Yesterday was a big sports day in Milwaukee, and it was full of let downs. The Brewers looked to be in standard form with a 10-0 loss – continuing how they looked at the end of the last season – and the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball ended the best season in 74 years, albeit without the national championship.
That said I did become an old man and go sit in a bar/restaurant on a Monday afternoon and watch the Brewers game, at least until the 3rd inning when it was 8-0 and I decided that I had better things to do, like get to the gym. I also did watch the basketball game though I’m no real fan of the sport. That was a bit more productive as I had been called earlier and asked if I wanted to do door security at a local establishment. So really, I got paid to see the game.
The Client Search
As it was the day after Easter, a client search was not going to be fruitful. Seems much of the country was at a lower-than-normal work level on Monday, locally with good reason I suppose. This theory is already being proven as my online profiles have more hits today than they have for several days. Of course I have to take some initiative and find some projects that will interest me and that I’m a good fit for as well. I don’t really expect clients to pop up out of thin air and ask me to do work for them – even though it is how the last gig came about.
Oddly, I’ve had a ton of offers for non-writing jobs. Things that need doing like driving of goods, hanging of drywall, tiling my mother’s bathroom floor (she pays pretty well, I might take that one), and checking IDs at local establishments. So even if I don’t get back into the full-time content marketing or social media management area, I’ve got plenty of friends and family trying to help me out.
That’s sometimes an important factor, especially for new freelancers. Quitting one’s job and going solo can be scary as there are still bills that need paying. Just having these other offers, even if they’re not in the chosen field, means that I know I won’t starve, my family won’t be homeless and we’ll get by, even if it is of the scraping-from-hand-to-mouth variety of getting by for a while.
After 10 years of freelancing, I’m not at all worried about things working out. This type of thing does happen, I knew it when I became a freelancer and I know it now. If you’re considering becoming a freelancer, consider yourself duly informed as well. Again, this is why I try to keep around two months of bills in savings. Plus, if I get a chance to grow savings past that, I can also work out a little vacation now and again.
The Pitch
Ha, no pun intended since this has a sports lean to it. However, if you’re in the market for a creative services pro that can do SEO, content marketing, social media management, video editing and any number of other things, I offer my portfolio of work and my profile on LinkedIn for your perusal.