Freelance Or Full-Time? Why Not Both? In Talks With Rebecca Reynoso
Can you have a full-time job and be a great freelancer too?
It’s possible. It all comes down to managing your time, focus, and priorities. We spoke with Rebecca Reynoso who does this impeccably.
Rebecca Reynoso is the Content Editor and Guest Post Program Manager at G2. She also works as a freelance editor and writer for a few small- and medium-sized tech companies.
In this exclusive interview, she talks about how she manages her time, what it takes to be an excellent professional, the philosophy that empowers her to do meaningful work and…her secret passion.
Let’s dive in.
1. You have a full-time job and you also freelance – how do you manage your time?
It gets difficult sometimes – not going to lie. Right now, I’m working 5 freelance gigs on top of full time, meaning most nights after work, I’m doing some kind of freelance work.
I do try to stagger so that I’m not doing work for 2 companies in one night. I write 7 to 9 pieces of content per month across all of the platforms I write for, and I edit content as well.
I still have time to keep 1 weekend day to myself in full (usually Saturdays), and I avoid working Friday nights as well. That’s dinner & Jeopardy! night.
Those are must-haves for me: one full weekend day and no work on Friday nights. That’s my balance right now.
2. For someone who’s just starting out in the content/writing industry, what’re a few things they should do to establish their credibility?
- Become your own brand advocate. Showcase your skills online via a web portfolio.
- Find opportunities to get your work published on other sites. But make sure you build up proof of your writing skills before pitching sites.
- Be active on social media and talk to others in the content marketing/content writing space. Learn from your peers.
- Actively practice writing and self-editing. The more you write and revise your work, the better you’ll become at writing.
3. What does it take to become a great writer–someone people want to work with?
Consistency and practice. Some people think taking a quick 6-week crash course in content marketing is going to make them a good writer. It’s not. But what will make you great is a lot of reading and a lot of writing.
Read web content. Read books. Read the boring stuff and the fun stuff. The short stuff and the long stuff. Just keep reading.
See how others write and how you can use what you’ve read, those skills and writing qualities, and implement them into your own writing process.
I read so much content every day, often on topics I have little knowledge of. Reading outside of my comfort zone familiarizes me with different types and styles of writing.
This, I promise, is the key to becoming great at your own writing.
Once you’ve done the footwork to be a better writer, the more people you work with on a 1:1 basis will be able to vouch for your skills. Word-of-mouth truly is your best bet when hoping to land content writing opportunities.
4. How important is it to build a website for someone who wants to become a marketer/freelancer?
Pretty important. Even if you don’t know how to make one really, you should have one where you house all of your content links.
You need a place to send over to potential clients to show them: hey, I have a lot of writing experience, and here are the sites I’ve written for.
It’s more convoluted to just save links in a Google doc and send them out to editors at websites you want to write for.
It’s easier, cleaner, and more credible to send over websitename / portfolio for someone to click through and see your full suite of work in one easy link.
5. What are some of your philosophies that inspire you in your work?
What I tell everyone who has some doubts in pursuing their career: if you tell yourself you can, you will. But if you tell yourself you can’t, you won’t.
Filling your space with negativity and doubt will keep you from succeeding. It’s just a fact.
Even if you’re feeling that imposter syndrome or like you can’t do it, you need to convince yourself you can. We aren’t born confident, but we need to present confidence.
Eventually, it’ll be so natural that you’ll end up believing in yourself.
6. What’s your secret passion?
Hmm. Animals? Like animal welfare. Specifically cats. I wish that I were independently wealthy to afford saving stray, sick, and homeless cats. I just want to save them all. So if I ever fall into millions of dollars from the lottery, that’ll be where the funds go.