Freelance businesses can have small beginnings. I found our recent poll on “Where Are You Taking Your Business” interesting. It was educational to see where everyone is heading with their freelancing. Most are building a business for themselves. Only 7% of people are using freelancing to get themselves paid employment. I’m heading in the opposite direction: scaling down my full-time employment to grow my hours available for freelancing.

I’ve been balancing freelancing with employment for several years now. After starting my computer support business, I took on some part-time employment to stabilize my income. Although the hourly rate wasn’t wonderful, it was good knowing that there would be a certain amount of money in my bank to pay the rent. In those first few months of freelancing my income fluctuated wildly from week to week.

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Whether you’re a part-time graphic designer or full-time web content writer, a freewheeling blog consultant or an outside-the-box marketing genius, you jumped into freelancing for one simple reason – and it wasn’t simply “the money.” There’s no doubt money was a motivator, but what you were really after was freedom. Freedom from a day job, freedom from financial stress, freedom to work wherever and whenever you want to … but are you really on the path to enjoy that freedom, or are you just fooling yourself?

Freelancing Should Be A Springboard, Not a Treadmill

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I’ve been freelancing for about five years now, sometimes only part time, and sometimes in a serious attempt to rake in all the cash I can before I drop dead from project overload. Yet when I read the freelancing sites out there I hardly ever find mention of my situation. You see, I’ve always managed to freelance while working a paid job. I don’t mean I’ve worked, then gone home and beavered away – I mean I’ve gone to my paid employment AND freelanced at the same time.

I deliberately hunt for positions that I call “Empty Jobs”. These are the oddball, or even plain boring, non-career focused jobs that most people overlook. The pay isn’t great, and it’s likely to be a dead end as far as career progression. But I love them. To me it’s like a glorified Work For the Dole program. I turn up, I do the pea-sized brain job I was hired for, I take my paycheck. And with all of the spare hours I have, I write, or research or do whatever takes my fancy.

But wait, I hear you cry. Isn’t this unethical? Surely I’m stealing from my employers if I’m also pulling in paid freelance work. I’m double dipping. Well, yes. The trick is to find the right Empty Job – with a boss and work culture that allows you the freedom to fill in your spare time in whatever way you see fit. For me this means my basic food and shelter are always covered and I’m protected from the absolute highs and lows of the freelance world. I satisfy my creative urges *and* my desires to afford a nice house and new pyjamas at the same time. Continue Reading

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1. Play it Smart. The more you plan, the easier it will be for you to make the switch from side-gig to full time professional. Finances are definitely something you should look into and plan for. It may be very possible that you see a drop in income while making the shift.

If you plan for it in advance, it will be much easier to handle. Talk to others who have made a similar career switch and ask them what they did right… and more importantly, what they wish they had done differently. Heed their advice! Blogs such as Escape From Cubicle Nation and Anywired can also provide support and advice.

2. Gather the Troops. Any type of career change is a big move, but switching from employee to freelancer is perhaps one of the greatest moves. And like all great moves, it requires support. So, gather the spouse and kids. Let them know your plans and ask for their help. This can be your greatest asset when making such a transition. Continue Reading

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A friend dropped me an email about a new site he was launching, StudentFreelance.com, and it got me thinking about my own freelancing experiences in college…

For my money, students comprise one of the most overlooked and underutilized freelance communities. Even though tons and tons of students are learning extremely valuable (and marketable skills) on a daily basis, we seldom think about college students as potential freelancers, particularly when it’s time to fill the next freelance gig.

Back in my own college days, when I wasn’t hitting the books or drinking eggplant juice (my older brother somehow convinced me it would help with hangovers – it turned out he was just messing with me), I was fortunate enough to freelance on a fairly consistent basis. While my java pressing compatriots earned their beer money concocting frappacinos at Starbuck’s, I was discovering amazing synergies between my studies and my work. Like the time I was able to use a class on VRML to impress a client who only wanted a “3D-looking” kiosk menu programmed in Director, with a real immerse/interactive 3-D world! (For those not fluent in “tech,” allow me to translate: I did something pretty awesome.) Not only was it rewarding for me to apply skills from the classroom to the real world, but I feel pretty confident that I was providing my clients with high-quality services.

Certainly, some old and grumpy types might stereotype college kids as too young to understand the responsibilities that come hand-in-hand with freelancing. (These are probably the same types that don’t appreciate re-runs of Seinfeld or a good “yo mamma” joke.) But for those of us with even a little bit of open-mindedness, college kids represent an incredibly useful, and underutilized, talent pool. Continue Reading