How I'm future-proofing my creative career in the age of AI, in-sourcing, and freelancing

Plus insights from others in the industry!

Jul 15, 2025

This newsletter is my way of paying it forward and being the person I needed when I was a young(er) writer.

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magic 8 ball held in one hand. futureproofing creative career article. buhay copywriter by regina peralta — Photo via magic8ball.com

Reality check.

“Trends” like AI, freelancing, and in-sourcing (aka when clients decide to do projects like video shoots or copywriting in-house versus c/o an agency) are not going away.

Something else that won’t go away? Groceries, bills, and a need to adapt to whatever the market throws our way.

I know I’ve written about future-proofing, upskilling, adapting, and AI before.

But what I’ve realized over the past few years is that it’s not enough to take on this information on my own.

Or even to share it with my fellow copywriters and other creatives. Or to read a couple of articles per week, a book per month, that kind of thing.

And heck, I still have at least 30 years of work life to navigate.

So, I decided to do two things:

Converse with my fellow creatives about their thoughts on these market trends
Create a “lesson plan” for myself to help give more direction to my upskilling and continuous learning

Part 1: Converse

Here are the questions I posed:

What are the best ways to future-proof a career in advertising/marketing? This is in the context of the proliferation of AI, overseas trends to move advertising work in-house, local inflation and the Philippine political climate. Is it best to go client-side? Negotiate contracts so you can do freelance work on the side and save extra funds? What skills are considered “transferrable” to other industries? How can one pursue formal learning especially since in the advertising industry, a Master’s Degree or isn’t really seen as an advantage (based on my personal experience)?

I shared the above on various advertising/copywriting/career Facebook groups and subreddits, and a PH-based crowdsourcing Facebook group.

I also asked some colleagues whose bosses are currently googly-eyed over AI about their thoughts on AI as creatives.

Here’s what I’ve gathered from these conversations:

1. Establish your personal brand

This applies whether you’re into copywriting, video production, graphic design, or something else. Even if a business uses AI to do captions or graphics, there will be a need for a specialist to review the outcome and make sure it’s aligned with what your client/your company needs. Build your brand on a blog, LinkedIn, or wherever your target market is. But don’t just post - engage and demonstrate your expertise. Through this, you can find product-market fit and get to know the goals and pain points of clients you want to work with or industry trends you can ride on.

2. Make sure you can answer this question: What can you offer that AI can’t?

AI can automate tasks, but it cannot think critically. It can’t share stories from real human experiences - grief, embarrassment, kilig. AI cannot empathize. Skills like brand strategy, persuasive copywriting, and creative direction are hard to replace, so focus on these.

3. Be AI-literate and tech-literate

A number of people mentioned this, and while I do occasionally use AI (when in dire straits), I generally avoid it because of how I do not want to partake in the environmental destruction caused by those data centers.

One response I received mentioned that AI feels scary now, just like the internet and social media did years ago. But, we need to learn to live with these new developments. Personally, I hope there will soon be safeguards and regulations in place, since I cannot imagine the disinformation, misinformation, poor critical thinking, and lack of creativity that AI reliance can cause. Not just on creatives, mind you, but students, voters, the general public!

One of the creatives I talked to also mentioned that they do not like how AI basically steals the intellectual property of artists…but that they’re forced to learn to use it for work because of company directives. While AI can free up some repetitive or mechanical tasks so that creatives can focus on strategizing and analyzing…what of those creatives who do relish the legwork and don’t want to pursue creative strategy?

4. Build your network

Another resounding response? Connect with other creatives. Seek mentorships and referrals. Join communities. Get more people to see your value - both your knowledge and your work ethic. Offhand, I can suggest groups like Independent Creative & Advertising Professionals and networks like

Stack Natin

5. Diversify your income streams

Offer other services: for example, one person suggested pairing copywriting with another skill like web development, graphic design, UX, SEO, sales, or even expertise in psychology or sociology. Imagine: a copywriter with a masters in psychology. A graphic designer with an MBA.

One response I got mentioned thinking like a marketer. This could mean zooming out from copywriting and learning the broader discipline of marketing.

Offer other products: courses, affiliate marketing, ebooks, and so on.

Offer your services to other clients: Job hop. Work on niches outside your comfort zone.

Have a hobby! Stuff like gardening, crochet, specialty coffee, or baking. According to the commenter, these things are trends that come and go in cycles, so who knows when they’ll be profitable for hobbyists?

Someone even brought up having a Plan B outside of your current industry/skillset. This suggestion was honestly pretty intense for me, since I don’t know how to actually apply it in my personal life.

6. Be financially literate

If you’re a Filipino freelancer, register with the BIR. Get familiar with changes in regulations (like the tax on digital products in the Philippines). Consider working with an accountant to help you stay compliant and financially literate.

It also helps to live below your means, even if you’re doing well now. Saving and investing is always a good choice. Besides having an emergency fund with a traditional bank, consider getting health insurance, investing via COL Financial or PAG-IBIG MP2, or checking out GFunds (on the GCash app). You could also vet the high-yield savings accounts typically offered by digital banks.

Just make sure you proceed with caution, diversify where you keep your money, and never invest in anything you don’t truly understand.

7. Never stop learning

This includes taking online courses, reading different types of books, watching videos on topics that challenge your world view or are outside your interests, and talking to people outside your niche or industry. As they say, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”

8. Be authentically human, and authentically yourself

This ties back to Points 1 & 2.

A lot of the responses I got mentioned being authentically human, since the internet is now filled with AI output that focuses on quantity but lacks quality. A friend even said that there may be a greater demand for humanized content now, because of the state the internet is in.

Unfortunately, some companies may be gung-ho about the use of cool AI tools and churning out X articles with Y keywords per week.

But there may be those out there who see the value in having human creatives connect with the very human target market. Basically, the more tech-driven the world becomes, the more we find ourselves looking for real human connection.

This also means that as creatives, it’s up to us to show our individual creative edge. The human who is the most visible (via social media networks or IRL networks) gets the interview. The human who connects with the HR Manager, Creative Director, or CEO, gets the gig. And the human who can create in authentically human ways gets the sale.

***I also got some recommended reading materials while I was out collecting these answers, so I’m sharing them with you:

“Win Without Pitching Manifesto” by Blair Enns (ebook)
“The Tools Will Change. Your Craft Doesn’t Have To.” by Agustin Sanchez (Medium article)

Part 2: Create

Now that we know all that…what’s next?

Honestly, I don't know either? Haha.

But here’s what I’m doing so far.

I still continue my daily creativity challenge. Whether it’s reading a book, going through my industry news emails, watching an episode of a series or a movie, playing an instrument, baking, or immersing in my fiancé’s world of specialty coffee and video games!

On top of the daily challenge, I also block off time weekly to consuming (read/watch) and producing (write/play an instrument). I added this because I tend to do too much of the latter. But with my weekly Substack articles, it’s been easier to fulfill the second task!

I also try to stay active on LinkedIn and the Facebook groups where I tend to crowdsource information. Who knows, there might be a post I can contribute to as a copywriter with 8 years of experience!

rmperalta17

A post shared by @rmperalta17

At work, I also do my best whenever I have the opportunity to work with new people, other teams, or new clients. I mean, this goes without saying for anyone with a 9-5, but it helps to reframe this as opportunities to meet people outside your usual circle, work on projects outside your comfort zone, and network! And that’s while I work from home and am not in a position to attend fancy-fancy industry events. :)

I’m also trying to be more mindful of my reading choices, too. Since my recent promotion happened, and given the industry trends, I decided to look for books that can help with both technical and soft skills.

Got some book recos? Drop them in the comments!