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Focus On Your Assets First
The biggest pitfall freelancers face
Freelancers are necessary elements of today’s marketplace. Without them, we would not be able to keep up with the digital economy as we know it.
They provide services like:
- Video editing
- Content writing
- Social media marketing
- Ghostwriting
- Software engineering
- Graphic design
- Virtual assisting
- …and so much more.
Sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and LinkedIn have been a godsend to those who want to be free of the typical nine-to-five and work on their own and those without large corporate accounts who need to hire such people.
But are we doing a disservice to our freelancers? Or, to put it better, are freelancers harming themselves?
The lesson four years of freelancing taught me
I quit my job at Starbucks in the summer of 2017 to start freelancing. I had always wanted to be a writer and thought that selling my words to businesses was just as good as writing my own novels. While it’s true that it was rewarding in a certain light, I now wish I had focused on fiction.
Although I didn’t see a dime of that sale, I’m proud of my contribution, for which I was paid a small fee.
My first client was a website specializing in seasonal nostalgia. This was by far the most fun I had. I sort of wish it wasn’t first since it made me think that freelancing should always be fun. The website did extraordinarily well, eventually selling for some good cash. Although I didn’t see a dime of that sale, I’m proud of my contribution, for which I was paid a small fee.
Near the end of that assignment, I attracted another client — a small business. I helped them with business proposals, company policy memos, and employee training manuals. Eventually, I was asked to help more directly but was told that I would have my freedom; this was not a nine-to-five situation. So I spent the first half of my day helping them and the rest of my day helping my other…
