understood that I would have hurdles to overcome and I would have goals to set (and achieve). At the same time, I understood that things would likely get easier over time, because the hardest part is getting started. As with anything else, the early stages are the most trying.
Changing Gears on the Go
That may be true, in part, but it is also very misleading. The truth of the matter is that freelancing doesn’t necessarily get any “easier” the longer you do it. Yes, you may have a better understanding of how to deal with difficult clients, how to attract new customers, and how to manage your finances, but you will face a whole new set of challenges each and every day. The job doesn’t get easier, per se; rather, it evolves with time.
It is not uncommon for me to still struggle with a lack of motivation from time to time. It’s also easy to struggle with the lack of in-person interactions that you would normally have with co-workers. And making your income goals each month can still be quite challenging, especially when outside factors are working against you in some form. You can get into a groove, to be sure, and some aspects will be easier, but others will not.
What’s Your End Game?
That’s where another big question arises for all the freelancers in the audience, whether you’re a freelance writer, freelance coder, or freelance designer: is freelancing really your endgame? To some people, the goal is to own and run their own business and this business happens to be in the realm of freelancing. The genres they approach and the clients they gain may shift over time, but the core business remains largely the same. Income can improve with adjusted rates and greater efficiency, but the work remains mostly similar.
For others, freelancing will ultimately become an intermediary toward a greater goal. That’s why it may be worthwhile to consider shifting from services to products. Writing books and e-books, for instance, may be a better way to generate passive income than writing blog posts for clients at a set pay rate. This is a personal decision and, at the same time, you have to realize that writing, marketing, and selling e-books probably isn’t any easier than writing for someone else.
And that’s really the big take-home lesson: don’t expect life — whether it be in the personal realm or the professional realm — to get any easier. Nor should it. If life were easy, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting and fulfilling.
I use to get work through many freelancing websites since 1997. But now, the market is very saturated.
I love the quotes about life. I agree. If life was easy would we ever realize when it was good.
I do not agree with your last paragraph which I paraphase as “don’t expect life to get any easier”.
For people who have worked a big chunk of their lives (30 – 40 years), they deserve to take a break, smell the roses, enjoy life and enjoy their grandchildren.
These people have contributed to their repsective socities (in one way or another) and they have earned the right to at least expect life to get easier when they retire.
Well, let me say that I will be 51 in December and have been working since I was 14 years old. That means that I have been working 37 years, and I don’t think I could stop to smell the roses. I don’t think I’ve earned anything really. As Sam Elliot says in Road House, “I will have plenty of time to rest when I’m dead.”
Of the time I have been working I have also been getting continuing education from High School to College and the certifications I need to take to keep up to date in the computer field.
If I don’t continue to work hard, no it doesn’t get easier because the technology changes and I need to learn it to keep up, I will rot on the vine. My kids will not have a better life than I have and I will not have fulfilled my obligation to them as a father.
Is there an official “retirement age” in America? And what is the actual retirement age for most people (in middle class)?
Is your family situation (50s with young children)the norm or the exception?
The conventional thing to do in Canada and the US is to retire at 65, but people retire both earlier and later than that.
I don’t think Ray’s family situation is “the norm,” but it’s not at all uncommon. More and more people are having kids later in their lives compared to previous generations.
The retirement age in the US is between 62-67 depending on whether you want a full SS check or not.
True, my family situation is not the “norm”, but as Michael points out, many people are having children later in life. I know at least 5 people that I work with or see on a weekly basis that are in their late 40’s with younger spouses and young children. In this world with both mates working, a family is pushed back until they are in a place that they enjoy the family life. While not the best at times, that is way it is moving.
There’s no doubt that freelancing is a grind. But I think it also teaches you more about people than say, working in a protected corporate environment would.