Freelancing - is it for you?
Freelancing, a.k.a self employment, has for a long time been an important element in many people’s working lives. Either as a full time way of earning a living or as a way ‘side hustle’ to earn extra money. It can be a great way to utilise your current expertise. Many people will build up some freelance work as a way to ‘test the water’ in a new career area too.
This blog is aimed at suggesting some tips to help you develop your freelance work. Why am I writing these? Well, for the last few years I have had a ‘portfolio’ career - i.e. a mixture of different ‘contracts’ and freelance opporunities. So alongside a part time permenant job I have had a mix of freelance work. Some of these have been fairly stable in how much work they have delivered over the last few years. Others have been one off occurrances. I wouldn’t class myself as an expert here, but hopefully these reflections will help you ‘structure’ how you approach your freelancing.
1) Networking is key. This isn’t about being a pushy sales executive to ‘sell’ your services. Its more about getting to know who uses freelancers in your industry and how you could help each other out. There are several business networks around too - these can be great to join, as you will meet a range of other local self employed people. You will be able to give and recieve lots of support to others going through similar experiences as you, even if they are in different industries.
2) If there is a professional association that covers your work, join it! There are so many benefits, including being kept up to date on current issues and the chance to meet other people. You will find that other people will often be very supportive of you and give you advice if you ask!
3) Think laterally. What skills and experience have you got? How could you use these in a slightly different way? For instance could you do some blogging/vlogging that others would find helpful, whilst also raising your profile? Are there slightly different ways to use your skills to earn money separately to a paid job?
4) Don’t be afraid to specialise! This might sound slightly contradictory to the tip above. Often when freelancers are used, it is because they bring something ‘different’ or specific to an organisation rather than being a generic ‘extra body’ to get work done. An example from me would be when I’ve done some careers writing or editing for organisations. This has happened because their own staff don’t always have the time to do the work and they need someone who can get the work done in a short period of time. That flexibility is great for them as well as you, it will give you an interesting ‘patchwork’ of opportunities!
5) Plan ahead. By this I mean practical things like working out how much tax to set aside with each invoice - having a separate bank account for this is helpful to keep it as tax! Planning ahead for me also helps with identifying opportunities to try and develop. For instance organisations who might be worth getting better links with, who might need help in the future.
6) Take advantage of unexpected opportunities. A recent example for me was getting asked to have an input into a CIPD Essex and Ipswich local branch CPD webinar. I’d never done something like this before, so it certainly ‘stretched my confort zone’! But it was an interesting event and I got to listen to some great HR professionals, who I’m now connected to on LinkedIn. What could you say ‘yes’ to that could stretch you professionally?
7) Use your expertise to do some volunteering or pro bono work. I know you are aiming to use your expertise to earn money, to either fully support yourself financially or have some extra income. The benefits of volunteering can be numerous, increase your connections, give you a chance to ‘practise’ being a freelancer and raise your profile too. Examples? Well, your professional association will need volunteers to help run events or committees. These may not sound glam but will be invaluable for giving you a greater profile. Volunteering will mean you broaden out your experience from ‘just’ doing a paid job where you are expected to do it well! Stem ambassadors, Citizens Advice, local mentoring schemes and schools are just some other examples of where you could get involved.
8) Know your limits! Both professionally and time wise. You want to build a reputation doing work well. This takes time. Learning when and how to say ‘no’ to extra work takes time to develop as a skill! In the early days of doing freelance work its very easy to think there will never be a time when you turn work away. Why would you? But over time, you do need to develop the ability to manage the ‘peaks and troughs’ of work coming through. Knowing when you have too much of a ‘peak’ is important.
9) This point ties in with several of the above, in particular number 8. Get to know other freelancers who do similar work. Being a freelancer can be a lonely existance. So being able to meet up for a coffee, virtual or otherwise, can be good to talk about how you are both getting on. Knowing who you can pass work onto that you can’t do is useful too. And you will find this works for you too - opportunities will come your way too because of others you know.
10) In the midst of all these points, it is important to occasionally take a step back. Is working for yourself part or full time giving you what you wanted? What have you learnt from the experience about yourself and your industry? Just because you are earning money from this now does not commit you to this for the rest of your working life. Some people will be forever ‘bitten by the bug’ of self employment - even if they are more busy than when they worked for an organisation. What you learn by being self employed will actually make you invaluable to a small or medium employer - more than you think. Commercial awareness alongside technical skills and expertise are really sought after. So if the ‘perfect’ part or full time opportunity comes along, don’t be put off from applying for it. As the recent IPSE report highlights, there has been a drop in people being self employed recently - perhaps for obvious Covid reasons! Your career will last decades, so there is a change your ‘mode’ of existence may flucuate between employed and self employed during this time.
I hope these reflections have been useful to read. So, having read this far, is freelancing for you? If you’ve got comments about all this, or questions don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Mark Yates
