With a latest “travel project” currently in the works (please see here), I am now occupied with trying to come up with additional funds to further build the travel fund.
I used to have a steady freelance work writing copies for a competitor of my old kaisha. I write content for flyers, brochures and even produce articles to be used for all their marketing initiatives. The pay was good — a little low but enough for the effort and time I put in — and I was also writing something that I am familiar with, having worked for their closest competitor two years before. Unfortunately, the kaisha decided to hire a salaried copywriter to save on the costs. Recently, my contact asked me to submit a proposal for a consultancy gig. I just hope that it gets the go-signal because the fee would be a big help in filling up my virtual travel fund jar.
Another possible gig never went anywhere, after my contact abandoned the project just after I have submitted my CV and portfolio online. Until now, I haven’t heard anything from her — this in spite repeated follow-ups. After my 5th inquiry, I decided to finally stop pursuing her for the result. While I would have loved the extra income, it’s just not worth the trouble and the stress.
So, here I am — gig-less and raring to write on a freelance basis once again.
I considered looking at ODesk. I used to have an account but never got to bidding for projects. After I have invested in a net book a few years ago with the purpose of using it for ODesk, the net book really didn’t maximized its potential for revenue. When I started writing for the kaisha, I bought Momo (the net book) a new charger. Dumb luck, because the salaried copywriter was hired a week after that and the projects stopped coming in.
Doing freelance work has its pros and cons — earning extra revenue the biggest pro of all. I miss writing for a living, having started my career as a lifestyle writer for a major Philippine broadsheet. I love working with the kaisha, particularly my contact (who was a former office mate) and I get to meet new people.
As for the negative side of things – on top would be the taxing payment process. You bill them for your service, they ask for a discount, you relent, you bill them again, you do the work and then wait for the check to get released. If you are lucky, you get the check right away but worst days — you are asked to come back maybe twice or thrice due to various reasons (check not yet signed, approved or bank still closed).
Another funny thing about freelancing is having to cater to their “corrections” — I pretty much have a virtual cache of funny stories involving clients who insist to have their say every time. Never mind if the idea (for a particular beauty campaign) is way off the mark, or that the subject-verb agreement is currently embroiled in a fierce UFC-type, MMA-ish tiff. Bottom line: I AM THE CLIENT.
Hopefully, I’ll land a writing gig real soon. Right now, I am open to almost anything: copy and content work for traditional or digital advertising and promo medium and yes, even ghost write your next romance novel. In my mind, the hard-earned money will go to something really important to me.
LIFESTYLE WANDERLAND 