Learnings — Freelance Isn’t Free or Freeing — But It’s Worthwhile For 7 Reasons
Freelance. I hate this word. It implies something is “free” in my life — neither are my services nor my calendar. Simply put, nor is freelancing free (to any employers), neither is it freeing (to anyone who thinks this without being a freelancer). So what’s with the confusion?
First things first, where does this word I loathe come from?
The earliest written evidence for the word ‘freelance’ comes from Sir Walter Scott’s novel, Ivanhoe, in which a lord refers to his paid army of ‘free lances’. In the early 1800s, it was used to refer to a medieval mercenary who would fight for whichever nation or person paid them the most.
Sir Walter Scott understood what many people today do not — freelancers were: a. PAID; b. WORKING
Personally, I’m unsure when the idea of the freelancer diverts from its roots, but in a money and job led economy, the only difference between a full-time and freelance job is — rather the only difference between a full-time and freelance in the field of digital marketing is …well, there are more than one. Here goes.
1. Full-Time Jobs Pay You Despite Average Ideas, Freelance Projects Do Not
The single-most annoying thing as a freelancer who had a full-time job for 6 years, is this point. Many times at my full-time job I’ve had ideas that were brutally shot down. Guess what though? Still got paid.
As a freelancer, this is not true. Average and okay is unacceptable. Anything less than mind-blowing means you don’t retain the client. This standard forces me to strive to be better, I have to pay the bills after all.
2. Full-Time Jobs Have Perks, Freelancer Projects Have Quirks
Healthcare, insurance, parties, holidays — you name it, you got it. Want a half-day? Well, that’s okay. Not well? Take care then. Of course, these are not enough when we have a full-time job.
Become a freelancer and voila, what’s not enough is noticeably missing. Poof. Gone. Absent. But we do have, “can I pay later?”, “need it in 2 days”, “that’s not your concern”, “You’re the expert, but this is how I want you to do it”, “Who are you? You’re just a freelancer”. What a life!
3. No One Cares About The Freelancer, The Freelancer is Expected to Care For the Company
If you think you’ve been in bad relationships, try being a freelancer. One-sided relationships? Also applicable to freelance. Horrible at communicating problems and issues? Somehow feel like you’re in the dark, a puppet on someone else’s string? Always moving your schedule to make room for your “partner”?
Yup. Been there. Done that. All while maintaining a professional relationship.
4. Full-Time Jobs Have Colleagues, Freelance Projects Have Collaborators
Depending on who you are as a person, this is a boon or bane. Colleagues have some inherent advantages: a. One can always blame something on other colleagues, b. Everyone’s paid to see each other, c. Colleagues will pick up your slack, and, d. shared meals.
As a freelancer, life isn’t so easy. If one person who you’ve never met or seen or spoken with makes a mistake, it may mean you don’t get paid. Because whatever it was never “went live”. Also, collaborators usually go dutch, and relationships barely evolve beyond sharing work.
5. Full-Time Jobs Are 9 am — 9 pm, Freelance Project are a 12 am –12 am
No. I did not make a typo. But yes, I will acknowledge that a few full-time jobs repeatedly take more time than what the contract states. When this happens without overtime, it sucks. Regardless, someone usually says “thank you for taking the effort/going the extra mile/burning the midnight clock”.
Being a freelancer is a little-lot more thankless. Working hard, long hours is quite often about getting the job done and not an accomplishment worthy of praise. C’est la vie!
6. Full-Time Jobs Require Specialists, Freelance Requires Generalists
Usually (not always) full-time jobs put you in an environment with multiple specialists, each claiming their areas of expertise and interest. This pushes you down a streamlined, rabbit-hole for the duration of your work.
As a freelance, you always require to know more than your ‘specialization’. This is because the people generally hiring you often have very little idea of these specialists. This empowers freelancers to expand their knowledge pool wider and not just deeper. I love it!
7. Full-Time Jobs Are a Career, Freelance Is a Business
The most common problem I’ve observed, people treating freelance as a career. Oh, sweet lord! This thought is a recipe for disaster. Full-time jobs are a career, freelance is a business.
This means freelancers have to be business-minded; not career-minded. A foolish career move might be an incredible business move and vice versa. It also means freelancers can’t replicate what already exists because that means being unoriginal. And just like the first point, anything less than mind-blowing means you don’t retain the client.
This said I love being a freelancer/project-based professional. Who wants the benefits and comforts of perks, when you can struggle and create your path. Especially when we all know EFFORTS PAY OFF.
