The holidays are upon us once again, and I'd like to take a moment to wish all my fellow freelancers a safe and happy holiday, as well as a fruitful new year.
This April will mark my tenth year of freelancing. During the past ten years, I've gotten to know quite a few other freelancers, and have enjoyed bonding over our common profession. I'm very thankful that freelancing hasn't been a cut-throat struggle with other freelancers for work. In fact, I have only experienced freelancers helping other freelancers when it comes to getting more work. And that type of good will is something the world could use a lot more of in my book.
Since creating The Daily Freelancer just over two years ago, I've had a few folks mention to me their dislike for the negative tone of some of my posts. Yes, I am a "glass is half empty" kinda guy. And yes, I can understand not wanting to dwell upon the negative when it comes to any issue. As frustrating as freelancing can be at times, my intention in creating this blog wasn't to turn it into a personal rail against the nature of freelancing. I simply wanted to create an open forum for freelancers to discuss their thoughts regarding all aspects of our lot, and believe that was achieved to some degree. Any perceived negativity was meant to be more concern on my part than grumpiness.
Not to be a Negative Nelly (again), but at this point though I think freelance in general has run it's course for me. My very first post here was titled "The Death Of Freelance", and discussed how the IRS-mandated rule of reclassifying freelancers as "Temporary employees" would end freelancing as we know it. It's now two years later, and I think it's fair to say freelance is on it's death bed. You can call yourself a "Freelancer" lf you want, but as long as you're receiving a W-2 instead of a 1099, you ain't no freelancer in the eyes of the IRS. (Note that I'm speaking specifically in terms of working on-site within the Promotional Marketing industry.)
Last year my 1099 earnings were about a quarter of the previous year which resulted in me taking a loss on my business for the first time ever. This year I haven't made one dime in 1099 earnings. Sure I've worked, but it's all been W-2 earnings. Obviously, W-2 earnings are not business related, and according to the IRS I can only claim a loss on my business for 5 years. After that point, I won't have a business as far as they're concerned.
What do I do now? Well, back in early May of 2009 I also posted a topic titled "Evolution". Basically I echoed what I wrote about in my very first post, and state that the only way to survive as a freelancer is to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing world of freelance. So that's what I'm a-gonna do... evolve. I've decided to take some classes, and learn me some of that thar web design stuff. The demand for good web designers is as high as it's ever been, and they're still getting top dollar. It will be a challenge to say the least, but at this point it seems to be the best option out there. I'll give it a shot so we'll see how it goes. As far as this blog goes I'm going to put it on the back burner as I focus on learning web design.
Anyhow, thanks for following along, and stay tuned for further freelance developments...
Regards,
Slim
