If you’re a blogger who is passionate about their site and loves the concept of writing full time, then handing in your notice to go freelance is probably an incredibly appealing concept. Being able to set your own hours, work from wherever you like, and have no boss to tell you what to do, is the dream – it’s the thing that every blogger aspires to achieve. That being said, when your day job comes with a range of employee perks, your salary is high, and there’s room for advancement, taking the leap and quitting your job to go freelance can be an incredibly daunting prospect. However, if you know that blogging is what makes you happy and you have the potential to make a career out of it, you need to take a leap of faith, regardless of how terrifying that might be.
Worried you will fail as a freelancer and end up penniless? Here are some tips to help make the transition to full-time freelancer a little less stressful and scary.
Start saving (or take out a loan)
The chances are that if you quit your job to go freelance, money will be tight for a while. So it’s a good idea to start saving up so that you’ve got a little nest egg in your bank account that you can fall back on, should you need to. If you don’t have time to save up because you want to quit as soon as possible, then perhaps you could consider taking out a business loan instead? If your credit score is low, don’t let that put you off as you can always look into adverse credit personal loans. You may not want to take out a loan, but if you are serious about making a go of freelancing and don’t have the time (or spare money) to save up, taking out a loan could be the best option.
Build your business up
Don’t make the mistake of quitting your job before having clients lined up – this is a mistake that you don’t want to make. If you are going to quit your job, it’s vital that you have freelance work lined up beforehand. So spend some time building up your business before you say goodbye to your reliable income – it will still be scary quitting but it should be slightly less daunting. Start reaching out to local businesses. Get to know the local community. Attend networking events, both local ones and virtual ones. Get a feel for the potential for success your freelance business has.
Trial freelance life
Got any annual leave left at work? Then take it and use it to trial your freelance career. Take as much time off as possible – ideally, this should be at least two weeks, and use it to trial freelance life. Use each day that you have off like you would do if you worked full-time as a freelancer – market your services, connect with brands, create content. By trialing freelance life, you can not only get an idea of how successful you would be as a freelancer but also whether freelance life is a good fit for you after all. (You never know, you could hate working for yourself.)
The fact is that quitting your day job to become a freelance writer could be the best thing that you have ever done. However, taking the leap of faith and quitting your job isn’t an easy decision to make. That being said, hopefully, the tips and advice above will help to make the transition from full-time employee to freelancer that little bit easier.
