Louisa listened to every episode and here's what she learned...
This post is by BFF (Being Freelance Friend) Louisa Ellins.
Find her at Line 29 Editorial
I was late to the world of podcasts, but in one year I binged every single episode of the Being Freelance podcast.
In its 8th year, that’s currently more than 280 episodes.
And in listening, I noticed something.
Every guest is a successful freelancer, but all of them have achieved this in their own way. No two stories are the same, and there is no such thing as a right or wrong way to do things. Let me show you what I mean…
Becoming freelance
Alongside employment
“I still have a full-time job… that can be quite challenging at times but I know my limits and how many projects I can take on at a time.”
Building a business on the side
“And after two and a half years working there, freelance work just got in the way of things, and I've found myself going to client meetings in lunch breaks … and I just decided to just give it a try.”
Taking the leap
“As soon as I got back from the holiday, I handed my notice in and went freelance … I didn't have a business plan. I hadn't checked whether there was a market for the kind of work that I do.”
“As long as you have a safety net behind you. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. Just be sure that if it doesn't work out after a month, you won't be homeless. Just do it. You're probably good enough to do it...”
Working hours
Office hours
“I really do prefer to work during the daytime…”
“I'll now try and organise my life so that I have a fairly normal working week, so I can actually have a work life balance.”
Flexibly
“…My working hours are not conventional. They’re not Monday to Friday nine to five.”
“But I'm also very kind to myself. I find that working Saturday and Sunday, I just take it easy Monday and Tuesday, to kind of give myself a little bit of balance.”
Specialism
Generalist
My father has always said to me “Just always apply yourself to different things and experiment with things.”
Niche
“And I just thought, well, I really enjoy this. Other people seem to really be enjoying this. So this is what I want to do. And initially I was a little bit scared to niche down, because I guess you worry that you're going to lose out on work. But I found it's gone really well.”
Based…
At home
“Something I prefer doing is being at home by myself. I get far more done.”
At a separate building / co-working space
“And so now I work in a coworking space, which, I love it. You come in and you instantly feel inspired, and just happy to be in such a nice space.”
Charging…
By project or product
“I come up with a rate, I usually sit on it overnight and think about it a little bit.”
Melanie Padgett-Powers, Season 14
By the day
"There's just something about talking about it in days, seems to work better for the clients that I have. But in my head, it's always projects. I'm always thinking in terms of projects, but I also need to roughly map out how long they might take.”
Keeping company
Work on your own
“I structured it from the start, like I was running a business and it just so happened that I was playing all of the employee roles.”
“I don't want to manage a team. I don't want to develop a strategy. I want to do the nice stuff. I want to get paid for making things look great. And I've got no interest in managing people. I'm terrible at it.”
Take on others
“I’ve got ambitions to grow the business further… the downside of being a freelancer is the opportunity cost: if you’re doing one gig you can’t do another. Whereas if you’ve got a larger organisation then you can take on those multiple jobs, you can enlarge your client base.”
Work with other freelancers
“I started building a freelance team that I work with and that's actually opened up other opportunities in other jobs … so being able to work on a project with other people, not only sparks creative ideas but on a really practical level, it means you're not on your own.”
“It just gives me an energy that working by myself doesn't always offer.”
Naming
Own name
“My name is my brand.”
“I went for Chad Michael because when I started, I was like, ‘Uh, I want to make a name for myself. I want people to know who I am for my work.’”
Brand name
“I wanted to appear bigger from the outside.”
Last words
“Follow your own script. I don't need to follow someone else's career trajectory in order to feel like I'm doing something or I'm being somebody.”
And the quotes above don’t tell the whole story – with each freelancer adapting to circumstances:
“You tend to morph and change over the years depending on where the business is and what people are asking for at the time.”
One thing I love about freelancing is having the opportunity to build my own business, on my own terms.
I’m sure I’ll continue to be inspired by many more guests on the Being Freelance podcast while I do this.
By Louisa Ellins, September 2022
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