Recently, a writer friend and I were talking about the cyclical nature of our business. We may be in the pink today and in the soup tomorrow, for projects come and go like buses and men who are no good for us. She and I were discussing the times we nearly tossed it in. Yet we didn’t. Why? Because we had no intention of giving up the best worst job we’ve ever had.
Here’s the thing – freelancing is not a guaranteed income. Last month I had a phenomenal month in terms of invoice amounts. This month – who knows? It could all crap out on me tomorrow. Or today, depending on what karma has in store.
If you’re thinking about a freelance career, you need to keep a number of things in mind.
Can I live on minimal amounts of cash? See, you might make a good bit of money, but if you spend it as you make it, you’re going to be up a seriously precarious creek when your dry spell comes (and honey, that dry spell always comes). You need to be squirreling away those earnings. Trust me. I know. I’ve been there. Many times. And that’s a cycle that will continue to repeat.
Do I really want to work this hard? If you think writing for a living means you can define your own hours – work three here, take two weeks off there – you need to think again. Freelancing is not 9-to-5. It’s more like 8-to-7 and sometimes weekends. Clients have deadlines. In order to gain a good reputation, you have to deliver what they want on time every time. That requires sitting down and tackling something you may not want to tackle.
Am I willing to put the effort into marketing? You can’t work unless people know you’re there. You’re afraid of marketing? Then get another line of work. If you can’t find it in you to promote yourself, even a little, you’ll be nothing but disappointed in the results. You need to make a plan for marketing and networking and spend honest-to-goodness time on letting people know you’re out there.
Can I take rejection? There are times – lots of them – where your potential client is going to use the “N” word with you. If you can’t take being turned down, even if it’s because they just don’t have the budget, or if you’re going to take rejection personally, this is not the career for you.
Am I willing to deal with unruly people and learn hard lessons? See, not every client pays on time, and some try their hardest not to pay at all. If you can separate your emotions from the matter at hand, you’ll go much farther than if you let every nasty thing they say about you or your work cloud the fact that they’ve broken your contract or haven’t paid in months. Also, you’re going to make mistakes. Big ones, too. You’re going to learn the hard way what should be in a contract by what’s missing in some you’ve signed. You’re going to learn how to cover your assets by trial-and-error, and by compromising your standards before you know what your standards are. It’s part-and-parcel of the trade. You’re going to accept jobs that are waaaay below acceptable rates, and you’re going to resent both yourself and the client for it. If you can’t learn from all that, or learn to deal with someone screeching at you or writing you nasty emails, get out now.
Do I have a backup plan? I cannot tell you how many times in the Feast/Famine cycle I’ve been caught in some serious famine-related situations. For that, I have a backup or two. One of my best backups is the temp agency. I have completed enough jobs for them that I can call them and say “Help!” and they nearly always can find something for me. It does require that I commute, but the assignments are usually short-term or ones that I can back out of should my workflow at home start to flow again.
Am I in it for the long haul? Another writer friend who is very wise once said to me, “You gotta treat this job like it’s your only option.” She was right. If you put yourself in the mindset that this is not something you’re going to drop when things get tough, that it’s not just an extension of a hobby or a dream you’re not prepared to put the seat leather into, you’ll fare much better. You’ll find yourself stocking your writing larder with more and more contacts and raising your standards to ones that allow you to make a decent wage and present yourself as a professional writer and not a beginner begging for work. You’ll see the difference in your attitude and your approach. And in the long run, your career is going to benefit from being taken seriously.
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