The Quiet Death of the Freelancer

Freelancing was never easy, but what we are seeing today is without precedent. We are being attacked from multiple sides. If you are thinking about quitting the industry, you are not alone. And if you are planning on starting, I have some words of advice for you.

We can't find work online anymore

It used to be that you made a portfolio, did good work, wrote quality content, clients found you and you were making a living. This is nearly impossible now.

After years of shoving more and more SEO spam in our faces and increasing the number of ads, Google is now pushing their AI chatbot in search. So now when someone is looking for your content, Google's chatbot regurgitates it without sending visitors. How is this even legal?

Then there is social media. Facebook made it so you have to pay to reach your own followers. It's been years since they did this and I am still salty.

Instagram followed suit and even YouTube does it now. Your subscribers won't see your videos unless they are "engaging". They turned it into a platform for delivering brainrot and ads.

Every fiscal quarter big tech will find ways to screw us more, because they can.

Everything is a subscription now

Every bloody app is a subscription now. You can't even cancel your Adobe plan without paying early termination fees.

We used to own our tools and only pay for updates. The companies still made decent money. But of course it was not good enough for shareholders.

They will shove extra features that you don't need, then charge you extra for them. They will take away stuff that you own, and make you pay monthly to get it back.

Every single thing got worse and turned up to 11 for money extraction. The line must go up. I know, I know, late stage capitalism and all that. I realize that I sound like an old man, but you know what? I am and I f*king hate this.

The AI sh*t wave

Things went from bad to worse for freelancers. If you are a writer or a graphics designer you felt it immediately. After chatgpt came out, job postings on freelance sites cratered and haven't come back.

Many people will happily generate AI slop with a chatbot rather than pay an actual human who knows what they're doing. The results are terrible, yet an alarming number of people don't care about quality.

Artists were hit especially hard. For a while Midjourney and other image generators could just reproduce any artist's style by using their name as a keyword. They turned entire careers into f*king prompt flags.

Tech bros smugly talk about how the AIs they're building will leave us all unemployed, while stealing our work to train their models. Investors pile mountains of cash on them so they can get there sooner. AI researchers are paid $100 mil salaries (!) to invent the next big leap that will finally throw us on the street. I can't believe this is actually happening.

Where do we go from here?

So, we can't get new clients, we are paying through the nose for software, inflation is rampant and we're earning less due to AI slop.

Things are bleak, but we can win this. This is my action plan:

1. Transition to in-person networking. Many businesses in your area are struggling, just like us. Find them offline. Visit events or organize them. Help them with what you're good at and keep in touch. A happy client will lead to referrals and repeat business.
2. Widen your skillset. Learn new skills and make yourself valuable. Good at marketing? Learn web design. You will be your client's trusted all rounded expert.
3. Cut exploitative subscription software out of your life.
4. Embrace the new tools. The best way to not be replaced by AI is by making AI part of your toolbox. Learn what the limitations are. You + AI will always beat AI alone.
5. Remember that real human relationships are the only thing that matters in the end.