ExpatWomen: Michelle, congratulations, your writing style was so witty and engaging that I read your whole book in one sitting. How did you become such a talented writer and why did you start freelancing, instead of working full-time for some big corporation or magazine?
Michelle: Thank you, that's very kind. The only way to improve as a writer is to write, as often as you can, even if you only have 15 minutes a day to do it. If I haven't written in a few days, I'll feel rusty the next time I sit down in front of a blank page or screen. In that way, your writing chops are like a muscle that you need to keep in shape. As for why I started freelancing, it was a hasty decision. Like many twentysomethings, I hated working in an office five days a week. As far as I was concerned, 9 a.m. was the middle of the night. At the time, I was working as a publicist at a New York book publishing company. (Before that, I had worked as a newspaper reporter.) A newspaper I had interned for after college offered me some freelance work writing advertorials about clothing trends -- basically ad copy disguised as journalism. New York is expensive and some of the pieces paid more than I made in a week at my publicity job, so who was I to say no? I researched and wrote these articles evenings and lunch hours, loving every minute of it. So much so, that when I moved to San Francisco at age 24, I decided to do everything in my power to avoid getting a staff job again. After a couple years of working odd part-time jobs to offset my initially paltry freelance pay, I was off and running as a full-time independent professional.
ExpatWomen: Freelancing sounds perfect for expat women who can literally carry this type of career in their suitcase. What tips would you give expat women interested in freelancing, but not knowing where to start?
Michelle: To get started as a freelancer, create a killer online portfolio or website (it can be all of two to four pages), whether you're an aspiring writer, web designer, translator, photographer, whatever. WordPress make this simple. So do websites like VisualCV. A website not only shows you mean business as an independent professional, it saves you loads of time in that "So tell me about your experience" dance. If you don't have relevant work samples or experience from your past nine-to-five gigs, you may have to do a couple of freebies to flesh out your portfolio/resume (don't give away more than a few days of your time though). Next, send out an email and/or Facebook blast telling everyone you know you're now accepting freelance projects and link to your shiny new website. Be specific about the type of work you're looking for. If you're not on LinkedIn, Biznik, and Twitter, time to get there. Ditto for industry-related web communities, events, and happy hours. The idea is to meet as many people in your field as you can, online and off. Learn from them. Trade ideas with them. Charm them. Spread the word about your knowledgeable, talented self and your services.
Finally, learn to run a business. Half of working for yourself is wooing clients, negotiating contracts, managing projects, paying taxes, and making tricky judgment calls. So if you don't know the first thing about running your own shop, now's the time to learn. Read blogs and books on freelancing (ahem) and pick the brains of freelancers a few years ahead of you (you buy the coffee and come to our neighborhood, okay?).
ExpatWomen:Are there any major traps or pitfalls to be avoided?
Michelle: Many. The biggest one is not signing a contract or signing a vague contract that doesn't detail when you'll be paid, when the client will get you the source materials you need to do the project, what the other key milestones are, how many project revisions you'll do, who owns what copyright, project cancellation fees, and so on. Note that a contract doesn't have to be a long, daunting legal document. An email confirmation that you and the client agree to can sometimes suffice, depending on the project. But trusting that the client "will do the right thing" when a project goes haywire isn't a good move. What if your contact leaves the company and you have no written agreement to show their replacement? What if the company starts bleeding money and tries to stiff its freelancers? You'll have no legal recourse.
Other traps: Thinking you have to work for free, on spec, or for minimum wage for weeks or months on end because you're new to freelancing. (You don't. My thoughts on when to work for free here.) Going overboard on the office equipment and supplies you buy to jumpstart your freelance business. (Instead, buy or barter for only what you need.) Thinking you don't have to pay taxes on your freelance income. (You do. And if you don't, you'll likely get hit with a whopping tax bill -- with interest.) Viewing other freelancers as nothing more than The Competition and avoiding getting to know them. (Bad move, as most freelancers get a fair amount of referral work from other freelancers, both in their trade and in others.)
ExpatWomen: Michelle, what tips or reminders can you give to the experienced freelancers in our audience?
Michelle: If you haven't diversified your client base and skill set, what are you waiting for? To stay afloat in this economy (a phrase I look forward to no longer having to write), amassing secondary skills is a must. Journalists are taking on grantwriting or copywriting work to ensure they always have a full workload and flush bank account. Web designers are expanding into SEO and web hosting. Editors are writing, indexers are editing, translators are teaching, publicists are podcasting, and on and on and on. Don't be afraid to embrace new technologies and web tools. It's often the only thing standing between you and the next freelancer in line for that dream gig you've been eyeing. And finally, don't let any one client dominate more than 30 percent of your workload.
ExpatWomen:If you were asked to share your five favorite freelancer resources, what would they be?
Michelle:
1) Mediabistro.com, for all the great web classes, networking events, and content about the publishing business it offers.
2) FreelancersUnion.org, because they're advocating for better U.S. health insurance and tax policies for self-employed workers. What's good for freelancers in the U.S. can only be good for freelancers around the globe.
3) Biznik.com, for all the great articles other independent professionals post about how to market yourself, hawk your services, and grow your business.
4) Yahoo! Groups, because it enables anyone to join or start a kickass online freelancing community.
5) Finally, as old-fashioned as it sounds, my neighborhood newsstand, for all the information it yields about publications I'd like to write for.
ExpatWomen: Thank you so much Michelle. Here's wishing you an abundant year of first-rate freelance projects to choose from!
