Category: Freelancing - Tim Thompson - Archer English Consulting

When Doubt Creeps In

1/31/2019

There are a lot of words that describe freelancing: satisfying, terrifying, liberating, and lonely, but steady is not one of them. January (and February for that matter) are slow months for me. This is my fourth year as a freelance communications consultant in Korea and January 2019 was easily the worst month ever.

There were no late payments coming in for work in December (but thanks for paying on time), there were only a few editing jobs (better than none), none of my clients wanted training in January (but I'm lining up some training in March), and there are very few big projects on the horizon. Sure, this has happened before and then I get three calls and four emails in a day and I'm running around like crazy but during the dry periods doubt starts to creep in. What if nobody calls? What if they found someone else to work with? Do I need to start looking for a full-time job?

Samira Shackle put out a great thread on Twitter about freelancing that really struck me. She talked about the need for a financial cushion (YES!) and some great ideas for how and where to look for more work. I've said it before and I'll say it again here, I don't like to commit to long gigs. As soon as I do that, I miss out on something more lucrative or more interesting. So I turn down opportunities that would help pay the bills but would also tie me down.

Type "betting on yourself" into Google and you will see that it is a popular idea that many people espouse. It turns into a mantra for me during the slow winter months as I remind myself how busy some of the other months have been and hopefully will be. Freelancing for the last three years has been amazing and has the potential to be rewarding both professionally and financially but I still send out my CV when a full-time position looks like an opportunity to learn, grow, and help while reducing some of the financial uncertainty that comes with freelancing. Stay tuned to see what happens in 2019. I'm curious too.

Where Do Opportunities Come From?

1/20/2019

It's January, so it's a very slow time for freelancers like me. Two years ago, I wrote my book in January. This year I took a trip with my family, binge watched TV shows like You and Killing Eve, and got hooked on Wordscapes. As destructive as a slow month is on my bank balance, it's a great time to relax and recharge, plan ahead, and reflect on what got you where you are. In my case, I've been thinking a lot about some of the amazing professional opportunities that I have had and where they came from. I hope they will inspire you to pursue some new opportunities if you feel like you are stuck in a professional rut (which we all do from time to time).

Here are five areas where my professional opportunities have come from:

1. Networks
There is no doubt that most of my clients have come from being introduced by friends and colleagues. The strangest example of this would be a former student introducing me to her mother, who ended up working with me for several years and hiring my company to work with her research lab during the Olympics last year.

2. Volunteering
Sometimes you hear about an opportunity that sounds interesting but, unsurprisingly, the client wants someone with a lot of experience. Volunteering gives you experience you might not have been totally qualified for but now you have the confidence that comes with having actually done something (not just reading about the theory from a textbook) and you have results that you can point to. In my case, I served as the editor-in-chief for a magazine and this helped convince several current clients that I was qualified to work on their publications.

3. Asking for chances
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not shy about asking for an opportunity. I believe in what I do and that's why I am not ashamed to reach out to people I know or to new people through friends in my network. In March, I will be going to Turkey for the third time to give some talks. This all came about from a friend in Japan recommending me to someone she knew in Istanbul and my network growing from there.

4. Being available
Leaving a full-time job at a university was hard. It's not easy to give up a monthly paycheck. But aside from not having to ask permission to do outside work, one of the best things about working as a freelancer is being available when other people are tied up. I might be the tenth person a client calls but if I'm the only one available then I'm getting the gig.

5. Looking where others don't
There are lots of places that people post jobs and short-term opportunities these days. Some of them are public sites that anyone can access and others are in closed forums and groups. Sure, you have to filter out a lot of jobs that don't match your criteria but if you see an ad that your competition doesn't, you have a much better chance of landing it.

What you might have been expecting to see on this list but didn't is advertising. I don't advertise for two main reasons. First, its hard to reach my target market because I perform a variety of services and work with people in different countries. It's not easy finding a place where enough of them would look to justify the cost. But second, and more importantly, advertising is like a cold call and I prefer to work with people who either know my value or have heard about what I can do from someone they trust. Most of the people that have found me online through a Google search just want a quote for my services and then never respond again. This is a huge waste of time. I'll stick to the best kind of advertising for my business, word of mouth. It's free and the opportunities that come from it only serve to strengthen my network as I get a new client and the people who recommended get more credibility for recommending a good freelancer.

Freelancing - Getting Paid

7/3/2018

If you ask people who are thinking about moving into the freelancing realm what their biggest concern is, they will probably mention the unsteady income. It is true that freelancers go through busy periods and dry periods but for me the biggest concern isn't the down times, it's the length of time it takes to get paid after a project is finished.

Clients are often fanatical about deadlines. They need the paper checked by 6pm, you need to show up 20 minutes early to the test site, you should be the first person there before conducting training, but when it's time to pay you for your work, here come the excuses. It's payroll's fault. Our funding didn't come in. The manager who has to sign off is on a business trip. We forgot. You forgot?!?!

One of the things that eases the burden of unsteady income is having a healthy accounts receivable balance. Yes, it's just another thing to keep track of but this is your money we're talking about. It's worth tracking. Generally, clients that you have a strong personal relationship with will nudge the appropriate people to get you paid on time but you don't always get to work with people you know well and like.

I strongly recommend that people who are considering freelancing full time try to keep a "cushion" of two months of your average salary as your bank account balance. Account receivable are good in the sense that you know that money will be arriving eventually but when you have to pay the bills and buy groceries, that cushion will come in handy when business is slow.

Why I Don't Advertise My Business

6/14/2018

Last week a friend asked me how I advertise my business and appeared shocked when I replied that I didn't. He wanted to know why, so I decided to share my answer here.

I suppose it boils down to this: I don't like working with complete strangers.

There is value in working with people you know or have someone in common with. When you advertise, the people who find your business are often looking for the cheapest price and want a quote. When you are referred by a friend, the people are more likely looking for someone they can trust to do good quality work by a given deadline. Price is not usually their first concern.

Some of the least satisfying projects I have worked on are with clients that sent me an email because they found my website through a web search. The communication was very cold and overly formal and when I asked questions about their expectations for the work their replies made me feel like I was bothering them. I should know what they wanted. Inevitably, the client complained at the end that the project was not completed the way that they wanted. Neither of us was satisfied and we probably won't work together again.

Working with a client that you were referred to by someone they trust sets the stage for a much better working relationship. You basically start with one 'get out of jail free' card. If there is a misunderstanding early on, you often get the benefit of the doubt because you were spoken of so highly when they asked about you. If you did a good job before, surely the mistake couldn't have completely been your fault.

When I'm looking to hire a freelancer to work with on a project, referrals are vital. You can see someone's background and experience from their CV but you can't learn about their work ethic or emotional stability. For that you need to talk to someone who knows them or has worked with them before so a recommendation from someone I trust goes a long way.

Whether I'm being hired to work for a client or hiring someone to work with me, relationships are a key element for potential success. They are not a guarantee of a successful project but they reduce the chance of a "bad marriage". Networking is very important to the health and growth of my business. Countless opportunities have from friends and professional acquaintances suggesting me for various opportunities and I do my best to reciprocate whenever I can. It is said that WOM (word of mouth) advertising is the most effective form of marketing for a business and, so far, that has proven to be the case for me.

How Do You Know If Your Business Will Survive?

5/16/2018

One of the things that keeps freelancers and small business owners up at night in the early stages of their venture is whether or not they will have enough clients. In my case, I was fortunate that a friend recommended me for a project right off the bat so I wasn't waiting by the phone twiddling my fingers. An empty restaurant or email inbox can be soul crushing. "Just try my product/service, dammit! It's amazing!"

In the first year of my business I learned that being qualified, connected, and available were keys to getting work. Most of my clients were people I knew or had worked with before, and having been employed by KAIST but not being restricted by still being employed full time at KAIST worked to my advantage. The first year was an interesting experiment.

Now I'm in my third year of working for myself and starting to feel more comfortable about the sustainability of my company. Two things in particular are making the big picture brighter: repeat business and referrals. This afternoon's project is a perfect example. One year ago I was visiting a friend who works in one of the departmental offices at KAIST. The department head walked in while we were chatting and she introduced me to him and sang my praises as a trainer and editor. I didn't think anything would come of it but I gave him my business card anyway. A couple of weeks later I got an email from him asking if I could train some graduate students in his department who were interested in becoming professors and needed some coaching on how to deliver better lectures. This year he invited me back to do it again.

While the project mentioned above isn't a big job or an incredibly lucrative job, it is a good example of how the power of a strong referral and repeat business can give a business owner confidence that they are doing something right. Do your best to keep your clients happy and many of them will stick with you and tell others about you. That's when you can start to feel good about the future.

Freelancing During the "Down Times"

4/9/2018

I have been freelancing for a little over two years now and I thought I had a good feel for my busy and light times during the year. Unfortunately, it is far from an exact science. April was busy for the first two years but this year it is much lighter. So this surprise down time is giving me a chance to reflect and share some ideas about dealing with down time as a freelancer.

The biggest issue that will affect your peace of mind is whether or not you have a financial cushion. Can you survive for a month or two on a significant reduction in income? If the answer is no, then you might need to suck it up and accept some jobs you might not normally take. This means taking on projects that pay less than you normally receive, that are not as satisfying as your regular projects, or (in my case) taking on projects that are longer and reduce your flexibility to accept more interesting or lucrative projects. You still have to pay the bills, right?

If you do have a cushion, then your options expand a little bit. Can you relax and give yourself a mini staycation? You could binge watch a TV show or enjoy a little more time with friends and family. But you can't totally relax or that mini vacay may last a little longer than you expected. You have to keep in touch with your clients and remind them that you are available if they need anything. If you have a strong relationship with your clients, they should be happy to hear from you and won't bristle when you ask if there are any projects coming up that you can help with. They might say no but it never hurts to ask once or twice a year during the slow periods.

Don't let your down times get you down (come on, you knew that line was coming). If you are able to save enough of a financial cushion to keep the lights on during your slow periods, you can actually enjoy them and maybe even use the free time to start something you wouldn't normally have time for, like a blog post.

Guest Post on the iTDi Blog

6/8/2016

Making the Leap from Teaching to Freelancing (link)

Freelancing and Fishing

5/20/2016

I’m not a fisherman. My most vivid fishing memory is when my dad took me deep sea fishing when I was in the fourth grade and we were both seasick the whole time. That being said, I have done a little lake fishing off a dock and reeled in a bluegill or two.

These days I don’t fish much but I do have a lot of free time thanks to my career change from a university professor to a freelance consultant. The last two weeks have been uncommonly slow and I’ll admit that I started to get a little worried; however, yesterday the clouds parted and three big jobs came in. I have a little free time between editing jobs and a social meeting (networking opportunity) this afternoon and I wanted to share some observations about how similar freelancing and fishing can be.

1. You have to keep a lot of lines in the water.

Before I became incredibly sick on the deep sea fishing expedition I was intrigued by the people who set up multiple poles and lines. I didn’t understand how they could hold all of them at the same time and it turns out they didn’t have to. It took a bit of juggling (time management) to keep them all checked and baited but as we pulled into port these were the guys with the biggest hauls.

Similarly, it was important for me to stay in touch with my clients and contacts during the down time earlier this month. Whether it was reminding them that I was here if they needed me or just saying hello and asking how they were doing, I wanted to be the first person they thought of if an opportunity arose that they could use me or recommend me.

2. You have to be patient.

Fishing takes patience. I’m sure that some people are very active fishermen, always letting the line out and reeling it back in, checking the currents, switching bait and lures, etc. Others bring a case of beer and finish “fishing” when all the cans are empty. In any case, some days the fish just aren’t biting so you have to find ways to enjoy the process even when you aren't catching anything.

The first two weeks of May were kind of like that for me. I had to choose whether to cycle through the emotions of anger, fear, and disappointment or enjoy the down time, work on long-term (potentially unpaid) projects, and develop my professional network. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do both.

3. People love to give advice.

If you don’t have a cooler full of trophy fish, other fishermen will be quick to let you know that you chose the wrong spot, the wrong time, the wrong lure, and the wrong bait. The guy next to you will correct the angle you hold the pole at even when they aren’t catching anything either. Not only that, they didn’t even ask if you’re fishing for the same thing they are. Sure, most of them mean well, but it’s inevitable that if you have a fishing pole in your hands someone is bound to offer up some friendly wisdom.

People have not been afraid to tell me the best way to get new customers, even if they don’t know the types of customers I am looking for. I know they are trying to help but sharing their experiences without knowing if our situations are similar is often counterproductive. I am also guilty of this. Whether it is a case of offering advice to my wife when she just wants to vent or over-talking in a staff meeting, I am also guilty of sharing my “wisdom” more than I need to. If I become a better listener people will trust me more and if they really want my advice I’m sure they will say the magic words “What do you think?”. Getting better at active listening is a process. I’m working on it.

4. It can be incredibly rewarding.

I would imagine it is an amazing feeling to pull a huge marlin into a boat after struggling with it for hours. You won! It’s a trophy fish that you will show photos of, tell stories about, and possibly even mount in your man cave. That fish is the culmination of a great deal of effort on your part and if you did it by yourself it is even more fulfilling.

Freelancing can be the same way. Sure, it takes the client agreeing to hire you and I do rely on my network to help introduce my services to people they know but I still have to do the legwork. Getting monthly paychecks from a university was like eating frozen fish fillets from the supermarket for dinner while getting paid by a new client is like cooking a trout you caught and cleaned over a campfire in the woods. It just tastes different. Maybe it’s the fact that you can always walk into the supermarket and walk out with a box of frozen fish fillets but when you go camping part of the thrill is not knowing what you’ll be eating or even if you’ll be eating well that night. When you take that first bite of the fish you reeled in it is oh so satisfying.

Freelancing isn’t for everyone, and neither is fishing. I only have four days of work lined up for next month so far but a lot of lines in the water. For some people that would lead to sleepless nights, however I’m choosing to trust myself, trust my clients, and trust the three rules of freelancing: 1. Be qualified 2. Be connected 3. Be available. As a freelancer you may not bring home dinner every night but when you do it tastes that much better.

Freelancing: A Week in the Life (Friday)

5/13/2016

I started working at 8:30 today. The editing request I was told to expect yesterday arrived around midnight and he wanted it done this morning. No problem. It wasn't that long.

I followed the Spurs-Thunder "game" this morning and listened to some podcasts. I need to leave around noon to get to my 1pm consultation with a chemistry lab at KAIST. The professor is a friend. #networking

The training at KAIST went very well. Three grad students did 20-minute presentations on their very technical research results. Unlike their professor, I advised them on the story aspect of their presentation and gave feedback on their delivery and English. It was a very productive two hours. I'll be going twice a month to work with them and I think it will be a net positive for all parties involved.

After the training I met with a friend and then went home to do a quick proofreading job that came in. Just before six a friend messaged me about a great training opportunity with a major Korean company next week. It's perfect for my skill set but it's for two days and I already have a commitment for one of them. Now I'm scrambling to see if I can make it happen. (Update: Nope. Someone else snagged it but now I'm on their radar.)

While this week wasn't the most financially rewarding, it helped remind me why I wanted to freelance. Anything is possible. I could be doing something totally unexpected next week or next month and I don't have to ask permission or worry about getting in trouble for moonlighting. I am my own boss. There will be ups and downs but as long as I follow the three rules of freelancing (1. Be qualified 2. Be connected 3. Be available) everything will work out for the best.

I hope you enjoyed these posts and have a little better idea what it's like to work for yourself.

Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday

Freelancing: A Week in the Life (Thursday)

5/12/2016

Good morning. They delivered the wrong newspaper today so we're off to a less than stellar start.

Last night's dinner was fun and my friend seems to be enjoying his job in Saudi (it's probably the best teaching gig there) but he's not sure about how long things will last. Price of oil yada yada yada...

Someone from the publishing company checked my LinkedIn profile.

I'll be driving to the lunch meeting around 10:30 but first I'm going to jot down some notes for the new project idea I'm excited about. I'm going to document stories from people about how they got a great professional opportunity through networking. Here's an example: My friend got his sweet job in Saudi because he got to know someone while working at another job in the Middle East (that he got laid off from) that ended up at his current place of employment and let him know about the position even though the job wasn't posted publicly. They kept in touch and she suggested he apply. Sure, he had to pass through the interview process on his own but someone cracked the door open for him. That's the power of networking that I want to show. If you have a story like that, please send me a message.

Back to business. It's 3:30pm and I just got back from my meeting. The VP of the research center and one of his office workers took me to lunch. We spoke Korean the whole time. Then we went back to the office to meet with the lead engineer on the project I was there about and we spoke English in the meeting. We discussed ways to improve their pitch to an overseas client. I'm not sure exactly when and how they will use my services but it appears likely. It would be interesting if I end up accompanying them to their big meeting in China in October. Ironically, I first met the VP while drinking beer with a mutual friend of ours who worked with me at KAIST and has since moved to Michigan. #networking

While I was there two editing requests came in (of course they did). I'll do one this afternoon and the other was promised to come in tomorrow morning. I'll have to get it done before my 1pm consultation. A translation job also came in through a friend and former client for later this month. I let my best translator know it is coming.

Around 4 my daughter called me and I took her to a doctor's appointment. It's good that I have time to do things like this with her (usually). Of course, a short editing request came in while I was out. While at the doctor's I was messaging my friend in Qatar about doing some workshops for his university and worked with him to fine tune the email introducing me to his coordinator. (Side note: He sent the email and got a reply within five minutes saying they would discuss it later. It's not a "no"!)

I worked on the editing jobs when we got back and sent a follow-up email to the research center thanking them for lunch and letting them know I am excited to work with them. The ball is now in their court.

That's it for today. It's 6:20 and getting close to dinner time. I still have some editing to do this evening and will knock it out in 15 to 30-minute spurts. Tune in tomorrow to wrap this week up.

Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday