By Bonnie Swanson | STC Member
Independent professionals share what to expect in your first year
The original “freelancer” was a medieval mercenary — a lance that was unbound to any particular lord. Even today, the free in freelancer can evoke the heady sensation of being in command of your own destiny, gaily galloping from one interesting gig to another, joyously engaging on your own terms, having the flexibility to define your own path. Paradise found.
Successful freelancers almost unanimously cite these reasons for why they chose this path and continue to do so. But first, they say, “It’s a lot of work.” You may be an excellent technical writer with a wide array of experiences, deep knowledge in your domain, and the capacity to engage with clients. But striking out on your own requires business acumen, executive skills, and the discipline to follow through.
Note: There is some debate as to what to call independent professionals, even within their own ranks. For many, “freelance” can carry negative connotations of temporary or side-gig work. However, since most people refer to striking out on their own as “going freelance” or “freelancing,” we’ll use that term throughout.
On-Ramps May Vary
Kelly Schrank, freelance technical writer and medical editor, started freelancing occasional projects while still conventionally employed. Her permanent job was starting to change in a way she didn’t like, so she was looking for something new. Her on-ramp to full-time freelancing was taking a year-long contract that provided a stable, comfortable transition while allowing the time and flexibility to build up the side business. Three years in, she still opts for short contracts — 3 to 6 months — to maintain a solid baseline of work, while allowing time for the smaller “fun” projects.
Intercom editor Alisa Bonsignore’s start came in the form of a layoff: “I’d always done side gigs, but I went permanently independent after our site closed in 2006. Layoffs are an excellent time to go out on your own, because your coworkers are in the same boat and are very much willing to help you out.”
Ask the Hardest Questions First
Start with the biggest question first — what about the money? What should I be charging? Can I get that? Can I make it work?
Bonsignore recommends against making a calculation based on what you’re earning now. Instead, start from the other end. Assess your annual living costs and expenses for the last two or three years. What do you need to pay the bills? Once you have that number, she says, double it. Or triple it.
Why? Taxes. Insurance. Retirement. Compensate for the fact that you won’t always have 40 billable hours in a week. Create a margin for the time you spend maintaining your business, like marketing and IT. If you just try to match what you’re getting now, if you haven’t made allowances, you’ll find yourself short pretty quickly.
Ultimately, figure out your business plan in a way that works for you. Consider more than just the income you want, but also other considerations, like flexibility for lifestyle or family responsibilities.
What’s Your Niche?
You may already have a niche based on your prevailing experience, education, or interest. You can also develop a niche through a series of intentional choices, including seeking training, certifications, and experience in that area. Establish your niche and wield that lance.
Monique Semp, identifying herself in her LinkedIn profile as a “Very Technical Tech Writer,” stressed the need for domain knowledge for what you’re working with. “I totally disagree with writers who say that if you’re a good writer you can write about anything,” she said. “I just don’t see how you can obtain that depth of understanding and precision in your writing if you just don’t get it.”
Increase your likelihood for success by identifying your best options. When you’re thinking about venturing out on your own, Semp said, “Do a good investigation first. Shadow the job ads for a while before you are ready to do it. See what kind of work is being offered out there and what the requirements are. It is easier to ensure success if you research ahead of time what that means.”
Maintain a Strong Professional Appearance
Do you have the street cred that’s going to land the contract? This is all about what’s in your bucket of experience and expertise and how it’s presented in your résumé, website, portfolio, and LinkedIn profile. Have some conversations with a business coach, a career counselor, a professional recruiter, even knowledgeable peers about your experience and how it is presented. And as we’ve heard so often in this issue of Intercom, continue to build your network.
Website and digital portfolio: Make sure this storefront captures the full breadth and depth of your expertise and the work you want to showcase. If web design isn’t your jam, work with a professional to create an online presence for you that, as Bonsignore put it, “conveys the fact that this is your business, not a side gig that you’re doing temporarily until you find something better.”
Social media: While it is not the only option, LinkedIn has become the de facto standard for professional profile presentation. Update your profile regularly, even in small ways, to stay current, attractive, and stay “fresh” in its algorithm.
Professional involvement and networking: Semp, Schrank, and Bonsignore have all been actively involved in the STC and other professional organizations, taking on positions of leadership, doing volunteer work, program planning, and giving presentations. That has proven advantageous, providing a solid image of professional establishment and reliability.
Marketing Yourself and Finding Clients
When you’re in business for yourself, self-promotion is a requirement. Schrank said, “If you don’t like to market yourself, you’re probably not going to have a lot of fun with your own business. If the idea of interviewing for a job or talking about yourself at a speaking engagement or networking with people doesn’t sound fun, you might not like it.”
Semp also attends a lot of professional presentations to expand her network, putting her in contact with hiring managers. “You can’t be shy about this,” she said. “You have to put on your ‘pretend I’m an actor’ face and go up both before and after the presentation, introduce yourself, give them your card. I got a lot of contracts that way.”
Opportunities can come from a variety of sources; there’s no single, dominant, tried-and-true method. Select, niche job posting boards occasionally yield results. Word-of-mouth networking can turn up juicy candidates. Attending professional presentations or meetups in your area of interest sometimes bears fruit.
Depending on how you manage your pipeline, you may not need a lot of opportunities — just the right ones at the right time. Working with one or more larger “anchor” contracts can create a solid, stable baseline while providing flexibility for work on smaller projects and time to be selective about the next big contract.
Schrank gets a lot of traffic from recruiters through LinkedIn by actively maintaining her presence there. “If you stay active enough on LinkedIn, you will bubble up to the recruiters,” she said. Many of her corporate contract jobs were found through LinkedIn. “I’ll always talk to the recruiters; for a lot of them, things don’t pay well, but I’m always nice. And you just never know!” she said, laughing.
Most of Bonsignore’s work comes through referrals. “You’ll find the best work through referrals or past coworkers, period,” she said. “Without that, you’re basically starting from scratch and pushing a hard sell every single time. Never underestimate the value of being approached by a vetted contact. There’s trust inherently built into the relationship, and less need to prove your competency.”
Semp has another trick in attending meetups. “I didn’t want to keep going to meetups only with other tech writers because that’s where all my competition was for these jobs,” she said. “But I went to meetups that were more for the engineers and programmers about the technology that I liked to write about anyway. So then, when I went up and introduced myself to the presenter and others, I was the only tech writer in the room. That made it easy.”
Bonsignore pays close attention to maintaining good relationships with people she works well with. “The trick to long-term business success is to cultivate a network of clients who you’ll want to work with long-term,” she said. “That makes everything easier. And when they inevitably move to a new company, you’ll have twice as many clients — your contact person, and the company they left.”
Engaging with (and Vetting) Potential Clients
Expect to invest some time establishing a relationship, determining the client needs, and defining the project scope and expectations. Schrank indicated that it is not uncommon for her to spend five hours in conversations with a client to settle on all of these details. “You don’t even have a contract yet,” she said. “You’re on calls, but it’s not billable work yet.” Still, sometimes talks die on the vine and the project doesn’t pan out.
Protect yourself and your time by writing a comprehensive proposal. Bonsignore offers a template:
- Establish the full scope of the project.
- Break it down into project subsections with milestones for each.
- Clearly define deliverables and dates.
- If reviews are required, they might need to provide access to a subject matter expert (SME). Get it in writing.
- If you’re going through review cycles, establish your expectations for turnaround times for SME reviews. Define how many review cycles you are willing to include as part of your proposal.
- Fully define your price, terms, hours that you’ll work (for example, business hours are 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday except for federal holidays or unless otherwise noted in writing).
- Establish your invoice schedule and when you expect to be paid.
- Communicate, in writing, what happens if they ghost you.
It’s all there in writing, and enforceable.
Nuts and Bolts: Contracts
Well-written contracts are a requirement however you get there. Bonsignore put it bluntly: “Don’t ever, ever, ever start any project without a contract. Not an email. Not a handshake. A contract. It ensures that the scope of work is defined and that you get paid in full, on time. Always, always have a contract in place.”
A business attorney can review or even directly negotiate contracts to make sure your interests are protected. If you’re uncomfortable with negotiation, direct involvement of an attorney can help you avoid those confrontational elements of the business relationship and enable you to start the actual writing work with a clear mind.
Not everyone employs a business attorney. Many larger corporate clients already have their own established contract structures. For smaller clients and subcontracting arrangements, there are online resources available to help you structure basic contracts.
Should I Hire an Accountant?
An accountant can serve many purposes, starting with helping you identify the right business structure for you and getting it set up. Financial incentives and legal ramifications for different types of business structures can vary depending on where you live and may even change for you as your business grows.
Schrank does her own bookkeeping but retains an accountant for tax filing. Semp, on the other hand, has opted to let the accounting professional handle all of it.
“Hire an accountant,” Bonsignore said. “The money you’ll pay them is a fraction of what you’ll spend in lost billable hours trying to figure it out yourself.”
Self-Employment Can Still Feel Like Teamwork, But Your Way
Feeling like you have a team — whether it’s an attorney looking out for your interests, an accountant to navigate the bookkeeping and tax filing, a virtual assistant to keep you on track with your marketing, or a select set of subcontractors to help you extend your capacity in a pinch — can make the journey seem less overwhelming. Semp loves this part of her work. “You can choose your working partners much more than if you’re a regular employee, where you have to work with whoever’s there,” she said. Even the knights had their round table, right?
Put It All Together
Self-employment can be scary, and it’s not right for everyone. If you decide that it is right for you, the resources are available. Network, build your professional image, put your team together, and write tight contracts. Whether you’re just chasing the bag or on your own crusade, sit high in the saddle and keep that lance polished.
BONNIE SWANSON (bonnie.swanson30@gmail.com) writes and edits science education content on a freelance basis. After her initial career as a product engineer and technical training manager working with international clients and audiences for several Fortune 500 companies, Bonnie seized upon the opportunity presented by parenting to strike out on her own and “go local,” developing high intensity, hands-on science curricula for kids and teaching it, with great success, at nearby playgrounds, schools, and camps. As a freelancer, she has written labs for high school physics and case studies for college engineering standardization curricula, edited university level physics and astronomy texts, and contributed to the development of online integrated science curricula. Bonnie holds dual bachelors’ degrees in physics and electrical engineering and an MBA, as well as a patent in semiconductor manufacturing processing.
