I recently attended a career fair for my alma mater and was posed the question:

“How did you get started in freelancing?” Answer: I was lucky. My husband had a full-time job while I went from making $0 to a respectable salary. Nevertheless, my story is far from the fairy tale you’d expect. We lived a gravely spartan lifestyle until I got some clients on board. The good news is, after a string of unfulfilling full-time corporate jobs, it wasn’t until I started freelancing that my motivated gypsy blood kicked into high gear! Ok, so minus the sugar daddy factor, how do you make a successful transition into a freelance career?

Please pardon the high-school career center question, but “what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you even want to grow up?” Seriously, you have to do a little background work before diving into the freelance waters or you’ll wind up drowning - well, maybe just treading water….

What aspects of your current job do you like/dislike? What dissatisfies you most - the type of work you’re doing, company culture the people you work with?? Make a list of your likes and dislikes. Be sure you’re leaving your full-time gig for the right reasons. For example, “my boss is an a-hole” shouldn’t be your only reason for wanting to leave. Conversely, what aspects of your work life would you like to keep? Make a list!

Review your lists to determine your interests, values, preferred activities and skills through resources like the exercises found in What Color is Your Parachute? Or, you may want to consult with a career coach or take a career assessment test. Here’s a few I’d recommend: Myplan.com web.tickle.com

Wait for the right time, preferably when you’re current job is secure. It’s great to be able to take baby steps into the freelance world. When you’re in a existing position that’s secure, there’s less pressure to make things happen quickly. It also allows you to dip your toe in the water before jumping right in - you sometimes never know if a field is right for you until you give it a whirl!

Do your research and work your network. Chat up your network and other freelancers in your geographic area about the current market, billing rates, networking opportunities in your field. You never know who within your existing network may know of a freelance opp, or you may run across a freelancer that needs to offload some work! It’s always a good idea to join both offline and online communities for creative professionals. Become a cultivator of relationships within your industry!

Click here for ideas on offline networking.
Click here for online networking ideas.

What are you REALLY good at? Examine your qualifications and focus on a niche! The worst thing you can do when marketing yourself as a freelance professional is to be a “everything to everybody.” What? Why? you may be asking. Because I tried it and you can do it, but you’ll kill yourself in the process. Being a jack of all trades for your clients not only waters down your creativity, it also leaves less time to produce work that you really enjoy! So, figure out what you really enjoy, what you’re REALLY good at, and market that skill to whatever niche blows your skirt up. If you’re a technical writer, what area of technical writing do you enjoy most? If you’re a web designer and really love Flash, promote yourself as a Flash designer. You’ll be happier and attract more business than your schedule can handle because you’re producing work that is personally fulfilling!

What if I have a passion for a specific niche but not the entire skill set I need? That’s why having stable employement and easing into freelancing is the best option. It’s difficult to jump into an area when you don’t have the necessary experience and education to put yourself out there as a qualified creative. You’ll need to find a way to bridge the credentials gap, which might mean making your goal more long-term while you go back to school or receive additional training.

Get educated on your specific niche or field. If you’ve decided Flash design is going to be your niche, but aren’t up on all the latest happenings, you’re not going to win many jobs. Or, you’ll win jobs and not be able to implement as well as your more experienced and educated competition. So, make a top 10 list of online resources related to your field, del.icio.us those suckers, and read them daily if you can. Or, even better, subscribe to one of those nifty news readers like NewsGator (my favorite). NewsGator and like RSS feed readers will keep track of your favorite websites and blogs and send news updates to your account.

Create a plan of action! You’ll need to plan because the transition will likely take place over the course of several months, not several days. So, determine what will it take from a client base, financial, educational, research and training standpoint. Create your Freelance Career to-do list (also known as a Business Plan), and assign yourself tasks to complete in timeframes you can manage.

Tags: del.icio.us, business plan, newsgator, career coach, career counseling

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