Lessons After Two Years of Freelancing

Freelance Switch - Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT I was updating my LinkedIn profile the other day and couldn’t help but notice that  under the “Independent Professional” heading was the time stamp: 2 years. Has it really been that long? It sure doesn’t feel like it, but it gave me pause to sit back and think about my career so far and what lessons I’ve learned that can be passed on to others. Like most people fresh out of college, I focused all my energy on finding the 9-5 staff job. Problem was, returning home from a unpaid newspaper internship in another city, I barely had enough money to put postage on resumes, let alone gas to drive to job interviews. It was a few days after my return that I woke up to my phone ringing. It was my editor from the out-of-town paper. Something related to their coverage area was happening near me and… could I cover it? Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to keep my name in print while looking for the staff job and some money for food was also more than welcome. The boost in pride I gained from that one-off assignment soon faded, though, as the envelopes I’d been mailing out stuffed with cover letters, resumes and writing samples weren’t generating any interest from HR departments. So, deciding to take advantage of contacts I’d networked with, I cold-called the editor of a trade magazine I’d met a year earlier. Turned out he was swamped with work and assigned me several articles on the spot. Keeping in touch with the network proved invaluable since I’d be randomly contacted by these clients over the next few months with more work. There’s no shame in being a weekend warrior Even though I’d taken a night job in a call center to help pay the bills, I’d decided the quest for the 9-5 was a waste of time. Freelancing was what I really wanted to do. But there’s a weird feeling I’d get now and then. I’d be looking in the mirror, usually adjusting my tie before going to interview a source and it would hit: I’m a fraud. I’m not a journalist, I’m some dork who works in a call-center and sometimes plays dress-up. At least, that was until I started specializing in covering the technology sector and was being sent out to interview a lot of start-up entrepreneurs. Through interviewing these folks I often learned that despite having fancy business cards with CEO after their name, many of them had to take on other jobs while waiting for their businesses to make a profit. That’s when I realized that I was far from alone. There should be no shame in the entrepreneurial spirit. Don’t discount the job board After abandoning the search for a staff position and focusing all my job search energy on freelancing, my college’s job board became significantly less interesting. Pretty much every posting was for a full-time job, usually requiring the successful candidate to relocate to the middle of nowhere. But, for reasons unknown to me, I read through every single posting (still do!) Then it happened: a local trade publication focusing on the technology sector was looking for someone to do a one-off article. I immediately fired off an e-mail and received the assignment. Getting a single piece of work wouldn’t seem like a big deal — except that it led to a monthly column along with writing features now and then. Plus, it helped me find my niche — I now refer to myself as a freelance technology journalist. Get out and do it One of my favorite things about freelancing is that I’m allowed to live on what I feel is more natural sleep cycle for me: passing out between 4 or 5 a.m. and waking up at 11 a.m. Now, the neat thing about staying up late and not sleeping much is that around 3 a.m. or so you get crazy ideas for projects and anything seems possible. It was on one those nights I discovered a really cool new blog called Freelance Switch. In my sleep-deprived state I figured, hey, maybe I can write for them. I clicked the contact link and wrote an e-mail proposing a column (I think my original suggestion was “slacker productivity”). Not realizing the site is based in Australia and it was 3 p.m. for the editors, within ten minutes I heard back from Collis and Cyan and we bounced ideas for posts back and forth until I fell asleep on my keyboard. A few days later, I was a contributor. Put fear aside and just do it. Otherwise, nothing is going to happen. The most important lesson To end off, I’d like to share the most important lesson I learned in these two years: If the 9-5 club doesn’t want to let you in, forget ‘em! If you’re truly passionate about a career choice, do not give up just because of a seemingly endless string of job interviews that lead nowhere. Forget the hiring managers and market yourself directly to the clients. Even if the freelancing lifestyle isn’t for you, it’s still a better way to get your foot in the door than sitting around listening to the phone not ringing.