Going Freelance

I've recently been contacted by a friend of mine who runs a young fashion brand. He thought it was  time for his company to start caring about its image and get some promotion. I was flattered he thought I could help.

We had a discussion about how he was considering the overall thing, his objectives, the budget, etc... After that, I seriously started thinking about going freelance. I'm already giving (free) advices to former classmates and friends on PR and Communication. I'm may be not an experienced professionnal with 10 or 20 years of in-house/agency work but I own a degree in Public Relations since two years, I did a bunch of internships, I was a good student with good grades and I graduated with honors. Plus, I like to think of myself as a smart and creative girl, so why not?

But I had a concern: what does it takes exactly to go freelance?

I went online to document myself and read some writings about freelancing. I found some helpful links and I learned a lot. Before going freelance, there are some questions you should ask yourself and while in the process, there are some essentiel things you need to know. Here's is a résumé:

•  Why do you want to go freelance?

For me, this is the most important question. Answer it first before doing anything else: Is the (relative) freedom of freelancing appealing to you or are you a job seeker who thinks it's the only way to work in these times of recession? May be do you imagine freelancing will allow you to unleash your creativity. Whatever your reasons, make sure they are good.

• Who are your clients? What do they need?

You need to know who you want to work for. Do you target little companies, agencies in your neighbourhood/town? The bakery of your neigbourhood, young and talented artists, etc..? Make a list of potential clients and figure out what you can do for them.

• Figure out your services: what do you bring to your clients?

How can you help your clients reach their communication/economic objectives? Can you be an asset for them? What are your skills and how can you make them profitable for you?

•  Be aware of the legal issues

How to write a contract, to avoid the non-payment of fees, etc... Make you sure you get everything in writing.

• Build your own brand

You want to promote other people? Start with you. Get yourself a good website or blog (or both), some good business cards. Be active on social networks.

• Forget the paycheck's comfort

This if you want to go fully freelance. Money uncertainty is the first worry of the wannabe freelance. You better have some money kept, enough to live six months until your first incomes.

• Network

 You need some good contacts in companies, agencies, press, etc.. Call your college mates and let them know what you do, join a local business network, use social media to make some new contacts.

• Make sure the freelance lifestyle is for you

 Helen James, founder of Freelance UK,  recommends to work out what's important in terms of your lifestyle too. Freelancing may not be a steady stream of work, especially as you get your business off the ground. One of the benefits for employers is that they can often ask a freelancer for last minute work, over the weekend perhaps. So bear this in mind. Plenty of freelancers take on evening and weekend work initially before leaving their permanent job.

• Have a good plan

Draw a good plan. Write everything down with a lot of details: time management, services, clients promotion, your plan to get clients, the number of projects you handle at a time, etc. Be organized.

I still have some fears but I think I'll give freelance a try. I'll keep my actual job and work on some little projects on my off-work hours. Wish me good luck. If you have some advices, feel free to share on the comments section.

Here are some useful links about freelancing:

• 9 questions to ask before going freelance
• Freelance Marketing and PR
• Going Solo: A guide to working freelance in fashion PR (this can be applied in any field of PR)
• The A to Z guide to PR entrepreneurship
• Ten tips for going freelance