[BLOG] THE REAL ON FREELANCING….
Freelancing is a lot more difficult than you see on paper or in those job montages in the movies. The lack of practicality is great in the beginning as you’re using your spare time to work on your art, but after awhile it becomes almost (if not more) stressful as having a regular 9-5.
I’ve been freelancing for about 4 years now. I knew that I needed time to work on my art, but at the same time I’d need money to not only produce my art but to live, so I turned to freelancing right after my brief stint in college. I began picking up jobs from Craigslist, word of mouth, former employers..etc and it seemed like I had a good thing going. But like everything in life, the newness of it began to wear off.
Clients would have me work on projects then take forever to pay me, if they paid me at all. Some of these jobs were off the books so there wasn’t anything necessarily protecting me. The hours sometimes would be longer than a 9-5 (granted the pay would be worth it), but it defeated the purpose of having that time to work on your art. Then you’d have to deal with the weirdest clients who have no issue crossing that line between job and “friendship.” You also have to deal with periods of joblessness when these jobs free up. I always prepare myself for the “drought.” Last year, my drought came from the end of summer to the end of the fall. There were no jobs in my field.
I’m still currently freelancing, but I’ve gotten smarter in terms of what projects to take on and making sure that a contract is signed before I work on anything. Not every project is worth the money and those projects become easier to point when you’ve done enough of them. If you aren’t interested in the subject, why do it? The point of freelancing is picking the projects you’d want to work on. I know that is difficult when you have bills stacking up, but I guarantee you once you start making those choices and produce outstanding work you will be much happier with this process.
There’s a lot more I want to say about this subject and maybe I will in a later post, but just know that freelancing means you really have to be out here hustling.