Can You Succeed As a Freelancer?

A little bit ago, I was blog surfing and found one post that struck me as rather interesting and the title nearly slapped me in the face. The writer said work-at-home freelancing is a joke. Comments are disabled on his blog - otherwise I would have commented on it.

I just couldn't get some of the things he said off my mind - and mainly because the blog is titled "Matthew's Problem with Authority". Ideally - he is a perfect candidate for freelance work because he can essentially "be his own boss".

But, to answer the question posed in the title - yes. Well, it depends. And here's why --

In order to succeed as a freelancer, you have to have all of the following:

• Willingness to succeed - believe it or not, some people don't really want to succeed. It may sound odd, but trust me on this.
• Ability to commit - if you aren't able to commit to yourself, you won't be able to commit to your business.
• Entrepreneurial spirit - you must be able to self-manage. There's no getting around it. If you aren't able manage your list of priorities, you will fall behind and could risk losing a client.
• Marketing skill (or money to pay someone to market your business for you) - you must be able to market yourself to your target market. If you aren't able to do this, you may not be able to get clients.

Possessing the above listed characteristics doesn't guarantee your success as a freelancer. However, having these tools in your arsenal is a recipe for potential success.

If you don't think that you can have a successful career as a freelancer, maybe you can't, but that doesn't mean that others will have the same result.

Posted in: black freelancer,freelancing