What I Do In My Freelance Job

 

Back in 2014 when I started my very first blog, I realised that I had a passion for writing and putting things on paper. I am not saying that the things that I wrote back then, or even now for that matter are highbrow or written grammatically perfect, but I just enjoyed the art of putting my thoughts down on paper, or even a laptop. Around 3 years into my blogging career of primarily reviewing beauty products I was approached by a high-end fashion store to help them write content for their product listings and blog. To say that I was overwhelmed was an understatement and I literally bit their hand off for the opportunity. Now here I am almost 5 years later and I have branched out in my freelance career and absolutely loving it, so I thought that I would share my thoughts, what I did and how I make money.

 

As I said, I fell very organically into the world of freelance writing. Often companies will have a handful of freelancers that are raring and ready to go whenever new content is needed, because it can sometimes work out cheaper than employing somebody in the long term to fulfil that role. Since starting out freelancing and mentioning it on my Instagram and my blog over the years I was approached by many companies, but I regularly work for three high-end fashion and beauty retailers as well as taking on some projects for high street stores like Paperchase and WHSmith’s. The thing with freelancing is that you really go gain what you put into it, so I did not want too many people on my books because I need what I create to be amazing quality so that they keep coming back for more.

 

What normally happens in my day to day life is that I will receive an email from a company, and they will stipulate their requirements. This may be SEO rich content for the new items that they are going to be adding to their website, mail shot content or a blog post. I will be given a brief on the items or what the message has to be and from there I will create them something and send it back across to them. There may be a little back and forth between me and the company until we finalise what we are after. This can very massively between the companies that I work for because obviously a company like Net-A-Porter are going to want something exponentially different from Paperchase, but it is just about adapting, sticking to the brief and being flexible when the brand gives you feedback. Once we agree and everything is submitted, I will then raise and send them an invoice.

 

When this first started, I had no idea what I should be charging companies or what a good base rate should be. As I said, this was never something that I intended to do, it just fell into my lap, so I had to quickly research how I should set up this new little venture and what I should set my pricing at. When it comes to pricing, I have to consider the cost for my time and then for the work that I am popping together for them. I did try to once look into the companies that I am working for and charge them relative to the items and services that I was providing, but in the end it works out much easier for me to have a flat rate with various pricing brackets because it makes it a whole world easier when I have to invoice the companies.

 

One question that I do get hell of a lot, especially from my friends and family is why do I do it? Why do I put myself through the extra pressures and stresses when I leave my normal 9 to 5 job?

 

The simple answer to this question is that I simply enjoy it. I am incredibly lucky that for the most part, the things that I am writing about really interest me, so the words just flow and now I am lucky enough to have some amazing companies on my books that I actually use and spend my cash with already. I think that whilst I can do my freelance work and earn a pretty penny in the process, I am going to hustle and do it for as long as I can. There will certainly be a time when I can no longer sustain working full time and writing each evening because if I have a baby I will most certainly have to knock one of them on the head because they are very time consuming, but while I have this time and can earn this cash, I am going to do it.

 

Make sure to leave me a comment down below and let me know what you think, do you think I am mad for essentially having a second job even if it is something that I love?