Freelance article writing jobs: considering pros and cons
Freelance writing brings with it a great deal of benefits, but also has some downfalls the same as any other job.
- You don’t have to deal with people face to face. This is both a pro and a con. It can be a good thing not having someone watching over your should. Being able to lose yourself in a project, with a complete disregard for time can be very beneficial to you. It can help you change your schedule so that it best fits your work, allowing you to churn out four hours of uninterrupted work sans meetings or emails from a boss.
- You have the benefit of making your schedule. You can choose to work early in the morning, without having to get up and get ready or face an hour long commute in traffic. You can work in the evenings after your family has gone to sleep. You can pick up work in between your other commitments. It is glorious freedom that cannot be achieved in any other job. The downside to this freedom is that it brings with it a great deal of responsibility. If you failed to complete a freelance project that is due tomorrow, all because you took the day off to show a friend around the local shops, you have to suck it up and have the discipline to sit down that night in exchange for watching television or relaxing with a loved one and complete the project. Not everyone has this discipline, honestly. And that is why freelancing is not a good fit for everyone.
The negative here is that many people who do not face someone face-to-face, ever in the case of freelance writing, tend to communicate much differently than they would if they knew they would have to see you just up the hall. In fact, in recent years it seems there is an onslaught of new freelancers who treat the job as something casual, and use language as such. That is not to say that they must adhere to the most professional of communication, but the casual tones, integration of curse words and put downs, as well as truly emotionally-driven behaviour at times can be very difficult to deal with. There is a phenomenon called cyber bullying where people might bully online when they would never do it in person. This translates into the world of freelance writing online unfortunately. Many people will try and take advantage of freelance writers and use online bullying to do so. If they had to ever face you in person, they wouldn’t dream of communicating the way they do, but many fail to consider this or think before they type.