Taking the Fear Out of Freelancing: Is Self-Employment Right For You?

Janine was thirty-something and the mother ofwhen it comes to jobs, and that can lead to...
one when her marriage broke up. She moved toFinancial uncertainties, which can be relieved with
a new city and started looking for a well payinga lot of...
job with parent-friendly hours and was gettingSelf promotion. Marketing yourself is an ongoing
frustrated with how rare those positions are.Anecessity for freelancers.
friend suggested she consider shopping herSetting your rates and/or negotiating fees with
language translating skills as a freelancer so sheclients. It can take years to figure out what the
could work at home and watch her daughtermarket will pay for your time and expertise.
grow up. Janine liked the idea but couldn't imagineTaking care of your own pension, taxes,
taking the financial risk of fending for herself andunemployment and health safety nets.
her child. Fear and insecurity stopped her in herThe fridge, TV and coffee maker. Working at
tracks.But wait.What if the risk really isn't as greathome means resisting a torrent of sweet
as we think it is. There sure are a lot of peopledistractions. The Pay Offs:
working for themselves these days. What doNo bosses or annoying coworkers.
they know that we don't?The Self-EmploymentNo cubicles, harsh fluorescent lighting or
FactsThe US Census Bureau reports that thererecirculated air.
are now over 18 million self-employedNo set schedule. Work when you want and as
entrepreneurs in America. These one-personmuch (or as little) as you want.
operations make up a remarkable 70% of all USWork at home, save on commuting costs and
businesses. ( )So who are these brave soulsbusiness attire.
turning their backs on the cubicle farm and doing itYou pick the jobs. If you don't feel like designing
for themselves? Everyone from accountants toa porn website or being a virtual assistant for
writers.The Census Bureau says the fastestyour ex-husband's company, just say no -- it
growing self-employed sectors these days are:feels great.
real estate appraisers, nail technicians, landscapingThe best reason of all: That glorious feeling of
services, software publishers, and bed andself-determination. Of course, living like this does
breakfast owners. But there are plenty morerequire certain skills to make it work: discipline, the
choices out there to satisfy the maverick inability to live on a modest income, at least for a
you.The Satisfaction FactorA survey of freelancetime, the willpower to set some money aside for
writers published in 2005 by the American Societythe doldrums, the ability to work alone without
of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) ( ) painted amissing society too much, and the faith in yourself
surprising picture of the "average" freelanceto endure the slow times knowing the jobs WILL
writer. She is:Female, 49 years old, white, marriedcome again.Oh yeah, and it helps if you genuinely
with at least one child. She is well educated andlove the work you've chosen. That and a rainy
lives in a large city. She is usually paid by the itemday fund will get you through any drought.Facing
and makes an annual income between $40,000Down Your FearsI caught up with Janine not too
and $49,000.Now here's the surprise... in spite oflong ago. Turns out she got a job in a
that modest average income, over 90% of thosegovernment office making not bad coin. But the
surveyed said they considered freelancing theirwork is boring; she isn't using her training at all and
long-term career and were very satisfied withthey don't give her the authority to make any
their self-employed lifestyle!In fact, most of thedecisions. Plus she had to hire a full-time nanny, so
survey participants had quit regular jobs in orderher paycheck isn't going very far these days. But
to become freelancers. They weren't laid off orhey... it's a regular salary, right?When the time
fired. They quit. And were glad they had.The Upscomes for you to choose between a salary and
and Downs of Self-EmploymentHaving said allself-employment, don't let fear and insecurity
that, self-employment is not for everyone. Butdecide for you.Instead:Do an honest evaluation of
I'm willing to bet it would actually be a good fit foryour personality and skill set to know if you've
a lot of people if they weren't so afraid of thegot the freelancing stuff.Check your bank account
perceived risks.So let's deal straight up with theto see how long you can coast without an steady
realities of the freelance/self employed life so youincome if need be. Better yet, explore ways you
can make an informed decision about your futurecan slowly ease into self-employment while you
without any unwarranted fears or unrealistichang onto the paying job.Do thorough research on
expectations.The Challenges:the type of business you plan to launch to ensure
It can be hard to get established. Freelancersit's a good fit and there's a viable market for it.If
surveyed by ASJA said it took at least five yearsyou need financing, write up a plan. You can view
of networking and cold calling before they feltsample business plans for various industries here:
settled in the writing business.look forward to the happy day when you can cut
Micro enterprises (those with fewer than 5that final apron string and become your own boss.
employees) have lower survival rates than otherSound planning and self knowledge can take the
small businesses. This may be because theyfear out of self-employment.Heather Reimer is a
require less investment so owners take greaterself-employed copywriter and owner of The
risks rather than research the business modelWrite Content: . She offers website content
thoroughly in advance.writing services, search engine copywriting, and
Work fluctuations. It's often feast or faminearticle writing.