Doing Your Own Thing

What It Really Means to Be 'Freelance'

by July-Ann Amos

Julie-Ann Amos is a freelance consultant within business, management and human resources. She has worked in the RAF, the public sector, retail, recruitment and banking – in as far locations as New York, Hong Kong, Scotland, and the Falkland Islands. Currently, she works part-time, consulting with a banking institution in the City of London, and freelances during the rest of her time. She is the author of a number of books published by How To Books on management topics. She lives in London with her husband, a wonderful garden and a small menagerie, including a Siberian Husky, and a very helpful cat who likes to type and play computer games!

Read our interview with Julie-Ann Amos

Finding Your Own Work
Freelancers need to find markets for their work. You may have to do rotten work to get established enough for good projects! You also need to sell to potential clients.

“So what do you do?”
Hurt pride can be a problem. After all, everyone thinks they can write a book; every office-worker knows that “working from home” is code for having a lazy day. “I work freelance” is too often greeted with “Oh, what happened?”, or “Why, were you made redundant?” OUCH!

Glamour
Freelancing is not glamorous, it's hard work noticed by no-one. Rarely do fantastic projects just pop into your head. A lot of research and thought is required, on the subject, the market/context and reader/client. Much of that work is never seen by anyone but you, as good freelance work often appears effortless. Clients don’t want to know you sweated blood; they want a good piece of work. They don’t always acknowledge work well done.

Not just clients, either: It can be hard to get friends/family excited (or even interested) about what you do. A good friend sees me on the Internet and says doubtfully, “Are you… working?” “Yes,” I say without stopping. “Ah,” he says as if this explains everything, “I wasn’t sure.” Don’t expect people to understand what you do, let alone be interested in it. You need good self-motivation and self-belief.

Juggling
The most difficult aspect of freelancing is juggling countless bits of information, projects, clients, papers, ideas and trains of thought. Freelancers may work for many clients at once, mostly on short-term/part-time projects. To achieve income, you must juggle well.

Taking Tough Decisions
The bottom line is that your survival will depend of you separating wants from needs, and acting accordingly. You may need to make tough decisions, for the good of your business. Freelance dreams don’t come without tough reality, and changing attitudes and thought patterns will help.

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