Forum Discussion
Freelancers -- where do you find most of your work?
I know that question is sort of like where's your favorite fishing hole. Hi, all -- I've been a freelancer for about a year and a half now, and for the first time, things are slow. I guess I'm on t...
This is a great thread!
For me, all of the jobs I've gotten in the freelance / sole-proprietor dimension have connected because:
- The person knew me from my day job, retired and moved on to another one, and wanted to bring me in full time to help them be successful.
- Someone approached me because of something I'd posted online to help someone else.
100% of the time it's been one of these two situations. I've never advertised. Not once. And I turn down half the work that comes to my doorstep. Granted, most of the time I'm making that choice because I have a full time gig working for "the man".
I've been thinking about qualification and value quite a bit lately. Bruce hits the nail on the head! So does Holly! So does Kevin! Thread full of win. What you can do technically isn't very interesting until you can put it into the context of value. What problem can you (or are you willing to) solve and how frictionless can you make the engagement? Value is at the heart of it. What value can you bring to the relationship?
Qualification is interesting to me as well. I define qualification as an expression of confidence in one's abilities to provide value. In this sense, people really need to see what you can do, how you respond to challenges, and how you get in front of (prevent, predict, or block) potential problems. I think there is a shift afoot towards "show me what you've got" and away from "show me your papers" in terms of the definition of qualification.
Revisiting my two personal job magnets at the top --
- Get to know people in areas where you want to work and make sure they see your passion (Holly's story above is a great show of this practice).
- Be visibly helpful. Always. You never know who might be watching
Someone once asked me what I do. The question initially seemed daunting to me. There isn't much that I don't do (some things better than others). My response, after a few moments of thought, was "I solve problems. I measure the distance between where we are and where we need to be and I work shorten or eliminate that space." That's what I do. I think that's what every employee should have at the heart of their job definition.
