The vast majority of freelance writers are self-employed and the sole employee of their business. Many of those freelance writing businesses don’t really even see themselves so much as a business, but as a writer who works for someone else. There are some folks, for example, who write exclusively for Demand Studios and think of themselves as more of an employee.
This isn’t too different from how many contractors see themselves. After all, when I worked in Information Technology as a network admin, I didn’t really think of myself as a sole proprietorship. After all, I had a single client who provided my entire paycheck. They even took out taxes for me. Nope, I was an employee, even though my tax forms might have said different.
Freelance writing, though, is different. Demand Studios (or anyone else) isn’t paying you a full-time wage on a contractual basis. You are a business from whom they are purchasing a service.
You might argue that I’m just talking semantics here. You might suggest that it doesn’t matter whether you think of yourself as an employee or a business. You might even believe that thinking of yourself as an employee adds a certain degree of security you might not otherwise have.
I’d suggest that the security you’re looking for can’t be found where you’re looking for it. At no point is any client under an obligation to continue giving you work. It’s a whole different world than when you’re employed by someone else.
No, your security has to come from somewhere else. Diversifying your client base will help in that regard, because you’ll know that even if Client #1 goes out of business, Client #2-5 will still be there. But the real security has to come from recognizing that you have a valuable skill – the ability to write well – that clients need.
Next time, I’ll take a look at the difference between seeing your customers as clients or as bosses.
Great post with lots of good tips! Yes, diversify…last year, I had one major client I counted on as my “anchor client” who flaked out and finally went out of business. It was a blow, but because I had diversified, I had additional income.
Another tip is to never stop applying for new work, whether it’s sending out magazine queries or trying your hand at new writing ventures. This avoids the ‘feast or famine’ syndrome many freelancers face of too much work some months and too little others.