Are You Ready To Freelance Full-time? | The Copywriter's Club
Chandni Kukreja
Brand Manager at Licious | Food Writer at cookreja.com & Something's Cooking
Welcome to The Copywriter’s Club - a space for copywriters, by copywriters. Each week, we speak about one issue every copywriter will face at some point in their career. Today's session was about freelancing, specifically, how do you know if you're ready to leave a lucrative 9-to-5 role to freelance full-time?
I spoke with Gowri N Kishore , Susan Joseph and Chhavi Agarwal , all of whom did just that and are currently building their freelance businesses.
I’m not going to lie, I have thought about quitting my job and going the freelance way so many times - and it’s usually when I’m frustrated at work. But something has always held me back. I asked our mentors why they freelance and here's what they had to say:
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What are a few key things to keep in mind before going freelance full-time?
1. Why do you want to freelance?
Because you're bored at your current job? Because work right now is too hectic? Because your boss sucks? For some of these, freelancing is not the right answer. You need a bigger answer, for example, more control over your time. Or more variety of projects. So be honest with yourself and really think about what you really want.
2. Freelancing is not sitting on the beach with your laptop.?
At least not in the beginning. Your first few years will be spent in learning the ropes and setting up your business to be profitable, so if you want to get into this in order to work while you travel around the globe or out of cafes, make peace with the fact that it won't happen any time soon. Considering all this, freelancing will be more difficult than your 9-to-5, so be prepared to work really hard.
3. Forget all your corporate perks and benefits.
And we don't just mean the free coffee. At a corporate role, there are tangible perks like a predictable income, leaves, health insurance, easy-to-manage taxes; and intangible perks like working with a team, learning random things just by being around others, having seniors who can help out with decision-making and accountability, bonding with colleagues over lunch or coffee breaks.
While taking care of the tangible benefits is easier, the intangible ones might not be that simple. Freelancing can get lonely and if you're happy working on your own, you might be fine, but if you're used to collaborating with a team and brainstorming with them, you will miss it for sure. All we're saying is, be prepared for it and think of what you could do to make it work for you e.g. could you work out of a co-working space or partner up with other freelancers and brainstorm on each other's projects from time to time.
4. It's not enough to be a good writer.
You might be an award-winning copywriter, but the freelance way of life might not be for you. When you freelance, you're doing so much more than just writing. You have to constantly market yourself, be your own business development manager, accountant, client servicing executive, admin and whatnot. You have to be your own Creative Director and ensure top quality copy/content every time.
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How do I know if freelancing is even for me then?
The simplest way is to test the waters. Start it off as a side hustle. Reach out to people in your network and tell them what kind of work you want to do. They will remember you and pass on leads they come across. Try working for different clients for a few months and see if this is something you enjoy doing and can see yourself doing long-term.
If you don't really have a network, you could try cold emailing brands you admire that you would like to write for and pitching to them or there are a ton of freelance job boards where you could find jobs. Keep an eye out on LinkedIn and Twitter as well.
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Ok, I tried freelancing and liked it. How should I plan my foray into freelancing full-time?
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1. Start by setting up your portfolio
Gather all your work and build an online portfolio that you can send to prospective clients. Ideally make this on a website so it's super easy to access and organise it well so you can quickly pull up work by client or channel when you need to show specific work to someone. For more tips on building your portfolio, check out this article .
2. Research. A LOT!
Research the market, your competition, prospective clients. Figure out your niche - it might be broad in the beginning like: I want to write for tech clients, but you could niche down to make your niche more specific like: I want to help out SaaS clients with their UX copy. Speak to other writers in the niche you think you want to be in and figure out if it is profitable - ask what kind of work you can expect and how much money you can potentially make.
3. Remind yourself that you are a business.
When you take yourself seriously, so will your clients. You aren't a kid in college trying to make some extra pocket money. You are building a business. So plan your foray into freelance like you're setting up a business. Be clear on your value proposition, on what you bring to the table and be confident about it. Don't sell yourself short and allow clients to walk all over you just because they're paying you. You will need to learn how to set boundaries. You will need to learn how to market yourself.
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What are a few mistakes every freelancer makes while starting out?
1. Taking on anything and everything that pays.
While it may sound counter productive, you shouldn't take on every job you get just because it pays - especially if it isn't in the niche you're trying to build for yourself. You will end up spreading yourself too thin doing things that you aren't even enjoying in the first place. Be clear on what you want to do and pick up projects that fulfill your goals.
Figure out your top reasons to pick up a project - e.g. to make money, to learn something new and to build your portfolio. You could decide that you will only take on projects that fulfill at least two out of these reasons if not all three.
2. Not knowing your worth.
We get it, the imposter syndrome is real and you don't feel like it's fair to charge someone a large sum of money on something that takes you a couple of hours to complete. But you need to remember that you aren't just doing this out of the goodness of your heart. And the reason you're able to complete a task in a few hours is because you've spent years honing your skill. So before you undercharge for something, learn your worth. Talk to your mentors, talk to fellow freelancers - most will be more than happy to have a discussion.
3. Not having a growth plan.
When you're in a 9-to-5, you have some sort of a growth plan in place. You know what's your next opportunity for a promotion, you know you'll get some sort of a raise every year. Most freelancers forget to account for this when they start off. How are you going to scale your business every year? When will you revise your rates? By how much? And do you have the confidence to tell you returning clients that you're charging more? You will need to work on all this.
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Would you go back to your 9-to-5 life?
The last question I asked all the mentors was if they would want to go back to a 9-to-5 job especially now that more companies are giving employees more flexible work options. They all agreed that while they don't know what the future holds for them and they can't say they'll never go back, at this point in time, they're all happy with their freelance life, particularly considering the freedom it gives them, and so they would not go back.
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I hope these tips have given you an insight into the freelance way of life so you're able to make a better prepared decision. If you have more questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
The Copywriter's Club meets every Saturday at 11 am on Clubhouse. Join the club here >
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