Freelancing in The News: A growing trend

credit: doughayassoc.com

Periodically on this blog, I planned to post about news in the freelancing job sector. I haven’t done this since my first post; unlike my first post, though, this news appears to be more on the positive side.

Romina Maurino of The Canadian Press recently reported self-employed and contract workers now make up 15 percent of the workforce, according to American figures, and it’s expected to climb even higher by the year 2020.

As far as my new home in Canada is concerned, nearly 2 million Canadians worked at least some kind of temporary job; this means contract workers made up 12.5 percent of paid employment in the country that year. In June 2014, Canadian self employment grew by 23,400 workers.

Maurino features Lise Cartwright (You can visit her online here), who was successful enough to quit her full time office job after 18 months and founded a full-on freelancing company.

Ivey Business School at Western University professor Ann Frost told The Canadian Press that it’s not only the freelancers’ desire for the freedom of self-employment that drove the trend, but companies around the world are turning more toward outsourcing to specialists.

My situation is a bit more complicated when it comes to entering the freelance sector – not bad, really, just different – but I tend to believe that most freelancers are where they are by their own volition. They want to be their own boss; to make it for themselves.

ON the other hand, companies have always asked for freelance help, which is just fine with me. Sometimes it’s cost, sometimes it’s deadline, sometimes it’s a particular expertise that calls for outsourcing. Whatever the case is, there is an element of job security for specialized freelancers. The trick, however, is for freelancers to land those ever-important contracts. Income can vary from month to month, depending on the contracts and clients landed, which seems to be the most common trade-off for the freedom freelancing offers.

credit:
http://www.afuntab.com

The connection between clients and freelancers is an interesting chicken-or-the-egg-which-came-first relationship. Clients are businesses who depend on other businesses to help satisfy their own clients. It’s a fascinating cycle that spans so many industries and supports so many independent businessmen and businesswomen all around the world.

You can find the original Canadian Press article here for further reading.

Happy writing and contract hunting, my dear readers! We’ll talk again next week.

What are your thoughts on the rise in freelance businesses? Discuss in the comments below and feel free to leave suggestions for future blog posts!

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Don’t be the Cleveland Browns: A rant

Hi there, fellow writers, freelancers and other visitors to my fine little corner of the internet!

I’m having a much better week. Thanks for asking!

I’m willing to take on a lot of different projects, big and small. Sometimes they seem a little tedious (but I have a little fun with each one), sometimes they’re “glamorous” and exciting and let me rub elbows with bigwigs.

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.

There’s one type of project I’ve seen clients ask for that annoys me: paid reviews. It happens. People pay for positive feedback for their products.

Advertising is one thing, but paid reviews is something different. With advertising, you know what you’re getting. You pay a professional (like, say, me) to make your product or service look awesome. With reviews, you expect more honest, frank discussion among actual users of the product or service. Online reviews show the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s good to have both advertising and reviews so consumers can weigh pros and cons the best they can before making a purchase.

When you mix the two, though, you’re not exactly going to come up with Reese Peanut Butter Cups, you know?

Not a paid advertisement. I just really like them.

When you buy reviews, you’re skewing what’s at least a partially honest, blunt and real-as-you-can-realistically-get-on-the-internet feedback from happy or angry customers. You could be hyping up your “killer” app and setting up your customers for a big letdown.

You know what that is? That’s being the Cleveland Browns. A lot of hype before the big launch, seems good at the beginning and then it goes belly up worse than you could have anticipated.

Artist depiction of me, circa any given football season.

Even if your app or widget or whatever lives up to the hype, I consider bought reviews to be ill-gotten gains. You’re buying feedback, not earning it. If your product or service is great, your customers will let you know. If what you’re selling doesn’t gel with them, they’ll tell you. And it’s ok to get bad reviews. Dust yourself off, see what you can fix and go at it again.

As for freelancers considering picking up one of these jobs…well, I won’t sit here and tell you what to do. I get it. It’s quick cash, and I’ve done small, quick assignments for cash before.

I just know I personally wouldn’t feel great about reviewing a product or service I haven’t used. It’s feeding an unethical practice and isn’t going to look great on a resume. Aside from the paycheck and other factors, I think the value in a good freelance gig is being able to brag about it on your resume; writing paid reviews just doesn’t seem like it would look all that great.

Maybe I’m alone in thinking all this. What do you think?

– Adam

(Photo Credits:
discovery.princeton.edu
photobucket.com
Maribeth Joeright)