As we step into 2025, it’s time to dust off the crystal ball and take a fresh look at trends, technologies, and economic predictions shaping the freelance landscape. Following years of seismic shifts (COVID, the Great Resignation, tech layoffs, AI booms, and introspective career pivots), freelancing remains a popular and viable career path.

Christmas is just around the corner and, for freelancers, it tends to be a busy period or deathly quiet. For the former, December can bring with it some financial anxiety as businesses start to slow down and work drys up. To help keep your spirits up and motivation high, here are a few ways you can get productive and continue to progress this December. 

Freelancer Club is 10 years young! It's hard to believe we've been doing this for a decade. The freelance landscape looks a lot different than it did in 2014 and we like to think we had a small part to play. We managed to convince our founder, Matt Dowling, to sit down and reflect on what has been one hell of a ride.

Meet Angelica, a freelance photographer who has turned her passion into a thriving career in a very short space of time. After completing the Rise, Freelancer programme in association with Xero, Angelica’s freelancing journey skyrocketed, proving that with the right support and determination, dreams do come true.

For some, freelancing is something extra on the side of full or part time work and it can be difficult to balance the two, especially if there is very little cross-over. While it may seem the more work you have, the better, it is important not to over-commit yourself, as you could risk jeopardising the quality and integrity of the finished product.

Freelancers and the self-employed are a significant part of the British workforce, accounting for over 13% of total employment. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics indicates that as of early 2024, there are approximately 4.3 million self-employed individuals in the UK. This marks a notable increase of 146,000 self-employed workers in the past six months.

As a home for freelancers, we're always looking for ways to improve the lives of our members and AI offers an abundance of opportunity for us to do just that. The question, however, is how should we use AI to support our community? It seems like every other day, there's a new AI tool promising to revolutionise the way we work. 

Notice the word I use in the title?  I don’t say thrown into the deep end. I say jump. That implies it’s done voluntarily. It’s done with ownership and accountability.  Once you make that leap and enter the water — you have zero excuses. You are either a victim or victor to your own ego.  Nobody threw me in against my will. I threw myself in. I may have well ignored all the advice, all the warning signs…as I know I’m a good swimmer