Why Not A Freelance Career?

HAVE you ever looked into a freelance career? If working for someone else isn’t bringing you the level of fulfillment you expected, why not explore other options?

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A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term.

Fields where freelancing is common include journalism, book publishing, journal publishing, and other forms of writing, editing, copy editing, proofreading, indexing, copywriting, computer programming, web design and graphic design, consulting, tour guiding and translating.

Freelance practice varies greatly. Some require clients to sign written contracts, while others may perform work based on verbal agreements, perhaps enforceable through the very nature of the work. Some freelancers may provide written estimates of work and request deposits from clients.



Payment for freelance work also varies greatly. Freelancers may charge by the day, hour, or page or on a per-project basis. Instead of a flat rate or fee, some freelancers have adopted a value-based pricing method based on the perceived value of the results to the client. By custom, payment arrangements may be upfront, percentage upfront, or upon completion. For more complex projects, a contract may set a payment schedule based on milestones or outcomes.

In most professions involving creation of intellectual property, "freelance" and its derivative terms are often reserved for workers who create works on their own initiative, then look for someone to publish them. They typically keep the copyright to their works and sell the rights to publishers in time-limited contracts. In contrast, workers who are hired to create a work according to the publishers' or other customers' specifications are referred to as "independent contractors" and similar terms. They have no copyright to the works, which are written as works made for hire, a category of intellectual property defined in US copyright law — Section 101, Copyright Act of 1976 (USC 17 §101).

Although, there are many opportunities in the Low Country for finding a great job, we realize some folks would rather have the freedom and unlimited potential that self-employment can provide.

Because of recent breakthroughs in computer & information technology, many fields of interest now offer freelance opportunities. The amount of choice available to you today is simply astounding – with future options nearly unlimited!

Your Freelance Career Options

How to Start a Freelance Career

Work at Home and Earn an Excellent Income

Imagine being able to work from your own home, doing a job you love, and getting paid handsomely for doing it. Wouldn't that be great?

Well, the good news is that this is not just a fantasy. It is a prospect that is well within your reach. Today, millions of people worldwide have established highly-successful careers as freelance professionals. Writers, designers, programmers and many other home-based consultants have discovered that freelancing offers the perfect combination of freedom, creativity, flexibility and profitability.

So do you need years of experience and fantastic qualifications to join these lucky people? Not at all. You just need a skill that you can offer to potential clients, and the willingness to learn how to run a home-based business.

Of course, the biggest challenge for new freelancers is finding enough work to justify giving up a day job. How can you be sure that you will keep yourself busy with lucrative work? This used to be a concern, but thanks to the advent of the Internet, things are now much easier.

Now there are a number of job sites dedicated to helping freelancers find work and stay busy. Freelance Work Exchange, for example, brings you hundreds of fresh freelance jobs like these:

Write for Discussion Boards: $1200 per week, plus bonus
A writer is needed for an ongoing writing project. You will need to write copy to stimulate others into joining the discussion board. The writer needs to actively encourage regular and meaningful debate on the relevant discussion board, with some moderating of the content. You must have solid writing skills and good ideas.

Administer a Web Business from Home: $4000 per month
A successful e-commerce venture is seeking a part-time virtual assistant to act as a home-based office manager. You will deal with email correspondence, update site content and deal with general admin issues. You should have your own computer and Internet access.

Transcribe Author's Notes: $80 per hour, flexible working
A publishing company is seeking a freelance with an eye for detail to transcribe authors' notes and recordings for a range of ongoing projects. You must have a good grasp of English, be able to edit content into readable form, and be able to submit work from home by email.

You can sign up for a trial subscription for just $2.95, and get instant access to all the projects in the jobs database. So if you would like to get started on the road to freelance success right now, click here to sign up today.

A Success Story

Karyn Martin was cautious about launching her freelance career online, but she soon got results:

"I remember the days when I dreamed of being a freelancer," she says. "The word seemed magical to me somehow. Romantic, almost. Now, after having actually been a freelancer for a while, the scales have been lifted from my eyes and I have seen the light. You pay for being able to manipulate your time. You pay by working more, working harder, and - hopefully - working smarter. But what you get in return is priceless. Now I can call the shots about when I work, for whom I work, and how much I make."

One day, Karyn decided she was no longer willing to commute in smog-laden traffic to sit in a cubicle for eight hours, come home, eat, sleep, wake up, and then do it all over again. Going through the same routine, day after day, week after week , only to wake up one day old and tired - wondering how life might have been if she'd had the guts to go it alone.

So she decided to become a freelancer - but how would she find work? She had spent endless hours surfing the 'net, signing up with one freelance site after another. Yet there was an incredible amount of competition. She never seemed to win any bids, and was adamant about not lowering her hourly rate. 

"Then I discovered Freelance Work Exchange," she says. "I had heard "don't pay to work!" repeatedly, and I was too poor to risk getting scammed, but I took a chance one day when I was flush and sent twenty bucks to gain access to the Freelance Work Exchange Professional Edition.

"Since then, I've edited a sales letter, a follow-up letter, an 11-page Web site, and a brochure. I'm 'on call' to do pinch-hit proofreading for a medical newsletter editor in Florida while he's on vacation, sick, etc. And I've landed a gig editing a new Canadian magazine coming out this fall. All this from taking a $20 chance on Freelance Work Exchange."

Of course, it helped to send prospects a few previous work samples she'd had the presence of mind to scan and save on disk. Also, since she has been 'in the business' for more than five years, she has a fairly good résumé with some experience to back up the claims, along with a strong list of references.

"For every one of you out there feeling a little discouraged, and especially for those of you on the verge of throwing in the towel, I'm here to tell you this. There may not be a Santa Claus, but there is a place to find work without paying some ridiculous "transaction fee" or never knowing whether or not the projects are 'fresh' - and even the name is easy to remember - Freelance Work Exchange."

Be the next work-at-home success story. Click here to get instant access to hundreds of freelance jobs.

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The Internet has opened up many freelance opportunities, expanded available markets, and has contributed to service sector growth in many economies. Offshore outsourcing and crowd-sourcing are heavily reliant on the Internet to provide economical access to remote workers, and frequently leverage technology to manage workflow to and from the employer.

Much of the computer freelance work is being outsourced to poorer countries outside the United States and Europe. This has spurred conflict because American and European workers are not receiving the benefits. The compromise has led to student freelancers who now provide a steady source of cheap labor while keeping jobs American and European.

As a result, freelance employment has been common in the areas of writing, editing, indexing, software development, website design, advertising, open innovations, information technology, and business process outsourcing.

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So, do you...

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