freelancer
Self-employed professional
A freelancer is someone who works independently rather than as an employee, typically taking on projects for multiple clients.
The term originated with medieval mercenary soldiers—lances for hire—but now applies to writers, designers, programmers, and other professionals who sell their services without long-term commitment to one employer: She works as a freelance photographer.
The word functions as noun, verb, and adjective: freelance work, to freelance for magazines.
Creator of promotional text
- ghostwriterUncredited hired author
- bloggerWeb journal author
- journalistNews profession practitioner
- editorOne who revises text
proofreader · scriptwriter · columnist · translator · transcriptionist · Medium · byline · pitch
Working independently, not hired
- soloPerformance by one
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
- self-directedManaging oneself without supervision
- entrepreneurOne who starts businesses
solopreneur · unaffiliated · self-starter · nomad · remote · coworking · self-reliant · unbossed
Issuing payment requests
- taxesMandatory government payments
- LLCHybrid business entity abbreviation
- 1099Non-employee income document
- bookkeepingRecording financial transactions systematically
retirement · contracts · liability · branding · niche · networking · CRM · pricing
One who hires professionals
- projectPlanned, effortful task
- deadlineTime limit for completion
- deliverablesContracted work products owed
- invoiceItemized billing statement
retainer · milestone · scope · proposal · fee · payment · terms · agreement
Work to be done
- assignmentAllocated work or duty
- commissionPayment for services rendered
- stintFixed work period
- one-offSingular, unrepeated instance
short-term · on-demand · moonlighting · hustle · booking · piecework · ad-hoc · Fiverr
One who plans appearances
- illustratorVisual artist for media
- animatorSequential image creator
- photographerCamera-wielding image maker
- videographerOne who records footage
Employment from residence
- asynchronousNot happening together
- time-zoneRegion sharing one hour
- schedulePlan of timed events
- availabilityState of being obtainable
part-time · on-call · seasonal · downtime · scaling · capacity
copywriter
Creator of promotional text
- ghostwriterUncredited hired author
- bloggerWeb journal author
- journalistNews profession practitioner
editor · proofreader · scriptwriter · columnist · translator · transcriptionist · Medium · byline · pitch · clip
self-employed
Working independently, not hired
- soloPerformance by one
- autonomousSelf-directed and free
- self-directedManaging oneself without supervision
entrepreneur · solopreneur · unaffiliated · self-starter · nomad · remote · coworking · self-reliant · unbossed
invoicing
Issuing payment requests
- taxesMandatory government payments
- LLCHybrid business entity abbreviation
- 1099Non-employee income document
bookkeeping · retirement · contracts · liability · branding · niche · networking · CRM · pricing
client
One who hires professionals
- projectPlanned, effortful task
- deadlineTime limit for completion
- deliverablesContracted work products owed
invoice · retainer · milestone · scope · proposal · fee · payment · terms · agreement · negotiation
task
Work to be done
- assignmentAllocated work or duty
- commissionPayment for services rendered
- stintFixed work period
one-off · short-term · on-demand · moonlighting · hustle · booking · piecework · ad-hoc · Fiverr · TaskRabbit
designer
One who plans appearances
- illustratorVisual artist for media
- animatorSequential image creator
- photographerCamera-wielding image maker
videographer · logo · mockup · Canva · Figma · commission · thumbnail
work-from-home
Employment from residence
- asynchronousNot happening together
- time-zoneRegion sharing one hour
- schedulePlan of timed events
availability · part-time · on-call · seasonal · downtime · scaling · capacity
developer
One who builds things
- programmerOne who writes software
- sysadminComputer systems manager
- DevOpsSoftware delivery and infrastructure collaboration
GitHub · stack · codebase · API · full-stack · front-end · back-end
- casual workersday laborer, casual worker, temp, temp worker, hired hand
- online jobsvirtual assistant, content creator, blogger, web developer, graphic designer
- self-employedsolopreneur, independent contractors, sole proprietor, contractors, sole trader
- temporary rolestemp, temp worker, internship, substitute, interim
- business rolesCEO, CFO, CIO, CMO, COO
- freelancingcontractor, consultant, client, invoice, rate
freelanceremployee
Hired organizational member
salaried worker · company man · organization man · lifer · wage earner
- freelance incomeEarnings from self-directed work
- freelance workSelf-directed paid projects
- freelance writingSelf-employed content creation
- freelance writerSelf-employed author for hire
- freelance journalistSelf-employed media contributor
- freelance journalismSelf-directed news work for hire
freelance, freelancing, freelances, freelanced, freelance work, freelancers