What is Freelancing? Make Money from Home in 2023
Are you a mom looking for ways to make some extra money without having to leave home? Freelancing may be the perfect career choice for you!
With its flexibility and freedom, freelancing offers an opportunity to work on your terms. You’ll get to choose how much or how little you want to work, while keeping yourself busy doing something fun and engaging ands earning the money that your family needs.
Let’s explore what freelancing is all about and provide tips on how you can begin making money by taking advantage of some of today’s most popular freelance opportunities.
What is Freelancing and how is it different than a normal 9-5?
Freelancing isn’t a job in the traditional sense – there’s no regular salary, no benefits package, and no guaranteed hours of work.
However, if you’re a stay at home mom like me, working a full time job, leaving your kids, and being on someone else’s clock is not only impossible, but it sounds icky too.
There is no amount of money that someone could pay me to leave my babies and go and sit in a corporate office for 40 hours a week. NO THANK YOU.
Freelancing is all about taking charge of your career and managing your own schedule. If you can only work while the babies sleep, then freelancing is for you.
You have far more control as a freelancer; you can pick which projects to take on, which hours to work, and where you want to do it – be it from the comfort of your home or from a tropical beach on the other side of the world.
You don’t have to worry about being online at certain times or punching a time care. You are focused on delivering results and typically get paid by project rather than per hour.
Freelancing is perfect for those of us who want to be their own bosses, structure their own schedules and write our own paychecks.
Freelancing is a Business Where You Solve a Need or Create Results for Clients
Freelancing is an exciting business option for those ready to step out of the traditional 9-5 or for those like me who don’t have the option to work a traditional job.
Freelancing is all about finding your niche, connecting with potential clients, and offering up your services to solve their needs or create results.
When you do it right, amazing things happen – like having more time to spend raising your kids, better financial rewards, and developing relationships with cool people and interesting businesses.
Is Freelancing a Stable Form of Income?
Freelancing has a bit of a bad rep these days, but there’s one huge mistake people tend to make when beginning their freelance career – relying on just one client.
Many freelancers make the mistake of relying on one client for their income. And that may work for a period of time, but as soon as the company wants to take a different direction or has budget cuts, the freelancer on the team is always the one to take the cut.
To make freelancing reliable, you have to diversify your client list and work on multiple projects at a time. And when you do it this way, freelancing is actually very stable.
This approach sounds like more work at first, but it also decreases your risk massively – making freelancing one of the most reliable income gigs around!
Freelancing is NOT like a normal job and you can’t commit to just one company or client
Sure, the benefits of being your own boss are great, but there’s also a downside to that freedom. With freelancing, diversifying your customer base is key.
Having two or three reliable customers in terms of paying regularly and projecting future workloads gives you stability and peace of mind as a freelancer.
Sure, feel free to only deal with customers that make you happy, but remember that relying on just one might cost you in the long run!
As a Freelancer, You Are Always Looking for Leads and Clients
As a freelancer, you know it’s always time to go fishing for leads and clients. Sure, you might land a few here and there by word-of-mouth – but then again, when was the last time you actually heard of someone randomly recommending an awesome freelancer?
Don’t sit around waiting for the right opportunity to just come to your doorstep. Do yourself a favor and get out there – start leveraging social media platforms, attending local networking events and connecting with influencers in your industry. Social media is, in my opinion, the best way to get your name out there to be seen.
Constantly looking for leads may sound exhausting and boring, but that’s why I help moms streamline their portfolio and keep their pitches fresh and ready. When you make pitching a part of your routine, it becomes second nature.
And if you’re like me, then you like the constant interaction. I get to see the inside of so many different business and industries. And I also get bored really easily, so client and project hopping is an exciting way for me to stay fresh in their industry and make amazing connection along the way.
My #1 Tip for a Beginner Freelancer: Come from a Place of Help, Offering Solutions and Leading with Value
As a beginning freelancer, there’s one tip you should keep front and center: always approach prospective clients looking to help. Give value by offering up solutions.
Because the truth is nobody is going to care about your skillset if you don’t first explain what specific results you can deliver for them.
For example, if you I tell you that I’ve been a content writer for 10 years and have ghostwritten best selling books on Amazon, that sounds cool. But what does that have to do with you?
On the flip side, I can come to you and tell you that I help bloggers create affiliate posts that are optimized for SEO to rank on Google, and bring more visitors who then increase their income stream.
See what just happened? Now you have the other person’s attention. Bottom line? It’s all about the value you provide and skillfully communicating it to those interested in your services!
Freelancing isn’t for Everyone. Here’s the Pros and Cons to Consider
Freelancing may look alluring, with the promise of flexible hours and working from home in your pajamas. But it’s not for the faint-hearted; freelancers must wear many hats, from salesperson to accountant to marketer, and be ready to handle any task that comes their way.
On the flipside, without a boss breathing down your neck, there’s ample opportunity to explore creative ideas and build an impressive portfolio.
Whether freelance work is right for you ultimately depends on your skillset and attitude towards taking on risk – but if you’re prepared to hustle and make some big gambles, freelancing can open up otherwise closed doors along stunning new pathways.
Pros:
The money
You have the potential to earn way more per hour than you would in a traditional role. Freelancers typically make at LEAST twice the hourly rate of a traditional employee.
More flexibility
You choose when you get the work done. If I want to write an article at 3am when my house is finally quiet and my brain can breathe, my clients really dont care. As long as I’m producing results, they don’t care if I’m wearing my pajamas or writing in the bath tub.
You get to choose what projects you work on
When I worked in corporate America for AT&T sales…I had to do what my boss told me to do. I hated restocking after my shift was over, or doing sales pitches for the new TV streaming services. But it was a part of that sales role, so I did it. As a freelancer, if I don’t like doing something, I just don’t do it. I don’t add it to my list of services that I offer.
You can work from anywhere
This winter, we took a vacation to Colorado and road tripped there from Texas. I was able to write on the way there and back. And then I completed my articles for the week in the mountains of Woodland Park, CO. And guess what, no one cared because I submitted my stuff on time and delivered the results they wanted.
Freelancing is scalable and there are no limits aside from what you place on yourself
If you want to make $1,000/month. Easy. If you want to make $15,000/month, do it! Just keep taking on more clients until you’ve scaled to where you want to be. This isn’t like a normal 9-5 where you’re limited by inflation raises and merit bonuses. If you want to make extra money for the holidays, just go to Upwork and pick up another gig to cover the cost of your Christmas gifts.
Cons:
There is no guarantee of success
But guess what, the same goes from a traditional job. You can go to college and spend $100k getting a degree, but that doesnt guarantee that you’ll land a well paying job in that field. Success depends on you. And whether or not you believe that you can accomplish your goals.
You have to convince people to hire you
If you don’t like sales or you get shy on Zoom interviews, then freelancing might freak you out at first. But guess what! You can learn and grow!
You are responsible for your own admin and book keeping
I use Quickbooks Self-Employed and that takes care of this con for me.
No vacation or benefits
When you’re a freelancer, there is no paid time off. You have to create that work/life balance for yourself. I knew that I wanted to be off for a month when I had a baby back in April, so I talked to my clients and asked how I could work ahead and get their content created ahead of time so that I wouldn’t have to worry about writing when I was in the labor and delivery room.
You may have work for cheap at first as you build your portfolio
There were times when I wrote the sales pages for rug cleaning companies and got paid a fraction of what I deserved. BUT, those were the first sales pages I had ever written, and instead of looking at is as a loss, I know that I was getting paid for hands on experience and also getting paid for training and to build my portfolio.
Skills You Need to Start Freelancing
Mindset Matters
The most important skill needed for freelancing is having a growth mindset. Having an entrepreneurial spirit is key because when you freelance, there is no one else that will do the job for you.
You are in control of when, where and how much work you do—which means that it’s up to you to make sure that your business succeeds. It also means that you must always stay motivated and organized in order to keep yourself on track.
Proficiency in Your Skill
More than anything else, success as a freelancer requires proficiency in your chosen skill. Whether this is writing or design or something else entirely, being able to perform your job well is essential if you want to remain competitive in the marketplace.
This means taking time out of each day (or week) dedicated solely to improving upon your skillset so that you can keep up with trends and ensure that your work remains top-notch.
Work Hard and Be Patient
Freelance success doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time and effort to build up a client base and gain trust within the industry.
You will need grit and determination as well as patience before seeing any real results from your hard work. It’s easy to feel discouraged during these early days but remember—slow progress is still progress! As long as you stay focused on your goals, you will see results.
Create Balance
The last essential skill necessary for successful freelancing is creating balance between work life and home life. This can be especially challenging since you’ll likely be working from home—but it can be done!
Developing routines such as setting weekly goals or allocating certain hours per day dedicated solely to work will help keep both aspects of life separate yet manageable without feeling overwhelmed by either one
Freelancing is not for everyone
If you like to make excuses and have stuff handed to you, then please, do not try freelancing. You’ll give up after a couple months and get mad at me for making you give up your cozy cubicle.
You have to believe that you can make money from home, you have to want to work hard to make it happen, and you have to make the time to develop your skills nad put yourself out there. There is no failure in freelancing. We just pivot and try again.
Why I think freelancing is the perfect answers for moms with babies
Freelancing is the perfect answer for moms who are on the lookout for flexible but satisfying work that fits in and around their family commitments.
No more rushing to the office in the morning or missing out on family time before bedtime – you can set your own hours, take care of your baby and make money all at once.
With freelancing, you can pick projects that suit you, work from wherever you are (in your PJs if you want!), and have as many coffee breaks as you need – all while still looking forward to that payday at the end of the month!
So if working from home with a little one sounds like a dream, then consider making it come true with freelancing!
