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Abstract

are things that you can do to show off your skills and charge the price that your work is worth. A good portfolio, client testimonials, and other demonstrations of your ability will allow you to charge higher rates even if you don’t have a lot of experience yet.</p><h1 id="1217">Specialization</h1><p id="5327">Another trend that is already starting is specialization. Throughout my freelancing career I have not specialized in one particular topic because that limits the availability of work. By working in many different niches I’ve been able to work with hundreds of different clients in different industries. Not specializing made it possible to jump into another niche when one became oversaturated or no longer profitable.</p><p id="b69f">If you have good research skills you should be able to write well about any niche topic. Using reputable sources and knowing how to quickly find reliable information on various topics is something that all freelancers should know how to do.</p><p id="2b44">But, increasingly clients are looking for experts in certain fields to write their content. There are two primary reasons why clients are now demanding specialization from freelancers. The first reason is that AI content is largely generic and generalized so clients that want to set their content apart want content that’s as specific as possible. For most industries only someone that has years of experience in that niche or specialized education or training in that niche can provide the kind of high-value content that clients want to have to separate themselves from those sites that are relying on cheap AI generic content.</p><figure id="7733"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*6EGFKnvbe5wQwPL28PF2fw.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo from Pexels.com</figcaption></figure><p id="cf80">The second reason is authority. Now that the Internet is awash in content, most of it unreliable or not fact-checked, businesses need to establish themselves as authorities in their niche in order to keep drawing readers. When you go online to search for the answer to a question or to find a tutorial on how to do something are you going to choose a site with random AI-generated content or a site with content written by an expert in that field with proven credentials? Of course you’re going to choose the latter.</p><p id="5a69">What does that mean for freelancers? It doesn’t mean that you can’t still write in a variety of niches. In fact, you should continue to develop interests in many niches. It’s career suicide to only specialize in one area. But it’s a smart idea to group your niches and do your best to stay up to date on trends within those niches.</p><p id="82eb">Personally, I love real estate and home improvement and design. So I read finance books and articles, watch every HGTV reno show, and voraciously read articles on design trends, color palettes, and more. That gives me marketable niche knowledge that I get while also indulging my hobbies.</p><p id="d783">Just be careful of clients that want you to publish content for them under your own name. Freelance work is work for hire 99% of the time. That means once you are paid for the content it’s the client’s work and your name is never associated with it. If a client expects you to publish content for them under your own name, make sure that the rate they are paying reflects that. <b>Don’t sell your name

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and authority for cheap.</b></p><h1 id="acff">Multi-Media Friendly Content</h1><figure id="c99b"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*ysLWRoUu-9s6crrr4yP8fQ.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo from Pexels.com</figcaption></figure><p id="6935">The next trend that is going to be big in 2024 is multi-media friendly content. Businesses will always need blog articles that explain their products or services, answer questions for customers and clients, and promote their brand. But multi-media content is also important for branding and many businesses don’t understand the intricacies involved in creating multi-media content.</p><p id="9979">The most successful freelancers in 2024 are going to be freelancers who can work across a bunch of different mediums and collaborate with influencers and other content creators to create multi-media and social media content for clients. YouTube and TikTok scriptwriters are in high demand already, and that demand is only going to increase. Young freelancers who want to find an area where they can carve out a niche for themselves should take a screenwriting class or read some books about writing compelling scripts because scriptwriting for social media platforms is going to be a high-paying skillset in the future.</p><h1 id="cfc4">Technical Knowledge</h1><p id="275d">The last big trend in freelancing I see ahead in 2024 is for writers to have technical knowledge. Just like some creative professionals will thrive being able to produce multi-media content other creative pros will thrive if they can produce articles and blogs that contain technical information for industries like cyber-security, Big Tech, medical companies, and other types of clients that need their content be fact-driven specialty content that is targeted to people in those industries already. Business-to-business and logistic content will also be in high demand. You can give yourself a big advantage by diving deep into specialty content that AI just can’t produce.</p><h1 id="5301">The Bottom Line For The Year Ahead</h1><figure id="8213"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*0BsCthy0D-YL5CU2U-VbKg.jpeg"><figcaption>Photo from Pexels.com</figcaption></figure><p id="b5b6">Freelancing and creative professionals took a hit with the rise of AI-generated content. All creative industries did. Anyone who tells you different is selling you something, probably their own course on “How to make a million dollars in a month freelancing like I did!”. But creative professionals who have been working for awhile already know the way to stay relevant and profitable in freelancing is to be able to pivot quickly when the market changes. The AI onslaught is no different. Savvy creative professionals who are willing to make changes can be just fine. And freelancers who are just starting out can still build a good career for themselves as long as they keep their goals realistic.</p><p id="603c">Creative professionals who want to get ahead in 2024 are going to need to dive deep into their individuality. The more you specialize in the things that interest you the better you will do in the coming year. The way to combat AI decimating creative work is to be more creative, inject more humanity into your work, and improve your overall skills. If you do those things you will be able to thrive as a creative professional.</p></article></body>

Freelance Trends For 2024

It may be a bit early to start predicting where freelancing will go in the next year considering how fast AI is changing the landscape. But any freelancer who has been working in 2023 knows that this has been a crazy year when it comes to freelancing and finding work. The huge increase in remote work, the rise of AI, and ever-changing SEO requirements have created a perfect storm of changes that are going to have some big impacts on freelance as we know it in the year ahead.

Longer, Well-Researched Articles

For many years the ideal length of a blog post or article was between 800–1,000 words for search engine optimization. That’s one of the many reasons why the typical blog content writing job would include a few articles of at least 500 words but no more than 1,100 words. However, AI and changes in the way that Google ranks pages has changed the ideal length for content.

Now that it’s possible for content creators to spit out AI-generated content that is longer and more in-depth websites need to update their content strategy to keep up. Even though Google insists that article length has no impact on SEO score length does matter. The quality of the article depends on how in-depth it is, and in order to go in-depth on a topic writers need to write longer pieces.

In 2024 and beyond it’s very likely that clients will be looking for content that is a minimum of 2,000 words. The caveat to that is that filler and fluff used to pad out an article to reach 2,000 words will absolutely hurt ranking. Articles and blog posts will need to be longer but still high-quality with facts, insights, and value to readers as well as keywords for SEO purposes.

Lower Rates

No one likes to be paid less, but based on the rates I’ve been offered by clients and what I’m seeing on freelance sites AI’s influence is definitely going to impact the amount clients want to pay for content. Of course, freelancers can set their own rates and don’t have to accept work at lower rates. But, new freelancers that are just starting out may have a hard time charging top dollar for projects the way an established freelancer can.

On average I think that rates will drop at least 25%, maybe more. Clients still think that AI can do a freelancer’s job for pennies, and until they realize that AI is just a tool they will be trying to low-ball writers. AI can be helpful and it does have a place in content creation, but only if it has a creative professional who is editing and shaping it and then optimizing the final content. Right now clients are riding the wave of cheap content produced by AI but when their rankings start to drop as a result of poor content they will realize that they do need creative professionals after all.

For freelancers who are just starting out and are worried that they’re not going to be able to make enough money to live on don’t worry. There are things that you can do to show off your skills and charge the price that your work is worth. A good portfolio, client testimonials, and other demonstrations of your ability will allow you to charge higher rates even if you don’t have a lot of experience yet.

Specialization

Another trend that is already starting is specialization. Throughout my freelancing career I have not specialized in one particular topic because that limits the availability of work. By working in many different niches I’ve been able to work with hundreds of different clients in different industries. Not specializing made it possible to jump into another niche when one became oversaturated or no longer profitable.

If you have good research skills you should be able to write well about any niche topic. Using reputable sources and knowing how to quickly find reliable information on various topics is something that all freelancers should know how to do.

But, increasingly clients are looking for experts in certain fields to write their content. There are two primary reasons why clients are now demanding specialization from freelancers. The first reason is that AI content is largely generic and generalized so clients that want to set their content apart want content that’s as specific as possible. For most industries only someone that has years of experience in that niche or specialized education or training in that niche can provide the kind of high-value content that clients want to have to separate themselves from those sites that are relying on cheap AI generic content.

The second reason is authority. Now that the Internet is awash in content, most of it unreliable or not fact-checked, businesses need to establish themselves as authorities in their niche in order to keep drawing readers. When you go online to search for the answer to a question or to find a tutorial on how to do something are you going to choose a site with random AI-generated content or a site with content written by an expert in that field with proven credentials? Of course you’re going to choose the latter.

What does that mean for freelancers? It doesn’t mean that you can’t still write in a variety of niches. In fact, you should continue to develop interests in many niches. It’s career suicide to only specialize in one area. But it’s a smart idea to group your niches and do your best to stay up to date on trends within those niches.

Personally, I love real estate and home improvement and design. So I read finance books and articles, watch every HGTV reno show, and voraciously read articles on design trends, color palettes, and more. That gives me marketable niche knowledge that I get while also indulging my hobbies.

Just be careful of clients that want you to publish content for them under your own name. Freelance work is work for hire 99% of the time. That means once you are paid for the content it’s the client’s work and your name is never associated with it. If a client expects you to publish content for them under your own name, make sure that the rate they are paying reflects that. Don’t sell your name and authority for cheap.

Multi-Media Friendly Content

The next trend that is going to be big in 2024 is multi-media friendly content. Businesses will always need blog articles that explain their products or services, answer questions for customers and clients, and promote their brand. But multi-media content is also important for branding and many businesses don’t understand the intricacies involved in creating multi-media content.

The most successful freelancers in 2024 are going to be freelancers who can work across a bunch of different mediums and collaborate with influencers and other content creators to create multi-media and social media content for clients. YouTube and TikTok scriptwriters are in high demand already, and that demand is only going to increase. Young freelancers who want to find an area where they can carve out a niche for themselves should take a screenwriting class or read some books about writing compelling scripts because scriptwriting for social media platforms is going to be a high-paying skillset in the future.

Technical Knowledge

The last big trend in freelancing I see ahead in 2024 is for writers to have technical knowledge. Just like some creative professionals will thrive being able to produce multi-media content other creative pros will thrive if they can produce articles and blogs that contain technical information for industries like cyber-security, Big Tech, medical companies, and other types of clients that need their content be fact-driven specialty content that is targeted to people in those industries already. Business-to-business and logistic content will also be in high demand. You can give yourself a big advantage by diving deep into specialty content that AI just can’t produce.

The Bottom Line For The Year Ahead

Freelancing and creative professionals took a hit with the rise of AI-generated content. All creative industries did. Anyone who tells you different is selling you something, probably their own course on “How to make a million dollars in a month freelancing like I did!”. But creative professionals who have been working for awhile already know the way to stay relevant and profitable in freelancing is to be able to pivot quickly when the market changes. The AI onslaught is no different. Savvy creative professionals who are willing to make changes can be just fine. And freelancers who are just starting out can still build a good career for themselves as long as they keep their goals realistic.

Creative professionals who want to get ahead in 2024 are going to need to dive deep into their individuality. The more you specialize in the things that interest you the better you will do in the coming year. The way to combat AI decimating creative work is to be more creative, inject more humanity into your work, and improve your overall skills. If you do those things you will be able to thrive as a creative professional.