Independent freelance writers taking private clients - is it really worth it?

I'm sure it's just bangarang, too.

Taking private clients

Pros:
More money

Cons:
More work
More risk

I agree with DontBugMe - as with working for companies, there are pros and cons to working with private clients. However, I prefer working for private clients. It is much more personal than having a mediator, and it also allows me to ask questions and find out exactly what the client wants. The work they receive is thus to a higher standard.

What companies do you work for where you can't ask clients questions?

Hi pheelyks,

Whilst you can ask questions with other companies, I do find being able to ask the client directly saves a lot of time and allows me to get more specific details.

How exactly does it save time? I email clients that I work with directly, and contact clients through companies by email, as well. If your system doesn't provide for such communication, you work for a s-i*ty company (not too surprisingly).

Also, do you think using "whilst" (incorrectly, by the way) makes you sound educated?

I hadn't considered this until now, but yes, it does sound rather educated.

Some might say "pretentious," but fine. Look it up before you use it again.

My experience is that working yourself as a freelance writer with private clients is far better than having to work for an essay writing company. For one thing, as a freelance writer, I do not fine myself for any reason. I also do not need to meet unreasonable company guidelines. I only need to satisfy the client since I am both the client agent and the QAD of my company. The reason I charged my clients a hefty price was because I was a one person essay writing company. Reliant upon no one, with the earnings all for myself.

So yeah, it may be difficult to do and entail a lot of tasks but in the end, it was all worth it as the money, regardless of chargeback claims, which were few and very far between. Working for a company is more difficult as you are expected to not only meet the client's demands, but the company demands as well for the same order. It is serving two bosses instead of one. As we all know, it is easier to please one boss rather than two.

There are pros and cons to both working for yourself and for a company, but the perks of being self-sufficient generally outweigh working for someone else.

I'm equally concerned at the low rates the OP said he/she charged. Why would you want to limit yourself to the same rate you'd get through a company? If you're okay working for that rate, then staying with the company makes more sense. Otherwise, you're not allowing yourself an overage for costs associated with working for yourself. If you're serious about being a indie writer and assuming your quality is worth the increase, you'd be better charging a higher rate so offset the costs of doing business.

Overall, if you have a decent head for business and have good time management skills, you can make a good living on your own. And like @WriteReview said, you will serving one "boss" (the client) instead of two. Unless you work for a company that allows writers to have direct contact with clients, being independent is typically best.

Otherwise, you run the risk of miscommunication as what is relayed from customer to company to writer can be distorted versus being able to discuss the project directly with the customer. As for how successful you will be working for yourself depends on the quality of your writing and how effectively you manage your client load, communication, and deadlines.

Practically every essay-company writer simultaneously tries to build up a private clientele, precisely because we can charge whatever rate the market currently bears without splitting any of it with a company. Obviously, maintaining your own private clientele means you'll be handling all of the emails and customer-service functions by yourself; so it would be completely nonsensical to bother doing all that just to charge the same as you'd earn through a company (roughly half what the legit essay companies charge their customers) for the exact same project, especially when it's from the exact same writer. If anything, we're more likely to go out of our way for private clients and we care much more about our personal reputations than we do (even) about the reputations of any companies for whom we might work.

From the customer's point of view, there's either no difference or the slight advantage of more direct contact with (often) the exact same writer. The only people who have ever suggested otherwise on this forum were (undisclosed) essay-company employees and others with (undisclosed) "financial interests" in various essay companies. From the writer's point of view, it means a lot more time spent on emails; but it's well worth it. None of that is to suggest that there's anything "wrong" with essay companies taking their agreed-upon cut from work that writers only get through them, because that's their agreement. It's just better for writers anytime clients come to us directly and, especially when you're dealing with a well-known writer who's been using the same ID here for more than a decade, there's certainly no disadvantage to clients.

I do agree that rates matter when you're deciding on this. I would rather work with private clients for as long as they would pay me more (I do agree, however, that most of the additional income comes from the fact that there's no company cutting off your profit for availing their service). There's a lot of work that comes into it. I do also find that freelance writers typically face difficulties with private clients, especially when it comes to things like payment methods and related tasks. This is because working with a company can help a writer lay out specific limitations and agreements that would otherwise be absent if they're working independently without any company ties. I would say that conflict resolution is certainly easier if you're already working with a company. Again, both of these things have pros and cons and will ultimately be up to the writer to decide if it's worth the shot or not.

It is definitely worth it to take private clients. There are just several benefits that private writing offers which cannot be expected from writing companies. First and foremost, is the ability to earn the full amount without deductions or profit sharing. Second, is the ability to schedule your work hours so that you actually get some rest in between orders instead of receiving phone calls at all hours, or when you are out, demanding that you get to the nearest computer and deal with the client issue. Third and last, is that you get the satisfaction of hearing about how please the client is with your work, directly from the client. It makes all of the hassles of running a private writing business all worth it. These are but some of the reasons that I decided to set up my own writing company. Working for oneself can never be a bad thing.