If You Could Have A Freelancing Super Power, What Would You Choose?
Posted May 13, 2009 in Inspiration 62 Comments »
Have you had a tough week? For a change, let’s have some fun today!
You may have noticed all of the new movies coming out for the spring and summer featuring superheroes with extraordinary powers.
Let’s pretend, just for the sake of this post, that you could choose a single super power to use in your freelancing business. If you could make that choice, what imaginary super power would you choose?
For fun, I decided to look at five super powers that are featured in many popular fantasy movies and examine how they might affect the freelancer if they really existed.
- Super speed. You’ve probably seen this “power” featured in fantasy or science fiction flicks. In my opinion, super speed is definitely a super power that nearly every freelancer could use. After all, who wouldn’t like to be able to accomplish things more quickly? The only downside to it that I see would be if your speed exceeded the speed of your computer or your Internet connection.
- Invisibility. While this “power” has been on my pretend wish list for a long time, I don’t see a lot of practical use for it for most freelancers. Why? Because many of us work alone from home. If I had this power, I could sit alone and my office and turn invisible all day long and there would be no practical freelancing advantage. As far as I’m concerned, the “power” of invisibility is a dud as far as freelancing is concerned.
- X-ray vision. This “power” is a classic one in popular comic strips. While the ability to see through things might be useful, I’d want a special variety of this power that would let me see through the Internet connection to the other end where my client or perspective client is sitting. I’d want to see the expression(s) on their face(s) as they read my e-mail. So, yeah, with that modification I can see a freelancing application for X-ray vision.
- Flying. In fantasies and in science fiction, nearly every superhero worth his or her salt can fly. As a freelancer, having the “power” to fly could be quite useful. No more would I have to deal with long-distance clients through e-mail or by phone. I could simply don my super freelancer cape and fly to wherever the client happened to be located. Yeah, I think we freelancers could use the power of flight.
- Clones. While on the surface this sci-fi “power” seems like it could be useful for freelancers (who hasn’t wanted an extra set of hands around?), personally I find it just too creepy to add to my own wish list of pretend powers for freelancers. I mean, what would keep the clones from turning on you? What if the clones didn’t have the same skills (or ethics) that you did? Besides, remember that having a clone would also mean having an extra mouth to feed.
Share Your Thoughts
This is a different type of article for Freelance Folder – it is more of a distraction and an amusement than anything else, but sometimes that’s okay. As such, I hope that you’ve had as much fun with this article as I have had.
Now it’s your turn. What pretend super powers would you add to the list? Leave your answers in the comments.
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 19 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts
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62 Comments
Colin Wright
May 13th, 2009 at 9:23 amHands down, I’d want to be able to communicate anything to anyone without a hitch. This would be GREAT for a design studio, while also allowing me to instantly and clearly communicate my intentions to the client (without a lengthy phone discussion that may or may not leave both of us a little more clueless)!
Kate Petersen
May 13th, 2009 at 9:35 amTelepathy. I want to be able to know what that flaky client *really* means when she tells me “it just isn’t what I wanted.”
Writer Dad
May 13th, 2009 at 9:48 amDefinitely clones. Employees I might have to correct, but clones would probably be happy to work for free and (I’m assuming) would be rather like minded.
Nicole
May 13th, 2009 at 9:48 amMind Reading, to be able to understand 100% exactly what the client wants and is looking for. Especially those ones who are complex.
E.J. Semeijn
May 13th, 2009 at 9:55 amI would definitely go for SUPER SPEED. Sometimes I wish my days where at least 28 hours long instead of the normal (too short) 24 hours… With my SUPER SPEED ability I can do so much more. Where can I buy it? ;)
Laura Spencer
May 13th, 2009 at 10:05 amI see I’m not the only one who wishes for a little extra help getting work done.
Thanks for joining the fun! I like the addition of telepathy. Add that one to my list too!
Mike
May 13th, 2009 at 10:07 amNicole, I wrote out my response, then read yours and realized I had said the same thing as you. How much time do designers spend trying to “get into the client’s head?”
So here’s another one: A Tony Stark-like talent for computers and electronics. Consider the amount of worry and the number of late nights caused by technical problems..
Yana
May 13th, 2009 at 10:07 amAbility to go back in time to be able to correct mistakes or act differently if the way I acted is not good.
It would be also useful to go back in time when I already know the score for a play-off match. Thus I can tell it to by boyfried before the beginning of the match :)))) and he won’t be any more interested in watching it :))
(I’m pissed off with the basketball and hockey playoffs every evening!! grrrrrr!)
Laura Spencer
May 13th, 2009 at 10:16 amYana, what a great idea for freelancers! Time – travel. . .
Christopher Ross
May 13th, 2009 at 10:18 amI’d say that I’d have to go with time travel so that I could leave my office Friday at 10 to 5 with the copy I was promised the previous Tuesday at 2.
Austen
May 13th, 2009 at 10:20 amA writer’s block vaporiser. Or whatever the photoshop version of writer’s block is!
KYLE
May 13th, 2009 at 10:39 amif i have a freelancing super power.i want flying…i can fly to anywhere .dont need plane..i can flying to Spain..i like there so much..
Matt Keegan
May 13th, 2009 at 10:58 amNone of the above, although my “mind reading” can be taken as x-ray vision by some.
With mind reading, you can guess what your clients really mean when they speak to you instead of digging that information out from them. All the clones in the world can’t get people to say what they’re thinking so give me a tool that helps me know their thoughts — maybe a Vulcan mind meld capability — and we’ll call it a day.
KYLE
May 13th, 2009 at 11:09 amhOOOOO..Matt Keegan..if i have mind reading ,i dont need clients…if i need money .i just tell someone”give me moeny ..”and he want give me .ahhhh..like “ParkMan Matt” in “Heroes”!!!!!!!sahhh
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
May 13th, 2009 at 11:13 amOmniscience. I want to touch something and know it all, right there. What it was, what it is, what it will be. I want to see the future and know everything. Not all the time – just a touch that I can call on.
Of course, that would be a horrible superpower, because then you’d know your own death and agonize over that of loved ones too, but… ohhh. ‘Twould be grand.
The ability to stretch time. That’s another one. I’m sitting having a day and I know that I need a few more hours? I could stretch time for myself, working on a different plane than the rest of the world so that when I come back, no time at all has passed and lo, my work is complete.
Oh, and fly. I really do want to fly. I’m working on it.
KYLE
May 13th, 2009 at 11:16 amJames Chartrand – Men with Pens
you working on it? what is that work …in the plane ?
Laura Spencer
May 13th, 2009 at 11:16 amJames –
Omniscience. That’s a bit scary. I don’t know if I could handle the whole knowing your own death thing or the death of loved ones.
Stretching time, though. Now that’s a good one.
Sharon Hurley Hall
May 13th, 2009 at 11:17 amI would love to have x-ray vision so I knew what clients really wanted 100% of the time and super speed to get it all done quickly.
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
May 13th, 2009 at 11:24 am@ Kyle – I’ve been zip-gliding in 300′ high trees… it’s as close as I’ve come yet. (Planes scare me. Just a little.)
crazywabbit
May 13th, 2009 at 11:39 amsexiness, one look at me and the project is mine, one look at me again and the project is perfect, one look at me for the 3rd time and i get the cash :)
Chesley
May 13th, 2009 at 11:44 amI have to disagree about the practical use of invisibility…
As a freelance writer, you can sit in just about anywhere and hear some great quotes, get story ideas, find leads…
Oh, and if you live in a busy household, you can work without being disturbed because your family won’t know where you are. :)
tim
May 13th, 2009 at 12:18 pmIt’s funny, I recently heard an interview with Stan Lee (writer of spiderman etc). He was asked what his super power would be. His answer was genius – his super power would be that he would be unbelievably lucky. That way no matter what the evil opposition threw at him he would always win because he would be so damn lucky!!!
Relying on luck is probably not the best advice for running a successful freelance business but my God it would be useful. Sometimes it feels that dealing with things like internet explorer 6 requires a great deal of luck as well as skill.
Be lucky :)
Wellington Grey
May 13th, 2009 at 12:25 pmI’d take a ‘Spider Sense’ for potential clients who need my services.
Jessie F.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:28 pmI think the invisibility power works for the buyers of freelance services. On another note, It’s so true that you can’t rely on luck. I went to a media event last night and that’s exactly what they talked about. You can’t expect to go on Twitter once a week or FB 3 x’s a week and see results. You have to really get yourself out there and remain active in the Tech community/Freelancing world.
NFL Rumors
May 13th, 2009 at 12:34 pmI would definitely have super speed. That way to get everything done fast to be able to move onto another project. The faster you get them the easier it will be to set up a new project sooner. People seemed not one away even a week for you to get started on their projects before they move on to the next person.
Greg Dunn
May 13th, 2009 at 12:36 pmWhat Kate said. Telepathy. To be able to know what they really want even though it’s usually (at least initially) a far cry from what they tell you. Or the ability to fortell the future to see how much time and effort a particular project would take as opposed to what your quote was. :)
thenumber
May 13th, 2009 at 12:48 pmThe ability to leap, I mean appease, multiple stakeholders in a single design!
JR Moreau
May 13th, 2009 at 1:51 pmSUPER SPEED and MIND CONTROL! I want to get my work done well and really fast so I can enjoy more of the day and use mind control to keep the clients coming back for more!
Matt SF
May 13th, 2009 at 3:30 pmI would have to go with Time Travel. What better way to prosper than zipping forward in time to find out what works best, and coming back to implement what worked well and ignore what didn’t.
Adam Pieniazek
May 13th, 2009 at 3:47 pmThe ability to stop time. Only power I would need, I could stop time (and let’s assume that halts aging too) and become a super expert in every topic in the world seemingly over-night. Deadline fast approaching, just stop time. Need a vacation, again stop time, travel the world and come right back.
Carson - Big Red Notebook
May 13th, 2009 at 5:41 pmI was leaning toward an army of clones, but then I realized how annoying it would be to listen to my own jokes several thousand times per day.
I’ll take super-speed.
Laura Spencer
May 13th, 2009 at 5:47 pmHi Carson!
Well, the downside to clones, as I see it, is that you would have to feed all of them. Could get expensive. . .
Jennifer Escalona
May 13th, 2009 at 7:03 pmI’d definitely have to have some kind of cyborg-like power where I can jack into my computer (wirelessly, of course) and simply think my work. I love the actual writing part of my job, but I could do without the part where I’m deskbound all day. With my cyborg powers, I could work while walking around town, driving, or even showering. Have you ever tried to use a laptop in the shower? Never a pretty result.
On the other hand, this would probably result in an even higher level of workaholism on my part. I can imagine tuning my husband out and then coming to with him yelling, “You’re working again!”
Thiago Cavalcanti
May 13th, 2009 at 8:18 pmI’d like to be able to influence my clients speed!
Wouldn’t be awesome if we could make our slow clients faster and slow a bit the ones that are just too speedy?
Jon Phillips
May 13th, 2009 at 8:56 pmMind Control hands down (I’m working on it – getting there) :)
Katharine
May 13th, 2009 at 9:20 pmI’d want mind control so that I could persuade all of my clients to pay within 10 days and to pay by direct deposit to my business bank account or via PayPal, instead of the 30 days that publishers usually take and instead of by checks, which I must deposit in person at the bank.
Solomon
May 14th, 2009 at 1:05 amI wish I had X ray vision to see what clients need and what they’re up to, and work accordingly.
Solomon
Joff
May 14th, 2009 at 3:52 amFor me it would need to be the ability to stop time, or go without sleep. I think I’m conditioning myself for the latter already…
Nikhil
May 14th, 2009 at 6:27 amWhat a great ideas!
Really its fun to imagine ourself with these powers.
James
May 14th, 2009 at 7:12 amTo be able to stop time would be mine. No more worrying about deadlines :)
Kenneth McNay
May 14th, 2009 at 7:17 ami would need a super negotiating skill. i find too many clients that don’t understand the value of good design. they think that because anyone can learn to do this whole web thing by reading a book, that it shouldn’t have such a high price tag.
if i could negotiate appropriate and fair prices, that would be awesome.
Melek
May 14th, 2009 at 9:26 amCan I get multiple powers? If so, then i want to be able to clone myself so I can have some extra help around here. Then i want a ’spidey sense’ so i can tell which clients will be duds and which will be great to work with. My spidey sense would also help me to find the best project that would be the most fun and look great in my portfolio.
let me know if you need my address so you can ship those superpowers over to me.
JT Long
May 14th, 2009 at 11:28 amMagnetism:
I could attract clients as I walk down the street instead of having to do all that messy marketing.
Sera
May 14th, 2009 at 11:46 amI would want the superpower of being able to see only my own mistakes. That way, I could fix my own mistakes, but not be distracted by the mistakes of others. I find typos, misused words, bade grammar, improper punctuation, etc. extremely distracting, and I often lose the message and wish the writer had edited a bit better.
Serj
May 14th, 2009 at 1:38 pminteraction powers!!!! everything I touch, I could interact with it and know everything (books, pc, laptops). who needs mind reading when you already know how that works:D
vidya putra
May 15th, 2009 at 1:09 ami prefer super speed, but then i think that the computer cant recieve light speed information… so i prefer clone, because i could clone my self and do many think at the same time…
Catherine
May 15th, 2009 at 9:51 amI loved this. What wonderful creativity you have. However, I didn’t see the what you were seeing with this. I had a different insight.
The Mighty 5 triggered questions for me. Questions to ask myself when I working on my projects.
For instance, “If I could do this at super speed what would I need to change in my system or process?”
If I wanted to write this from an invisible standpoint, “What would be different when writing this?
I’m going to use my x-ray vision now to place myself in the spot my reader is sitting. What would that be? How would that be different?
If I was flying over this, What arial view would I see? How different would I feel in describing this? Etc.
If I could clone me to complete this, who would I delegate this to?
Okay, a little different viewpoint…however, I couldn’t have done it without your beautiful triggering insight.
Thank you.
P.S. Sorry if there’s typos. Picked up my first pair of computer specs yesterday and everything looks a little weird right now as I get used to them.
Laura Spencer
May 15th, 2009 at 11:09 amWow Catherine!
I love that twist on this. You’re pretty creative yourself.
P.S. Good luck with your new glasses, I just picked some up on Wednesday.
Dave
May 15th, 2009 at 5:54 pmA few years ago, I would have gone with cloning or speed. But, I can pretty much buy those. Now what I think would be the most helpful is the ability to “read” fast. Like, touch the book and instantly know the content well enough to put it into practice.
Patrice Fiset
May 15th, 2009 at 5:55 pmI would like to read super fast. Like Jonny 5 the robot.
Amr Gawish
May 15th, 2009 at 7:31 pmAfter reading all the super powers in here – and they are quite many- I loved the Mind reading thing, but then I though, why would i have the mind reading while i can have the experience!
Yes, the super power is Immortality, to be at a young age say 28 and stay like that forever and see every and each application run and updated.
And i’ll take the support contracts to the extreme.
I’ll be the youngest richest most experience freelancer in the whole world, who has about 219345782412312 skills and counting!
Nicole Foster
May 16th, 2009 at 6:24 pmI would have Super Speed to get in every deadline on time no matter what time.
Komal
May 18th, 2009 at 11:49 amI think the best of all if to have X-ray power to get projects and super speed to finish them in time and also time-travel if anything went wrong. ;)
nido
May 21st, 2009 at 7:38 amgreat post!… mine would be to hypnotize clients via some mind trick/key-word and get them to select my highest price-package while accepting the very first concept i show them!… regardless!
Antwon Davis
June 17th, 2009 at 2:08 amI would love to have the super power of “Ideation”…
Creating, developing and implementing the most creative and effective ideas and designs for every client that I undertake.
Almost like an “Idea Generator Man” or “Idea Man” or “Ideation Man” (lol).
I guess the hardest part would be having to articulate the idea to others.
melper
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 pmWith all those superheroes, let’s make the justice league, to fight the evils client’s that don’t pay in time and wants our work in just one minute!
supergirl
October 6th, 2009 at 10:03 pmi have superpowers i can run fast er that any body in my whole school and i can read my friends mind and sometimes my friends cant see me and im stronger than my dad
oxidizzy
October 26th, 2009 at 10:39 pmyeah… I wanna be a “jumper” too.. ^^
I can go everywhere in this planet to get some inspiration, visiting creative event, exhibition….
blue2x
November 17th, 2009 at 1:22 amyou forgot mind control, lol , ability to influence the price of a particular project. I can charge it for 1 million =)
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