Sir Walter Scott, a well-known Scottish historical novelist and poet, first used the term “freelance” in his novel Ivanhoe to describe a warrior mercenary from the Middle Ages. The term was admitted to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1903 after receiving official etymological recognition.
An independent worker is a freelancer, to put it simply. The projects that freelancers look for vary in size, scope, and variety. Article writing, book writing, ebook writing, technical reports, editing, proofreading, white papers, direct mail, copywriting, newsletters, and Ezine writing are all examples of projects that can be included in freelance writing… and much more.
Current State of Industry
The independent contractor market has exploded. $60 billion of work is now outsourced to specialists’ worldwide. According to the US Department of Labor “35 million Americans consider themselves to be self-employed professionals.”
In the past three years, companies have increased their outsourcing by 22%
According to a survey, the percentage of businesses using freelancers will more than double to 50%.
So it won’t be bad to be a part of a $120 billion industry!
Why has freelance writing become so popular?
Two of them are unquestionably more important than the others.
The explosion of the Internet
When compared to more established media like television and radio, the Internet is still in its Wild West era and is a relatively young medium. In addition to being a vast informational resource, it also serves as a vast advertising platform for businesses.
Shift in business practices:
In the good old 1960s and 1970s, you could start a successful business and anticipate making money for years to come. All businesses could afford to employ people full-time. Business models have changed as a result of intense competition and significant technological fluctuations. They only perform the tasks they are best at and hire professionals to handle all other tasks.
Therefore, it is more effective to find a writer who specializes in a particular type of writing rather than hiring a writer on a full-time basis. If a business needs articles written for their website, they would post a bid for a web content writer on a website like Elance.com, get the job done, and move on. They would post a request for proposals the next time they needed a skilled copywriter, hire someone, and then finish the job.
This represents a world of opportunity for independent contractors. You can conduct rewarding work from home while interacting with clients from all over the world. With direct deposit payments into your bank account, you can make more money than you could ever hope to in a standard 9 to 5 job.
