Today, a bit of a practical post. Angie has been a port of call during my freelancing stints and is always full of good advice. I asked her to put something together for you all. I know a fair few students read here, and I think you’ll find it really useful too. Freelancing is not for everyone and it is not easy. Granted I went surfing more often, but then I worked a lot earlier and later than ever did before.
Over to Angie…
With so many educated people out of a job, and so few good jobs opening up
, many people are considering the idea of going out on their own. For others, it’s pure dissatisfaction with their job and frustration that leads them towards this path. Once you reach this fork in the road, however, everyone has one question: ‘I want to start freelancing, but I’m not sure how to do it.’
In truth, freelancing can be a wonderful, freeing experience, or it can be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make. What will make the difference is the amount of thought and planning that goes into that experience. If you just wake up one morning and decide to go out on your own, well, chances are you’re doomed before you even get going.
First, you need to decide if freelancing is really for you. This includes knowing all of the pros and cons that go with it. And believe me, not having enough work is only one of the big concerns. Then, you need to decide what it is exactly you’re going to do and how you’re going to get there. What kind of client are you going to target? What about pricing? The way I see it, if the prospect of freelancing doesn’t scare the heck out of you, you haven’t done enough researching.
To help you get started on this journey, I’ve written two pieces for you which you can download:
‘Is It Time To Go Solo? The When And How To Start As A Freelancer‘
‘ Freelancing The Good, the Bad, and the Unpaid’
Angie Haggstrom is a professional copywriter and online writing coach/consultant. She specializes in SEO web copy, case studies, and many other online and offline formats. Feel free to contact her by phone at 1.306.662.2239, by email at angie {AT} professionalwebcontent dot com, or through Twitter.
Hi! We don’t have permissions to view the scribd documents – please let us in!
Hi Paul,
after some investigation it appears that it works for almost everyone but there are a few people who can’t access it. It’s more likely a problem you are having with scribd. If you can’t resolve it, let me know and I’ll send you the PDFs through via email