Hello, World! The Accidental Freelancer Is Now Live!
For a while now, I’ve thought I would like to write about freelancing. It always seemed like the kind of harmless activity that could be done in a rocking chair on a porch some idle afternoon…in my retirement. Then, covid-19 happened and the world changed. As of the moment I’m writing this, over 30 million Americans have filed initial unemployment claims since mid-March, thanks to furloughs, layoffs, and shelter-in-place orders. Even though some states are attempting to reopen, things will not be going back to the old normal any time soon.
The old normal was an exciting time for freelancers. The gig economy was booming at unprecedented rates. Over a third of the US workforce was freelancing, about 57.3 million in 2017, and with freelancing growing at three times the rate of the traditional workforce, freelancers were poised to become the majority of the workforce by 2027.
Between virus-induced job transitions and the underlying shift toward the gig economy in general, there are an unprecedented number of freelancers in the marketplace—and not everyone is there by choice. For that reason, I wanted to put together a collection of resources that freelancers can turn to in the midst of so many life transitions to help the process go a bit more smoothly. The world has changed since I first started freelance consulting six years ago. Freelancing is now a mainstream term and a soundbite you could use at cocktail parties (remember those?). But the underlying feeling of going from having a team to being a one-person shop is as disorienting as ever—and perhaps even more than ever, now that the workplace is largely remote.
Here at The Accidental Freelancer, we hope to help you fill that void. To succeed at freelancing, you need to take care of three things: 1. business, 2. psychology and 3. regulation. That sounds a bit stuffy, but basically, you need to keep track of your money and your mind, while existing peacefully within our current legal and regulatory framework.*
We will write about these three areas, especially as they relate to the questions people have asked me over the years like, “Where can I find projects?” to “How much should I charge?” to “How do you handle the uncertainty?” We’ll also write about problems I’m tackling and what current events mean for freelancers. Have something else you’d like to see? Shoot us a note on the “Contact” form or submit an article of your own. It’s a crazy time right now, but we’ll get through this separately, together.
*Why is there no catchy “m” word for law and regulation? Magisterial? Ministerial? Maybe just “mlegal”? I digress. Send me your suggestions. Best one gets a prize.
Thumbnail photo by Dzenina Lukac from Pexels
