Visions of sugarplums? Forget it. It’s virtual funds that dance through our dreams at night.
In fact, forget pay stubs and direct deposit, too. If you’ve made the move to freelancing, you may have opted out of traditional bank accounts altogether in lieu of Paypal—the little online payment service with the big anonymity. We content writers for websites secretly pride ourselves on our opting-out abilities. And the Paypal process caters to our every agoraphobic tendency.
Paypal: The world’s most-loved way to stay in and get paid.
Phenomenal Paying Power
While the non-writing world looks to savings accounts and Christmas clubs to fund their holiday hoarding, content writers tend to squirrel away earnings in the Paypal account that’s associated with their ten favorite writing sites. While it’s a no-interest option, the convenience of turning hard-earned virtual dollars into instant online paying power is intoxicating.
Just ask those of us who hover on payday, with five tabs open awaiting payment.
And the Christmas season only magnifies it for us. Coupled with the head rush of making instant online payments, is the joyful juggling of payout days. Even if your favorite writing site only pays out once per month, others pay bi-monthly, after every $100, after every $10 or even twice a week. Some offer bonuses to writers who produce content throughout the biggest holidays of the year. The logistically gifted among us are quite capable of cleaning up at Christmas—without ever leaving the living room.
Itty Bitty Social Skills
Perhaps Paypal’s most appealing feature is the ease in which users are able to bank in their pajamas, in their underwear or, need we say it—commando.
You can’t do this at the corner branch down the street. Freelancers are notorious for owning more pairs of pajamas than your average working stiff. And be warned—we’re not afraid to use them. That’s the real reason we’re strung out on Paypal’s euphoric high. On paper, we may be the world’s greatest communicators, but truth be told, many of us suck at the face-to-face.
Damn you, Paypal, for knowing this.
Scoring That December Fix
We’ve all done it—chuckled condescendingly at those Christmas countdowns that start popping up on Facebook as early as September. There may be only three Fridays left until Christmas, but those of us riding the Paypal train know there are plenty of Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays still available. We know this because we have the paydays from the ten fabulous faves all meticulously marked in red on the calendars that hang behind our desks.
The month of December waxes especially ugly for freelancers—sort of like the blood spatter from an exceptionally gory SVU episode. It culminates on the 24th, as we refresh our mobile devices every five minutes while waiting in the checkout line at Toys R Us. If hope springs eternal, nothing proves it more than a hopped-up freelance junkie trying to score the last Furby Boom available in the civilized world.
Thanks to you, Paypal. All thanks to you.
Anne G is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
