Internet Marketing & Home-Based Business

Posts Tagged ‘Freelance’

If you are currently working as a copywriter, or if you are looking to start a career as one, I’ve got an article you need to read. It’s on Copyblogger, which is one of the net’s top sites for quick, up-to-date information on copywriting. And it’s got a nice focus on working in the information age, and using the power of the Internet.

Anyway, here’s the article. Read it:

10 Tips for Kicking Ass as a Freelance Writer

This is going to be largely theoretical, but bear with me. This should make sense to you by the end. You get paid at your job, right? Are you losing money by being there, getting paid?

Maybe.

How can you lose money while you are getting paid? Simple: If you could be making more outside your job, then you are potentially losing the difference between what you could be making and what you are making. If your earning potential is more than what you are currently earning, wouldn’t your time be better spent elsewhere?

Let’s run some numbers to put this into perspective. We’ll say that you are the following fictitious employee in this example situation:

• Job: 3D Computer Animator
• Status: Employee of mid-sized company
• Pay Rate: $20 per hour
• Time on the job: 8 hours + 1 hour lunch + 45 minute round-trip commute

$20 per hour for 8 hours is $160 per day. But your day isn’t just 8 hours long. Once you add in your lunch — which is part of the work day — and your commute, your day ends up being 9.75 hours long. When you look at the total time of your work day, you are really making $16.41 per hour, instead of $20. If your commute was an hour each way, your hourly rate would be even less. Remember, your commute and lunch break are really part of your work day because they are part of your daily money-wheel routine.

So, if you are making $16.41 per hour, how are you losing money? Well, literally speaking, you aren’t losing money, but you are losing potential earnings. I’ll explain.

Say that you hear about a guy who does the same thing you do, but he gets paid $100 per hour. When you find out about this, you want to know all the details. Since you’re only making (let’s round up) $17 per hour, you find the possibility of making $100 an hour very interesting. Upon further research, you find out that this individual works as a freelance computer animator, and he’s so busy that he turns away work.

Even more interested now, you dig a little deeper and find out that there is a whole market for independent computer animators. Furthermore, they make anywhere from $30 – $150 an hour, and sometimes more (I have no idea if this is accurate…remember, this is just an example). Even at the low end, freelance computer animators make more than you do. And this is where the concept of earning potential fits in.

After doing some research, you determine that your current skill level warrants a rate of $55 per hour. This puts you somewhere in the mid-range as far as rates go. If you were to go freelance, your starting hourly rate would be $55. Right now you are making $17 an hour, so this jump in pay — even when taking taxes into consideration — is big.

You then decide to test the market to see if jumping to freelancing full-time is a viable option. You create an online portfolio, business cards, and join a couple of freelance job sites. After a bit of work, you manage to land and complete a few small jobs. You have some extra cash in your pocket, and you’re feeling pretty good about it. After seeing the volume of work out there you’re capable of completing, and at your current rates, you determine that it’s a viable option.

The following week, while sitting at your desk, a thought strikes you: “I’m losing money right now.” Technically speaking, you aren’t losing money, because you’re making $17 per hour. What you are losing is the potential earnings of $55 per hour. This nets you a total loss potential of $38 per hour. That’s a lot of money that you are potentially losing.

You’ve already proven to yourself that you can make more money per hour by working freelance. Theoretically, every hour you spend at your “job” loses you $38. Could you use that time more wisely? Is keeping your current employment the best thing you can do for your own financial security?

Based on these example numbers, I feel safe saying the answer is no. Ultimately, it’s up to you. You’ll have to decide if your earning potential is enough of a change to push you to take action. I encourage you to take a long look at your situation to see if you could be better off by yourself. If you could be earning more, what would the smart move be?

My own experience is this: Working freelance got me more money per hour than working for someone else.