Ali Hale has jumped in with this post explaining the virtues of becoming a freelancer as an in-between step to become a full on entrepreneur. Since this is the exact path she is walking now, Ali in a great position to help explain what it is like.
If you’re feeling the fear regarding quitting your job to start up a business because you’re worried about the financial strain, freelancing as a cash flow source is a great idea. Here’s what Ali has to say about it…
Entrepreneurship. Attractive, enticing … and risky. Let’s face it, however attractive the idea of quitting your day job to start your business is, it might just not be a realistic option. Maybe you have a family – or an expensive gadget habit – to support. Maybe you’re not convinced that your dreams can stand up to reality.
The problem is, starting up a business venture while you’re working full time is hard. You might well have already experienced this – either you end up with lots of plans but no energy to put them into action, or you work evenings and weekends and quickly burn out.
There is, however, a middle road between employment and entrepreneurship. It’s called freelancing, and it can help you over that chasm between where you are and where you want to be.
How Freelancing Can Get You Over the Gap
I quit my day job a year ago. I’m still paying my bills and rent and putting some money aside for the tax man.
Like you, I’d love to be one of those internet entrepreneurs earning six-figures a month. I realized the hard way, though, that that sort of success doesn’t exactly happen overnight: I launched a blog, hoping that I could quit my day job and make a fortune from it … and it took eleven months to receive my first Google Adsense check, for a whopping $122.25.
(You might want to take a look at Yaro’s timeline or Darren Rowse’s story if you believe that the A-list somehow got there instantly.)
Freelancing Income vs Entrepreneurial Income: My Real Figures
First, a reality check.
How much might you make from freelancing, whilst trying out more entrepreneurial activities on the side?
To begin with, pretty much all my income came from freelancing: working for clients, rather than generating money from my own ventures and websites. I made a few dollars a month from Google Adsense, and that was about it.
A year on, things are shifting. A few years ago, my income per month, to the nearest dollar for each, looked something like this:
- $1160 from freelance blogging
- $165 from magazine writing
- $460 from new/repeat advertising on my first blog, www.theofficediet.com
- $97 from sales of my e-course, the Staff Blogging Course
- $18 from affiliate commission (only got started on this towards the end of July)
As you can see, it’s the freelance work (the blogging and magazines) which is paying the bills. I’m now making decent money from the blog The Office Diet, which I launched in January 2007 – but it’s taken a year and a half to get to that point.
Freelancing Bonus #1: Gaining More Time
It’s only because I freelance that I’ve had the time to start building the other sources of income. My freelancing takes up much less time than a day job – usually around 10-12 hours a week, instead of 40 (plus commute). With the vast majority of my freelancing, I can work at whatever times suit me – giving me a huge amount of flexibility.
By freelancing, you can often double or triple your hourly rate compared with a salary. Sure, you can’t usually work forty billable hours a week as a freelancer – but you can work part-time like I do, and use the rest of your time for other projects.
Freelancing Bonus #2: Gaining Relevant Experience
I don’t know about your day job, but mine didn’t teach me the skills I needed to be an entrepreneur. Freelancing, however, gave me the chance to build up the knowledge and practical experience that I needed.
By working as a staff writer for a number of very big, successful blogs, I had a huge amount of knowledge to draw on when I launched my own blog, Aliventures. It’s taken me under a month to get 150 subscribers – whereas it took me nearly five months to do the same with my first blog.
Could you gain paid experience in something directly relevant to your entrepreneurial dreams, by working as a freelancer? This might mean freelancing in:
- Copywriting
- Graphic design
- Computer programming
- Social media
- Blogging
- Ebook design and publication
… there are a huge number of possibilities.
Freelancing Bonus #3: Gaining Self-Discipline
How self-disciplined and self-motivated are you?
Most of us, when we answer that question honestly, know that we’re far from perfect! If you’ve spent all your working life in employment – where you have to be in the office during set hours and where your boss won’t be too impressed if you take a two-hour lunch or spend the whole day on Facebook – then you’ve probably got some legitimate worries about how you’ll manage to stay motivated and productive as an entrepreneur.
When it comes to putting in the work that you need to do in order to get your business off the ground, get your website launched, build a following or market your product … will you have the strength to keep plugging on, even if you’re not seeing instant results?
The advantage of freelancing here is that it teaches you self-discipline. You don’t have a manager breathing down your beck. You don’t have to be at your desk at any particular time. But you do have clients and deadlines, and you will find that you develop better work habits, better organizational skills and the ability to self-motivate.
(Until you do, you could end up working a lot of late nights and weekends.)
Freelancing Bonus #4: Gaining an Audience
If your freelancing is in any way related to your entrepreneurial efforts, guess what? You’ve got an instant audience – and potential clients.
A big chunk of my traffic for my Aliventures blog comes from the biggest blog I freelance for, Dumb Little Man. Many of the people who’ve bought my staff blogging course heard about it from a blog where I’ve freelanced or worked for free in the past.
You might want to keep this in mind when starting out on freelancing. Rather than working for single clients who are unlikely to be interested in your other projects, look for ways to get your name out in front of multiple people.
And If You’re Already a Freelancer…
Maybe I don’t need to sell you on being a freelancer: perhaps you already are freelancing, whether part-time or full time.
(Or maybe, having read the above, you’re now determined to make that jump from employment into freelancing.)
Here are four things you can do to make that shift from freelancer to entrepreneur:
1. Think “Business”
When I started out, I resisted the whole idea of thinking like a business.
I ignored any advice about partnerships, expanding or forming a company – I was convinced that all I wanted to do was write: if you’ve read Michael Gerber’s E-Myth, I just wanted to be the technician – not the manager or owner.
It took me a while to realize that having a business didn’t have to mean a bricks-and-mortar place where I’d have to do boring stuff like hire and manage employees. (I’m kinda anti-9-5 anyway, so the idea of becoming an employer myself was off-putting.)
2. Sell Products, Not Just Services
If you’re a freelancer, you’re basically selling your own services. One way to start moving towards being a business owner is to sell products as well. There are plenty of options: you don’t need to start printing t-shirts in your basement… (though an ebay business is always an option).
For example, if you’re a writer, you could write and sell an ebook.
If you’re a web designer, make premium templates for WordPress and other popular platforms.
If you’re a photographer, sell high-quality stock photography on istockphoto or fotolia.
3. Promote Other People’s Products
Perhaps you don’t have the time, skills or inclination to create and sell your own products. No problem – you can sell other people’s stuff, and get a cut.
Affiliate sellers sometimes get a bad name – perhaps your association is with shady sales practices, poor quality products and high-pressure techniques. It doesn’t have to be that way at all.
If you want to be a successful affiliate marketer, just think through the products and services that you’ve used and love. Write honest reviews of these (if they’re great products, that’s pretty easy to do). All sorts of companies and businesses have affiliate programs, including:
- Web hosting companies
- Software
- Ebooks and online courses
- Amazon…
(If you want to see a review that’s worked well for me, of a product that I absolutely love and promote wholeheartedly, check out my review of Glen Allsopp’s Cloud Living. You might be particularly interested to read the comment from Wesley Craig Green at the bottom of that review.)
4. Teach, Coach or Consult
Although this overlaps with freelancing, a great way to seriously up your income is to teach, coach or consult – all activities which can command a very good hourly rate – and where you can often charge multiple people for each hour of your time (eg. teaching a seminar, running an online membership site).
If you’re interested in going the membership site route, a highly-regarded program to get you started is Teaching Sells, run by Brian Clark (of CopyBlogger fame) or of course, Yaro’s Membership Site Mastermind program.
There are plenty of other methods, though. If you want a low-hassle option which involves initial effort followed by minimal maintenance, go the product route, and produce an ebook, audio download or screencast teaching people how to do something that you’re an expert in.
(This is what I did with my Staff Blogging Course, which has been very well received by both beginner and more experienced freelance writers.)
If you’re not sure how to market yourself as a coach or consultant, there’s a whole module in Naomi Dunford’s fantastic Online Business School on Coaching and Consulting – I’ve reviewed the whole of Online Business School, or you can just go straight to my review of that module.
But Don’t Just Stick at Freelancing…
If freelancing’s so great, you might be thinking, why not just freelance? Why bother with entrepreneurial stuff – where you might not see a return on the time invested?
Freelancing is a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong – but it can mean long hours (searching for new work, admin, invoices, etc) and freelancers only get paid for the hours when they’re working.
It’s a great way to start off on the path to entrepreneurship, but don’t get stuck there. There are loads of very successful business-owners who started out as freelancers: Collis and Cyan Ta’eed are a good example – they were graphic designers who launched the Freelance Switch blog and a whole network of sites in the TUTS branding (eg. PSDTUTS+).
Another example of someone you’ve probably heard of is Naomi Dunford, of IttyBiz fame. She started out as a freelance copywriter – and is now the go-to person for (very) small business marketing advice. Her IttyBiz business includes downloadable products, online courses and coaching.
Are you a freelancer-turning-entrepreneur, like me? Are you a day-jobber with entrepreneurial dreams that just aren’t happening? Share your thoughts, experiences and advice with me in the comments…
Ali Hale wears a number of hats: freelancer, post-grad creative writing student, e-book author and blogger are just some of them. All her ventures focus on getting more from life – a topic she writes about on her own site, Aliventures.
Ali, I have certainly made a mind shift in the last couple of weeks and your post really sums it up for me. I was focused on a major goal (entrepreneur in my niche) but don’t yet have the experience or credibility to get there. I am now thinking more about short acheiveable goals that can get me experience in my area. With freelancing, have you had any success with approaching clients or do you wait for jobs?
Ainslie, I’ve definitely had success in approaching people directly — in fact, I found I had to be quite forthright!
In my area (writing/blogging), I tried to build up some contact first so that I wasn’t approaching people “cold”. I had a letter published in a magazine which I later wrote an article for, and with my blogging, I sent out a lot of free guest posts before asking people if they wanted a paid writer.
Best of luck! If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably find that approaching clients is quite daunting … it does get easier, I promise!
Wow, this was a great article filled with some solid ideas. My only critique is that becoming a freelance worker requires a lot if work just to find clients etc, and if you’re already short on time and energy trying build your own business while working a day job, isn’t it kind if counterproductive to try and start becoming a freelancer? I’m not sure how you went about making the transition from quitting your day job to becoming a freelance writer but I’d definitely like to know. Did you have to hold off on your blogs for a bit while you solidified your writing position? How did you manage to balance becoming a freelancer, working a day job, and building your own business all at the same time!
Great questions!
With the freelancing, I started very small and build up. For a month or two, I just wrote for one blog — so it was a pocket-money level of income. Then I started with a second blog, and a month or two later, a third … and it snowballed!
Because all of this was repeat work (I’m actually STILL writing for that very first blog, more than two years on), the admin time was minimal. I really didn’t spend all that long looking for clients.
In terms of getting it all done, I did work on my entrepreneurial projects (a blog and an ebook) while working full time and freelancing — I did a lot at weekends, and I got up at 5.45 most days to have time for my own stuff before the day job. I wouldn’t recommend doing that long-term, it was a stressful month or two before I was able to finally quit!
Wow, that sounds like me right now! I work a day job (actually it’s more like 2-10:30) and I’m a fulltime student working on my blog. Of course I have other extra curricular and business pursuits but I love my blog and it’s topic so working on it is my favorite thing to do. I know that I’m a good writer so I really appreciate this article. My boyfriend has been telling me for a while now that I should do more freelance writing but I always thought I didn’t have enough time. I do a lot of writing for his company as well so maybe I’ll look into building myself up.
How do you recommend that I get started? Should I start volunteer writing and then try and get paid jobs? Should I only write for blogs with topics I like or should I be open to everything?
I’d go for blogs that you love and already read. Are there any which you enjoy which use multiple regular writers? That’s usually a clue that they’ll be willing to pay! Also look for pages on the blog where they write about contributions. I love writing for Dumb Little Man, though I don’t know if they have the capacity for more paid writers at the moment (they’re definitely a good place to make a start with guest posts).
You could also keep an eye on the job board at problogger.net where blogs advertise for writers — I’ve found that going directly to editors often results in better-paying jobs though.
I do have an ebook on working as a paid writer for blogs (see http://www.staffbloggingcourse.com) if you’re interested in that!
Hi Ajoke,
What’s your URL? Would love to visit your site.
Cheers,
Olusegun
Hey Segun,
My URL is http://kinkynaturals.com. It’s actually under construction right now so it’ll just take you to my splash page but it should be up in a few weeks so keep checking back for my soft launch. Anyways, it’s a natural Afro hair cafe blog which I’m really passionate and excited about. I’m actually in Yaros Blog Mastermind training program building up my blog nits fantastic. I can garantee you that in a few months you’ll see my success story poppin up! ;-).
Do you have a website, what do you do? Shoot me an email at Ajoke.Olorundare@gmail.com and add me on facebook.
Cheers
There is always the payoff! Suffer now and enjoy the pay off later. If I want to be completely independent, the initial sacrifices in terms of time need to be made. If one wants to delay that process, one can do without such diversions.
Yeah — i am a daily worker and want to be an entrepreneur but i find it is hard to live with both of it so i think i will search some freelance job first and than focus be online entrepreneur.
Hi Ali,
Thank you for this. I’m coming up to a big transition in my life where after only working for about 10 hours per week teaching English at university level in China, I’m moving back to New Zealand in July. The last thing I want to do is get an ordinary job and work for a boss. I currently have a blog, but it’s going like your blog first did. So, I’m wanting to do some freelance work with my partner such as website design, as well as start up a website serving the local business community where I’ll live. Your article has given me the confidence and some practical tips. Thank you, Ali!
Thanks Gordie! Really glad I could help — and I hope it goes well for you. I reckon website design is never going to be a dry field … more and more companies are recognising the importance of having a website.
Thank you Ali!
I think that the hardest part is maintaining persistence and discipline. It’s all about our our paradigm of the world! Someone said this ( I don’t remember who exactly ) :”Those who conquer the mind, will conquer world.” A lot of things depend of our thoughts,positive or negative self image.
He he! Yes thanks Ali 🙂
I’m a freelance designer and a teacher and I’m about to release a wordpress theme – he he! The last 6 months I have been dedicating my time to creating some sort of business online. I’ve tried it in the past but gave up because I was not directing my entrepreneurial skills around things that I wasa really passionate about (big mistake for me). So really these last 6 months have been learning what I really want out of life, personal development, passions etc
It’s still hard though, because I can already see how easy for me to want to give-up with my ideas, because I see no results…but I know this time around that’s not an option.
What I am learning is, if you want to be an entrepreneur, you just have to keep on persevering, results or not. The main thing is, I walk away from projects I develop with such enjoyment, so I have to keep reminding myself of that feeling.
Yes, I’ve found it impossible to stick with things unless I really *love* them… I really don’t think the entrepreneurial road is for the half-hearted! Best of luck creating your business, and I hope it’ll be life-enhancing in all sorts of ways.
I find that telling myself “I’m going to stick with this for 6 months, whatever happens” (or, better, a year) can get me over that long hard bit where there’s no visible results. Good on you for not giving up!
I totally agree with your point of view that we should do something that will maintain the cash flow until our blog will not reach at that level from where it becomes a full time income source for us.
But, i don’t agree with your products point, since i have been into that situation and i can tell you from my personal experience that it is not easy to build the product and selling it if you don’t have funds and knowledge to advertise your product on a very targeted sources.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It may well depend on niche and product? I “advertised” by writing a lot of guest posts, so the only cost to me was time. I also had quite a few contacts willing to review the product too.
Really enjoyed this post, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on freelancing to supplement my income while working on my business start up non stop. Thanks for the valuable content & great advice!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 And hope you can get enough freelancing going to have a bit of regular income – it definitely is a help.
Really solid, useful advice on freelancing and being an entrepreneur. Good stuff. And good luck with your entrepreneurial endeavors.
Thanks Yaro, nice article. Mindset is the key. People need to see this as their business if they want to make money from blogging or any IM venture. Accept and always think of the responsibility towards the business.
As a freelance writer who is trying to build up a blog into a business and start a small book publishing company, I really appreciated this article. I’ve been facing challenges financially lately, looking for work and trying to make better use of resources as a freelance writer so I can concentrate on the other businesses. It’s tough. I’ve learned a lot but it’s the implementation that is really hard to do.
Hmm… Great post Ali,
So much to learn and apply. I freelance also and I have been looking at getting paid to blog but i have decided to fist build a portfolio of guest post first and then move to the next level.
I love the fact that you can create other income streams from what you naturally are good at.
And the fact, that freelancing makes you disciplined cannot be overstated.
Cheers,
Olusegun
This is a great post for someone who are new and thinking of venturing into a business. The old and usual idea of business is brick and mortar but thanks to technology and internet that make available to almost all, it has bring in a new term for entrepreneurs.
Freelancing is one of the great ways to supplement or start a new venture as you can use your expertise to make money.
Before your blog or online business make any real income, freelancing can take off your load of worries of monthly bills while you still can work towards earning online.
Wow,
This is a really good post. Thank you. And looks like we are following this path. We just transformed from Freelancers to Entrepreneurs. 🙂
_
Karthik.K
I’m been interested in freelance writing for a while, but never really did anything about it. I kind of figured that writing for my own site was going to pull in much more money then writing for someone else’s in the long term.
But when you are just getting started do what you got to do to pay the bills.
Something to truly think about if someone is serious about building their business. It will allow a continuous stream of income and yet, the flexibility of time to concentrate on your business.
Hi Ali,
Really an impressing post. I would like to ask a question and if possible please answer me, do you really need to be an expert in a particular field to start freelancing because there are way too many people out there competing for the same freelance projects with more skills, where as i am just getting started. what are my chances of getting that project ?
Prajwal, it depends on your field and — probably more importantly — who your clients are. Some clients don’t need or want an expert (with the corresponding price tag!) they just need someone who can do a basic job. So no, you don’t need to be an expert, though you do need to be clear with clients about what you can and can’t do.
For a great way to get your head round this, I recommend a post by Dave Navarro, http://www.thelaunchcoach.com/workbook1 — see Step 2 in particular.
Loved this post … So much detail and honesty.
Thank you very much for the answer Ali,the workbook was really helpful. Thank you 🙂
Hi Ali,
Thank you so much I was just telling my girlfriend that loves photography to start selling some of her pictures on istockphoto like you mentioned, she got really excited about it. But for me I wanted to know if you are not an expert writer would it be a good idea to still go into freelancing?
I think in any field (writing, photography, etc) you don’t need to be an expert in order to freelance successfully. Many clients won’t need an expert-level service (and they won’t be able to afford it either).
When I started out, I got paid to set up websites for a few clients with very small businesses. I am FAR from an expert at this — but I knew enough (and was cheap enough) to be just what they needed.
So by all means freelance … and target the people who you can help. I’m often surprised how many people *really* struggle with writing and would love to pay someone to help them out.
Hi Ali,
Wow. I feel like this post came to me exactly when I needed it most! I’ve been thinking about freelance writing in my niche, food and wine, for a couple of years now, but only very seriously in the last couple of months. I have a blog that I want to be able create income opportunities from this year, but have been struggling some with how to get that going. So recently I had been thinking exactly what you mention, in fact — that freelancing can help bridge the gap, or get me over the hurdle from day job, blogging, and other pursuits, to at some point blogging/my own business only. I did work in PR and advertising for a while, and do very much enjoy writing, so it’s seems a natural thing to pursue to produce income and contacts, etc., while I’m working out how to make my blog the hub of a business for myself. I love the way you point out the advantages of freelancing, and you mention some things I didn’t think of til now, so thanks much for the info and the inspiration!
Kimberly
Thanks Kimberly, glad to help and hope the freelancing and the more entrepreneurial activities work out well for you!
I started to freelancing not so long ago and I am seeing some great return. Although I will not base my business on freelancing, often times it is a great source of urgent money. And I suggest to any newbie who is struggling to make their first dollar online to try some freelancing. Learn something and sell your knowledge to people who doesn’t have time, resources, patience or will to learn.
Cheers for all.
You have to start somewhere while keep your dreams alive. Set forth to your dreams and at the same time realise what else out there can have just as much force to drive you down the road to business success. 🙂
Nice to meet you here again:)
Yes, you just have to take the first step – it might even be your leap of faith but take it.
Thanks for the post. With all the “get rich quick” information going around in affiliate marketing these days, it’s nice for someone to actually admit that it doesn’t happen overnight. Affiliate marketing is a business, and just like any other business, you have to give it time to get going.
How much time is directly related to how much time you put into it. So get started now, even if part-time, and Go For The GUSTO!
Free lance work is brutally competitive and rates have come down if by freelance work you mean the writing work that is very common now a days. On the other hand, if you mean the offline work that is available, here, the problem is the time taken. I however agree that some source of income while the big income stream takes place is certainly a good option.
There is definitely a lot of low-paid work online … but there are also some great opportunities if you’re prepared to hunt around a bit. (I get $35-$60 per blog post, and none of them take more than an hour to write.)
Ali,I really liked it that you emphasized how freelancing, if done right, can actually complement your entrepreneurial work. My experience has also been that many people fail in business because they underestimate the amount of time and money it takes to get the business going or they overestimate their own self-discipline and ability to manage their time. But don’t lose your focus on your ultimate goals!
Great post, Ali, you are a fabulous writer. And you get to the heart of the matter. Thanks.
I only have one experience to share, which really ought to be viewed as a case study.
Once, I had sent out a manuscript to a lot of publishing companies. I received rejection slips galore and some editors did not bother even to respond.
There you have it, I thought, you are a failed writer and your career ain’t going nowhere, buddy, I thought to myself. I suffered from a lot of negative self-talk until a good friend of mine persuaded me to submit the same piece to a publication sponsoring a short story contest. I said to my friend…yeah, right, like this piece is ever gonna see the light of day!
The magazine had a jury comprising some of the most distinguished writers in the world of publishing. Guess what? I won. And I was invited to receive the prize and the journos wrote a piece about the event and I had my photo taken and it was like a dream.
You never know, right? You can get lucky based on editorial judgment and a host of other factors. So, whether you are a freelancer or entrepreneur….learn from my experience. Don’t make the mistakes I made in my career. And, please persevere, and go for it.
And save whatever you write even if your piece is rejected time and again. Look at me!
What a fab success story, thanks for sharing it! Fiction is a really hard field to break into and to make money from (poetry is even worse, I believe) … so for me, my fiction writing is purely a hobby in the sense that I don’t treat it as something I expect to make money from. I’d love to, but I know it’s far from certain!
Hi Yaro,
Great guest post by Ali, I really like her style and writing. Thank you for sharing. It has got me thinking as to a way I could leverage my abilities.
See you back here soon!
Jacinta 😀
(An aussie mum trying to create a business online while my 2 year old sleeps!)
Your MessageMy experience has also been that many people fail in business because they underestimate the amount of time and money it takes to get the business going or they overestimate their own self-discipline and ability to manage their time. But don’t lose your focus on your ultimate goals!
Great guest post Ali! Simple and straight to the point. I’m sure many people who are transitioning from a full time employed job to a freelancing potential are worried about their income and whether or not they may get enough work. However, if you never take that chance, you’ll always be left wondering so it was a great way for you to explain the steps into freelance work. Here is an article that also talks about how to budget on a freelancing income: http://www.gobankingrates.com/budgeting-for-freelancers/
ENJOY!
Free lance work is a form of Entrepreneurship. There are one in the same. With Entrepreneurship there is not perminate work of health plans, just like when you start your own business
Totally agreed with Hale….
I am presently a freelancer working at my own pace. I find it’s great to help me get a firm grasp on things without too many overbearing pressures. Too often people jump into the big league straight away without proper experience and they run out of air.
Till then,
Jean
It’s almost ironic that one considers entrepreneurship as the alternative to a boring, time-demanding job, only to realize that running one’s own business can get even more demanding and requiring more self-discipline than one is accustomed to.
Nothing comes easy… at least for most of us!
When I had started my free lancer work, initially it was very difficult to convince to the client. But after few months I slowly achieved better response in the field of blogging and SEO. Now I’m free from company work pressure and enjoying my time.
In other words I can say free lancer is the path where you can able to proof yourself.
Half the battle is just putting yourself out there to see what you got. If you are someone that works hard and sleeps less you have the first important ingredients to get things started.
Man great information and sometimes we have to give a little before we receive. Free Lance work is such a great idea depending on your market and how you promote. Cool Guest post for sure.
Fear is a big stumbling block for many. Freelancing will give you the opportunity to keep your day job while feeling out the potential for entrepreneurship. No matter how you go about it, being an entrepreneur requires discipline.
I get where you are coming from but to be honest freelancing is beginning to grate me. I am sick and tired of clients wanting the earth for nothing and bartering on my prices. I said to one client that his offer amounted to $0.25 an hour and his reply was to work quicker.
But at the same time they want top quality work. The one client that I did have who accepted my rates ran out of money!
Seriously considering going back to a 9 to 5 job and just keeping my websites as a hobby.
I already quit my day job thanks to this blog, BMM and freelancing. I know have more time to spend with ym wife and daughter and I stand on the corner in the morning while having coffee and watch the hordes of people hurriedly driving to work for that almighty buck. I just sit and watch it roll in now. 🙂
Thanks Yaro. You Da Man!
Wow, that’s sound good niche tank. I made a decision since reading the post yesterday.
I have accepted a job in April, till then I will continue with my sites as still so much to learn. The new job is temporary till October and then I will pick the sites up again. As long as I am spend wisely, the money from the six months working should be able to last me throughout the winter as well which will give me time to follow my passion of website building and promoting.
Having said that I got a freelance job yesterday and the client is very happy with my rates!
Swings and roundabouts maybe.
I do think that actually freelancing is again working for “someone”,
but starting a business that will go on a partial autopilot might be much more attractive,
of course if you know how to start and continue it 🙂
I believe freelancing is a good option for those who have not been able to get started in any online venture, nor have built up any type of residual income. This can help you sustain yourself during the low periods where you are not really generating the type of revenue you need to stay afloat. So I definitely think it is an option for newbies who are looking into making money online and working from their home. It doesn’t hurt the seasoned professionals who happen to have a bad month either.
Thanks for your post Ali,
I just recently read and interesting article about Freelancing being as a Farmer that plants many seeds and watches them grow at different rates. That is exactly what you also showed in your post with the ‘Ratio’s’ of your activities, the Freelance/Blogging bringing in the most, the Advertising second, than the Magazine Writing etc. etc.
(BTW I do have a lot of great info
about (the) Writing (craft) on my Writing Blogspot :))
Anyway,
Just minutes ago I have put up a ‘Writers Cattle Call’ on my Main Blogspot, because of seeing Yaro’s example here with having Guest Posts, and by seeing your Guest Post (and the comments your post receives) It gave me the idea to offer my visitors the opportunity to offer my Guests a (Blog) Spot for Guest Posts, Since I have several Theme Specific Blogspots to fill with content, and since I just only write posts whenever I feel like posting on them my own posts can sometimes be a slightly ‘Over Exclusive’ at times 🙂
So also thank you both for the Inspiration, talking about Inspiration at my Home Business Blogspot you can find a lot of inspiring posts about Entrepreneurship,
All the Best,
To your Happy Inspiration,
HP
I think I’ll pass on freelancing. I’d prefer to have my work benefit myself. In other words, I want my blog posts to benefit my sites thru SEO. Otherwise, I’d rather take a regular 9 to 5 job. However, what works for me doesn’t work for everyone.
Why do I feel this way? I don’t really like to write that much. I really don’t like writing about “jobs”. However, I do write about it sometimes because it’s my niche. However, I actually do enjoy writing about music in small amounts. Nonetheless, I don’t like writing huge amounts of material about music. Music is my other niche but it’s more a hobby than for profit.
I don’t view my feelings laziness; It’s just my preference. I’d rather spend long hours asking for link exchanges than write material. Either way it’s hard work.
Freelancing might be seen as one way to actually brand yourself. We all know that branding is of vital essence if you want people to even look at what you have to offer online. So I agree that you can freelance yourself to the top.
Freelancing is what kept me afloat when i was unemployed and it lead to my now full time employment. Free lancing is always a good way to earn a few extra dollars when needed.
I think the only problem in the freelancing world is that there are obviously too much a concern of quality. For example. There are those odd jobs that are pretty easy to do; yet takes up a lot of time and so people decide to outsource their tasks. Now comes every Jack and Joe and makes it very difficult for you to find trust in others because there’s never the quality in the type of work people are doing.
On the other end it creates a problem ulitimately when you become the one needing outsource/freelance work.