Question From A Reader – Amount Of Available Work
Posted December 13, 2007 in Lifestyle 10 Comments »
A reader of FreelanceFolder who shall remain unnamed (let’s call him Bob for the purpose of this post) sent me an e-mail a couple of days ago, seeking advice. Bob is a writer with a newspaper background.
Here’s what he wrote:
I am a corporate communications professional seriously considering the freelance world, and the only thing holding me back is concern about the amount of available work.
I asked myself these questions many many times before I decided to take the plunge in the freelance world, and I am sure many of you reading this post did too at some point.
I can answer Bob’s question right away: there is always more work available than you could possibly take. The thing is you have to find it, which is not always easy.
When you work for a company there is always work to do, you don’t have to go out and look for it (in most cases). There are people working in marketing, human resources, customer service and other departments so you don’t have to come up with a marketing plan, hire people yourself or answer the phone all day.
Freelancers on the other hand have to wear many (many!) hats.
My Own Little Story (short version)
After 5 years working for a telecom company in sales, marketing and other departments, and freelancing on the side I decided it was time to get more serious and do something. I wanted to be my own boss, work my own hours, etc…
My ‘on the side‘ revenues were definitely not going to be enough. I had bought a Jeep Wrangler about 2 years before I decided to go solo. 84 easy (and huge) payments they told me… yeah, sure! Money was not an issue when I bought it, I was getting a paycheck every 2 weeks.
I knew very well that before taking the plunge I would need to save some money. I’d be working from home anyway, no need to drive to go to work so I decided to sell the Jeep, and I’m very happy I did because the first few months were quite difficult. To this day I don’t miss the Jeep at all, except when there’s 3 feet of snow (Oh Canada!)
Needless to say I had to learn how to market myself and my services. In fact everything started to make more sense when I started blogging, I now get most, if not all of my clients through my blogs.
Advice To Bob
Ok, this was my own little story, now I’m not saying ‘go sell your car‘, but it helps a lot to have some money in the bank in case you can’t find gigs or something unexpected happens (and it will). You have to expect the unexpected.
Here are some things you might want to consider and some question you should maybe ask yourself before you quit the day job (please feel free to add to the list folks)
- How much to charge?
- What services to offer?
- Should you get a website? online portfolio?
- Have a business plan, even if it is really basic
- Build a network of like-minded people (blogging anyone?)
- Find cheap or even free ways to advertise your business
- Build streams of passive income (write an ebook for example)
- Hire a lawyer and an accountant (maybe not right at the begining though as it’s quite expensive)
- Automate as much as possible
- Have a good invoicing system. I use Invoice Machine all the time.
- Keep track of everything (e-mails, letters, books)
- Make friends in the biz
- Spend some time on forums and discussion boards, get your name out there (points #5 and #12)
- Comment on blogs, send e-mails to bloggers (check)
- Visit job boards and sites like elance, guru, skillance and others
- Have a good resume ready to send out, apply on jobs
Ok there are probably hundreds of things that could be added to this list so feel free to leave a comment and help out fellow freelancers and other people contemplating a freelance career.
Now The $100 Question
Can I do this freelance and support a family?
Sure it is possible but it takes time. I would suggest starting ‘on the side‘ while keeping the day job. Build a portfolio and a network, and when you feel you’re ready ask for advices and then go ahead take the plunge, I’m sure you’ll love it. :)
Please add to this post by leaving a comment. Share your own tips and tricks, share your story and help Bob in the process.
Thanks ‘Bob‘ for asking these questions. I hope you’ll find this post useful and that our readers can help you out by giving some more advices.
Cheers
Jon
******
About the author: Jon Phillips is a full-time freelancer, designer and blogger, he loves WordPress and plays guitar in a heavy act. He's also the founder of Freelance Folder. Oh and he'd be pleased if you would follow him on Twitter. :)
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10 Comments
LornaJane
December 13th, 2007 at 5:43 amI would like to go freelance but I have all the worries that you list above. I am taking on a few small pieces of work in my free time but not really finding enough time to do anything of note. I am considering reducing my hours at my day job to allow me to expand the freelancing side of things, does anyone have experience of making the transition in a similar way?
Tim Bornholtz
December 13th, 2007 at 12:43 pmI second the business plan. Be comfortable with how you’re going to get work and who you’re marketing to. I’m in a very specialized niche and I wouldn’t do it any other way. I spend a lot of time just being friends with the other people in the industry. It reminds my customers that I’m out here but even more so it is great working with people I like and those that I consider friends.
Once you’ve got a market the jobs will come. It does take continued work, but if you like the people in your target market then it is pretty fun to get more work.
Soni
December 13th, 2007 at 12:56 pmOne thing I would suggest is looking into getting health insurance. I’ve heard several stories of people who after making the transition got into serious car accidents or some other unforeseeable event happen that came a hefty medical bill.
You can join an professional organization, such as ACM (Association for Computer Machinery), which offers health, dental, etc to its members.
There are also programs such as COBRA that let you keep your employer’s health insurance for up to 18 months after you quit at group rates, but note that the costs are significantly higher than what you pay as an employee.
Mrs. Micah
December 13th, 2007 at 1:23 pmI think that sounds like a good idea, LornaJane, especially if your job lets you reduce hours. Not everyone has that option. :)
Reid
December 13th, 2007 at 1:30 pmI left my full time job 2 months ago for the wild world of freelancing. I can say the most valuable resource that I’ve had to date is blogs like this one. If I’m not actively working on a project, I’m learning from people who know more than I do. The friends blog roll on this website has been a great starting point (though you have to add ittybiz.com to the list).
The only piece I would add… Put yourself out there. Don’t wait until you have ever “i” dotted or “t” crossed. I wasted a lot of time with ‘fear of launch’ syndrome.
Thanks for a good post.
Jon
December 13th, 2007 at 3:43 pmThanks a lot everyone for sharing your stories and giving advices, I’m sure ‘Bob’ will appreciate this, I myself really do :)
What? I forgot to add IttyBiz, ok wait a sec it definitely has to be on the blogroll, will add it right away, Thanks Reid!
Mike Smith
December 13th, 2007 at 5:06 pmI’ve been freelancing for a while now designing and just took the plunge. No money saved, no backup plan. In my case, I think it was the best method. If I had a backup plan or some form of safety net, I don’t think I would have worked as hard as I did, and still am. I am getting ‘ahead’ now, and by the first couple months of the new year, if things keep building like this, I’ll definitely be living happily, and at a slower pace.
Freelancing is great though, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. My advice to people that seem to ‘relax’ more when you know you have some form of padding in your bank account is to just jump right in full time and don’t give yourself another way out. You’ll push that much harder to make it work.
Mike Smith
Steven Finch
December 14th, 2007 at 4:51 amFreelance work is always a risk, but it can so pay off in the long run!
Additionally, if anyone is looking for a web 2.0 consultant, im always available via my website.
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