Posts filed under 'This freelance life'
Hey, new and aspiring freelancers in Seattle! Curious about how other self-employed professionals in the area got their start and deal with the ups and downs of working solo? On Tuesday, June 30, from 2 to 6 p.m., Seattle tech startup Jackson Fish Market is hosting its first Small & Special conference for current and hopeful small business owners. The conference is sold out, but I’ve got two free tickets to give away. Read on to see how you can win them…
Speakers at the event include Babeland co-founder Rachel Venning, children’s book publisher Oliver Chin, web application developer Steven Bristol, and international wine distributor Jon Rimmerman. You won’t find any venture-capital-hungry bazillionaires here; all the conference speakers bootstrapped their way to profitability.
As for the day’s agenda, according to Donald DeSantis of Jackson Fish Market, “It will be one part inspiration, one part practical advice, and one part meeting new people.” In addition, all attendees will be entered into a drawing to win a custom promotional video for their business, courtesy of lilipip! studios and valued at $8,000.
To register for the conference (a deal at $25.00!), see smallandspecial.com. For more deets about the conference, see smallandspecial.com. If you’d like to throw your digital hat into the ring for one of the two free tix I have to give away, tell me about your business idea and why I should pick you right here in the comments. (Sorry, I won’t have time to collect email responses this week.) Thanks, and enjoy!
June 28th, 2009
Got an email from some mystery reader the other day asking, “Is this site still active? I haven’t seen a post from Michelle in many months.” (Actually it’s been just under two, but who’s counting?) In an upcoming blog post, I’ll explain why I disappeared from the blogosphere for such a long stretch. But first, some fresh content…
Work It, Mom! just ran a new Q&A with me and I wanted to share my favorite question of the bunch:
If you were just starting out as a full-time freelancer and had just enough money each month to pay for ONE of the following things, which would you choose, and why? (1) Hosting for your own website. (2) Mobile web and e-mail on your cell phone/Blackberry. (3) Membership in a paid job listing site like FreelanceSwitch. (4) Four Americanos.
My answer: Easy: web hosting. It’s criminal to not have a website as a freelancer these days. You need your own corner of the digital universe where people can easily learn who you are and peruse your samples and/or client testimonials.
Number one, it makes you look like you’ve joined the twenty-first century (if you forego a site, don’t expect potential customers to be impressed). Number two, it saves you extra time you might have spent explaining your work/approach/MO to a new client. Number three, you can make a one- to four-page WordPress site in a morning. Number four, Web hosting costs less than $10 a month. Number five, in the time you spend scouring those (often crummy, $10/hour) ads on freelancing job sites you could have sent your new URL to everyone you’ve ever met in your life, started schmoozing with other freelancers on Twitter, and drummed up your first client by word of mouth or the power of SEO. I’m a big fan of joining a community and cultivating relationships rather than bidding into the void on projects advertised on job sites, unless it’s a really, really kickass-sounding job.
As for options (2) and (4), I don’t use a smartphone and I don’t drink coffee.
Bonus answer: Yes, you can build a site with an address like http://anti9to5guide.wordpress.com/ for free, but having your own URL is so much easier for people to remember and looks a bit more serious.
Yes, coffee makes the deadlines go ’round, but it’s expensive. If you drink it, brew your own.
Yes, a cool smartphone + data plan will liberate you to work anywhere, but as a new freelancer you should be watching your pennies. Besides, do you really need to be online 24/7?
And yes, some people swear by using freelance job hunting sites like Elance, oDesk, and Guru to land their first few gigs or to supplement their freelance income, despite all the cons they themselves are all too happy to admit (wading through all the crap-pay listings, giving the site a cut of your earnings, the preponderance of bidders willing to work for slave wages). But on freelance email list after email list I subscribe to, people regularly say that they haven’t found such race-to-the-bottom bidding frenzies worth their time.
I can’t speak to the job listings on Freelance Switch specifically; if anyone has a review to share, by all means please do. I’d love to find a job listing site serving multiple freelance disciplines to recommend to new freelancers. As for writers, I hear wonderful things about the publication editors and the freelance listings they post on Freelance Success, which costs about $100 a year.
June 4th, 2009
I did a post this a.m. on Nine to Thrive (my NWjobs blog on work/life balance) about the nastiest work from home scams people have been reporting of late.
Of the many the FBI warns against, my personal favorite has to be those package forwarding or product reshipping jobs listed online. If you’re lucky, your so-called employer will merely neglect to reimburse you for the shipping fees on all those electronic goods you’re repacking and reshipping. But if you’re unlucky, you could get caught up in a criminal investigation, as many of the goods these employers are hiring home-based workers to ship are stolen.
You may think that having viable a freelance skill to sell over the web and in person makes you immune to such scams. “Only rebate processors and envelope stuffers get taken for a ride,” you may tell yourself. “Not writers, web designers, and software programmers.” But I beg to differ. (Seen Craigslist lately? Or those useless “paid in promotion” — aka, PIE — gigs?)
When it comes to listing my most-hated freelance scam, I’m torn between all those “Will pay $50 for a 2500-word article/five-page website/three-city PR campaign” project listings polluting the web and those heartless do-it-on-spec-and-then-see-if-anyone-will-deem-you-the-contest-winner-and-reward-you-ten-bucks-for-it sites. (Exhibit A. Exhibit B.)
Perhaps “scam” is too strong a word here, as these outsourcing practices aren’t illegal, only insulting, not to mentioning damaging to professional freelancers who need to earn a living wage. Still, part me wishes there were some regulatory labor body that required such sites and ads to prominently display a “Hobbyists, Apply Here — Pros Who Want to Eat, Steer Clear” graphic at the top. Then those hiring managers without a clue would more quickly come to the realization that you do indeed get what you pay for.
April 6th, 2009
As you no doubt heard earlier this week, the print version of the Seattle P-I, one of my city’s two daily papers, is no more. (The 20+ staffers who kept their jobs have embarked on a big fat newspaper 2.0 online experiment, complete with reader blogs, canned content from magazines owned by Hearst — the P-I’s parent company, and links to competing news outlets.)
As devastating as the folding of the print P-I is to those of us who learned to write a lede on a typewriter, the noose has been around the neck of newspapers for some time now. Freelance budgets have dwindled, pay rates have shrunk, and paid contributor opportunities are nearly extinct.
Writers, photographers, and illustrators have had fair warning about this monumental shift in the freelance market. That’s not to say some of us haven’t cried our eyes out about it, but we’ve had fair warning. Those of us who value eating have adapted, branching into online markets, magazine work, trade publications, corporate work, consulting, editing, et cetera. You know, diversify or starve.
Although I got my 9-to-5 start in newspapers, I’ve never been more than a sporadic contributor since going freelance in 1992. In the intervening years, I’ve hopped from freelancing for the book publishing biz to dotcoms and the corporate tech sector, back to magazines and newspapers and books, and lately, over to web news media — though to stay afloat, I still do some of each.
As long as newspapers, magazines, and books are around, I plan to have a hand in them. But I find myself working online so much these days that I have moments of thinking, Six months is a long fracking time to wait to see that article I just wrote in print and on newsstands.
This horrifies me somewhat, because like so many, I grew up wanting to work in print publishing. I still want to work in print publishing. (As an aside, it’s my firm believe that most people do. I mean, when was the last time you met a person who didn’t tell they wanted to write a book? When every last one of us is reading a Kindle or whatever the next space tablet is, wannabe writers and life coaches will still be saying they hope to see their name in print someday.)
Aspirations aside, I also want to pay my bills. So I do some of each medium: print, online, old school, new school. Given the past six months of media layoffs, the recent avalanche of newspaper closures, and all the news reports, blog posts, insider gossip, tweets, and panels about the colossal shift in the news/information biz, I’d be crazy not to.
Regardless of whether you work in the news/information biz, I imagine most of you have done the same since the economy went seriously south last fall: print designers teaching themselves WordPress, desktop programmers developing mobile phone apps, anything to give yourself an edge.
If so, what shifts has your work seen in the past six months? Have you felt the need to pick up a new tech skill or two? Started working in a medium that’s a first for you? Infiltrated an industry that’s brand spanking new to you? Please share with the class.
March 19th, 2009
Last week I asked if anyone wanted to weigh in on my ABC News column on how layoff gossip both helps and hurts office workers. (You can read the column here; it ran yesterday.)
But employees aren’t the only ones who grapple with layoff gossip. As a freelancer and contractor, I’ve recently had to temper my monitoring of the downsizing rumor mill about several of my clients. On the one hand, you want to stay informed of budget and headcount cuts so you can plan accordingly (save your pennies, find new clients, be sensitive to editors enduring employment upheaval). On the other, you don’t want to fall so far down the rumor rabbit hole that you can’t think straight.
In other words, you don’t want to be like the freelance journalist I interviewed for my column who said this:
“I get obsessed with the gossip to the point that I become unproductive. Instead of pursuing the work I have, I’m chasing down the latest choice tidbit on whether this other business is going to close. I’m on the phone with colleagues, I’m reading all the blogs, tuning in to the TV, to Twitter, you name it. It’s probably all a waste of time, but hope springs eternal and all that.”
I can relate to this. As a reporter, I love a juicy story too, especially when it affects my own life and livelihood. I’ve certainly lost a couple afternoons in recent weeks tracking the latest newspaper body count. But I’m trying to remember that if I don’t do the work that’s already on my plate I could be next in line to get the boot.
How about you? How do you deal with the layoff rumors swirling around your star clients?
March 13th, 2009
Calling all Bay Area freelancers (working or aspiring): I’m headed your way for a night of freelance banter; I read to you from My So-Called Freelance Life, you ask me questions, I answer, you ask me more questions, and then I sign books. It’ll be an opportune time to learn new tips and resources, talk about freelancing in a down economy, and meet other independent pros who walk your walk. The event details:
When: 7:30 pm, Tuesday, February 10
Where: Books Inc. in the Marina, 2251 Chestnut Street, San Francisco
Info: Free admission. More info at Books Inc. or (415) 931-3633.
And if you’re a professional organizer, dream of being one, or call one your BFF, you (and possibly your organizer friend) should join me and the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO-SFBA), for a presentation about how to deal with difficult clients. The event details:
When: 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Wednesday, February 11
What: Seminar, Q&A, and networking for professional organizers
Where: The Doubletree Inn, 835 Airport Boulevard, Burlingame, CA
Info: NAPO-SFBA
Registration: $20 members, $25 guests
Co-sponsor: Books Inc.
If you attend either event, be sure to say hello. Thanks and happy weekend.
February 6th, 2009
For those recently laid off who now find themselves gigging, today’s ABCNews.com column shares my top 10 recommendations for navigating your newfound freelance status.
In January, Daily Beast editor-in-chief Tina Brown dubbed the current rotten job market the “Gig Economy,” where both high earners and low earners increasingly find themselves cobbling together paychecks from a menagerie of freelance, contract and part-time work.
Suddenly media outlets from CNN to Newsweek followed suit, telling the freshly unemployed what those of us who’ve been freelancing and consulting for years already know: if you have skills to hawk, you can make a decent living hopping from project to project.
But merely welcoming this army of accidental freelancers to the self-employment club won’t groom anyone for the challenges of running their own show.
If you, too, have found yourself cast in the role of accidental freelancer — presumably because you’ve had better luck finding project work than a staff job — take heart. As someone who’s been a full-time freelancer and contractor since 1992 (by design, not accident), I assure you that there is a method to this self-employed madness.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a writer, designer, programmer, marketer, builder, bookkeeper, recruiter or project manager; the principles of staying afloat as an independent worker are the same. Herewith, my top pointers for surviving your first freelance year:
Read the rest of this article on ABCNews.com.
February 5th, 2009
@anti9to5guide
Are you tweeting too? If so, how are you using it? Here’s what I’ve gotten out of it in the few short weeks I’ve been using it:
1. Another way to spread the word about my books.
2. Another way to find sources for articles I’m writing in a pinch.
3. Another way to share/discuss articles of interest with other freelancers and freelance sympathizers.
4. Another way to meet interesting, influential editors, bloggers, and media peeps.
5. A more immediate way to engage in some online dialogue than the ole blog. (Though I have every intention to keep this ole blog alive and well. I heart it — and the people who read it.)
6. Another way to amass more links to interesting articles and blog posts I hope to read when time permits.
7. Yet another way to waste time if I’m not careful.
I imagine many of you saw The Golden Pencil’s excellent post on 8 Ways That Twitter Can Grow Your Freelance Business. I have yet to land an assignment through Twitter as Jenny of The Golden Pencil has, but I certainly wouldn’t mind doing so.
How about you? What has Twitter done for you lately?
January 30th, 2009
Let’s play a little game of open thread. Rather than talk about how we all want to land a pile of dream clients, sell more articles/photos/illustrations/tea cozies, and make buckets of cash in 2009, I thought we could discuss something that’s been near and dear to my heart lately: how to streamline the mountains of admin work that can plague self-employed professionals (as well as those working for the man or simply looking for that one decent gig that will get them back into the workforce after being laid off).
If you read my new book, you already know that I’m a spreadsheet junkie. A couple other things I’ve done recently to cut down on the thicket of admin work on my plate so I have more time to focus on writing:
- Hired a virtual assistant to help with some of my book promo activities. This has been a godsend. Thank you, Jackie for saving my hide time and time again.
- Hired a WordPress designer to make technical updates to my blog instead of trying to figure out the blasted code myself. (Duh. I should have done this ages ago.) Thank you, Liz of CMD+SHIFT DESIGN.
- Added a somewhat strident FAQ to this site’s Contact page to cut down on the many, many requests I receive for free product plugs on this site and free career counseling. (It’s working so far — and may have even landed me a couple new consulting gigs.)
A few more things I plan to do in the new year to further streamline my admin work:
- Hire a blog/social media intern. Stay tuned to this blog for the job listing. Or if you can’t wait, email me. (Note that this will be an unpaid position. For this reason, it may be best suited for a student.)
- Have the fabulous Liz continue to improve this site — something I’ve been threatening to do for months now.
- Finally automate my expense tracking (beyond the Excel spreadsheet I’ve been using) with a program like QuickBooks. (I know, I know. I’m old school.)
- Set up more rules in my inbox so that every last press release, newsletter, and media list (that is, those I actually want to receive) goes to a special “to read later” folder far, far away from my inbox.
- Finally read Gina Trapani’s Upgrade Your Life.
How about you? What tangible steps do you plan to take in the new year to optimize your worklife?
December 16th, 2008
My email pal Ian Sanders and I are running simultaneous interviews with each other this week on how men and women approach the self-employed life differently and what we can learn from each other. Ian owns a creative agency in London and is author of LEAP! Ditch Your Job, Start Your Own Business & Set Yourself Free and Juggle! Rethink Work, Reclaim Your Life. He’s also a dad to two toddlers. Part 1 of my interview with Ian follows; part 2 headed your way tomorrow. You can read Ian’s interview with me on his blog.
Q. Do you think men and women are driven by different factors in business?
A. Essentially I think men and women are both driven by being enterprising; they may have different approaches but they want the same goal: success.
Q. What do you think self-employed women can learn from men?
A. As soon as we start talking about gender differences we are of course generalising! With that caveat, I would say women can learn something about having guts to “just do it,” which sometimes men posses to a greater extent. Having that self-belief to be bold. I think women are better team players than men, so when they are working for themselves it can be tougher if they are not part of a team.
Q. What do you think self-employed men can learn from women?
A. Self-employed men can learn a few things from women, as I think women can be more adept at juggling a mixed portfolio and have the bandwidth to handle the varied tasks. Men are better at one thing at a time (apart from me of course!). I think blokes can be good at going out and winning business but sometimes lack the ability to simultaneously be across everything, the trivial and the detail. Women can also be better team players – personally, I find working relationships with women co-workers can be more stimulating and fruitful than with men.
Q. Do you think either men or women are better (in general) at separating work and play and keeping a balance between the two?
A. I think men are better at separating work and play; women are used to mixing it all up. Incidentally I think that mixing it all up is the way forward, and I’m no good at separation.
Q. What is your single most important survival tip for freelancers and people making the leap to self-employment?
A. My single most important survival tip is Focus. Focus on building revenues; focus on one area of business at a time, then diversify and build once you have foundations in place; focus on delivery of a project. Because a project not executed is just an idea.
December 15th, 2008
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