What is a Freelancer?
The term ‘freelance’ has been around since the 18th century. Sir Walter Scott wrote about mercenary warriors in medieval times in his novel Ivanhoe and coined the term ‘free-lance’ meaning a warrior who is not indentured to any one lord. These warriors sold themselves out for set periods of time, or perhaps the duration of a campaign, before moving along to the next lord who required some muscle.
The term gained official recognition in 1903, when it was included in the Oxford English Dictionary. The current description is:
“…a person who works as a writer, designer, performer, or the like, selling work or services by the hour, day, job, etc., rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer.” - Dictionary.com Unabridged
The Writing Team acts as a freelance writer. We sell our ‘lance of words’ to clients on a per-hour, per-day or per-project basis. This way of working has a number of benefits to both the employer and the freelancer.
The employer needs only commit to the current project. As there is no permanent employment contract, or any sort of long term commitment, the employer need only spend what is needed to accomplish the desired goal, there is no wastage.
The employer is gaining the benefit of a wide range of experience on the part of the freelancer. The Writing Team brings the sum of this varied knowledge and learning to each and every new customer.
The employer does not need to commit much in the way of management resources to any project where a freelancer is engaged. Once the contract is agreed and initial meetings have been undertaken to specify exact requirements, the freelancer usually needs very little in the way of hand holding. Or at least a good one doesn’t!
Freelance work also benefits those with skills to sell. Thanks to the internet a freelancer like The Writing Team may offer their services anywhere in the world, whilst being based firmly at a local level (In York, North Yorkshire in our case). We can use our skills, working on a per-contract basis with companies and individuals in Europe, the US, or anywhere else the strong written English word has a use.
So in summary, a freelancer is a focussed, skilled and usually business savvy individual or group of individuals, who can offer a wide range of often business critical skills to those that need them, without the worry and cost of a long term employment relationship.
To find out how this can help you and your business, contact The Writing Team.
