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Sometimes it’s lonesome out here on the freelancing frontier. No one around for miles, just a dusty wide open (office) space, where only the occasional howl of a wolf, and the chime of the email notifier are heard. A few tumbleweeds, and diet coke cans blow across the deserted expanse. Just me, riding my ergonomically designed, leather steed across the wooden floor to the waterin’ hole. Yesirree Bob.
Which is why freewheeling freelancers like me need to network. Joshua Levy wrote a post for Web Worker Daily, and states the problem beautifully.
“When I go too long — more than a day, really — without significant human contact during the workday, I feel like I’m wilting. It’s as if human interaction is the sun, and without it I can’t grow. I get less and less sharp the longer I go without it.”
Yeah, trying being a stay-at-home-mom, Joshua. Oh sorry, did I say that out loud? Anyway, Joshua is absolutely right. Since I’ve been at home for nearly a decade (Dear Lord, I swear I just felt ten hairs turn gray as I typed that), the transition from raise-kids-at-home to work-at-home didn’t change my loneliness factor, but it is, definitely a BIG factor.
But, I face the same problem as a freelancer as I did as a SAHM. I don’t really know how to network. Aside from the fact that I break out in hives whenever I have to interact with strangers, I’m not exactly sure how to get started.
There are sites like LinkedIn, and Facebook, both of which I joined, was baffled about how in the world to use the darn things, and quickly deleted my account faster than you can say “wallflower at the prom.” Web Worker Daily also had an post about how to use LinkedIn more productively, which I read, then stared at the screen catatonically as drool rolled down my chin. Have any of you used these sites as a source to find clients, or meet other professionals?
Researching further, Shane and Peter recommend going to business conferences, and chamber mixers as a way of meeting new clients, and these could be places I could meet fellow graphic designers, as well as joining professional associations. But how do I find these professional networks? I’ve scoured the internet, and can find hide nor hair of any events I could attend. Of course, I live in the sticks, so that doesn’t help matters. How do I scope out other freelancers in my area?
Co-working, or sharing office space is also a growing trend among freelancers. Although those aren’t options for me right now, I’d be interested in hearing about anyone’s experience with them.
Another thing I’d could do is partner with another graphic designer in a mentoring relationship. I would love to have the benefit of someone else’s experience. Or I could partner with another writer to collaborate on projects.
Obviously there are a lot of options, but I’m not quite sure how to explore them. If any of you can recommend resources, I’d be much obliged, ma’am *tips Stetson*.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Where's The Owner's Manual?.
Tags: co-working, Facebook, isolation, LinkedIn, networking, professional organizations, Web Worker Daily
September 19th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
You know what - it turned out that finding the good places to network was harder than I first though, but not impossible. There are sites out there like infoBayArea.com that list a whole lot of local events.
Start with your local chamber of commerce.
Another great place is to network is online, though I hate to say it. Forums like Freelanceswitch and comments on blogs have created new friends and opportunities for us - Eric just wrote about that on his blog at TheAdmin.org.
I have to agree about the isolation issue. That is entirely why peter & I do a lot of our work from coffee shops.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Is meetup.com active in your area? I had good luck with that, for social stuff, anyway.
To find professional organizations for your profession, look at other people’s marketing materials and see what orgs they’re members of and find out what’s required to join.
Check with your local Chamber of Commerce and I’d contact the Small Business Administration and see if they have any recommendations.
(I found this: http://www.aiga.org/ by googling “professional organization graphic design” — you might try similar searches.)
Good luck! I’m a total introvert, so I spend my cubicle days longing for a little more isolation …
September 20th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
I battle isolation, too, and although I am quite introverted I do crave human contact from time to time. I haven’t found it, really, at least not in real life. I subscribe to a few list-serves for editorial freelancers — that helps a bit. If I were truly ambitious, I could join a few networking communities (I do live near a major city), but I’m not that ambitious. Maybe later, when both kids are in school full-time, I’ll devote more effort to networking.
(Well, that was a helpful comment, huh?)
September 21st, 2007 at 6:44 pm
My husband is a graphic designer and tried to freelance for about a year before i said ‘ENOUGH’ and sent him back to work in an office. He needed people and was turning into a hermit! Driving me nuts in the process…
he still does some freelance but i was probably not patient enough for him to build up a big enough client base. Maybe one day!
i have asked him for all his favorite sites/forums etc. to pass along. he is pretty active and is very open to giving/receiving feedback and ideas in that arena.
so i thought he would be faster, i will send you what i find out when he sends it
September 21st, 2007 at 6:51 pm
*sigh* isnt it always as soon as you hit ’submit’?
his response:
HOW user Forum (http://forum.howdesign.com/), but I just lurk lately.
http://jumpola.com/
September 21st, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Hey, thanks for all the ideas, I will definitely check them out.
Also glad to be reminded I’m not the only introvert in the world, sometimes it feels like that
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Related, yet not: I do not know how to network. I’d like to consider getting out of teaching, but I have no idea how to “work the room” or behave at a networking event. If we lived closer together, we could learn together. I’ll stay tuned.