Being a freelancer involves providing a service for which you know there is a demand. You carry out the service, and a client pays you for it in return. Freelance writing of course means providing writing services to customers. Many writers make a fulltime living off their freelance work. However, many people have other jobs and do some freelance writing work on the side. If you’re in a situation where you’re contemplating doing some freelance work in your own time, below are 5 reasons why it’s a good thing to do so and definitely worth considering:
1. Learn about business
If you’ve always wanted to start your own business but were hesitant about it, then freelance writing is a great way to do so in a relatively risk-free way; especially if you’ve already got another job that brings in the bulk of your income. By doing some paid writing on the side, you learn and gain experience in delivering a writing service, and finding paying clients for your work.
2. Develop enterprising skills
By doing some freelance writing in your own time, you’ll not only learn about running a small business, you will also develop enterprising skills that will come in handy in other jobs you may be doing already, or plan to do in the future. For instance, doing freelance writing work will help you to develop your commercial outlook in order to find clients, enhance your time management skills to help complete assignments by deadlines, boost your creativity to help you produce different pieces of work, and refine your sales and persuasive skills through pitching yourself and your work, both in person and online.
3. Earning some extra cash
Carrying out some freelance writing work can be a great way to earn some extra money, which always comes in use. If you’re a student studying for your degree at college for instance, then doing some freelance writing work in your spare time can help you to pay for fees, and also help you develop skills (like those described in the point above), which can make you more marketable in the workplace.
4. Get a taste of being your own boss
The majority of the people in this world are comfortable with working for someone else in a 9-5 job. Although no job is secure these days, being employed by someone gives some sense of security. Entrepreneurs on the other hand prefer to work for themselves. Freelance writers can also include themselves in the entrepreneurial category, and by doing some writing for yourself in your own time, you’ll get a flavor of being your own boss.
5. In control of your own destiny
This point includes all of the above. By your learning about business, experiencing what it is like to be your own master, and being in control of how much money you make (or don’t make), you’ll ultimately be on a path where you are taking complete responsibility of your own destiny. Another way of thinking of it is you being in the driving seat, and heading in the direction you want to.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published on e-Books India in December 2014.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]