Freelance Work: What is the Driving Force Behind Freelance Work Becoming Popular?

You may be wondering why exactly freelance work is becoming popular. In fact, the question has come up more recently than ever before because of the global economic meltdown. Freelance work was always abundant before the global recession, but most people only knew it as self employed back then.
Many people hold a traditional view of what exactly work is. They believe you should get up walk out your door go somewhere fill in a time sheet or punch a clock collect a paycheck and be happy for the stability of the routine. However, this latest global financial crunch has been a wakeup call to many people who have come to rely on this sort of outlook.
If a job is lost, there is an immediate need to replenish the income that no longer is there. They need to put food on the table and to keep a roof over their head and their family. If a family is involved this can be quite a task.
There are those who make a good second income by doing menial labor tasks in exchange for money, often referred to as moon lighting. Even if a main job is lost, that person can still fall back on their moon lighting income. Usually people who moon light don't earn a significant amount of income, they just do it as a side income; however, that doesn't mean that it can't be turned into a full time income with the right amount of planning and execution.
This is where becoming a freelancer comes into play. If you have any type of skills at all that someone would be willing to pay you to use, you can easily become a freelance worker. The more highly skilled you are the easier it will be for you to get freelance work and to get yourself up to a full time income in a relatively short period of time.
Let's take a simple example. Let's assume that Fred wants to be a freelance lawn mower. Fred will know, within a close margin, how long it will take him to mow a lawn of a certain size. If he knows that a small, one hundred square yard lawn takes him thirty minutes to mow and that he can easily receive $15 each time he does it, he knows that in an eight hour day he can probably mow six hundred square yards of lawn and earn $90 a day. If he can do it five days a week he has an income of $450 per week.
A major benefit of being a freelance (self employed) is the tax breaks. Expenses that are directly related to his work can usually be allowed against any tax liability. Some countries require freelancers to register as such with the tax authorities but this can also be a benefit because the tax inspectors know all the rules and can show a new freelancer where to make savings in his tax bill. (What? You think tax inspectors like paying tax? They know ALL the allowances and are pleased to share their knowledge - and for free!)
Obviously, you will have to keep receipts and records so you can prove your expenses. Any time as a freelance worker you want to increase your income, you can always raise your rates so long as you don't make yourself too high compared to your competition. You can also work longer hours to increase income without raising rates; you can also take on more people as clients for a short amount of time until you reach a particular financial goal. The answer to the question of why freelance work is becoming more popular because people realize there is no such thing as job security and if they have a marketable skill or are willing to do a job someone else will pay to have done, it can actually lead to a very lucrative income which can be fit into your family schedule instead of fitting your family time around work.