A Freelancers Reality

What being a freelance writer really means! I thought OH MY GOD, I can supplement my income with a freelance writing career. Yep let's talk about the reality of that dream. In fact, let me just add that it's just a dream. There has been very little reality to my freelance dream and that is why I struggle to work full-time in this broken-ass economy where the cost of everything goes up and the hourly rate you make does not.

My Journey

So let me tell you about my journey, what I have done, what I wanted to achieve, and what has actually happened. It all started with a dream of being a graphic designer. I spent two years going to school and acquired thirty thousand plus dollars in student loan debt. I tried and tried for many months to beSchooling / educationcome an independent designer. I did a few jobs here and there and was not successful in building a career or even starting one.

I felt that I could combine my second passion with the first and went back to school. I earned a degree in communications majoring in journalism. I again acquired thirty thousand plus dollars in student loan debt. 6 years later I am still a struggling freelancer. I still have student loan debt and work a full-time job in a profession that has nothing to do with the two college degrees that I have earned. So in the end all the schooling, the degrees and the web searching and research have led me nowhere. I still maintain a full-time job to have a source of income and support for my family.

What I have done

I have networked until I am blue in the face, I talk to everyone, everywhere I go about what I do. That has led me to a few small penny paying jobss. I have literally gained no exposure anywhere except online and that still doesn't pay.

I have ground pounded the internet for sites to post my abilities, availability, and portfolios. Here's the problem I have found. The market is saturated with freelancers. It's like a pool of hungry sharks, they are so cut throat and competitive. I have read millions of articles about how to start my freelance career, and I have attended almost as many free and paid webinars. Guess where I am???? Still a struggling freelancer and still working a full-time job.

The Problem

The Next problem, you will literally have to sink hundreds of dollars into different websites to be able to search jobs and bid on jobs. There are truly no free sites to bid on jobs. They way sites like UpWork and others work, you can sign up for free to a lot of them. Then to bid or apply for jobs, you have to buy bids or credits, then to top it all off they take a percentage of the money that you make through them as a finders fee. It's insane.

Once you are involved in these sites and you are bidding on jobs, there are literally hundreds of other freelancers bidding on the same job. Again they are like hungry blood sniffing sharks. They way underbid, leaving you jobless or playing the same game and then literally making nothing on the jobs that you do get.

The Cost

So the cost of being a freelancer isn't any part of a fairy tale dream. You almost end up spending way more than you make in the long run. These are things that you pay for as a freelancer.

• Schooling / education
• Host Websites to Find Freelance Jobs
• Percentages of Jobs that You Complete on Jobsites
• Portfolio Building
• Portfolio Fees
• Program and Software Fees

It's not very profitable unless you can get a remote work from home job in with publication companies. Those jobs are not easy and honestly not even available for entry level freelancers.

Don't get me started on Ghostwriting. That is a fun freelance job, but you don't get credit for the work you do. You release all rights to your writing when you ghostwrite so you can't even use it in your portfolio. Sure you can try to self publish a website or even books, but it's not cheap and takes a long time to even earn a return on investment.

FREELANCING IS NOT AN EASY CAREER TO MAKE SUSTAINABLE!!!