Don't Quit Your Day Job

Freelancing on the internet and in any other environment is not easy, take it from someone that has been for over 15 years. Some people find great and immediate success to set them for life but the reality is that number is very low. Self-employment is constant game of reinventing the wheel, working day and night, and sometimes having no money in the bank. Many people on Steemit are making quick and easy money right now and may be getting the bug that they no longer have to clock in 9-5 anymore. This may be possible but it is important to keep your day job while you search for freelancing success.

Cubicle Life
Out of college I had one of these jobs, including the typical - 3 supervisors, TPS reports, 15 minute breaks, and giving myself to a corporation that was profiting more off of my work than I was. During this time the internet was becoming a place where people were making money. I would dream about this possibility while at work and had a strong desire to make it happen. While at the cubicle job I printed out HTML tutorials and studied how to build websites. In a couple months I was ready to break out as a web designer, and I landed my first client for which the payment for the job was close to my entire monthly living expenses. I continued the cubicle job during the day and at night worked tirelessly on the website. Within 2 months I put in my resignation and woke up the next morning on my own time. I realized that I would not have anymore stable paychecks and that I needed to go into overdrive - no stable paychecks is a scary thing and over the next couple years I had times when I had absolutely NO money but I was working for myself and it was sweet freedom.

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No More 9-5 hours
Yes, no more 9-5 - it is now 24/7!! Many people would say to me that they were jealous I could work from home but they had no idea how much discipline is involved to keep the freedom alive. Something always needs to be done and no one else is going to do it. You cannot simply take a week off, for self-employed people missing a week takes 2 weeks of catch up. It takes financial preparation to take time off. Vacation is not not a word in my vocabulary - life is a vacation when you are not working for someone. If I could go get a latte at 1pm and take a walk along the water that was ultimate freedom to me.

Adapt or Die
What works one day will not work the next. You have to be ready for things to change and you must adapt. In my case it was constantly adjusting to what is hot or not in web design and how to get indexed in Search Engines. It has been a continuous process of learning new software, web coding, and trends. Complacency is not an option. This thought process can apply to the Steemit ecosystem - this will be a fast pace environment of constant change. Working with and adapting to the system will be your only method of survival if you are intending for it to be your new “job”.

Are you ready to quit yet?
Let’s talk about money - sometimes there will be a lot and sometimes there will be zilch. Some months you may have to put all of your money into new software, new computer, new camera, or whatever you need. This may reduce your spending money and you are eating ramen noodles. It may take a month to recover from expenses you need for your business but it is imperative to keep you out of the cubicle.
This is what you are now responsible for:
-paying your taxes
-your health/dental insurance plan
-your paycheck
-your office supplies
-your sanity

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Encouragement
In no ways is this to discourage you from attempting Freelance life. I hope there is a future for everyone that is free of cubicles, TPS reports, micromanagement, business attire, and being locked away from 9-5 making someone else rich. The block chain may free us all from this! I wish anyone going out on their own to freelance the best!

#freelancing #work #money #cubiclelife #selfemployment #life