Recession? Where?! NOW is a great time to boost your freelance writing career

Freelance writing offers you a truly enviable lifestyle.

If you don’t want to work today, no one’s holding a whip over you. You can go watch a movie, take the kids to the beach (if you’re in the southern hemisphere ), or just veg out with a pile of DVDs and books.

Some days are like that for me. I always get a lot done, but if I’m not in the mood to work, I don’t. I go shopping. In my case, that means doing the rounds of all the bookstores within driving distance, and then usually writing anyway, in a coffee shop, or restaurant. (Writing is a hard habit to break.)

But here’s the biggest benefit of the freelance lifestyle.

The biggest benefit: the normal “rules” of the economic crisis don’t apply to you

Times are tough. If you’re working a day job, you may not have a job next week.

If you’re a freelancer however, you know that when companies fire staff, they hire freelancers — someone has to do the work.

As a freelancer, as long as you keep your wits about you, times are great.

Just don’t get spooked by the nightly news. As Jenn says in this excellent article 5 Foolish Mistakes Freelance Writers Make | All Freelance Writing:

If you’re projecting your lack of success on third parties or things like the economy, you’re making a huge mistake. No one stops you from being successful in freelance writing but you. Take responsibility, and look at the overall picture. The reality is that recessions are great times for freelancers when it comes to growing your career. “

Please don’t imagine that everyone is doing it tough. They’re not. There’s plenty of money around, and most businesses are doing great.

If you’re solely focused on magazine writing however, you might want to rethink that — times are tough for magazines, and they’ll get tougher. Make the move into web writing, if you haven’t done so already.

Hmmm… almost time for lunch. Think I’ll call a friend, and go out for lunch today.