From delmarvanow— Rhonda Adams writes: “Years ago when I started my own small business, I’d bristle when someone said, “So you’re a freelancer?”
At the time, the idea of being a freelancer — someone without a full-time, paying position — seemed a pretty negative way to be described.
That certainly has changed.
Now, a third of the American workforce are freelancers or independent contractors, according to a study that the Freelancers Union and Elance-oDesk commissioned. That’s 53 million Americans who get all or some of their income from temporary or project-based work.
That number is likely to increase: A 2010 study from Intuit projects that by 2020, 40 percent of Americans will be freelancers.
Although I never called myself a freelancer, I preferred the term “consultant,” for more than a decade I was a self-employed sole proprietor. Along the way, I picked up a number of tips on how to be successful when you have to earn your living without a regular paycheck…”
Read the full story at Freelancers increasing in numbers.
Related articles
- Strategies: 11 tips for freelance success (usatoday.com)
- One-Third of Americans Are Freelancers Now (reason.com)
- IRS needs to embrace freelance economy (cnbc.com)
