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Many people are starting off the New Year with a resolution to quit the corporate gig, release themselves from the shackles of their full-time gig and finally go it alone: freelance. In the first of a two-part series, writer Lori Franze polls a few of her cronies to get some sage advice from those who fly solo.
There is an obvious trend in our workforces across North America – the freelance economy is growing and will continue to grow. There are a number of factors that have led to this shift – lack of jobs available forcing people to create their own, ebbs and flows of work within organizations and technology enabling people to work from any four corners of the world.
So maybe you are considering taking the leap into the world of freelance, or you’ve been working at it for a couple months and things aren’t falling into place as you had hoped. The good news is, the freelance community is quite expansive and supportive; you don’t have to go it totally alone!
I reached out to a couple freelancers who provided some invaluable information. One such person is Wendy Bloomik, a freelance art director who happily shared the kind of advice that may be obvious – but isn’t always followed.
Be nice
It should go without saying but be respectful and nice to everyone you work with from the bottom to the top of an organization. The industry is small and often you may have a situation where you are being considered for a project at an organization and when you check them out on LinkedIn you realize you know several people who work there. You don’t want to have to be worried that the person you will be working with is someone you had an “issue” with several years ago.
Stick to what you know
This doesn’t mean turning down business, but being honest about the work you can do and what you need to farm out to another person for your client. The quality of your work is critical to your success, so you want to make sure that you are delivering the best product possible but when you do find something that is outside your core you can still retain the client and the project by finding someone else to do it while you become the project manager.
Find other talented people to work with
Start building a directory of talented professionals who you can call on when you need other work done. The benefits are two-fold; you keep the client and make some margin on the work that the other freelancer is doing and you will likely be called on by those freelancers who you give work to, to support them on work they can’t do themselves.
You’ve heard from the creative freelancer; join us on Thursday when we feature advice from Ruth Zuchter – a copyeditor and writer with over 15 years’ experience in the industry.
What other tips and advice do you have for newbie freelancers? We’d like to hear from you! Leave your comments below.