The Freelancing Life

This is a guest post from Julie-Ann Amos.

There is a saying that goes: A group of people that numbers in the millions, upon hearing the word ’9 to 5′, develop grotesque facial tics. We call them freelancers.

Balance is the name of the game with a freelance career. Discipline will always be necessary as will the ability to manage burnout. There are many resources for freelancers to help them learn handy ways to operate their business since many of these individuals work from home. Anyone who has been in the profession for any length of time has a story about when it can be extremely difficult to separate the two; especially for those individuals that have small children about. Still, there are few who can manage to leave the freelance world once they have worked it.

Learning From Freelancing

The experience of wading into freelance writing will always be as different as the person venturing forth. Projects often start small and evolve into larger more complicated assignments as a person’s comfort level evolves. There are those that prefer to write about a single subject, while others write about a vast array of subjects. Some even specialize in a certain type of writing that is especially useful on websites or in research magazines. Nonetheless, freelance writing is a vocation where one can expect to pick up new bits and pieces of information at every turn that makes them better at their craft.

Shaping Your Own Career

With freelance writing, an individual always has the opportunity to take their career as far as they see fit. While some prefer to bid for work through Guru.com and Elance and sit at the keyboard, others take their talents and experience to start a mini empire by bidding multiple projects and keeping a small army of writers to get the job done.

I’d like to think I’m an example of success in this area – type Julie-Ann Amos into Google and you’ll see some 62,000 hits that are virtually all work-related. My site, Exquisite Writing, is one place clients come to get work, which is then allocated fairly amongst my writing team, without competition. Writers can earn a decent living without having to spend time bidding or chasing clients, or competing with each other. Individuals and companies looking for website content, feature or keyword articles, instructional manuals or ebooks or a combination thereof can find just what they need in one spot.

Dealing With Competition

The fact that there are a vast number of freelance writers all competing against each other for work can be rather intimidating at times. However, this is just one aspect of the job that eventually becomes second nature to the routine. For the most part, freelancers are good at riding the wave and going with the flow. Though consistency is a necessary facet, there are times when not only rates fluctuate but the flow of work rises and falls as well. For the average individual who does a forty hour work week, this could seem very nervewracking; yet the freelancer with experience will barely raise an eyebrow.

Whether one decides to venture into freelance writing as a career or as a hobby, the gift of being able to string words together to offer information to others remains a valuable asset. Though times, formats, writing styles and mediums change, the written word will always be in demand.

Julie-Ann Amos runs an international copywriting agency, Exquisite Writing, based in the UK. Julie-Ann has written for a wide range of publications and has 14 books in print.

Tagged as: freelance writing, writing

Article by Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall has been mentoring writers here at Get Paid To Write Online since 2005 to help them improve and build sustainable and successful writing careers. Check me out on sharonhh.com. Feel free to connect with me online on Google+.

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