Many businesses use wholesalers and suppliers, from the retail store where you purchase your favourite autumn jumpers, to the hairdresser blow drying your hair after a quick shampoo. Read More
Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also one of the most expensive. There are extra costs coming at you left, right and centre, not helped, of course, by the increased cost of living.
If you’re looking for extra funds to support your seasonal spending this year, you might consider setting up a freelance side hustle to help you generate some additional income.
Ways to make cash for Christmas as a freelancer
If you have some spare time outside of paid employment and would like to make some extra spends in time for the festive period, here are some cool ways you could go about it.
Sell seasonal products on Etsy
If you got a penchant for arts and crafts or a creative skill left untapped, now is the perfect time to let it shine by making seasonal products to sell online, such as:
- Greetings cards
- Thank you cards
- Scented candles and wax melters
- Hand-decorated baubles
- Handmade wreathes and garlands
- Personalised decorations
- Personalised Christmas Eve boxes for children
- Plates to leave snacks for Santa and Rudolph on
- Knitted hats, scarves, and gloves
- Handmade crockery
- Balloon arrangements
These are just some common examples of what people create and sell around Christmas time to make some extra money. However, get your creative juices flowing because the more unique your seasonal product, the more likely you are to stand out in the market and sell.
Top tip: don’t forget to factor seller fees into your budget and expenses if you are going to use ecommerce marketplaces like Etsy, Amazon, or eBay.
Sell edible festive treats
Two hot commodities you know are sure to sell, especially during the festive season when people are drinking and being merry, are food and drink. People are more liberal around Christmas time with their calories and their cash, which is a lucrative opportunity for you.
Examples of edible treats you could make and sell include:
- Christmas cookies or cupcakes
- Festive flavoured fudge
- Homemade Panettone
- DIY cookie or cupcake jars
- DIY hot chocolate sets with all the trimmings
- Gingerbread
- Edible wreaths made from sweets
- Food and drink hampers
Get creative with it – just make sure you comply with all the necessary health and safety regulations if you are going to go down the food or drink route.
Be sure to check out the legalities before you stock your pantry, so you don’t end up in a sticky spot of trouble with lots of costly ingredients left on your hands.
Turn the jobs nobody wants into extra cash
Christmas is a time when many people want to kick back, relax, and forgot about their to-do lists until the new year. This is the perfect opportunity for somebody looking to earn extra money to strike by offering to do the tasks nobody wants to do in exchange for payment.
This includes things like:
- Picking up and dropping off Christmas trees
- Putting decorations up and taking them down
- Present wrapping
- Trips to the tip to get rid of cardboard boxes and other junk
- Housesitting while people are visiting family and friends elsewhere
- Dog-sitting while people head off on last-minute holidays
It goes without saying that, in order to offer any ad hoc services like these, you need to make sure you’re able to do so safely and legally.
Do some research to make sure there aren’t any qualifications or safety checks you need to have passed before starting anything as a freelance side hustle.
Turn your skill into seasonal spends
The world of business doesn’t stop just because Santa is coming to town, which means your Christmas side hustle doesn’t necessarily have to be Christmas-related at all.
If you have a skill that you could be putting to use to generate an additional income stream in time for the festive period, there’s no time like the present. If it goes well and you see success, you could even continue your side hustle once Christmas has passed.
That said, even if you have a non-festive skill up your sleeve, there are ways you can capitalise on the season to upsell or attract new customers.
If you’re a freelance photographer, for example, you could pull together a limited-time service where you offer families Christmas-themed photoshoots for things like greetings cards and calendars.
It doesn’t have to be creative either. If you’re a plumber, for instance, you could offer a discounted service to check pipes and plumbing during the cold season when people often experience issues with freezing and water pressure.
Or maybe you’re a freelance wedding planner wondering how to make some money during the quieter wedding season. You could transfer your organisational skills and contacts list to Christmas or New Year party planning instead temporarily.
Don’t let taxes tarnish your festive spirit
No matter what your side hustle is, you’ll need to let HMRC know about it if your total self-employed income is more than £1,000 in a tax year. Anything below that threshold is covered by the trading allowance, which enables you to earn up to £1,000 through miscellaneous means (e.g., Christmas side hustles) without having to declare it or pay tax on it.
If your earnings go above the threshold, you’ll need to register for Self Assessment and submit a tax return. Fortunately, you can still offset the allowance against your earnings and only pay tax on anything above the threshold, or you can claim tax relief on your expenses instead.
How much tax you pay will depend on your overall income for the tax year, including what you earn from your main income source (i.e., employment), although you won’t need to pay tax on the same income twice. And no, your employer won’t find out unless you tell them!
Find more of the latest news and guidance for freelancers in our info hub.
The nature of being a freelancer means that you’re self-employed, and therefore not paid by an employer who will make tax deductions on your behalf through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system.
Generating your own income from self-employment means you’re also responsible for paying your own tax and keeping HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) up to date with your financial situation.
How you pay the tax you owe on your freelance earnings depends on how you are set up as a business.
For most freelancers this usually means operating as either a sole trader or as a limited company. These structures have different rules for reporting and paying tax (as well as different tax rates) but because they’re the most common options, we’ll go over both.
Paying tax as a (freelance) sole trader
If you’re set up as a sole trader, you will need to submit an annual Self Assessment tax return online or through the post and pay Income Tax on your freelance earnings. This is the most popular route for self-employed freelancers to take (but other options are available!).
Submitting a Self Assessment tax return
There are different deadlines depending on whether you submit your Self Assessment tax return online or through the post.
HMRC is encouraging all taxpayers to file returns digitally moving forward (as part of Making Tax Digital) but for now, paper returns are still accepted.
If you submit a paper tax return, the deadline is 31st October following the end of the tax year being reported. If you submit an online Self Assessment, you have a little longer, until 31st January.
Paying Income Tax
After submitting your tax return, you’ll receive a tax bill detailing how much you owe in Income Tax and National Insurance.
Your tax bill can be paid:
- Online through your account with HMRC by debit or corporate credit card
- Via Direct Debit
- By approving a payment through your online bank account
- Telephone bank transfer
- At your bank or building society
- By cheque via the post
You also have the option to pay your tax bill through your tax code. Taking this option means your tax code will change, and your employer will deduct the tax you owe for self-employment alongside your usual deductions. It might be something to avoid if you don’t want your employer to know you’re self-employed! This is only available if:
- You owe less than £3,000
- You already pay tax through PAYE
- You submitted your paper tax return by 31st October or your online tax return by 30th December (a little earlier than the usual 31st January deadline for online submissions)
Making payments on account
If your tax bill comes to more than £1,000 then you might also need to make payments on account. This is where HMRC ask you to make advance payments towards next year’s tax bill, based on predictions of what you are likely to earn.
These are paid in two installments and need to be paid by the following deadlines:
- First installment – 31st January (the same deadline for paying the current year’s tax bill)
- Second installment – 31st July of the same year.
Paying tax if you’re set up as a limited company
If you’re set up as a limited company, you will need to submit an annual Company Tax Return and pay Corporation Tax on your freelance earnings.
The deadline for filing this type of tax return is 12 months after the accounting period it covers has ended.
Paying Corporation Tax
Once you have submitted your Company Tax Return, you will then be informed how much Corporation Tax you need to pay.
If your taxable profits are below £1.5 million, this needs to be paid within 9 months and 1 day of the accounting period ending.
If your taxable profits exceed £1.5 million, you will need to pay your tax in installments, each with their own separate deadlines.
Can a freelancer claim tax relief on expenses?
Yes, just like any other business, freelancers are allowed to claim allowable expenses as tax relief against their bill, helping to keep your tax bill down!
Common examples of allowable expenses freelancers claim include:
- Work-from-home expenses (such as a portion of your rent, utility bills, internet connection, etc.)
- Business-related supplies and equipment (laptop, printers, software, stationery)
- Work-related travel costs (tickets, hotels, food and drink)
- Professional services (solicitor, accountant, etc.)
- Marketing and advertising costs (business cards, web hosting fees)
- Membership fees and subscriptions
Any expenses you claim need to be directly related to your freelancing work and necessary to the operation of business-related activities.
Remember to keep receipts and documentation to support your claims, just in case you ever need to produce them for an audit!
Find more expert advice and handy resources for freelancers in our info hub!
Valuable, accurate and original content can be critical to your success when freelancing. Digital content (content you create to share online) can help you connect with your existing customers, as well as reach new audiences who will hopefully also become paying clients. So what can you do? We go over some of the different types of digital content to consider for your freelance business.
Professional or portfolio website
Pitching for (and securing) work can be tricky, so having a professional website or some other platform to show off your skills and reviews is a good one to tick off your digital content to-do list.
If you feel a website will help (although it’s not always essential for every business) there are a few costs involved in getting started, like web hosting, a domain, design work and maybe some technical software expertise.
That said, investing time, energy and money into your website will pay dividends (literally, hopefully) as it is such a versatile and practical tool. It’s also worth mentioning that you might be able to offset your costs as a business expense, helping to reduce your tax bill!
A professional website can be a way to carve out your own space in the digital landscape. It fulfils a whole host of vital functions, including:
- A place for potential clients to find out more about what you do
- A means by which people can contact you with enquiries
- Somewhere to show what services you offer, as well as pricing information if applicable
- A foundation on which you can build other digital content, such as blogs and videos
The perfect place to put your portfolio
A business website is also where you can house a portfolio of your work. This doesn’t have to be every single project you’ve ever worked on, which could be overwhelming and tricky to browse for visitors.
Instead, showcase your best work and update this regularly with the projects you’re most proud of. Show off the diversity of your skillset and support this with some client case studies and testimonials to show the value you bring to your customers.
If you’re not ready for a website of your own, there are lots of portfolio sharing platforms out there which are worth a look.
Social media content for freelancers
In the modern world, it’s safe to say that most businesses need a social media presence if they’re going to succeed. Think of social media as your digital soapbox and your way to share thoughts, resources, blog posts, videos, images, and more with your target demographic.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter are all super powerful communication and digital marketing tools. They enable you to reach people near and far, including existing customers, potential customers, peers, mentors and even the competitors you want to keep a close eye on.
Share engaging organic content that adds value, interact with your audience and invest in paid media advertising to reach a wider audience if your cash flow permits.
Make sure the content you’re creating is native to each of the different platforms so you’re appealing to the users on there. This is an important part of forming a strong social media strategy that generates business – something some freelancers with wiggle room in their budget prefer to outsource.
Even if the content you share is minimal, lots of people will make word-of-mouth recommendations through social media groups, so it’s a good thing to keep an eye on.
Written content for freelance marketing
Create articles that showcase your skills, offer tips and focus on common client pain points or struggles to show them how your services are their ideal solution. A blog for your freelance business will help establish you as a credible thought leader and can even help pull organic traffic to your website.
Written content also includes text-based resources such as white papers, guides, reports and eBooks. Again, fill these with expert advice and rich knowledge that your audience will want to get their hands on. It shows that you’re a pro in your field.
Resources like this can either be free to download from your website if you’re feeling generous, or you can gate them behind a lead generation landing page or paid social ad. The latter requires somebody to fill in their details in order to access your content – a tried and tested data capture tactic.
Video and audio content
Video and audio are increasingly popular as forms of digital content when it comes to what audiences now want to consume. That’s why we’d recommend adding things like social media video content (Instagram reels, TikTok videos, etc) YouTube videos and podcasts into your content plans.
The nature of your video content could include things like tutorials, explainer videos or even client testimonials.
Email marketing
Email is one the most effective ways to keep customers informed about your services, and for you to share valuable content and offer exclusive promotions.
Although email marketing could become one of the most vital parts of your comms and marketing strategy, it’s also usually one of the most inexpensive. Email campaigns are also far easier to track in terms of performance than things like social media content and blogs.
Send out regular newsletters and updates to make sure the people on your mailing list keep you in mind. Make sure you’re only sending valuable, informative emails, though, otherwise you run the risk of annoying recipients and pushing them towards the dreaded ‘Unsubscribe’ button. Include a link back to your website or contact form in all your emails!
Guest content
The freelance life is a busy one, we get it – but if you can find some spare time in your schedule to dip your toes into guest content, it will provide you with invaluable exposure. You might even be able to produce guest content in exchange for a fee and make some extra cash at the same time.
Guest content includes things like:
- Authoring blogs or articles on somebody else’s website or publication
- Appearing as a guest on podcasts or video series
- Creating content that is shared on other social media platforms
To reap the true rewards of guest content, you should make sure the platforms you’re featuring on are relevant to your industry. Doing so means you can reach people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say or share.
You can also invite people to create guest content for your own digital platforms. Not only will this help flesh out your content marketing plan, but it’s also a great way to go about online networking and relationship building.
Find more advice and guidance for freelancers in our info hub!
Considering recent challenges like the global pandemic and the rising cost of living, a lot of people are turning to side hustles to supplement their income.
If you’re thinking of starting up your own side gig, you’ll be joining one in five Brits that have done the same since March 2020. But where exactly do you start? We’ll give you some tips and tricks on how you can start a freelance side hustle.
What is a side hustle?
A side hustle is basically a hobby or side job you do part-time in addition to any other employment you may have. Lots of people start side hustles from their personal hobbies, for example, creating bespoke cakes or paintings, and they’re likely to have a small (but loyal) clientele.
The best thing about side hustles is the flexibility and freedom to earn your own income. As your own boss, you can choose how often you work, and the clients you want to work for. There are many stories of side hustles snowballing from a hobby to a full-time business – but again, it’s up to you if that’s what you want to strive for, you can go at your own pace.
How do I start a freelance side hustle?
If you have decided you want to start a side hustle, congrats! It’s an exciting prospect, but it can be daunting if you don’t know where to start. We have some tips to help you on your way.
1. Think about your passions and skills
Working full-time can really burn up all your energy, so you need something that can ignite your creative flame, even after working 40+ hours per week in employment.
Doing what you love will really reflect in your work, and it’ll feel less like a second job and more like a hobby.
2. Create a plan and set realistic goals
Setting huge targets, such as making several million pounds with just seven hours a week set aside for your new side hustle, while not impossible (we want to be positive here), is unrealistic.
Think about how much time you have, and how much money you can invest in your side hustle – and always give yourself time to find clients and grow. It doesn’t happen overnight.
3. Start networking
Networking is a powerful marketing tool. For example, if you’re a copywriter and you attend regular networking events or even get to know people on professional platforms such as LinkedIn, there’s always somebody who knows someone else that may need a copywriter for their business.
It’s the same with people who create incredible cakes – someone will always need one for a special occasion, and sending out email pitches to people who run corporate events or meeting up with other freelancers can really help you connect with others and reach the right audience.
4. Build your brand
Once you’ve decided on a business name, and what it is you offer, it’s time to think about how you raise your profile, such as by building a presence on social media. It can help to create a logo, and be consistent with your brand colours and fonts so customers recognise it’s you who is posting. Building a brand your clients trust and enjoy is crucial!
5. Look at your competitors
What are your competitors doing that you do better? Is there anything you can offer, that maybe they don’t? Sometimes finding a competitive edge or niche can really help you stand out amongst the crowd.
6. Set your prices
This can be difficult, especially if this is your first experience of working out how much to charge. Our advice would be don’t undersell yourself. It can be easy to sell your products or services for super low prices to compete with others, but the joy may quickly drain out of your new side-job if you take on a heap of work with next to no reward.
Look at what other people in your field are charging, and keep in mind your costs for the materials you need, and of course, your time.
Where can I advertise my side hustle business?
This depends on what your side hustle is. If you’re looking for a low-cost option to advertise your business, then most of the time social media is your friend.
If you run – let’s say – a kids’ teepee business, advertising your services in local Facebook groups, Instagram, and even Tik Tok while using the correct hashtags and keywords could attract parents looking for party ideas.
Paying for advertisements is always an option too, but if you do this make sure you budget yourself properly. Throwing all your savings on Instagram ads won’t work if they’re targeting the wrong audience. It can sometimes take a while to get it right.
If you’re getting crafty and selling personalised items, websites such as Etsy can highlight your brand and give you a platform that already has substantial traffic going to it. Though you’ll have platform fees to think about, they’re usually much cheaper than the cost of setting up your own website (and it’s usually much easier to create listings).
If you have a service to offer, then building a network on LinkedIn can be useful. You could also attend networking events to meet potential clients and get your name out there. Just keep in mind that information might make its way back to your employer though – which for freelancers with a service-based side hustle can sometimes be a consideration!
There are also lots of freelancing sites where you might be able to pick up work.
How do I create an invoice for my side hustle business?
It’s so exciting once you get your first client, but what happens when it’s time to collect your payment? Creating invoices is super simple, so the first rule is not to overthink it!
If you don’t use invoicing software to do the job for you, all it needs is the following:
- Your business name, address, and phone number
- Your client’s name, address, and phone number
- A list of products sold, or services completed
- The date the invoice was issued
- A unique invoice number
- The total amount
- Instructions on how to pay
Your payment instructions can be as simple as, ‘Please make payment via bank transfer to [insert company name or your name], [sort code], [account number].
To personalise it, use your logo and brand colours! Read our article about successful invoicing to learn more.
Do I need a business account for my side hustle?
Nope! You’re under no legal obligation to open a business bank account for your side hustle, but if you ever need to register for Self Assessment, it may be better to keep your personal and business payments separate – especially when it comes to bookkeeping!
Do I have to pay taxes on my side hustle?
If you earn more than the £1,000 Trading Allowance in a tax year, you’ll need to register for Self Assessment with HMRC. How much tax you pay will depend on your overall income for the year.
Find more of the latest news and guidance for freelancers in our info hub.
As a self-employed freelancer you’ll need to report your earnings to HMRC and pay tax on them. To make sure that HMRC identify your tax records correctly, they’ll assign a Unique Taxpayer Reference number (UTR for short) once you register the business. Read More
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is a type of financial benefit that might be available if you have ‘limited capacity to work’, such as a health condition or disability which inhibits your ability to work.
The allowance is designed to provide some financial security whilst you are unable to generate income. It’s particularly useful if you’re a self-employed freelancer and don’t have an employer to pay Statutory Sick Pay when you need time off sick.
What is the new-style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)?
Most people who claim ESA now get what is called ‘new style ESA’, which replaced the previous income-based and contribution-based allowances.
It’s a contributory benefit, which means that you must have made sufficient National Insurance contributions or NI credits in last few years to receive it.
Although there are still some people receiving the old types of ESA, any new claims will now receive the new style Employment and Support Allowance which provides:
- Financial support towards your living costs
- Class 1 National Insurance credits, which can support your State Pension and other benefits.
- Professional support if you’re able to return to work.
How much can I claim with the Employment and Support Allowance?
A new claim for the ESA can take several weeks, or even months, to be assessed, so you’ll normally be entitled to an ‘assessment rate’ of ESA until a decision has been made. The assessment rates of new style ESA are currently:
- £67.20 per week for anybody under 25
- £84.80 per week for anybody 25 and over
If you are deemed eligible following assessment, any money owed from the assessment period will be backdated.
Assessment categorises those who are eligible for ESA into two groups: ‘work-related’ (those who will likely be able to work again) and ‘support’ (those who aren’t likely to work in the future).
The new style ESA rates for these groups are currently:
- Work-related: up to £84.80
- Support: up to £128.85
Note: a private pension of more than £85 per week may impact how much you can receive in ESA.
Who is eligible for new style ESA?
Employment and Support Allowance is available to those who are employed, unemployed, or self-employed, although you will need to meet the criteria in order to qualify.
To be eligible to receive ESA, you must:
- Have a disability or health condition that directly limits your capacity to work
- Have worked as an employee or been self-employed
- Be aged 16 or over
- Be under the State Pension age (you can find out more about this on the GOV.UK website)
- Live in England, Wales, or Scotland
- Have paid sufficient National Insurance (NI) for the last 2-3 tax years (this also includes National Insurance credits)
Note: Even if you aren’t eligible for new style ESA right now, you may still be able to get National Insurance credits if you are unable to work. These NI credits could then help you qualify for ESA further down the line.
Can a freelancer claim Employment and Support Allowance?
Yes, freelancers are allowed to claim ESA providing you also meet the other conditions. It’s worth noting that if you have a full-time job as well as a self-employed side hustle (i.e., you freelance to supplement your PAYE salary), you can claim ESA but only for one type of income. You won’t be able to claim ESA on both employment and self-employment income at the same time.
How do I apply for ESA?
If you think you qualify for ESA and need support while you’re unable to work, you can apply via the GOV.UK website.
Make sure you’ve got the following to hand:
- National Insurance number
- Bank or building society account number and sort code (yours or somebody else’s if you don’t have your own)
- Your doctor’s name, address and contact details
- A note from your doctor (i.e., a ‘sick note’, ‘fit note’ or a ‘statement of fitness for work’)
- Date your Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is due to end (if applicable)
Once your application has been submitted, you will then be contacted by phone with next steps.
Can I still work whilst claiming ESA?
You can still work if you are claiming Employment and Support Allowance but only if you:
- Work fewer than 16 hours per week.
- Aren’t earning more than £167 a week.
Any hours you do work will need to be recorded with Jobcentre Plus.
Can you get ESA alongside other benefits?
You may be able to claim some benefits whilst claiming the Employment and Support Allowance, but others will not be available during the claim period.
In most cases, you are able to claim Personal Independent Payments (PIP) and Universal Credit at the same time as new style ESA.
Some people choose to get ESA instead of Universal Credit because the payments are more frequent (every 2 weeks rather than monthly), while others choose to claim both.
If you do choose to claim ESA and Universal Credit simultaneously (and are eligible to do so), your Universal Credit allowance will be reduced by whatever you receive through ESA.
You cannot normally claim ESA alongside Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), Income Support or Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Of course, SSP only applies to freelancers that are also in employment and paid through the PAYE system.
If you are a freelancer who is also in employment, it’s worth noting that you can apply for new style ESA up to 3 months before your SSP is due to finish. ESA will simply replace your Statutory Sick Pay once that comes to an end.
What else can I do?
Being off sick is never easy, especially if your only source of income is the money you make working for yourself. The way that ESA is structured can mean that it’s not that useful for shorter absences, so lots of self-employed freelancers build potential absences into their pricing structure.
Consider what time off you might need over the year for much-needed holidays or for short-term sickness, and factor this in to your fees so that there’s more of a buffer if anything does happen.
Some freelancers also look at self-employed income insurance, to protect them in the event of longer-term issues.
Find more advice and guidance for freelancers in our info hub.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a popular topic of conversation amongst freelancers all over the world, and while some of those conversations are positive, others aren’t so optimistic.
As a freelancer, you may worry that AI could take work from you, which is a very valid concern. After all, there’s very little it can’t do! But what if you used AI to your advantage?
By treating AI as a tool rather than a replacement, freelancers could improve their work in a more efficient way. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can make AI work for your freelance business.
What is AI?
In simple terms, artificial intelligence is inspired by human intelligence, and its main focus is the brain – especially when it comes to how we think, learn, and execute tasks. It essentially makes computers, smartphones, and machines act more like us.
What do we use AI for?
AI can do a multitude of things, and at a much faster speed than humans. It can problem-solve, make decisions, search the web, and even create art – not to mention switch your lights on or off in any room, or regulate your air conditioning without you lifting a finger.
You’re likely to have interacted with AI in one way or another, whether you’ve spoken to a customer service bot, asked Siri or Alexa a question, or used an AI art generator. It’s part of our lives these days, and most people don’t even realise how much we interact with it.
What are the benefits of using AI as a freelancer?
As a freelancer, it can be difficult to see AI as something positive – especially when it’s being used to create art and write content – but one thing AI lacks is the human touch, meaning freelancing isn’t dead (and never will be).
There’s plenty of things AI simply can’t replicate, and collaborating with it can help:
Boost your efficiency
As a freelancer, you’ll spend a lot of your time on admin. In fact, lots of freelancers will admit to spending a good chunk of their working hours scheduling meetings, sending out email reminders, and ensuring there’s no clashes in calendars. Using an AI scheduling assistant app can save you hours on admin, so you can focus on what you do best.
What types of AI can help me boost my efficiency as a freelancer?
If you want to be efficient as possible, an AI scheduling assistant like Clara can give you a helping hand. Apps like this give you a real-life-human virtual assistant feel, simply ask her to find a time in your diary to schedule a meeting and she will do just that.
If that feels a little weird, you can use other AI Calendar apps like Clockwise!
If the financial admin side of things is slowing you down, take a look at cloud-based bookkeeping software providers such as Pandle, which offers lots of powerful automations at a decent price.
Improve your accuracy
If you’re a copywriter, marketer, or someone who needs to write a lot (which is most freelancers), you’ll know mistakes are easily made. Especially when you’ve read over your work for the fifth time and words somehow lose all meaning.
Using AI tools can help you spot errors quickly, so you can focus on writing that killer article or piece of copy.
What types of AI can help improve my accuracy as a freelancer?
Tools like Grammarly highlight any errors, and in some cases offer suggestions to reword sentences so they read better for your audience. This is a massive help if you don’t have an extra pair of eyes to make use of every time you’re writing.
The likes of Grammarly aren’t there to replace you, but rather to assist you in writing clear, engaging content.
Assist you with ideas
We assume you have lots of ideas – after all, you’re a freelancer, and your business runs off the back of your creativity! But sometimes you need help getting the bones of an article or piece of copy, and AI can assist you in doing just that, while also keeping your content original and yours.
What types of AI can help me with ideas as a freelancer?
If you’re looking for inspiration on how to put an article together, AI tools like copy.ai can help get your creative juices flowing. You could use it to get the bare bones of an article or to see your topic from a different perspective. Make the article your own though, of course – the content needs your unique human perspective!
Keep you up-to-date
When you run your own business with clients from different industries, you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve with access to all the latest data and insights. It can be hard to do that sometimes, with information flying at you from every angle.
What type of AI can help me keep up to date with the latest trends and insights from my industry?
Chat GPT is big news at the moment. This AI chatbot is trained on a large dataset of up-to-date information, so asking it the right questions might be a useful way to find the latest data analysis and trends.
Will AI be the end of freelancing?
AI does have the capability to take some work away from freelancers – for example, if businesses want to cut costs and use AI to write a blog post – but there will always be a demand for freelance work somewhere, and this is because:
You can’t replicate human creativity
AI is brilliant for writing clear and concise content, but it doesn’t go much further than that. It can’t think outside of the box and it doesn’t have a deep understanding of real human emotions. So, while AI can write a decent piece of copy, it will always need a human touch to make it relatable.
Some content can be duplicated, and in some instances, false
There are two issues here that could damage your website authority. Firstly, if lots of us are asking for AI to write specific things, there’s a likelihood somewhere along the line content will be duplicated.
As well as this, if we were to ask AI to pull up quotes and statistics, it may pick out-of-date or incorrect information. Without human judgement, it could be tricky for AI to pull statistics that are factually correct.
It lacks original thought
AI is all about gathering data and looking at algorithms. It can’t come up with an idea that isn’t there, as all of its thoughts are ones that have been written before. We humans, on the other hand, can come up with a unique fresh perspective for everything we write.
It has knowledge, not experience
A lot of our learning is through experience, successes, or failures. And that’s what makes our content so unique. We can suggest things from our own personal experience and give examples or advice that AI can’t – simply because it hasn’t lived through it. It’s that personal touch readers want, and what clients love for their websites. Tapping into real human emotions will always be vital, whether you’re writing content, producing art, or creating designs.
Freelancers will not be replaced any time soon.
Head over to our Freelancer Hub where we have a whole host of guides and resources.
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