My working years have been rather ordinary.  I went to work immediately after high school and enjoyed a moderately successful career in sales.  Knowing that I was capable of more, I put myself through college and graduate school.  Next, I found a job immediately upon graduation and joined the Monday through Friday masses.  To my surprise, things had changed rather remarkably.  I had been out of touch with the corporate world as I was involved in research and academia for several years.  There was something missing that I just couldn’t put my finger on…

After two years it finally hit me…maybe I just don’t belong.  Granted, I may just have a low tolerance level for backstabbing colleagues, ungrateful bosses, and the rhetorical glass ceiling that still exists.  I decided not to let the situation get the best of me and I left without having another full-time position lined up.  The last day I worked was only until 11:00 am and when I got home, an immense feeling of freedom swept over me.

Now what?  Well, I am fortunate to have an education that gives me marketable skills.  I have spent my time combing the web and personal contacts for projects and so far it is working out.  As scary as it is, I know I have done the right thing.  There are a few things you should keep in mind if you decide to go this route:

DON’T GET LAZY!!  Keep up with the “business hours” schedule.  If you decide to go it alone and sleep until noon every day you could miss some opportunities.  Of course, if your skill is such that business hours are later then you should keep with those.  The point is to keep your schedule and resist the urge to have vacation days every week.

TELL EVERYONE!!  Let your colleagues, friends, family, acquaintances, and everyone else know what you are doing.  You never know when someone will need your specialty.  Depending on what you do you can place ads, hand out flyers, or canvass your contacts.  Whatever the case, get the word out early and often!

BE RESOURCEFUL!!  This is the time you want to pinch pennies and be as frugal as possible.  Now that you work from home, you don’t need to stop and get that $4 cappuccino every day so save, save, save.  Get your new business cards from an inexpensive place like Vista Print.  Most importantly, don’t give yourself a license to buy a bunch of new supplies for your home office.  Use what you have and only buy what you absolutely, positively need.  I am so cheap that I use both sides of the paper in the printer for certain projects.  If there is any blank space remaining it is used for notes.  Plus, recycling whatever you can is a good thing!

BE CONFIDENT!!  Now is not the time to be riddled with self-doubt.  You are not going to get every job that you bid on.  People will not knock down your door for your work - you have to get out there and earn it.  Realize that you’ll have bad days and move on.

BE RELIABLE!!  I can’t stress this enough!  Nobody appreciates a flake.  Make sure you deliver what and when you promise.  Resist the urge to give yourself impossible deadlines that just put out shoddy work.  Keep your integrity and you’ll get repeat clients and referrals.  Don’t be afraid to turn something down that you are too busy or inexperienced to handle.

While I am not a gazillionaire, I am keeping pace with my previous salary.  The most exiting thing is doing what I want, when I want to!  I have fun projects where I get to write about sports and others that require much more meticulous thought.  I can’t say I will never work for someone else again since I cant be sure if the right opportunity may find me one day.  For now, I couldn’t be happier that I took the freelancing plunge!