I have a dream.
In it, I am not wearing pants.
I feel happy, and busy, and relaxed, and challenged.
In this dream, I work for myself at home.
I've worked in publishing for about 8 years now as a writer, editor, and marketeer. To say I love the work is an understatement. I ate it up in school, and am always excited to get started on a new project. But it's come to my attention that an office is not my natural habitat. At various times I've flirted with the freelance life, and, like a teasing, exceedingly attractive lover, I think about it all the time and want to make it my boyfriend. But, to be honest, I'm a little afraid of going (with)out steady (income).
You see, for a long time I thought there was something wrong with me. I have, and always have had, a deep and abiding mistrust of authority of any kind, am the proud exhibitor of a bilious disdain for structure and clock-punching (both figurative and literal, as I've recently come to find), and have been considered a bit of a, well, agent provocateur. I have some pretty strong beliefs on how people should be treated both inside and outside of the workplace and all of them relate to being respectful and open. None of them seem to be happening in real life workplaces.
My thinking about going freelance has been a long time coming. I don't come from the kind of upbringing that encourages one to feel like it's safe to take chances. We didn't have much financial security when I was a kid, so when it came tim to get a job the advice was always to hang on to any job I was lucky enough to have. Shut up and put up, as it were. Anything 'creative' was not something one did for a living. That was for other people. Richer people than us, anyway.
So, to help with the misgivings and insecurities, I've been reading all kinds of great books, some on beginning a creative services business, others on getting over mental humps, and they've been really helpful. One thing I've read in each and every one of them was that it's important to reach out to other people in the line of work you'd like to be working in.
I know there are a lot of really talented working writers (and editors) here on OS and I was hoping to tap into what is certainly a veritable cornucopia of knowledge. If you would all be so kind as to indulge me, I'd like to put out a list of questions that if anyone were to be magnanimous enough to answer, they would be assured of my eternal gratitude.
1) Were you a 'fraidy cat to make the leap? What made you overcome any fears that you had?
2) Was your transition gradual (did you move from full-time to part-time to freelance), or did you just go for it?
3) What preparations did you make before going full-time freelance?
4) How did you devise a marketing strategy for yourself?
5) Do you have any advice for a soon to be liberated prisoner?
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Diary of a Hopeful Starving Student
celsi
Helen Stortini
Izzy J.
ljturner66
LadyMiko
Salon.com
Comments
I have freelanced plenty in the past. Like you, I grew up with nothing in the way of a financial safety net, and I'm enough of a fraidy-cat to know I could never just strike out on my own. (I'm also a procrastinator, a terrible self-promoter, the owner of a highly questionable work ethic unless a deadline's hanging over my head, and just plain miserable with details like, oh, say, money and invoices and records and oh just shoot me now.)
I admire your chutzpah. Make sure you write yourself a solid business plan (or at least have it fleshed out in your head) before making the transition. Know how much you need to work, how much you need to charge, etc.
If you have a "niche," build your marketing plan around that.
Small businesses are going to be your bread and butter, probably--other freelancers, consultants, mom-and-pops. Network like mad.
And best of luck, you brave soul!
As to question 1) The main difference between being self employed and sucking on an employers tit is self confidence. Also, you MUST know your trade. Ask for some objective opinions about your writing from the OS forum and do not get upset if there is a general agreement your work may not be up to par. (I do not know if it is or not) An honest opinion may save you lots of grief and money. I have been a victim of a bad economy twice. Both times I could not have forseen the trouble coming. Some things will be out of your control......that's just how it is. Everyone who goes into business for themselves is apprehensive about cutting the feeding tube. There are risks; you either feel you can overcome most of them or you don't.
Question 2: One business I started part-time and one I just had to jump into. One thing to remember, your customers come first. If that requires you to work odd hours seven days a week then you do it or you fail........and you may do it and still fail because of circumstances beyond your control.
Question 3: Take Verbal's advice and put a business plan together. Remember, your gross income does not equal your net income. You may be shocked to find out what the actual cost of doing business is.
Question 4: In addition to devising a market strategy, you WILL have to go pound the pavement. Having to visit 100 potential clients to secure one is not out of line. If you have thin skin and cannot take rejection, do not attempt self-employment.
Question 5: Have faith.
Verbal: Thank you especially for your kind words.
Carolyn: The economy has me wondering as well... baby steps I suppose.
RW: I think the writing for others and editing will be the bread and butter. My own writing will still be a sideline, just one I hope to have more mental energy for down the road. I really appreciate the responses to 2 & 5. Those are the biggies for me.
Patricia: Really helpful tip on being "unavailable". And oh, the mind games. For the record, I would submit that teaching is an amazingly creative endeavour--how else do you get a room of people with different learning styles on the same page?
The economy killed the copywriting job I had for a large national firm in the Midwest this February. Lucky for me I was able to pick up some work as an adjunct professor teaching English literature for a couple of local universities. I love teaching. LOVE it. But that is the subject of another blog. My answer to the work conundrum is to announce that I am going back to school. The only way to do more (in the U.S. anyhow) than teach endlessly as an adjunct, and secure a tenure track position, is to go get a PhD. So that's what I'm going to do. Lucky for me, I have a great subject area that I'm really interested in and think I have a pretty good chance of getting into the school of my first choice. (See fingers crossed, toes crossed, hair braided for luck.)
I've been freelancing too for the last several years doing all kinds of writing from promotional, advert, business plans, resumes and so on. I like working in my jammies as well as the next person while my dog sleeps under the desk. So I do understand your impulse to flee.
Everyone has been giving you some good advice.
Here too are a few other things to ponder while you process what to do. The meaning of work (I think, particularly in the short run) has nothing to do with the actual work and everything to do with the paycheck. The Entire meaning of my last full-time copywriting job was the fact that it helped feed, clothe and shelter my family. Period. It required patience to show up every day. I worked with so many wonderful people which made things easier. But, it was at the end of the day not fulfilling work, a fact which was made irrelevant by the economy. I was grateful to have it while it lasted. Clock punching not withstanding. Once I was let go, the playing field changed because then I was freed to make decisions about the long haul and think seriously about answering the question, "What will I be when I grow up."
If you are going to flee, be aware that the grass isn't necessarily greener everywhere on the other side of the fence. Both modes of work do in fact have their own plusses and minuses. Of course, the real trick is not to access in terms of like or don't like but rather to accept what is with equanimity. Be wary of feeling like you need to maintain the same lifestyle as you may be enjoying now, when you feel relatively sure of your next paycheck. You might take this time to look with self awareness and consciousness at the choices you are making and where you might be able to make your life simpler thereby reducing stress from employee to freelancer. If your life is simpler, it costs less and you have less pressure on you in terms of how much moolah you bring in. Most if not all of the unhapiness I have ever experienced over money was a direct result of me trying to live beyond my actual means instead of adjusting my lifestyle to match my real income. One need not keep the Ferrari after all! (wink)
If you do leap, Network network network!