When I started freelancing, I mailed my work in on floppy disks. The ones that were actually floppy, not those new-fangled smaller, harder ones that could hold up to 1.44 MB of data. I did my writing by hand and then typed it up in a basement computer lab on the University of Illinois campus.
This isn’t one of those “back in my day we had to…” stories. I mention this history because I think it’s important to remember that while the gig economy is new, gigging is not. A small percentage of us have been working this way for decades. You don’t have to make it up as you go. You do have to be prepared to make some changes, though.
If you want to make a solid living freelancing, you must:
- Understand that the “gig economy” is really two economies–one offering boundless opportunity to those with highly marketable skills, and the other poised to take advantage of gigging to avoid the expense of complying with labor laws.
- Let go of the idea of yourself as a writer or developer or web designer and start thinking of yourself as a small business owner whose company offers writing or dev or design services.
- Develop the confidence to charge what you’re worth, set your own terms, and be willing to walk away.
- Recognize that this model is as new to many of your clients as it is to you, and they’ll often be looking to you for structure and process.
I’m going to show you how to do all that and more.
If this sounds like just the change you need, great. Welcome.
If this sounds so daunting that you’re thinking maybe you should just apply for that job in the button factory your mom keeps pushing for, stick around. I think you’ll discover that taking control of your professional life feels good.