Thinking Inside the Box: Freelancing, the Only Way to Make Less Money than Being Unemployed

When I finally managed to break my cubicle shackles I swore to myself that I would not take another desk job; at least not until I realize that not having health insurance anymore and only leaving the house slightly more often than those little old ladies who are convinced that the sun will kill them really gets to me. Therefore, I thought it would be prudent to take a break from the nine-to-five and try my hand at freelancing. Hehe, cute idea.

I believed striking out on my own would be a good idea because in the industry I'm trying to break into (video game journalism), there are very few true staff positions. Most gaming websites are run by a guy (or collection of guys, but always guys, because ladies still value human contact a little too much) who knows way too much about programming and also has an intrinsic desire to tell everyone what he thinks about games. Now, this is all well and good, as passion is a great thing, but the unfortunate side effect is that the vast majority of gaming sites are small, in-house operations that employ little to no actual staff. Sure, there are a few big companies like IGN, Gamespot, and 1Up who have a full-time professionals on board, but most "enthusiast" websites are nowhere near reaching those heights.

The nice thing is that there is just too much going on in the industry for one person to handle it all, and that's where we freelancers come in. Be it product reviews (it sucks), opinion articles (the whole industry sucks), or thoughtful editorials (everyone who disagrees with me sucks), freelancers can do it all. I've done a bit of freebie work the last couple years in order to build up my portfolio, and now I've garnered enough of a reputation and track record that I'm in a position where I can actually extract a little pay for my services.

The only problem with the whole arrangement is that the pay scale for freelance work is comparable to the allowance your parents gave you in middle school, possibly even less. Outside of Employee Evolution/Brazen Careerist, I write for four different gaming websites, and my total monthly take-home is somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 for a really, really good month. Also, over half of that amount comes from one site, so if for some reason we ever end up on bad terms, my yearly salary will be akin to that of your co-worker's 7 year old who gathers up aluminum cans and returns them for the recycling deposit. I'd like to think I have more income potential than little Susie, but she's got all of marketing and legal pitching in their cans, and we all know that if anyone loves caffeine it's the folks who spend their days coming up with ad campaigns and suing people.

The prudent thing to do would be to find outlets that pay more, but unfortunately it's not quite that simple. There is a big discrepancy between the major, investor-backed URLs who run a full staff and everybody else. If you aren't making money hand over fist then you likely aren't making money at all, which is why I'm lucky to concurrently find four places that will actually pay me when I vomit my thoughts onto paper.

I suppose I could branch out and write for other industries, but since I have no interest in how to be a good mommy or where to find the best shrimp salad in town I find it hard to develop a passion and give my best work. What's the difference between working at someone else's desk and being miserable than doing the same thing at my own? No thanks, I'd rather be broke and content than slightly less broke and miserable.

Besides, there's a traffic light near my apartment, I can always just head up there with a bucket and dance for change. That would be fun, assuming the hot dog cart guy is willing to share his little slice of solicitation heaven.

Leave your thoughts here. (8 responses)

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Greg Rollett

May 28th, 2008 at 9:06 am

Have you looked into Social Spark. http://www.socialspark.com. They payout real nice to bloggers and allow for full disclosure. They are growing and have some good promos that pay up to $25 for a 300 word post.

Just an idea. Also, have you thought about an e-book? Could be good for short and long-term money as well as branding.

Hope it works out!

The Office Newb

May 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/wri/690081776.html

Kristina Summers

May 28th, 2008 at 11:48 am

Don't lose hope. I haven't even figured out how to get paid for my blogging yet….still building an audience. You are way further ahead than I am.

PS. If you get desperate you could always get a trained monkey to dance for you at the stop light – it would probably bring in tons of change

jehan

May 29th, 2008 at 8:13 am

You should be proud of yourself. I'm not brave enough to give up that steady paycheck to spend my days researching/writing about things that interest me. I try to make time for it in the evenings, and weekends, but it (probably) won't ever make me a single cent!

Brad H.

May 29th, 2008 at 10:19 am

Hey everyone, thanks for the kind words and the tips. I'm glad to be making a little money at this, but I'm definitely going to have to break on through to the next level before I can call it a career. In the meantime, I'll just keep on dancing at the traffic light. And Kristina, I believe a monkey likely would at least triple my dance income potential, but then I'd have to change its diapers, and I'm not real keen on that.

JRandom

May 29th, 2008 at 10:36 am

Janis Joplin said it best: "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." Also, "Freedom is also freedom to starve." It's traditional that some freelancers make the big bucks and the rest starve, and it's always been that way in a capitalistic society. I'm just a little surprised that you seem to be finding that out now. Freelancing becomes much more problematic when supporting a family comes into the picture.

David Ronnie

May 29th, 2008 at 5:42 pm

I don't know how long you've been at it, but it took me a couple of years to build up my client base and connections to be able to live off of my freelancing. I had to work a restaurant job for quite a while before I got steady enough work to make a real go at it. Find other passions to write about in the meantime to fill that salary gap until you can get steady enough work to pay your bills from the gaming sites. Or, as stated, start working on passive revenue streams. And get out there and network, whether it's forums, real life initiatives, whatever. The more people you know the better the chances of something coming your way. It really is about who you know.

Also, Freelanceswitch.com has been a great resource for me as well.

Jennifer

Jun 1st, 2008 at 1:10 am

It's definitely not easy to make a living as a freelancer–especially if you do most of your writing for blogs. Blogging is still a very underpaid market unless you're lucky enough to land a job as the full-time writer and blog maintenance person for a corporate blog. There are plenty of other markets out there that will pay you enough to live on, though. Sometimes you do have to take one for the team and write about stuff you're not interested in, and it's a willingness to do that that makes the difference between hobbyists who "do it for the love" and professionals who do it for a living. If you want some advice on getting started and growing your business, feel free to get in touch.

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