Freelancing as a trend has been on a rise for quite some time, and the business is changing rapidly. For more than a decade now, people have been choosing freedom and flexibility over the constraints of the monotonous 9-5 job.
Here are a few trends that are transforming the freelancing world:
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Businesses want to hire Freelancers
Based on the data by the latest research at Princeton, about 94% of the ten million jobs created in the US between 2005 and 2015 are temp or freelance. The reason behind the same can be multiple. Freelancers are more productive, career driven, focused and prompt. Businesses are encouraging freelancers as it helps them avoid the high fixed cost of a full-time workforce. Having a full-time workforce calls for a fixed salary every month even though the work done by the employee every month is not uniform. A freelancer works on a project or assignment basis. This ensures work gets done on time and the corporate shells out money only for the exact job at hand. Giant corporates are capitalizing on this trend of freelancing by giving out jobs that are not done throughout the year. Opting for freelancers helps companies to cut down on the rising costs and complexity of training people and providing infrastructure.
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Freelancing is now a Collaborative effort
Freelancing is a very dynamic trend. A couple of years ago it was all about working solo, but these days freelancing is no longer a one man show. If one wants to grow his/her business then one of the ways out is to collaborate with professionals who bring on board some complementing skills. This allows freelancers to provide solutions for complex projects as a one-stop shop. For example, if you are a video editor and have been editing web series for a while, you can collaborate with other professionals working on larger projects to help them with the editing job or with other editors, who fall short of talent or time in large projects with short deadlines.
3. Get paid for your skill and not for hours spent
Freelancers with proven track record no longer charge by the hour but by the project/assignment at hand. This allows them to profit from efficiencies they bring to the job with their superior skill. Also, working as a full-time employee can lead to hours getting wasted with minimal work done just because one needs to complete those designated 8 hours at work. This does not just end in time being wasted but also not utilizing the free time to attain the much deserved work-life balance. Freelancers, on the other hand, work on project basis, which not only boost their earnings as work gets done quickly, but also have free time at their disposal for carrying out their other chores. One can take up multiple projects depending on their skills and consistency and ultimately earn way more than one could by working on an hourly basis.
4. Relevant content is KING!
Content marketing is the new holy-grail in the industry. New research by Content Marketing Institute found that businesses now allocate 29% of their total budget to content marketing and 39% plan to increase their content marketing spend over the next 12 months. This is due to the advancement of technology and social media. Creating, publishing and marketing content that is relevant to the target group has become highly important to have a returning audience. Businesses most often manage traditional advertising in-house, but content marketing requires a wide range of skill sets, which gets fulfilled by hiring a freelancer. Content marketing has also given rise to freelance jobs such as online community coordinators, social media managers, etc.
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Multiple marketplaces to find work online
For freelancers, it is no longer necessary to have “contacts in the industry” to get jobs. There are now plenty of marketplaces and online communities to help you find work. For example, LinkedIn launched into the freelance economy with Profinder, a tool specifically designed to help freelance professionals find jobs. It now has over 420 million members. There’s also Upwork, Contently, SimplyHired, Toptal, 99Designs and many more.
The world of freelancing is as dynamic as it can get. To stay ahead in this ever-changing landscape, one needs to stay updated, re-skill periodically and listen to the evolving marketplace.
