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Finding your feet as a freelancer

“A few things to know if you’re considering freelancing as a career path.”

2017 was the year I officially left formal employment. It was the last year I unsubscribed to a 9-5 in pursuit of something less “rigid.” It was not automatically known to me what it was that I wanted to do or what I hoped to achieve after leaving stable employment, but it was the beginning of my soul-searching journey, which paid off in 2018, when I realized I wanted to get back into writing, something I did a lot of in my teens as a hobby, never as a lucrative venture or career path.

Without any specificity of what writing It was that I was trying to get into, I found myself creating editorial content. I didn’t exactly have the know-how on where or how I was going to find work, so I went with the most accessible option at my disposal: blogging. I started a blog. At first, it was just friends and family as my audience, but the more I invested my time into the blog, the larger my audience grew; and afforded me opportunities to ghostwrite for individuals until I landed my first few gigs writing pieces for newspapers and magazines,

which got me my first paycheck as an entrepreneur.

There’s nothing more satisfying than your first pay cheque as a freelancer. It was the

most reaffirming feeling, like, “This is it! Maybe I’m not hopeless…this can actually work.” So I decided to be even more serious about it, but learning how to navigate the freelance space was exactly that: a learning curve. Nobody ever starts out being a pro at anything. But by investing in your craft, remaining disciplined, teachable, and open to failure and criticism, you get better at whatever is that you do. Some things you’ll learn beforehand, and a lot more things you’ll learn on the go. Growth is a journey that requires you to remain adaptable at all times.

In an age where freelancing and remote work have become commonplace, It’s no surprise to

see more people making the leap into creative entrepreneurship, and working from home, which makes it the perfect time to share some insight into what I learned on my journey to help others who don’t know where to begin.

1. DO THE RESEARCH. 

My first nugget of wisdom (if we can call it that) would be to always do the research. While I remain grateful for the leave (If we can call it that) that I got between leaving my job and figuring out what it was that I wanted to do, It would be disingenuous not to mention how making that transition without a backup plan was not the most prudent thing to do and in today’s current economic climate, that’s not a decision I’d want anyone to jump into

blindly. Therefore, my encouragement for anyone looking to transition from formal employment to freelancing, or from one job to another, would be to do a lot of research while sticking it out in your current position, before making a final decision on your next move.

2018 isn’t so long ago, but even then, finding the right resources to help me transition to a new path was not exactly common. Especially as a freelance writer in Zambia. I’d cite this as a reason I didn’t find my voice as a writer as fast as I wanted to because I didn’t have the

information I needed at my disposal to help me understand the business of writing, as well as the stories I was trying to tell and the best ways to tell them. There just weren’t many mentors or platforms that afforded me access to all the information I needed to make it, which meant I had to wing it a lot of the time; making a lot of mistakes along the way that could have easily been avoided.

“Success is when preparation meets opportunity.” That’s a saying I believe a lot of people are familiar with. It’s a saying that I think rings true. It’s only when you prepare yourself adequately that you can ever really find success at anything, really. Anything less could result in wasted opportunity; making where you get your information or receive your tutelage a very big thing to be mindful of on your journey in whatever professional undertakings you choose to make.

2. COMMUNITY. 

“If you wanna go fast, go alone, if you wanna go far, go together.” I cannot stress the importance of togetherness when it comes to building a career. While the most important aspects will require you as an individual to do the necessary work. They are a lot of

parts that require collaboration – and having a strong community of like-minded individuals to help you out on the journey; this will cash you more cheques than your ego ever will (if you’re egotistical about going it alone, that is.) Remember what I said about remaining teachable?

Being in a space where you can learn from others will not only help you grow much faster, it will also take you much further than if you choose to go it alone. This was something I struggled with at the beginning of my journey: not having accountability, which came as a result of not being a part of a community. And the further I progressed in my career as a writer, the more apparent it became that I needed a group of trustee experts to help

me become better at my craft. It’s at this point that I learned the importance of being surrounded by other writers, avid readers, and most importantly, having an editor. Sure, my writing was decent. But for it to get better, I needed someone who would be able to chew it, spit it out, and put it back together before it could be great. 

At the beginning, I put up a lot of resistance. But the more I opened myself up to remaining teachable, the more I realized the importance of having your work ripped apart by someone who knows what they’re doing. In whatever field you’re in, find yourself the industry’s best to be the voice of reason; cause a lot of the time you’ll think to yourself, “I’ve got it. I’m where I need to be.” But you’ll need someone who’ll say: “not yet.” And

help you grow beyond what you think is your best. Make community and research your biggest allies.

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