A new infographic published by OnStride Financial highlights 5 ways that freelancers are transforming the economy. In my opinion this is well worth a look (I’ve included it below).
Having just emerged from a “real job” back to freelancing, I have stumbled upon a few articles on the recently termed “gig economy”. No longer a term limited to bands and musicians, defined by whatis.com:
“A gig economy is an environment in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements.”
Over the past four years, over 40% of new jobs have been in self-employment and growth is expected to continue. Quite frankly I am not surprised.
Aside from a few exceptions where I have surrendered myself to the “real job”, I have chosen to make my living “working gigs” in marketing for the last 12 years. Whilst there are many benefits to me personally, I believe there are many more to the potential “employer” (or client).
Here are my top 6 below (orientated to marketing but could equally apply to any other sector):
- You can tap into in marketing expertise that you may not be in a position to commit to on an employed basis. Quite often an individual can bring diverse marketing skill sets (or specialist skills if that’s what you need) put into practice within multiple business environments and sectors.
- You get objective impact driven solutions. Freelancers are typically a motivated and passionate bunch with your best interests at heart. They deliver creative solutions focused on agreed outcomes. They depend on this to get more gigs from you (and your referrals)!
- You will get unparalleled productivity. A freelancer is 100% focused on delivering a specific project or campaign for the agreed fee. No distractions, no office politics, no pointless meetings, no corridor gossip… no wasted time, just attention to the gig at hand.
- You get complete flexibility. Whether you need help for ad-hoc projects or on-going programmes, on a short or long-term basis, part-time or flexi-time basis, working from your office or own office. In other words there are no hard and fast rules.
- You can turn it on, turn it up and turn it down to suit your business needs. This means you can bring in capacity for specific projects or ramp up your marketing campaigns to suit the cycles, trends and demands of your market (or resource constraints in the business).
- You get a good deal! On the face of it freelancers can seem expensive when you compare annualised daily rates with equivalent salaries, but remember you only pay for what you get! Also there isn’t any holiday pay, sick pay, benefits, taxes or insurances!
In my opinion there is a place for freelancers in organisations of all types, shapes and sizes. It is an agile and risk free way to add capacity and capability to a business or team whenever it is needed… and if you find a good one, you’ll be in for a great performance!
Do you have experience with freelancers, how has it worked out for your business? What do you think of “The Future of Work” as presented in this graphic?
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