More than one in three American workers are setting their own hours and working from home or cafes while still contributing to companies large and small on a consistent basis. Yes, freelance or contract employees are here, and they're here to stay, given that technology increasingly allows us all to work together without being together. Freelancing, meanwhile, can be a job all its own, and is often devoid of collaboration. For those of you considering going this route, consider our beginner's guide before going it alone.
Starting: Making Connections and Getting Hired
The first step toward becoming a successful freelancer is to create your identity online. "Build your brand," a phrase you'll hear often in this space, starts with creating an online portfolio to show potential employers what kind of work you have executed in the past and, perhaps, to show some of your personality. To do this, consider using a website-building tool like Wordpress or Squarespace. Furthermore, completing and updating your LinkedIn profile -- and building a following on social media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook) -- will help give employers context as to who you are and what you're capable of doing.
Next, build your address book and reach out to every contact with whom your name carries weight. Tell your friends, peers, past colleagues about your new venture and ask them for advice; it's a nice, veiled way of asking for work. (Example: If you're a freelance writer, email your old student newspaper colleagues or any editors that you worked with previously.) This strategy will only get you so far, so the ensuing step will be to join online communities connecting freelancers with hiring companies. Websites like UpWork, WorkMarket, Elance will connect you with people you don't already know. Once you're logged on, you'll be able to scan job listings and submit applications. This is really the key at this early stage: Foster existing relationships and go about creating new, fruitful ones. You never know who might be the first person to offer you a gig.
Beyond interacting with people with the power to give your work, rub elbows with your competition. Read up on the market for freelancers within your field, whether it's graphic design or accounting. The Freelancers Union, one such group, covers professionals of all types, and other organizations exist for freelancers with a specific niche. (If you're a freelance writer, check out the Editorial Freelancers Association and the Society of Professional Journalists Freelance Community, for example.)
Optimizing: Scheduling -- and Valuing -- Your Time
Once the online version of you has been created and you've been connecting with actual people online or off, it will be time to get into the actual practice of being a freelancer. The truth is that it's one part salesman, one part project manager, one part tradesman and one part bookeeper. Whether you're responding to freelance opportunities or pitching your own ideas to companies, you'll have to gain the skill of selling yourself. To do this, figure out the overlap between your overall skillset and the void existing at the company or companies that you're targeting. Tailor your pitch to them with this venn diagram in mind. Oh, and never say no to an assignment. At this stage, you can't afford to. All work is good work. Be available for it, accept feedback and strike a balance between being communicative and being autonomous and resourceful.
Now that you've had an attitude adjustment, you need to streamline your workflow. Enter the project manager. Some specific advice: Without losing a personal touch in your dealings with employers, build a template for everything you'll be doing, from pitches to invoices; tools like Harvest, FreshBooks and Zoho Books can help with the bookeeping aspect of your job. Back to managing your time: Build a schedule for yourself and your work, which will push you into a daily routine and allow you to find your creative zone. No longer stuck in the 9-to-5 mindset, you might find yourself the most productive from 12 to 8 p.m., for example. There are many free online tools to accomplish this, but something like Google Calendar, with its ability to remind you of deadlines, should suffice while you're starting out. During this process, track every assignment, how much time you spent on and how much you earned from it. Having this list, however informal, will remind you to evaluate the worth of each assignment and to strive for more challenging -- and, ideally, lucrative -- work over time.
Financing: Getting Paid and Paying Taxes
OK, so now you're a pro, and you can pick and choose which assignments you'd like to take on. With each potential assignment, whether it originates from you or the employer, figure out if it's worth your time. Perhaps, when getting started, you completed a project for a non-profit organization free of charge, just to add to your portfolio. Now you can afford to weigh its financial value. The simplest way to do this is to estimate the number of hours it will take you to complete and then apply a "market rate" to that number of hours. Go through this practice even if the employer wants to pay you a flat fee. Figuring out the hourly cost will help you determine if their suggested fee is a fair one or not; if not, you can explain your formula in the course of your negotiations for a higher one.
What is the market rate? Besides asking straight out, there are myriad ways to figure out what your peers are earning for similar work. For example, Contently.net maintains a rates database and Whopayswriters.com has a similar trove of user-supplier data for scribes specifically. Keep in mind that not all hiring companies have an established rate or even expectation. Your ability to explain to them why you should be paid how much you're asking for goes a long way toward actually being able to get it. Beyond "market rate" pricing, as described above, there are two more ways to quote or estimate a project fee. Firstly, consider the costs to you first and foremost -- perhaps long-distance phone calls, buying software or meals and hotel stays -- and then tack on a a sufficient profit. A second option: Consider the value of the project to the company. In other words, one project completed for a multi-billion-dollar corporation should pay more than a 12-person startup company would. It almost goes without saying, but you should be more earning more than the nationally proposed $15 per hour minimum wage.
The salesman in you can rest now. Time for the bookeeper to take over. You don't have to become an actuary to do this right, but there are two important financial issues to consider for full-time freelancers: taxes and health insurance. As for the latter, open up a separate savings account and put aside a percentage of each check; after all, your local, state and federal taxes won't be taken out until the springtime. Additionally, track your expenses for the purposes of deduction, whether you invest in a new office chair for your desk at home or have to travel for an assignment. You could go so far as to set up an LLC to keep your personal and business expenses completely separate. As for the benefits you would forfeit by forgoing full-time work, just because you're going it alone at work doesn't mean there isn't a health insurance product that fits your needs.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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