Freelancing: The Basics ft. Alex Kinsella

There are endless things you can do in a marketing-focused role. Marketing is a job sector that will always be in demand, as people are always creating new products or businesses that need someone to advertise them.

You could be doing so many things in a marketing job. You could be doing brand management, promotion or sales. You could be running social media accounts or managing SEO optimization.

However, as we’ve come to know through the Covid-19 pandemic, many jobs can be virtual. It’s completely doable for someone to succeed in their marketing job online.

In Leave a Legacy’s most recent episode, we spoke with Alex Kinsella, who is a freelance writer and content marketer based in Kitchener, Ontario. Here we’ll go over some of the highlights of the podcast episode, focusing on working as a freelancer and an overview of copywriting.

What It Means to be Freelance - Really.

Freelance work is something that’s becoming more common as more people realize they want to work for themselves as opposed to someone else.

Ngl, working as a freelancer kind of sounds amazing. You have the luxury of deciding what you want to do, how you want to do it, along with working from anywhere and getting paid what you decide.

That being said, freelancing also comes with more responsibilities than you might have if you were working for an employer. Ever heard of the expression, you get what you give? As Alex mentions, you make as much as you set yourself up to make. You set your own hours, schedule, workflow and how many projects you take on, and this will decide your pay.

Being Your Own Leader

Doing freelance work also means taking on other responsibilities, like leading yourself in the work you do. There won’t be anyone there to set deadlines for you, to expect a certain level of quality of work or to give you feedback.

Alex says it’s quite hard to motivate yourself sometimes, and I’m sure we’ve all experienced something similar every time we procrastinate or do work. There’s no one to push you, so it’s easy to become unmotivated and not get the work done.

One of the great points that Alex brought up is that not everyone was made to be a leader. Not everyone was made to lead other people. Certain people are very satisfied with just doing the work themselves and not seeking a managerial position.

Alex is one of those people, which is another reason why he finds it hard to stay motivated when doing his work from home. He still struggles with leading himself.

A great tip Alex left with us students and young entrepreneurs is to find a leader to lead us. There are so many people out there willing to offer advice and expertise, that we just have to spend some time finding the right people. Having a mentor in your career is one of those important things that can only improve as time goes by, meaning that the relationship will strengthen over time.

Down to the Basics of Copywriting

All that to say, Alex loves his gig as a freelance writer and content marketer. To get into specifics, Alex does a lot of copywriting for other businesses.

What is copywriting, you might ask? Well, Alex gives a perfect explanation:

As specific as copywriting might sound, Alex said that not a lot is needed to learn copywriting. The most important thing is to go down to the basics of writing, meaning learning grammar and punctuation. Learn how to be a good writer, and copywriting will come easy.

Copywriting is also a skill that doesn’t need a degree. Alex said that writing is something anyone can learn at any age, as he is always teaching his kids the basics of writing. As long as you can provide a few sample pieces of writing, there is really not much else needed to prove that you can be a good writer or copywriter.

Lessons Learned

Who knew the world of freelance work and copywriting could be so simple?

If there’s one thing that entrepreneurship, and multiple of our podcast guests so far, have taught us, it's that it’s not necessary to follow the linear path that school showed us. Freelance work and work outside of your field are both very possible if that’s something you want for yourself.

If there is any chance to take control of your life and figure out what you want for yourself, it’s NOW. Take that leap! Send out that resume. You’ll never know if you don’t try.

And don’t forget to check out the full podcast episode right here. You won’t regret it 😉