Being a Full-time Freelancer: My Experience
Is it worth being a full-time freelancer? I have been a full-time freelancer (writer, virtual assistant, and video creator) over the last 10+ years. In this post, I will describe my experience as a full-time freelancer.
Did I survive? Yes.
Did I make enough to sustain myself without help from family and friends? Yes, but with a lowered cost of living.
Did I make as much as I would have – in a job? No.
How did I start with Freelancing?
Initially, my career-break adventures began when I wanted to become a full-time tech blogger. The blog which you are reading now was the first blog I started in order to monetize. You can read more about my blogging journey from here.
However, during the initial days, there was no revenue coming from the blog. Hence, I had to find a way to sustain myself beyond a year when my savings was scheduled to run out.
That’s when a friend introduced me to freelancing. Since I was writing on my blog, he said, why don’t I spare some time to write for others as well? That would give me immediate revenue until the revenue from my blog(s) picked up.
It made sense. Actually, I had no other option or source of revenue, so I thought why not try? Until today, freelancing work has been the major source of my revenue.
Freelancing vs. Full-time Job
Unlike a full-time job, in freelancing, you can decide when you want to work, with whom you want to work, and at what rates you want to work. At least in theory you are in control of your work-life, but practically, there are many other factors that come into play – like demand, skillset, competition, etc.
Needless to say, your client will become your new boss. And if you are working for multiple clients, you’ll have multiple bosses! It’s not as scary as it sounds, actually. You can fire your clients, and I have. That’s important, otherwise, a single over-demanding client would occupy most of your time.
In my case, freelancing worked perfectly because I wanted to work only part-time. My main business was researching and writing on my blogs, hence freelancing gave me the revenue to continue doing what I wanted. I had the time to even write a novel in between!
The biggest challenge of being a freelancer is to get a steady source of income. Jobs come and go. The process of applying for new jobs and getting selected is difficult – especially with so much competition bidding alongside you. Some months are good, revenue-wise, but others are not.
And it’s very difficult to earn as much as a full-time job, with freelancing. Some freelancers may have done it, but I have never been able to.
These, and other factors, made me realize the importance of savings and maintaining a low cost of living. Otherwise, it’s easy to burn out and even lose your health!
How to succeed as a New Freelancer?
When I started, there were no restrictions on the number of jobs I could bid per month, etc. But, I rarely bid for more than two jobs a week searching for couple of hours a day. So, be selective. Apply to only those jobs that you are confident of excelling in. With the restrictions nowadays, you’ll be forced to do this anyway.
Invest a lot of time (and some money too) in developing your skills and creating a solid portfolio. It takes time to be good at something and clients can easily tell how good you are. In this world where ratings determine everything, it’s very important to excel in whichever field you want to freelance in.
Don’t lose hope. It took 2-3 months for me to get my first job. I was paid just $5 USD for it, but I got good ratings from that client. Things got relatively easier after that. So, if you are new, don’t hesitate to do small jobs. And give your best even for those.
If there is too much competition, don’t underbid. Instead over-skill and charge more. There is less competition for quality jobs, but you’ll never be able to win a price-war for lower priced jobs. There will always be people who will price their services at unbeatably-low prices, especially for jobs that don’t require much skills.
Is Full-time Freelancing worth it?
It depends on how much you hate a full-time job 😛 In my case, it was worth it 🙂
When I had to choose between either being a full-time Youtuber (since videos gained popularity over writing eventually) or being a full-time freelancer, I chose the latter.
So yeah, full-time freelancing is worth it. But it’s as challenging (if not more) than a full-time job. Be ready for it and persist like hell. You’ll succeed.