Technical Writing - 4 Advantages of Hiring a Freelance Technical Writer

I've been in writing-publishing business for over 20Here are the reasons why it might make more sense
years and technical writing business for over 10 yearsto hire a freelance technical writer:
at this writing.1) If the job is a temporary one, if all you need is just
So with great honesty I can make the followingone user manual, why commit yourself to a long-term
generalization: most of the technical writers on arelationship with a permanent employee?
corporate payroll will end up making more money over2) Why commit a permanent office space, utility,
their entire careers than most of their freelancingcomputers, printers, phone lines and all the other office
counterparts.overhead that goes with it if your documentation
Why?project is a temporary task?
Because freelancing demands a lot more personal3) Why pay social security taxes, medical coverage,
energy, sacrifice, and drive than payroll work. If you areliability insurance, retirement plan contributions, etc. for
a freelancer, you already know how hard it is to findemployees when they, as independent contractors,
2,000 hours of work a year; year after year.can pay all that out of their own pockets?
However, individuals differ greatly of course. And I'm4) If the documentation task is too specialized for a
sure that a top-earning freelancer will always makebeginner- or mid-level technical writer, like for example
more money than a top-earning payroll writer.configuring a DITA schema, then it makes sense to
Having established that, let me also count the fourhire an expensive technical documentation consultant,
reasons why employers may consider hiring abut for as long as the project lasts. Again, a freelancing
freelance technical writer, with this one note: in termstemp technical writer would be the ideal choice since
of per hour fees, a qualified freelancer usually costssuch a decision would save you the high cost of
more.re-training an employee.