Downsides of Freelance Writing Jobs

Working freelance and loving what you do can easily keep you motivated and passionate about your writing. It has indeed a lot of perks and advantages over any regular day jobs. But there also some downsides which you must prepare for.

Many articles and writers do rave about the perks, benefits and the great things about working online, but trust me it is not always like that. There are days that really suck! I do love writing, but well, like everything else, there's always a good and a bad side to it.

Keeping Yourself Motivated

Working without a boss or a superior can entail a lot of distractions and temptations. You are free to work at your own time just as long as you meet your deadlines and provide what your client needs. There will be no one else to tell you what needs to be done, there won't be anyone to push you around. Might be a great arrangement, but for those who are new to being their own bosses, this can be a big drawback. You must keep yourself focused and find ways to stay motivated to work for online writing jobs even during the laziest days.

Building a Clientele

Finding clients and keeping them is probably one of the most significant issues that freelancers have. You need to learn to promote yourself and handle difficult clients accordingly. Be ready to deal with clients who are not sure what they really want as well as clients who are never satisfied with anything you write. There will clients who suddenly disappears and those who will not pay for your work.

It was a lesson learned the hard way. So be cautious with whom you're dealing with and make sure you verify your clients capacity to pay, and understand what they want to ensure that you provide the best results for them.

Variable Income and Lack of Bonuses

Freelancers are not entitled to bonuses that regular employers receive from their companies. There are no awards or recognition given. Feedback may be great but they usually don't come in with any financial value.

Apart from this, you also have different income ranges each month. Depending on the flow of your assignments and your clients. Large swings in your monthly income can make budgeting difficult. For newbies in the field, earning and finding decent freelance writing jobs can be very frustrating.

Longer Work Hours

Contrary to what many people think, working on freelance writing jobs will also entail long and sometimes round the clock work hours. If you have clients from other time zones, you need to meet their schedules and probably sync your time with them as well.

Moreover, you also need to deal with marketing, billing and other administrative needs of your home business.

Lack of Job Security

Many businesses fail within the first two years of existence so if you want to move into full time freelance writing, you might want to hold on to your regular day job first. Make sure that your freelancing is already stable with an established client base before pursuing a full time freelance writing job.