The Benefits Of Being An Autonomous Freelancer

Since going freelance (and becoming autonomous), I’ve never been happier

All my career, I’d been very good at my job. Until one day I was doing something that I didn’t really enjoy. And at a company where I didn’t agree with its approach to working.

This made me less of an achiever and more of a tagger along. I felt uncomfortable. I felt like I was failing. I didn’t feel like I was contributing much.

Then one day, my position didn’t need to exist anymore. And it was probably the right call.

It’s not all doom and gloom. I got another job with the same pay and a better chance at commission. I enjoyed my work immensely and loved the people I worked with.

So, why did I pack this all in and go full-time freelance? Because I saw the long-term benefits staring me in the face.

While working full-time at this point in my career, I’d started (by accident) writing for an industry newspaper. There was an advert calling for contributors to a guest blog competition. I entered and I like to say I came fourth. (Only the top three were announced.)

After enquiring if I could write some more, I had my first taste of working for someone outside of my full-time employer. Every other Saturday, I’d write an opinion-based 1,000-word article in my outdoor office for £100. It was all rather pleasant. An extra £200 would sit nicely in my house fund. There really was no downside.

Back in the old days (2017) when people relied on email and phone for communication, very few people were writing about the likes of Slack and Microsoft Teams. Luckily (and I use this term through gritted teeth), I happened to be one of them. This is what kickstarted my genuine freelancing career.

I still have the message that Meredith Schulz , then VP of Marketing at Mio, sent me in June 2018:

I saw that you're available for contracting, and after previously reading several of your articles in UC Today, I thought you might be interested in helping write and/or edit & lead a content publication that our startup, https://m.io is launching. If you are the least bit interested I’d love to set up a time to speak further.”

It was this message that was to change my life.

I know that sounds dramatic. But it really was.

Some people become freelancers and don’t change anything at all. And that’s fine.

But the appeal of not working 9-5, not visiting customers and staying overnight, not reporting to a boss, not completing endless paperwork because it’s the process, and not sitting at my desk (or any desk), lit up my eyes like nothing before.

An average day in my life, today, is based on a process I call micro-rewarding. It’s dead simple and it’s displayed on the BuzzSumo Wellbeing Wall:

“Over time, I realized that I was most motivated (therefore most productive) when there was something to look forward to. I call it micro-rewarding. I’ve scaled this down to an hourly basis. At the end of each hour, as long as I’ve hit my goals, I reward myself by upping the stake as the day goes on.”

Louise Linehan, Senior Content Manager at BuzzSumo, asked me to write this after I told her how I work when I met her at brightonSEO, Europe’s biggest SEO conference.

As we were chatting, I recalled a tweet where I tracked everything I did in the day and ranked my work-life balance.

Here’s the thread:

Today I’m trialling working in 1 hour sprints with a reward at the end of each hour.

Follow this thread 🧵 if you’re interested in my progress.#Productivity #WorkLifeBalance

— Dominic Kent (@DomKent) July 1, 2021

On this particular day, I worked five hours.

I made £2,750 ($3,350) that day. I also went to the beach and played golf and finished before 4pm.

In fact, sometimes I work on the beach. Sounds impractical but there are plenty of beach cafes with sufficient Wi-Fi to look after what you need.

Oh, but I have to pay for something? Two lattes is a small price to work somewhere that makes me smile and be productive. After all, it used to cost me £400 per month just to get to my office in London. I’d rather pay a local business.

To emphasize this point, I’ve written this book exclusively in cafes, pubs, and breweries. I figured removing myself from my usual setting would be a productivity trigger. Sure, it came with an expense—but I got value in the added inspiration and productivity.

I can count on one hand the number of bad days I’ve had since going full-time freelance…

*Since writing this section, all three gigs came in.

To summarize the benefits of becoming an autonomous freelancer, I can work on whatever I want, at the price I set, in whatever way I want.

Sure, I do work in my home office sometimes. I’m not a digital nomad—though freelancing opens that door—and I’m not rich enough to retire. But I absolutely love what I do because of the way I get to do it.

Sometimes it is the simple things. If I’m writing a whitepaper for an enterprise client, they’re paying good money. But does that mean I adopt a corporate approach and rent office space for a few days?

Hell no.

I turn up my music and get my head down. Office life might be for you. And that’s okay. The moral of the autonomous freelancer story is:

On your own terms. In your own time. At your own rate.

But enough about me…

What other autonomous freelancers are saying

Simon Hayhust, Hayhurst Consultancy:

“I used to work for a B2B market research agency until January 2021 when I went independent and have never looked back. I love the life I lead these days, and though at times I work much longer hours, the benefits of going solo easily outweigh those of working for someone else.”

I countered Simon on this because I thought it sounded negative. The whole point is to work better, not longer, right? I literally said:

“I think the element of working much longer hours sometimes goes against the theme of what I’m working on.”

I wasn’t going to include this response until he set my mind at ease.

“Ha! I think, in fairness, my point is that sometimes working longer hours is now *my* choice. And if I do have to work over a weekend, I know that when I send the invoice out, I get to keep all the income. My working hours these days are much lumpier than they were when I worked full-time in business. Sometimes that works in my favor. Yesterday, for example, I was able to watch a fair chunk of the India vs England cricket on TV without a smidgeon of guilt. Even though I sometimes work over a weekend or while we are away on holiday, I would say overall I am probably working 20% fewer hours. I definitely wouldn't want to return to working for anyone else.”

Maya Middlemiss, Freelance Commercial Writer and Host of the Future is Freelance podcast: 

“One upside people don't always appreciate is the antifragility of freelancing, at a time of global uncertainty. Freelancers are used to change (and to seeing it coming), to managing their own careers and professional development, and are continually hustling*. Losing a key client may be a big blow but it rarely represents 100% of your income, unlike a layoff from an employed position, and you're probably streets ahead on personal branding/business development in many cases.”

*Hustling is a term that gets confused often. I don’t think Maya meant (and nor do I endorse) hustle culture that triggers burnout and means you’re working 7 days a week from 7 til 7. But hustling to ensure you have a steady set of clients, a personal brand, and a rock-solid portfolio are excellent freelance traits to have.

I hadn’t thought about this until Maya mentioned it. It sure is easy to get comfortable when working full-time. And again, that’s okay. I have no issue with people who choose not to freelance.

But the recent news (mid-2022) of startup layoffs and enterprise hiring freezes shows that even the greatest full-time talent isn’t safe forever.

Freelancers do have the edge when it comes to reacting to and preparing for such circumstances.

Amna Aslam, Freelance Content Writer:

“I belong to a small city in an underdeveloped country. I used to curse my city that I cannot make a career in this city. But freelancing and remote work has changed my perspective. It was once my belief that I can only work with international companies if I moved out of my country. Now I am doing work on an international scale from my city. My career would have ended if there was no freelancing.”

This resonates with me so much. And it’s something I’d forgotten easily. I don’t live in an underdeveloped area but freelancing and remote work empowered me to work from anywhere.

So I moved to the beach!

My story is completely different from Amna’s so I thank her for opening my eyes to this.

Anna Burgess Yang, Full-Time Account Manager and Part-Time Freelance Writer:

“Full disclosure: I'm not a full-time freelancer. But I like to maintain around 2-3 regular freelance clients at any given time. I have a pretty unique experience: I was in Fintech for 15 years before I pivoted into content marketing and journalism. What I bring to the table as a freelancer is that I am my own subject-matter expert. I have in-depth experience in both banking and technology.

I tried to take on freelance clients that weren't in my wheelhouse and it was a struggle - I didn't enjoy the work. To really make freelancing worthwhile (alongside working full-time and having 3 kids), I needed as much control as possible over what I was producing. And I found this by only taking on clients where I could be my own SME - mostly FinTech or banking-adjacent.

Clients can give me a broad topic or theme and I can just write without a ton of research (other than sometimes including stats). It makes the work easy/enjoyable to write what I know well because I'm confident in the quality of the article. And the more I do, the easier it becomes to find new clients because I have a portfolio of very industry-specific work.”

I love that Anna got in touch when I was looking for other people’s personal benefits of freelance autonomy. One, because it reflects my career. I was the product guy at service providers for 10 years before going freelance. I also spent a lot of time juggling full-time work with freelance commitments. Two, all my clients are within my niche (more on that later) so I am not just a marketer for hire but someone with tons of experience in the domain.

While the reliance on a full-time job reduces the autonomous element somewhat, it’s a great way to showcase the choice element.

Linsey Knerl, Freelance Writer:

“I've been an autonomous freelancer for over 13 years and it has been the only way to engineer the lifestyle I want. Homeschooling 6 happy, healthy kids, writing horror fiction on the side, homesteading, and only doing it because I can set my schedule, work on the road, and pick the clients that support my lifestyle values.”

Now this is what I’m talking about. Engineer the lifestyle I want are the words I’ve been looking for to describe freelance autonomy.

I don’t know Linsey personally but I know that she does things her own way. Could you imagine how different Linsey’s lifestyle would be if she was living paycheck to paycheck replicating a 9-5?

Sanketee Kher, Freelance Content Writer:

“I’d stashed away 6 months' worth of salary in 2 months and was ready to take the plunge. I concentrated on creating a portfolio I could share with potential clients. I created a website with blogs to showcase my work, and wrote and designed an ebook to show people I can do serious work.

I barely sent 10-15 emails and DMs as my focus was my portfolio. I got a great response from almost every platform I signed up on. But, here’s where the problem starts:

I was so focused on my fear of having dry spells, that I became more active with my applications, knowing that failure could be a few months away.

It was easier to fixate on not making it as a freelancer that I forgot to take into account that this is something that could work out! So, I started to weed out poorly paying or difficult clients and replaced them with clients who worked in B2B SaaS. This meant I was doing work I genuinely enjoyed and it helped me manage my workload while I kept my focus on scaling up.

It hasn’t been the smoothest journey managing my tasks and dealing with clients, but it definitely helped me learn way more than a traditional job could. And it also allows me to work at the pace I set, not the one that is forced on me.

While it’s imperative to find your feet in this new journey, it’s equally important to prepare for success because it might happen before you’ve even had the time to register it.

My recipe for happiness and freelance job satisfaction? Always, always, always stick to deadlines, plan out your month, and don’t work for a price that doesn’t make you happy because it’s not worth it.”

Sanketee’s story touches on many points that resonate with a lot of freelancers. The saving money upfront aspect allows you to focus on attracting the right clients, saying no to poor clients, and genuinely scaling your business. If you can do this, you are one step on the way to autonomy, rather than relying on lots of little clients that sap your time and energy.

Preparing for success rather than failure is a tough mindset to crack but one I try to employ every day. The best example I can use is July 2022 when I had completed all my July and August tasks before the middle of July. This allowed me to do any of several things:

This is an extract from my book, The Autonomous Freelancer.