Freelance Work: What is the Cause of Freelance Work Becoming Popular?

Written by Barry Walls

Wednesday, 14 October 2009 10:56

by BarryWalls

Thanks to the latest economic crunch, most people want to know what the cause of freelance work becoming popular is. Truthfully, freelance work has always been around. Most people never really referred to it as that, they just considered someone who was a freelance worker to be self employed.

Before the worldwide global recession, many people had a very favorable and traditional view of work. They thought that going to work every day and punching a time clock or filling in a time sheet and picking up a paycheck was stable and that it was safe. After huge amounts of unemployment, most people, especially the ones who find themselves unemployed, probably don't hold the same views anymore.

If a job is lost that means the income lost must be replaced as soon as possible. Food still needs to be eaten and provided if they have a family. Also, rent or mortgage still has to pay in order to have a place to live.

Moon-lighting is a very popular method of adding to an earned income by doing odd jobs for payment. When the earned income disappears, moon-lighting is all that is left. Obviously such casual work will not normally replace a full income but, with application and imagination, moon-lighting can provide full time employment and, sometimes, more than a full time income.

This is where becoming a freelancer comes into play. If you have any type of skills at all that someone would be willing to pay you to use, you can easily become a freelance worker. The more highly skilled you are the easier it will be for you to get freelance work and to get yourself up to a full time income in a relatively short period of time.

Let's take a simple example. Let's assume that Fred wants to be a freelance lawn mower. Fred will know, within a close margin, how long it will take him to mow a lawn of a certain size. If he knows that a small, one hundred square yard lawn takes him thirty minutes to mow and that he can easily receive $15 each time he does it, he knows that in an eight hour day he can probably mow six hundred square yards of lawn and earn $90 a day. If he can do it five days a week he has an income of $450 per week.

A major benefit of being a freelance (self employed) is the tax breaks. Expenses that are directly related to his work can usually be allowed against any tax liability. Some countries require freelancers to register as such with the tax authorities but this can also be a benefit because the tax inspectors know all the rules and can show a new freelancer where to make savings in his tax bill. (What? You think tax inspectors like paying tax? They know ALL the allowances and are pleased to share their knowledge - and for free!)

There is an obligation to provide proof of these expenses but that only requires that the freelancer asks for a receipt every time he buys something related to his work. Even with the very simple example of the lawn mower, it should be clear that if he wants to create a pay rise for himself he can consider increasing his rate, lengthen his working day, reduce the time spent between jobs (better route planning for example) or take on a few extra jobs for a short time until he has earned a short term requirement. So, why is freelance work becoming more popular? Freelance work is becoming more popular because most people have a sellable skill, the tax breaks are very attractive, properly organized, it can be better than a job and the flexibility makes it possible to fit work around the home life rather than having to fit home life round work.

About the Author:

Barry Walls freelance work course is quickly generating full time incomes for virtually all who sign up. If you want to quickly quit or replace a full time job with a dream work from home solution, try his online writing class.