Freelancing has its perks. You put yourself out there on sites like Fiverr.com, or other freelancing sites. You offer your services whether it is writing, social media management, content creation, SEO services, or graphic design. And, you will set your own prices, and clients will hire you. And, the higher your ratings become on these sites, then the more you will stand out to potential clients. With that said, you will be hired more often and that is when you will maintain a steady income.
With that said, freelancing is a great work at home opportunity for anyone, and it is completely legitimate. You don’t have to recruit anyone. You don’t have to pay for products every month that you don’t need and want that will just end up piling up in your garage or basement collecting dust. You don’t have to go out of your way trying to convince anyone that you are selling the greatest products that people can easily find at health food stores or at supermarkets. You see where I am going with this.
Yes, freelancing allows you to earn money in a legitimate way while you are not bothering your friends and family! You are only required to put yourself out in places where clients are looking to hire freelancers! However, even though freelancing is like night and day from MLM, it still has its own challenges. And, this should not come to you as a surprise because you can find pros and cons about pretty much anything. However, let’s go over the downsides to freelancing so you are aware of what you will end up running into if you do decide to become a freelancer:
- Not always a reliable source of income – Clients will come and go, but that in itself is not a serious issue because new ones always come along, unexpectedly as well. However, you may have some months that are comparable to feast and famine. Some months you will do extremely well, and other months, not so much. Many times in the summer, business dies down a little but not always. Some months will be unpredictably quiet and other months will be unpredictably busy. You could make $5K one month and less than $1 another month. That is something to keep in mind if you do go into freelancing.
- Nickel and dimers – You have your prices set but some potential buyers will try to nickel and dime you, and can easily take advantage of you so be careful with that. This is why I love Fiverr’s blocking system! Some of these buyers think they can get a $1,500-result for $150 so be careful and don’t give into them.
- Abusive Buyers – What is worse than the nickel and dimers? Abusive buyers as I dealt with one recently. I refunded their money and blocked them right after. I couldn’t work with a client who cannot respect a freelancer that he or she hired. And the bad thing was that communication with this individual was horrific. I was basically trying to pull teeth with this individual and he or she got angry that I wasn’t a mind reader. In other words, you will be dealing with nasty buyers, and it is best to refund them and block them. Fortunately, this is the exception and not the rule. But it is inevitable that any freelancer will encounter that.
- Working all day, night, and all weekend – You will not have a day off when you are freelancing! And you may be working some evenings quite late, and you will be expected to work all weekend as well. You definitely can go on vacation but you will also need to take your work with you.
These are the downsides to freelancing that all freelancers, aspiring or existing need to know about. You could also work remotely as a chat agent from a company like Amazon or American Express. However, you are earing a certain wage and you could be working during undesirable hours as well. With that said, nothing is perfect, and this is why I like freelancing. Even with its downsides, it is still the best option when it comes to working from home.
Hi there,
That’s true, loads of people think freelance is easy, they think that it is a solution for making money quickly from home, they don’t realize it is actually like every other job : with pros and cons.
I think freelance could be good, but you’ve got to be good at this, and to spend enough time on it as well. I see freelance as a riskless entrepreneurship. I personally think it is good to start with, but just the time to be able to make enough money without. I would rather do a blog than be a freelance. What do you think ?
I am currently looking up ways to make money online. I will need some money to invest very soon and I am not sure about what to do. I wasn’t really considering freelance as an option. I think I’ll try several things and see how it turns out.
This was an interesting post, turning upside down the iceberg. I enjoyed reading it, thank you.
Chris.
thanks very much for sharing about freelance, i also work freelance in a company, it’s not easy to do similar work like the freelance
Hello,
Freelancing is a very great way of earning money for your skills.
but I was unaware of these downsides.
Thank you for updating this useful information.
Hey Miriam,
Very great post, i enjoyed reading it… thank u.
Hmm gave a little perspective, thank you for sharing
Hey, your article is really good and helpful. Keep up the good work.
As a freelancer my workload and income always vary from month to month This make it difficult for me to predict my monthly income and as well plan out my expenses, apart from downsides i normally get late payment from some of my client. though i have freedom for myself and for the family.
Hey Miriam,
You explained about the downsides to freelancing in a very great manner. I totally agree with you. What I feel is personally I too felt some of the downsides explained above. But not all. You explained about the new downsides too to me! Thanks for sharing.
I agree there are so many nickel and dimers when you are freelancing. I too was a freelancer when starting out and had encountered this.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. The Content in this article is very informative
People don’t realize just how challenging freelancing can be, especially when you are just breaking into the game.
Yes, that is very true. It is not so easy at all. That is why I recommended starting out with Fiverr as it is a good platform to start gaining experience. Freelancing is not as easy as it seems.
Wao,
I just want to say that it is a very fantastic organization of data and information is very clean and clear.
Your article provides me the good information. because as a digital marketer I was thinking about the freelancer work. but now I changed my decision. because now i know its not regular work. so thank you so much for providing such informatic information.
I read your article, and i like the way you trying to tell us. Realy helpfull information for me.