Vox Fortis Communications

I’ve been freelancing for years, but only have a few weeks under my belt doing it full-time. I started plugging away when I was a writer churning out stuff in a cube, at first for some extra income. After a few months I realized something crucial:

 I liked it.

I really liked writing newsletter content for dental practices one moment (so not kidding) and then helping devise e-mail strategies 5 minutes later. As an extreme multi-tasker who gets bored easily, having multiple clients was a natural fit for me. In the past year, things really started falling into place for me at a time where life was turning into a pressure cooker. New house, new job, finishing my MBA, and new freelance clients every other week. I could feel the squeeze, more and more every week. I knew something would have to give and I’d have to make a decision. That decision wound up happening suddenly a mere few weeks ago, and now that I’ve had time to reflect on pre-freelancing life and in-the-thick-of-it-pulling-up-by-my-bootstraps, I’ve come to some reflective conclusions.

Let me enlighten you as to what it’s like for me to make a decision about big things like this….it’s a humdinger of an experience. I’m an analytical person by nature, so first there’s the mental listing of every possible scenario. Then each of those has what ifs, which branch off into others and…you get the idea. Tailspin central. I’d look at freelancers that were doing it, and wonder, “How’d they KNOW?”

Here’s the thing, which is really freaky for any of you that think like me: You don’t know. It’s probability, not a proven science. There are certain factors that you weigh, and depending on whether the “yes” or “no” is heavier, you can use that. Which factors is probably the next question, and there are too many to list, even for me. But here are some biggies:

1. Do you have a client base built up?

If you’re mostly finding one-shot projects on bidding sites for peanuts, the heavier answer here for you is “no.” In that case, don’t quit your day job to sweat week-to-week. You’ll always sweat some as a freelancer, but steady clients are your deodarant.

2. Are you constantly underselling to land a gig?

If you weigh heavier on “yes,” then you need to stop it. Unless you’re totally without experience (and you shouldn’t even be considering making the jump if you’re in that camp anyway) don’t be cheap to land a gig. IttyBiz has a great explanation of why that I won’t even try and duplicate. If you’re finding clients that are paying a rate you’re not wincing over, you’re on more solid footing here.

3. Does it feel like your freelancing is getting in the way of your day job?

If the scales tip towards “yes,” then you might want to decide if freelancing full-time is what you want. If it feels like a nuisance and you have a problem being self-motivated, those are huge hurdles to overcome. This brings up the opposite, however…

4. Does it feel like your day job is getting in the way of your freelancing?

If so, maybe this is where your loyalty really lies. If you’re more interested and it doesn’t feel like work when you’re working on your clients’ projects…that should say something. ‘Nuff said.

5. Can you make enough to get by at first?

Even with a steady client base, you will struggle the first few months because you don’t get paid regularly. Plan for this. It’s feast or famine, and there’s not really any two ways around that. If you have the aforementioned steady clients each month, that certainly helps. If you’re not sure that you’d have enough for a can of beans and Saltines at the bare minimum, you have to crunch numbers. I know, it’s not fun, but you’ll thank yourself if you’re realistic. Try this calculator from Freelance Switch…it’s very eye-opening.

I was at the tipping point for my threshold of stress and work. Something had to give, and I had a lot of support in the decision which made it an easier one, but no less scary. You have to be intrepid, you have to be out there, and you have to be willing to take rejection and share your opinions and recommendations over and over again.

It was the best choice for me, and you’ll know if it’s something you really want. There’s no perfect moment, no matter how much you’d like to plan it…there’s just the probability of success. Stack the odds in your favor.