There are many reasons why people turn to a life of freelancing. There is a lot of allure to becoming a freelancer, especially since 50% of people are projected to be freelancers by 2020. That’s an absolutely stellar and stunning piece of data, when you think about it.
That speaks to the high desire among people working traditional, nine-to-five jobs for a professional life characterized by making one’s own decisions. Since there’s such a demand among people to become freelancers, we thought it’d be interesting to look at the top reasons that drive people to freelance.
Here they are, in no particular order.
Becoming Your Own Boss
One of the most popular reasons by far for turning to freelancing is the lure of becoming your own boss. No more of your old boss breathing down your neck and always micromanaging you! Those days are long gone and never coming back.
There are numerous benefits to becoming your own boss. Some are quite obvious, such as the liberation of not having to bother with a higher up telling you what to do. Others are more surprising but equally attractive, such as actually being paid more than the same, comparable, nine-to-five job…in some industries (like in the financial world).
Plus…your commute time is shorter, too.
Enjoying More Flexibility
Flexibility means not being subjected to the same routines or schedule every day of the week. For many people, this is a godsend and something that’s highly desirous. Freelancing and flexibility go together like a horse and carriage.
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If you want to spend more time with your family or just in your own home, working, say, in your PJs, then freelancing gives you that flexibility. If you have a special hobby that takes up a lot of your time—let’s say you’re a pretty good golfer—then freelancing also offers you the flexibility to spend more time on something you’re truly passionate about.
Following Your Passion
Another reason freelancing has an appeal is that it empowers people to follow through on their passion. In fact, it’s been said that passion is the key to freelancing success! That’s not surprising at all when you think about it for a bit.
Let’s say you have a passion for journalism, but you don’t see yourself as a staff writer at some magazine or paper. Through freelancing, you’re able to perfect your craft at storytelling and reporting—without having to have a desk job at a real office location. By pitching stories to your editor by, for instance, email or web-based communication tools like Slack, you can satisfy this passion while maintaining your independence.
Unleashing Your Creativity
Let’s face it: Freelancers tend to be more of the creative type although they also have to possess logic skills and decision-making prowess for managing their business. On the issue of creativity, though, freelancing gives you the chance to showcase thinking outside the box.
Let’s say that you’re a designer at a software company, working a regular day job. While you may have a superb design idea, it might get stifled due to the limitations of your role at the company or communication problems with the boss or team you’re working with.
If you were a freelancer, though, you could put your brilliant, new idea to the test immediately, working with fellow freelancers or open-minded clients looking for new solutions to problems.
Becoming an Instant Expert
Freelancing also lets you vault yourself to the front of the list as an expert. Whereas a traditional career mandates that you have to possess years of experience and numerous promotions before you’re seen as an expert of any kind, freelancing empowers you to skip that rigor.
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When marketing your freelancing services, you should market yourself as a specialist in your niche, whether that’s writing, designing, programming or translating, just to name some possibilities. If you have even some background in your niche of choice, and a sound portfolio to back it up, you’ll be seen by leads as an instant expert in your field, regardless of whether it’s on your website, LinkedIn page or business card.
An Attractive Alternative
When all’s said and done, freelancing is growing as an attractive option to the nine-to-five grind. More and more professionals are catching on to this, which is why the numbers of freelancers are only projected to keep growing in the next, few years.
This is great news for anybody looking to join the ranks of freelancers; the timing couldn’t be more perfect than it is right now. With the chance to be your own boss, the flexibility to encourage creativity, and the shot at following your passion, it’s easy to see why.
