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Why Freelance?

Joshua Frisch • Apr 23, 2021

With the rise of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many are realizing that freelancing for clients remotely is a good way to work from home, increase income and work on meaningful projects. A freelancer is someone who works for a variety of clients and is not a full-time employee with a company. More and more companies are choosing to hire freelancers over full-time employees as it saves money on costs such as office space and more.

For freelancers or those who aspire to freelance, remote work and internet connectivity have made it easier than ever before to find clients across the globe, no matter what your freelancing specialty is. Freelancers work in a variety of industries—graphic design, accounting, writing, web design, HR, digital marketing, and more. Let’s look at some of the benefits of building a career in freelancing, and how you can jumpstart your freelance career today.

Better Work-Life Balance

With freelancing, you are your own boss. You set your schedule for the day depending on what you want to do. It doesn’t mean that you can lounge around all day—having structure and getting your work done is important. But it does mean that you can take breaks when you want to, run errands or go to the gym in the afternoon, and spend a little bit of time with your family throughout the day. Maybe you work well early in the morning, or maybe you work best at night after your family has gone to bed and the house is quiet. How you get your work done is totally within your control, and you don’t have a direct boss looking over your shoulder or telling you how many vacation days you have left. As long as you are staying in communication with clients and delivering what you promise them, you can build a work-life balance that works for you. 

More Freedom to Choose Projects

When you work for yourself as a freelancer, you have the freedom to be selective in what clients you work with. This can be tougher when you are starting, as you need to build your portfolio and credibility. However, over time, you can weed out clients you don’t want to work with when you talk to them in the interview process. It may be that a client seems difficult to work with or does not have a very good reputation based on what you have heard from others. Or it may be that the work the prospective client needs you to complete does not interest you. When you are your own boss, you decide what you spend your days working on. 

Higher Earnings

60% of freelancers claim that they can make more money than they did with their previous  9-5 jobs. This is no surprise, as the shift to remote work and freelancing has allowed companies to save on office costs. Additionally, if you are freelancing from home, you will save on commuting costs as well as other costs that you usually incur in working a traditional 9-5 office job. And as you build your portfolio and develop your skills, you will be able to gradually increase your billing rates over time. 

Ability to Work Worldwide

The internet has opened up the remote work world, and freelancers can now meet clients from all over the world, even from the comfort of their own homes. Websites like Upwork.com and Freelancer.com are used by companies seeking freelancers with specific skills, and as you build your portfolio, you will become attractive to prospective clients. A client who lives in the United Kingdom and likes your skills and portfolio will be eager to hire you, even if you live thousands of miles away in the United States. Geographical distance is no longer a barrier to working with someone else, no matter where they live. Plus, working with people from other countries and cultures is very interesting and will open your eyes up to how others work and live. 

Opportunity to Develop Skills

The most common type of freelance work is skilled services, which accounts for about 45% of total freelancing services. Skilled services include web design, marketing, graphic design, and more. Maybe you have some of these skills already, and maybe you don’t. However, even if you don’t, the internet makes it easy for you to pick up new skills and begin offering them to clients. CTeLearning offers several courses for students of any age to learn in-demand skills and build the confidence that they can offer those skills directly to companies. Even if you previously worked in another industry, such as food services or retail, nothing is stopping you from developing skills and meeting the needs of clients from all around the world. 

Taking the Next Step 

Over the next few years, 52% of the U.S. workforce is expected to work in some freelance capacity. The world of freelancing is only growing, and you can use your skills today to build a roster of clients from around the world who will pay you to put those skills to work. 

Getting an international industry-recognized certification can be a great start in learning how to be a successful freelancer and earning the certification to prove it. Click here to learn how you can do so in just four hours, all from your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer.

 

The post Why Freelance? appeared first on CTeLearning.

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