Will the Economy Pull Down the Freelance Writing Industry?
Personally, I do not know much about American economics. With that being said, I have taken the time to stay up to date on the current situation in the United States. While it is hard to predict the future, a lot of so-called experts feel that a recession is on the way. Like most, this worries me for a number of different reasons.
Over the past week or so I have talked to a few other freelance writers, and they feel that the downturn in the economy will eventually have an effect on the freelance writing industry. I guess that I agree with this to a certain extent, but I do not know enough about the economy to make an educated prediction. Will the freelance writing industry slow down because companies and webmasters will no longer have the money to spend? This makes sense, but again, predicting the next turn is next to impossible.
What do you guys and gals think of this? Are you worried that things will slow down across all industries, including freelance writing? While only time will tell, hopefully some of you readers will have some better insight on this. I am not going to sit around and worry about the possibility of losing a lot of business, but it is obviously a concern for millions of people. Hopefully, things will get worked out before the economy slips even further. What is going to happen next? And will we (freelance writers) be affected?
January 20th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Heck, yes, recessions affect the business. I have lived through two of them–it’s mostly psychological, employers want to “wait and see,” stall on new projects, and so on. You have to live on air–but those of you who have somehow found a way to keep those $5-an-article bozos alive have already mastered that. Even they might disappear back into their holes, though.
January 20th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
[...] was an interesting question posed over at ChrisBlogging about the effect a US recession might have on freelance writers here: “Are you worried that [...]
January 20th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Quick update: If you want a solid answer/opinion to my question, check out -
http://allfreelancewriting.com/2008/01/20/making-money/will-a-recession-affect-freelance-writers/.
Jennifer is widely regarded as a high quality writer, and she offers a great view on the upcoming recession…
January 20th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I thought my life would slow down in December, but instead I have been slammed with work. However, I also took the time to learn additional skills that would enhance my writing business. If you want to do well you have to offer your clients more.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
There’s another way to look at this…
For some companies, a recession will mean hiring fewer staff, but might not necessarily translate to less business. Instead, companies may choose to outsource more of their work, such as copywriting, in order to avoid hiring costs. If a recession is long term and leads to layoffs by some, it could lead to an increase in freelance opportunities. One’s loss may be another’s gain.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I don’t think it will have a big impact on me. For one thing, we’re not talking about a depression – it’s more likely that the economy will just grow more slowly (the horror!). I’m also confident that there will always be people who need help for their projects – whether they’re in an industry that continues to do well or they just want to develop more projects to increase their income. In many cases hiring freelancers is an investment in something new; I don’t think the world will run out of people who expect to make money from the things that I do. I’m also looking at some business projects of my own that complement my skills so I can be less dependent on working all the time.
If the US does slow down for a bit, there’s other countries that will continue to do well. I’ve gotten a few clients in Europe recently and in the last week got 3 more from Australia. As a freelancer you have to be self-reliant and demonstrate value that’s hard to replace to continue to get business. Those are among the most important things for getting through a recession unharmed.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I agree with Rosa. I think that a recession would lead to fewer full time permanent jobs and open up jobs for freelancers. Let’s hope so!
January 20th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Seasidewriter wrote: “I think that a recession would lead to fewer full time permanent jobs and open up jobs for freelancers.”
The thing is that companies that already rely on freelancers may cut back, which may mean there would be no net gain in opportunities for freelancers. And, you may lose existing clients and expend more time obtaining new ones to replace them.
Also consider that for many businesses, creative services are not considered “core” to their offerings, so those jobs and opportunities will be among the first to get cut. One must also consider that other employees may expand into those services to hold their jobs. “Don’t let me go! I can write too! Let me do it along with my regular job, and you can save money!”
January 20th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I think a great deal has to do with the breadth of your customer base, and the range of skills that you can offer as a freelancer. I do agree with Seasider’s point, remembering in past ‘tough times’ that it’s been the salaried employees who take the hit, while freelancers and contract workers are called in to do the essentials at crunch time.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Oh Canada!
Not sure if I need to worry about any of this or not – or if it will give me an advantage.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Thanks for all the comments thus far! It seems as if there are two ways of looking at the effects of a recession on the freelance writing industry. Unfortunately, only time will tell I suppose…
January 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
This is too weird. I follow a link about the impact of a recession which is similar to a recent post of mine about tips for getting through a recession and I land on a site that looks just like mine. What are the chances!?
January 21st, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I’m directly affected by a possible recession, so I’ve been keeping up on the news. I live in Canada but most of my freelance work comes from the states and I get paid in US dollars. I’ve been hurting a bit lately with the low dollar, a USD $1000 paycheck used to get me over $1100 Cdn (roughly) based on the old exchange rates, now I’m lucky if I get $900 after conversions and fees.
I hope things turn around or stay the same for the time being.
January 25th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Michael – You are not the first person who has told me that. Hopefully things will turn around for the US dollar so you can boost your income!
January 28th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Chris,
Excellent, timely question.
I decided to weigh in because I’m American and have been in the industry long enough to speak from an experienced perspective. First, a little background:
I have been in publishing since 1987, and have been freelancing since 1993. I’ve been though Black Monday (the stock market crash of 1987), the dot com boom/bust, Desert Storm, the 9/11 tragedy, the war on Iraq and now this latest debacle crushing the American economy – the subprime mortgage crisis.
My response is rather long, so you can read the rest here (I wrote a whole article b/c it was such a good question that got my brain cells abrewing!): http://inkwelleditorial.com/recession-affect-freelance-writers.htm
Best,
Yuwanda
InkwellEditorial.com
October 27th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
[...] question was written about recently on ChrisBlogging.com. He states, “Personally, I do not know much about American economics. …. While it is hard to [...]