In the past, I’ve written about some of the misconceptions about freelance writing that some people may have, but those discussions were from the perspective of someone who was considering freelancing as a career. For example, some people think that being your own boss is an absolute dream or that you only work when you want to work. The actual business of freelancing is far more complex than that.
And, following a similar line of thought, there are many common misconceptions about freelance writing from the client’s point of view. Let’s debunk some of these myths.
Hourly Rates Are The Same As Employees
If you have an in-house writer at your company that handles all of your corporate communications, blogging, and press releases, you may pay this person a certain hourly wage. However, this hourly wage will not directly translate to the hourly rate of a freelancer, largely because of non-billable hours and other factors. You have to realize that the “true cost” of employee goes beyond the hourly wage to include utilities, rent, and equipment, as well as the support of other staff for human resources, accounting, marketing, and the rest of it.
I Can’t Afford to Hire a Freelance Writer
On the other side of the same coin, some people may assume that hiring an outsourced worker for these types of projects can be very expensive. They assume that they don’t have the budget to pay a professional to write a press release or sales letter for them, so they take the task upon themselves instead. However, if you are not experienced in these matters yourself, you may find that your end product is not going to be as good.
Great examples of this can be found in related industries. You could design your own website, but you may end up spending countless hours trying to figure out how to do it and, even when you do, it won’t look the best. Instead, it makes far more sense to hire someone who designs websites for a living, as you’ll get a better product and you’ll get it more quickly. Freelance writing works much the same way. You can afford it; you just have to allocate your budget accordingly.
They Don’t Charge Sales Tax
Whenever you hire any professional to perform a service for you, you probably expect to be charged sales tax. This could be a lawyer, a plumber or a house cleaner. When you hire a freelance writer, the relationship is much the same. There are some sales tax complexities, given the nature of working over the Internet. Since I am registered in Canada and operate solely in Canada, for instance, I don’t charge Canadian sales tax to my American customers.
Freelancers Are Lazy and Unemployable
There is a stereotypical image of a freelancer sleeping in, only to slowly crawl over to his computer to work in his pajamas. While I’m sure there are some folks who are like that, the rest of us take our business just as seriously as someone who sets up a brick-and-mortar shop. We chose to be freelancers and not because we couldn’t find a more traditional job elsewhere.
Working with a Larger Company Is Always Better
Yes, you may benefit from working with a larger company under some circumstances, but there are also some pitfalls that you may want to avoid too. When you work with a larger company for your writing and editing needs, you may become “just another client” and you could easily get lost in the mix. As a freelance writer, I am a company of one, so I can only take on so many clients at a time. What this means is that you can get far more personal attention, as we’ll work together every step of the way.
I Should Always Hire Local
When you are looking to hire an employee to work at your office, it makes perfect sense that you’d be looking for someone local. You can’t expect them to commute from New York to Seattle each day. For some projects where more in-person meetings are required or more local knowledge is valued, then this sort of arrangement makes more sense.
However, given the vastness of the Internet, there’s nothing stopping you from hiring a freelancer from somewhere else. You’ll still want to have the same kinds of considerations in mind — strong language skills, professional demeanor, and so on — but hiring a remote worker is easier than you may think.
They’re Not Worth It
This goes back to the earlier point about affordability. Freelance writing is a profession that should be approached the same way that you would approach a graphic designer, photographer or app developer. While it may be possible for you to take on some of these projects yourself, it is oftentimes a far more prudent choice to outsource these tasks to a professional with the skills, talents and expertise to do a fantastic job for you.
I could have tried formatting Beyond the Margins myself for Createspace, but I hired a professional because he already knew what he was doing, could do it well, and could do it far more quickly than I ever could. The same is true for the book cover, just as it was true for my business card design. And they were all worth every penny.
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