The current state of freelancing: Part 1

I’ve been a little naughty.

I was supposed to send this email two weeks ago, but life got in the way. Mostly work.

My beloved newsletter took a back seat, and I just managed to write this now.

BUT…

I accidentally pulled a Taylor Swift. You know, dropping not just 16 songs, but 31 (!) within 24 hours.

I found myself writing not one but two newsletters in one sitting.

And because Friday is typically Friyay, I’m publishing this first part today, Friday in Australia.

The next one will go live on Friday, US time!

✍️ What this newsletter is about

Today’s topic is massive for me, having made a lot of observations in the current landscape of freelancing. To say that it is currently CRAZY competitive will be the understatement of 2024.

However, having freelanced since 2018, I can’t help but compare the ease of landing new clients then vs. now.

So today’s Part 1 will talk about the state of freelancing, with an anecdotal comparison from when I started and the present day.

Part 2 will go live in a few hours and unpack whether it’s a good time to become a freelancer in this climate. How we can weave our skills and experience into it?

💡What the heck is going on in freelancing at the moment?

Before diving into the wonderful world of freelancing circa 2024, here’s a caveat: Everything that follows is based purely on my experience as a freelance writer. All anecdotal observations; none of the statistics or proprietary methodologies.

The landscape comes from a deeply personal lens — through my experience with clients, virtual coffee chats with other freelancers, and content I see on social communities (LinkedIn, Facebook groups, Slack channels.)

Let’s start with a bit of background.

I started freelancing in 2018. It was a side hustle — I needed more cash and had too much free time outside my 9-to-5.

I had no freelancing background, but I knew I had different skill sets I could tap into. So, I tried freelancing in social media marketing, virtual assistance, and writing.

I decided to stick to writing because (1) I love it and (2) it’s got the most jobs available for me at the time.

Now let me paint a picture of the “Before,” going back to 2018, and the next five years that followed.

BEFORE (2018 to 2023)

I want to preface that during this period, my tenure as a freelancer (relatively new) and lower rates played a big role in why I could get clients almost instantly.

It was a different kind of “hard” for me then, as I was adjusting to freelancing processes, tools, and dealing with clients in general.

I remember signing a client who wanted me online during their work hours in the US (10 PM onwards in Manila). They also required me to download a time-tracking tool that captured my screen every minute and sent it to the client to ensure I was working the entire time.

Dark days, and never again.

But getting clients was never an issue. There were more jobs and relatively fewer freelancers.

1. As a freelancer from the Philippines, landing clients was extremely easy for me.

I made an account with onlinejobs.ph where clients all over the world publish their job posts.

I landed my first seven clients from onlinejobs.ph, four of whom I ended up working with for almost a year.

Most of them paid peanuts (I recently revisited my first invoices and was charging $200 per month for virtual assistant work or $50-100 per article.)

I didn’t mind.

I was a “newbie” freelancer (even though I had 10 years of professional marketing experience with both agency and corporate background).

I learned a lot about tools and working with startups in the US. I stayed up-to-date with marketing trends and learned SEO.

When converted to Philippine pesos, my freelance income was decent enough to fund my lifestyle and overseas travels. It was the perfect supplement to my wonderful and stable 9-5 job.

I was just happy to be making money doing something I loved in my free time.

2. I joined Facebook communities and Slack channels around freelance writing and content marketing.

In 2021 having moved to Australia, I started to realize I could charge more. So I did.

I left the online jobs platform after realizing that it was a race to the bottom. Clients were looking for the cheapest freelancer.

I was learning about boundaries and setting up my systems and processes.

I said goodbye to lower-paying clients.

I focused my energy on Facebook groups and Slack communities. I’d find posts looking for freelance writers and respond to them. I remember having the luxury to sift through these posts and see if they were a good fit.

If they don’t fall within my rates or see red flags, I walk away.

I’d send samples to around 10 — and land 3 clients.

I found two of my highest-paying clients — ever — from Slack channels.

When I needed a new client, I’d rinse and repeat. I’d usually get one almost right away.

3. I found my way to SEO and content marketing agencies.

I started working with an SEO agency. Then I discovered the joys of getting a steady stream of jobs from agencies’ client portfolios. I didn’t have to find clients myself; I’d only tell my editors that I had more bandwidth and would get more jobs.

SEO and content marketing agencies became my best source of freelance writing jobs. I’ve worked with four and I’m still working with the first one now.

4. I didn’t feel any need to build my personal brand online. 

I didn’t publish regular posts on LinkedIn, even though I’ve had it for almost two decades.

I only made my website to learn WordPress and website development.

NOW (second half of 2023 to present)

Fast forward to the latter half of 2023 until the present, and we have in our midst a starkly different scenario.

1. Mass layoffs continue to haunt us.

I don’t think I need to unpack mass layoffs because (unless you’ve been hiding under a rock) we all know lots of this has been happening over the last year or so, especially in the US where most of my clients are based.

We have seen layoffs not just from tech companies but also media.

This means that experienced and skilled professionals — including journalists and editors with several bylines — have dipped their toes into the waters of freelancing. Some are doing it in the interim while others have made it their new normal.

There’s suddenly a big market of freelancers available for companies looking to outsource.

Even the established freelancers I know are having a hard time landing jobs themselves.

For someone just starting out, this is incredibly intimidating.

For freelancers like me who have done this for years, this image is scary.

2. Fierce competition is FIERCE.

Competition has gone from “there’s a piece of the pie for everyone” to hundreds of comments on LinkedIn hiring posts.

I’m not even kidding — I see posts from people on the lookout for freelance writers published 20 minutes ago with 40-50 comments already.

If I decide I’m a good fit and schedule my response later in the day, I’ll find 100 or so more comments after a few hours.

I even see writers who have bylines from the New York Times and Hubspots of the world sending samples to content marketing leads and hiring managers. Or those with upwards of 5,000 followers on LinkedIn saying they’re interested in the role.

I’ll feel deflated and won’t even try to respond anymore.

But then I’ll also remember that if you can’t beat them, you better join them. (Also that imposter syndrome is a bitch and should have no place in my world.)

A year or two ago, when I saw posts hiring freelancers, I’d block a time in a day or two to carefully and meticulously craft a highly targeted response with relevant samples.

If I do this now and wait, I’ll be out of the running. The person hiring would have closed the job and reviewed responses already.

This prompted me to create a Notion for all my blurbs, email templates, and relevant samples. They’ll be classified into industry, i.e., B2B SaaS, finance, education, law, and any other industry I have experience writing for.

If I stumble upon hiring posts on LinkedIn or Slack channels, I’ll pull out responses from this Notion. This tactic helps me respond to more freelance callouts in a timely manner.

(I’m happy to share this Notion with sample blurbs if that helps!)

3. Everyone’s doing B2B SaaS.

Why’s everyone doing it?

When I started freelance writing, B2B SaaS wasn’t even a thing. Now, almost all freelance writers I know are servicing clients in this space.

If you’re not sure what B2B SaaS is, I’ll spare you the deets.

But the fact is, this has prompted me to reallocate my energy and specialize in other industries.

Other freelance writers are doing the same. They’re also venturing out into other formats outside of blog writing. Many are starting to offer case studies, executive ghostwriting, and even content strategy.

Some have shifted from writing to consultancy and digital products.

Many, including me, have looked into in-house roles.

4. AI. Nuff said!

AI is another face of the competition.

In its early days, many clients (including some of mine) decided they could cut costs by replacing their freelance writers with ChatGPT.

Read my experience in this Business Insider piece.

Some started hiring “AI editors” to give prompts and edit AI-produced content.

Now that we know how laughable unedited AI looks, more and more clients are starting to appreciate the specialty and expertise that actual human writers bring to the table. They want writers back.

With Google’s recent update that says they’re going to get rid of low-quality content that does not add value (read: rubbish piece), content leads want an extra oomph to written pieces.

Subject matter expertise. Personal experience. Human-interest angles.

Things are starting to look up. More clients have been open to AI, as long as they’re used as tools and not as “writers” to be edited.

5. Companies are cost-cutting.

Mass layoffs are just a symptom of a bigger problem: cost-cutting measures.

When organizations do this, marketing is usually the first department to go. Especially content marketing.

Because content marketing is largely organic. It’s a long game and it takes a while to see results (let’s not even get to issues on attribution.)

When management decides which costs to cut, they look for results.

So we see content marketing teams cutting costs — if they even survive the layoffs. Many freelancers have lost their anchor clients because of this, most of which they’ve worked with for a long time.

I also lost a few of my agency clients because their clients had to halt their content marketing and eventually, outsourcing.

Luckily, I’ve seen an uptick in freelance writing jobs recently. Maybe things are starting to look up.

6. Elon-gate pushed Twitter thought bois to LinkedIn.

Since Elon acquired Twitter or X (whichever you prefer calling it by), more people have moved to LinkedIn.

I love this since I use LinkedIn primarily to network and learn. Now I also see more pitch calls and freelance hiring posts, so it’s easier for me to find potential clients in one place.

It’s also a great channel for me to write and showcase my expertise along the way. Of all my social networks, I have the largest following here. To have more people on LinkedIn means a chance for more people to see my content.

But the shift from X to LinkedIn has been a double-edged sword.

Since last year, I’ve seen the LinkedIn I-used-to-know turn into a bedlam of irrelevant selfies, people selling their services (“if you want this template, comment with “DM me bro”), and whatever this is:

Also those posts I mentioned earlier of people hiring? Many of them want to hire full-time employees for lower costs and without the benefits — under the pretense of hiring freelancers!

Here’s what these posts look like:

• Looking for rockstar freelancers to work with our team from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Standard time (freelance writers work asynchronously. They have their own writing process and write at their most optimal time. You’re not looking for freelancers, you need employees.)

• Looking for freelance writers to work 30-40 hours a week. (Same point as above. Freelancers, run as fast as you can!)

• Looking for remote workers. US-based only. (Why does geography have to matter if you’re looking for remote workers? I know a lot of overseas freelancers who are more than capable and have been doing this for a long time. They’re getting eased out of the competition solely for the fact they’re not based in the US.)

• We’re looking for someone eager to learn and who can write articles in 24-48 hours! (This screams content mills, and someone looking for anyone but a writer with expertise and years under their belt).

Freelancers are not employees. Again, if you want to hire people to work for 9 hours within your business hours, don’t hire contractors. Hire employees and pay them decent salaries and benefits. Simple as that.

The sad thing is I can imagine myself starting out freelancing in 2018, easily falling for these clients.

Anyone not privy to red flags like these is in for a ride — and not the good kind!

What now?

It’s not the brightest landscape in freelancing at the moment.

What does this mean for freelancers — both starting out and been in the game for years?

Should they start exploring other areas and look away? Or paddle through the turbulent sea of client cost-cutting and oversupply of freelancers?

Let’s dive deep into Part Two, where I’ll talk about whether freelancing in this climate is a good idea.

See you there!