I ask purely in a curious way as someone who’s just shy of turning 30 and just got laid off from their corporate 9-5 job (and I actually enjoyed it for the most part, but my layoff was very political and targeted unfortunately).
I’ve decided that despite enjoying the stability of the 9-5, I think I’ve outgrown a lot of aspects of it and have known for a while now that freelancing was in my future. Would I have chosen to do it now, amidst * gestures vaguely to everything around us *? Probably not, but based on the city I live in/small industry I work in, I’ve deduced that freelancing will be more advantageous than forcing myself back into the FT corporate grind.
So I ask, to the badass women in here who rock that freelance grind, how do you do it! What advice can you offer this youngin who is eager, hardworking, and motivated? What do you wish you knew when you started? What wisdom do you have? I’d love to hear all of it; the good, the bad and the ugly. Tell me the unsexy stuff about accounting and taxes, but maybe also the cool stuff too (if there is any?)
Thank you xo
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Following cause I got laid off this past week as well 🥺
I was laid off in September last year and decided I didn’t want a full time job and felt I’d like to try freelancing.
I still applied to a TON of contract job positions online. About 200. I landed one with a larger company that sends me regular work. They get a hell.of a deal with me, but the recurring income helps as a little buffer.
I networked like crazy the first 6 months. I paid for a networking group called BNI which I’m fairly happy with so far. I meet with the group once a week and do additional meetings outside the group about every other week.
I have a very diverse set of skills. My previous role was Creative Operations Manager. I built it myself. I found a gap in the marketing industry and I’m working on filling that gap.
I also went back to school. Just finished a full stack developer boot camp and I’m not certified for that as well .
I work about 50-60 hours a week. I’m making decent money at the moment, but still busting my ass because the work isn’t guaranteed to be there next month. Hoping to source some of my work at the moment so I can continue growing.
If you have specific questions I’d be happy to answer the best of my ability!
What kind of work are you trying to do as a freelancer? Is it a pivot for you, or are you taking your current career and just going solo with it (like consulting or being a CPA)?
I’m not sure what industry you’re in, but
I’d recommend still looking for a job (even just PT) while you develop a client base. It took me a few years to build up a truly solid stream of freelance income. Definitely consider whether you have enough financial cushion to not turn a profit and still pay your bills. Even your best clients can completely dry up out of the blue.
The big thing about freelancing is that yeah, you’re your own boss—but that also means no one is advocating for you. You have to stay on top of marketing yourself, reaching out to new clients, handling communications, networking, keeping your skills/certs up to date… I could go on. It’s so much more work than just doing the work, and certainly not for everyone. Also, paying taxes does indeed suck lol. I hire an accountant every year to untangle things for me and still end up paying $$$$$.
That said, I enjoy the freedom! I’m also at a point in my freelance career where I can focus solely on the projects that bring me joy, which there aren’t really FT roles for anymore. I briefly went back to working in an office last year and only made it 5 months before quitting because it felt so suffocating!
I’ve been freelancing for four years now after having my second kid and deciding I just couldn’t work insane hours in-office anymore. To make the transition, I kept a really good relationship with the agency I was leaving (I am a creative). So I still do my old job, for the most part, just on my schedule and with fewer meetings. I’ve also just kept in touch with everyone else I’ve ever worked with and it’s paid off in dividends; when they leave and join new agencies, they then reach out to me whenever they need a writer. I now work regularly with 6-7 different agencies and can be choosy. The downside is the feast and famine nature of freelance work. When it gets quiet for a week, there’s panic about not making any money. Then when it gets crazy busy, you’re scared to say no in case it gets quiet again. Also, I HATE the self employment tax nightmare. I never get my quarterly estimated tax payments right and always end up paying a penalty on top of whatever I pay in April. But … it beats a commute, and I am flexible for my kids’ schedules.
I’ve always had a piecemeal career, due to being an artist. Here are a few random thoughts in no particular order.
Advice (FWIW):
– The biggest thing is that it takes time to build up your own business. Do you have savings enough to get you through some lean time financially? Are you willing to live on very little while you build up (if you don’t have tons of savings)? It can take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years (or more) to start making truly good money working for yourself.
– Also, never underestimate a good stable part-time job to help keep you grounded. I freelanced full-time for a few years, then realized I needed a bit more stability while still maintaining flexibility to do art parallel to my part-time work.
– I’m not sure what field you’re hoping to get into with the freelancing, but obviously make sure there’s a market for it, and potentially also a bit of a gap that you can help fill in in that industry. It’ll be much harder to get started and make it if you decide to do what 20 million other people are already doing.
– Network the shit out of whatever industry(ies) you’re interested in. Ask people out for coffee (and treat them) or ask for a call/Zoom. Go to events and meet people there.
I’ve been doing this for about 11 years and am making around 90K annually. That’s working in pretty low-paying industries (classical music and nonprofit arts admin/fundraising). My brother works for himself in the pop music industry doing creative content marketing for A and B list artists, and he makes around 180K annually and has tons of flexibility and only works about 20-30 hours a week. It took him around 10 years to build up to that. There are other industries where there’s even better income potential (high level consulting/coaching, for one example). It would be good to research your industry(ies) of interest and think about the income potential and whether it aligns with your financial and work-life balance goals. Also, think about whether you might benefit from getting any certifications to help amp up your creds with potential clients.
Good luck!
I got a chronic illness and burned myself out. That said, my industry is full egomaniacs and I was basically doing a lot of the work myself and giving them 60-70% of my profit. I left my last firm because my director was stealing and I caught him, got bait and switched for 2 companies after. I always prided myself on my career history and this was devastating. Of course, the switching of insurances delayed my Botox and I started back into a bad migraine cycle. So 6 months later I had to move back in with my parents (I think I was denial with how bad my migraines were) so I started my own business. (After recovering for 4 months) I can do my job but I can’t go onto the office 1-3 a times a week with the fluorescent lights, wake up for stupid meetings, and spend like 30% of my week on them. I’m not successful yet but I have everything I need in terms of my licenses and am taking it day by day, I hope it works
I’ve been freelance for 2 years. My network professionally is where I land 80/90% of my work. I moved abroad to Canada 5 years ago, worked in an awful job until I got PR, then ditched it for freelance. It worked for me, but you have to be very comfortable with the unknown and just going for it. For most situations, you’re not going to have someone to ask how to do a thing, you will need to do it/research it yourself. I make about $200k CAD a year, which is a lot more than what I earnt in a full time job.
Boring advice:
I use an accountant for my yearly tax returns, but depending on how much you earn, it can switch to quarterly. I only use an accountant for my yearly return. I had a lawyer draft up a contract template, which I use for clients.
Unsexy: everybody has a boss – yes, even the freelancers. You need to offer a product that people actually want – thus, your clients are the boss(es). If you thought freelancing was a path to total creative freedom… it is not. Also, freelancing is not some “no socialization” thing. If anything, you have to market yourself even more than usual. You have to network, build and maintain that network, etc.
It depends on what you want to do. For me I’ve been freelancing for almost 10 years now and I’m 33 now. I work in film as an Assistant Camera crew member. For me one thing is you have to hustle to get those contacts or being on companies rader/rooster. I took a lot of gigs, I mean A LOT in the beginning. Nothing was ever took good for me because when you first start you have to build my experience and network. Every job is like an interview for the next one. And that’s hard at first, for film I went to every open house for camera related stuff, took free, shitty, weird jobs and always said yes no matter what. The good is though if you are a hard worker and push yourself to learn and be better you start to meet people you vibe with and always work more because you’re recommend by others. I think it was maybe 2ish years for film when I was able and conformable to say no to gigs that didn’t pay me well, or had people who were abusive/jaded to me, or where the hours were 17+ and it’s scary to say “no” to work and opportunity but the connections you make will reach out. Also once you start working a lot I would say learning to advocate for yourself and your rate. People will try to low ball you. Stand your ground. You know your worth, negotiating rates can be scary but it’s part of it too.
I’ve been very lucky, but I will say I do live with room mates still, and having been through a pandemic, two strikes and a lot of jobs leaving LA to film where it’s cheaper isn’t easy. I work now more commercial, interview, promo work, compared to features and shows which I do miss since it’s longer days, you get possible union days if the show is union, etc. So that’s been hard personally, but I have a lot of friends out here who regardless still work and sustain a strong presence in film and work most of the month. I think you have to make peace as a freelancer that unless you’re REALLY lucky it’s going to be rough the first few years and some months there might not be ANY gigs so you have to learn how to save for those times. I’ve had months where I only work ONCE and that shitty but then I get months were I’m working almost 20 gigs in a month and they are great.
For tax stuff I just pay someone to do it. I can not, I think I get like…20+ W2 and some 1099’s. I refuse to do it myself it’s a lot I do recommend when you start working a lot get yourself a tax person. And for cool stuff, I would say it’s cool to creating art, everything is kinda different. I’m in a different location, meeting new crew members for the first time, or sometimes you see homies form other gigs and that’s an awesome feeling. There’s been chances where I’ve traveled to different places, work with some really talented directors and actors…worked with some terrible and awful ones too. BUT I’ve been very blessed to have worked more good jobs than bad. I know that bad one is coming! Just like working anywhere there is always that one “customer, client” who’s just awful. But the nice thing is you don’t have to deal with them forever depending on how long the gig is.
Cheers and good luck to you!