Work From Home Couple

In my last post, right below this one, I wrote about the tough 2008 I had on the freelance-writing beat. I wrote more stories than ever, but still made less money than I did in 2007 or 2006. The reason? More of my assignments paid lower rates. The big payers were few and far between, thanks, I guess, to the rough economy and general upheaval in the publishing business.

Despite that, though, I still believe that nothing beats both working from home and working for yourself. I do both, and I know I’d hate any alternative.

Here’s why. One of my freelance jobs involves editing a commercial real estate trade magazine in Chicago. I go into the office once every two weeks or so. The job is a big one, and comes complete with health insurance. But going into the office is one big drag.

That’s always been the case. But it’s worse now. Now I have to listen to all the salesmen, who are struggling desperately to sell ad space in the magazine, sit in their cubicles and sigh. And if they aren’t sighing, they’re reading aloud dismal statistics from the Wall Street Journal or CNN. It’s enough to make you want to hang yourself by your necktie. (Good thing I’m one of the few male employees there without a necktie!)

If that’s not bad enough, I often receive visits from an assistant publisher who’s especially despondent. I can’t blame him, though. He’s the one in charge of firing people if sales don’t pick up. The last time I went to the office, late last week, he stopped by my cubicle twice to shake his head and tell me which rival magazine or industry publication decided to shut its doors.

I know it’s bad out there. Believe me. My wife and I were considering refinancing our mortgage loan. Turns out, though, that our home is no longer worth what we paid for it three years ago. There go those potential savings!

But as a work-from-homer, and as a freelancer responsible for my own well-being, I think I’m in better shape to survive the downturn. I can always work harder and more creatively. I can change my strategy if things aren’t working: Instead of searching for higher-paying jobs, I can change up and take on as many lower-paying, but easy to complete, writing assignments as possible. I’m learning that you can’t force the writing industry to change. You have to instead anticipate those changes and react to them.

It’s not a perfect system, that’s for sure. But it does beat the alternative. I wouldn’t trust any full-time employer these days.

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