Mar
31
Earlier this month, the lovely and cynical John Hewitt’s post 10 Reasons Freelancing is for Suckers had me laughing for days, because it’s just so true. This morning, confirmation came via email.
Dear Amy,
I read through a lot of websites trying to find work from home schemes and i crossed through your website, Can you help me with that ?
I sat at the keyboard, tried to will my fingers into forming words. This shouldn’t have been such a daunting task. I get a lot of emails like this. And yet, I had nothing. There was nothing I could say to this guy that would be worth his time or mine.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned as a freelancer: most people don’t understand what I do.
This includes the multitude of friends and family members who think work-at-home means sits-around-watching-television. This includes the clients who like to see me as available exclusively to them 24/7. This includes the entrepreneurs who look down on me for selling a skill rather than a product. This includes the more-than-occasional naive websurfer who has heard The Great Promise about making money online and has maybe even read a copy of the latest “if you can write at a fifth grade level you can earn a living freelance writing” ebook.
If you’re new here and you’re scratching your head, let me whip out the mythbuster: freelancing isn’t easy. It takes skill, time, work. Above that, it takes a certain mentality. I like to call this mentality Survive Anything, but your experience may vary.
(Hey, I ragged on the suits, so you knew it was coming eventually…)
The Self-Employment:
Your taxes will be hell. Your health insurance will cost more than your car. You’ll be your own collection agent, your own publicist, your own marketing department. You will have to be your own boss, and you will also have many other bosses (they’re called clients).
The Juggling:
You’ll have to learn to juggle various projects for multiple clients at once. If you can’t learn how to do it — by prioritizing, making time for everything, even turning down work — you will get knocked out.
The Love/Hate:
Friends will envy you and hate you simultaneously. They will say “I wish I could work at home in my pajamas” and then — even though they have no skill — they will expect you to teach them. When you don’t, they will hate you.
The Drama:
The drama will come in many forms: flawed clients, dumbass potential clients, snot-flinging freelancers, your inner-jackass. Learn to let it roll off your back like a wet duck, or you’ll spend all day crying and breaking shit.
The Stress:
There will be days you want to jump off tall buildings.
The Rage:
There will be days you wish homicide was legal.
The Depression:
There will be days you wonder why you do this. The money problems, the mac & cheese, the madness of it all. Even if you’re a fabulous juggler, some days your skills will suck. You will hate yourself. You will hate the world. You will want to kill someone or jump off a tall building, but you won’t because you’re too depressed to have the energy.
Can you handle it?
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22 Responses to “Freelance Mentality: Do You Have What It Takes?”
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About Amy Derby
Formerly a corporate paralegal, I ditched the pantyhose to begin freelancing in 2004. I enjoy long walks to the coffee maker, never setting an alarm clock, and not wearing a bra to the (home) office. I can be reached at amy.derby (at) gmail.com.
And when you’re sick there’s nobody to back you up so you have to keep trucking with fever, chills, and sheer exhaustion!
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Brief Announcement
Ah yes. How could I forget that one?
That about sums it up Amy. It freaks me out and scares me and is exhilerating.
Now, don’t yell at me…I swear I’m not the WordPress police, but why is your site all squished to the side on my computer? Tell me I’m the only one who sees this? Why am I cursed from visiting my blogging buddy? Is this a sign? Please help this foolish freelancer. E
PS Guess it doesn’t matter if I can comment, eh?
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..WordPress Site Set-Up Made Easy
Ellen, I think you have browser issues, my friend. Which one do you use?
Hi Amy,
Thank you for validating my lovely cynicism.
John
John Hewitt’s last blog post..31 Articles Worth Reading: A Special Monday Edition of Link Love
Anytime, John. Anytime.
Internet Explorer. Do use Mozilla?
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..It’s Your Business: So Don’t Tell the Devil
I use firefox. But I tested in Internet explorer and it is coming out ok. Not sure what to do about it.
I couldn’t have said any of this any better, Amy. Stumble and Twitter worthy!
It can be a really tough life but like most freelancers I’d never ever want to leave it!
Dana’s last blog post..PayPal: Friend or PayFoe?
Oh no not Twitter!! LOL
Must resist Twitter. Must resist….
I’m glad you liked the post, Dana!!
I wouldn’t give it up either. I love what I do. But it isn’t the easy breezy get rich quick scheme … as you well know!!
@Dana - What an intesting title. I will have to check it out. See? Already I’m procrastinating.
@Amy - I don’t get it either. The weird thing is no one else’s blog does this, just yours. So it must be something with out connections not jibing. Oh well.
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..It’s Your Business: So Don’t Tell the Devil
Ellen, I totally believe you!! I just have no idea how to fix it. Especially since I can’t see what’s broken.., I will mention this to the pen men and see if they have any ideas.
Don’t give up on me yet! LOL
Of course I will not give up on you. E
Ellen Wilson’s last blog post..It’s Your Business: So Don’t Tell the Devil
I have emailed Harry to see if he has any ideas about this. Can’t promise he’ll be able to fix it, but he’d have a better idea than I would. I look at CSS code and might as well be looking at Japanese.
@ Ellen and Amy,
It’s IE 7 that’s the problem. I tested it, and your site couldn’t be any further left than a socialist with anarchist tendencies.
Thanks Mer. Harry is working on it.
Amy,
I could never do what you do and I know it. Too much anxiety and perfectionism.
Mer xxxooo
It definitely does take a certain level of dissociation. LOL
Honestly, It sounds exactly like working from home doing Real Estate… I did that successfully for six years before finally having the courage to do what I want to do, which is this.
Not only that, but real Estate taught me the ropes about marketing and selling myself.
So…I am hoping the answer to your question is …yes.
But that being said..I can agree from my R.E. experience that everything you said is true.
I still would rather work by myself at home then live in a cubicle any day of the week.
Ever.
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..The Magical Word
Wendi - it is very much the same! Working for lawyers in the law office or from home, it’s very much the same for me. So I can see how the real estate career would be the same too. And I’m sure you DO have what it takes. You know what work is. You’ve done it. Lotsa other folks out there — the ones who don’t have what it takes — think we sit around twiddling our thumbs all day, watching the money miraculously roll in. We know differently though, don’t we?!?!
Valid points that newbies often forget when they start down the path to self-employment.
Laura Spencer’s last blog post..WAHM Wednesday: How Many Pages Should A Writer Produce in a Day?
Thanks Laura.