I promise I will be writing my full thoughts about this later on, but allow me to offer some instant musings about this subject in the meantime.

Freelancing has been somewhat prevalent in my current industry for as long as I can remember. In college, I thought of freelancers as self-sufficient writers who contributed to different outlets without a permanent employer. Contracts and all.

Only when I entered agency life did I discover that there is more than one way of freelancing. One is where you become your own boss. Another is a sideline for extra income to supplement your primary income from your full-time job. My friends and officemates, plus some Internet strangers, made it possible to take on design, content creation, and writing projects. All while trucking on the 9-to-6 daily grind. Undoubtedly, it is not the easiest gig. But it can be rewarding, based on what I’ve heard from their stories. It was the work from their side gigs that helped them save enough for the simplest pleasures, from travel to new equipment to even the simplest essentials.

I am not going to lie to you; freelancing has always piqued my curiosity. Quite frankly, I will never consider this path full-time for reasons I will elaborate on in my next post. However, my peers’ stories of sidelining as writers and designers have inspired me to consider exploring these side gigs for the extra moolah and the experience.

So in the next post, I will be talking about my raw thoughts about freelancing. Here are some questions that I will be addressing:

1. Will you ever consider freelance work a full-time career? Why or why not?
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of going freelance?
3. What factors are in play before deciding on freelance work, even on a gig basis?
4. What is my ideal freelance set-up?
5. If given the opportunity, what skills can I offer as a freelancer?

All these and more on to the next! 🙂

P.S. This topic has been brewing in my head for some time now. With the Chinese New Year long weekend looming, I figured I could use this extra time off to start blogging again.