Freelancing is a full time job. Maybe more.

It’s a misconception that freelancing is something you do on the side. A freelancer is a business owner. Usually an artist. If it it was any other industry we would be called consultants. This freelancing is not for the weak.

You’ve got to be at the top of your game to freelance, the best at what your do, and you’re doing it because that’s how you make a livelihood.

A moon-lighter on the other hand – has a job but is working on the side for extra money. It’s really hard to work out how serious moonlighter are. Nothing wrong with taking jobs on the side, however the moonlighter has priorities that become before this side work. I have hired several freelancers over the years to help out on projects; coders, writers, photographers, printers, etc. but eventually you run into bottlenecks with moonlighters. Their loyalty is just not what  you get from a freelancer.

A freelancer is in business, there’s no full time job other than the freelance work and building a steady client base. They are self employed. Freelancers do not have full-time jobs working for one employer (other than themselves). Freelancers are not hoping to be hired as a full-time employee.

A moonlighter is just that. Works at night when the moon is out and they are away from their day job. They may be on top of their game, best in class, but the difference is they have a full-time job and they pick-up extra money by taking in stray jobs. The biggest disappointment I have had with moonlighters are their availability. I’ve been caught in the void. I will start a project — then it will happen — somewhere in the middle of the day there will a crises — and guess what — the moonlighter is at their day job.

Another draw back of the moonlight vs. the freelancer is the loyalty factor. A full-time employee who moonlights will (and should) give preference their full-time employer. A freelancer works with clients as if their life depended it and are generally loyal to their clients and will go beyond expectations to get work out and delivered.