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This is big: The EU is proposing a new legislation called the Platform Workers Directive, which could compel some freelance platforms to reclassify gig workers as employees if they fail to treat them as genuinely independent professionals.
According to The Freelance Informer, which cites Osborne Clarke, this will be judged by several criteria:
The proposed regulation also delves into other facets of platform work, like the application of automation and algorithms for evaluating individuals, their performance, visibility, and more.
Our take: We recognize that the gig economy (primarily platform-based and digital) and the freelance economy (consisting of more or less independent individuals, mostly outside online platforms) are not the same thing and only overlap each other. The new legislation actually tries to make the same distinction, which is a good thing.
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We recently featured two best-of app collections for freelancers put together by Austin Church and Jan Onesork. If you find these lists helpful, there’s also a toolkit of 80+ Great Tools for Freelancers published in 2021 by our friends at Freelance Business Community. Enjoy!
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We love TV shows where the main character is an independent professional. One of the best recent examples is The Lincoln Lawyer, based on the best-selling novels by Michael Connelly and produced by Netflix. Its protagonist, Mickey Haller, famously runs his business out of a Lincoln limousine, although this is somewhat muted in the TV version. After only two seasons, the leading actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo is already on the verge of becoming a major movie star.
Fun fact: There’s also a 2011 movie The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey.
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Freelancers are so resourceful and creative! Just take a look at the infographic drawn in real time by US-based visual artist Katya Balakina during Robert Vlach’s Game Changers masterclass yesterday…
Many thanks to Katya, and to Elina Jutelyte of the Freelance Business Community and Úna Herlihy & Peter McPartlin of The Indie List for co-organizing this one-off pro-bono online event 🙏
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Austin Church of Freelance Cake has compiled and published a comprehensive list of the best tools for freelancers based on his own experience with these apps. It’s a pretty extensive stack, and there are definitely some great picks you might not know about.
Note: Once again, a notable dominance of Google’s online office over Microsoft Office among freelancers. It’s quite the opposite in the corporate sector.
Tip: A similar list of top freelance apps and tools was published earlier this year by our member Jan Onesork.
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A newly released survey Freelancer Study 2023 produced by Freelancermap (an international freelance platform based in Germany) offers some interesting insights into how much freelancers earn in the rich world — mostly in the EU.
The data collected from 3,504 freelancers are not statistically representative of the wider freelance economy (80% of the respondents have a degree or some higher education, 75% are senior experts, 63% work in tech, consulting or management). Still, the results are impressive.
Here are some highlights:
Check out the full PDF report for details.
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If you dream of being a published writer, there’s a fantastic book for you to read. Govt Cheese is a brutally honest memoir by Steven Pressfield, the author of The War of Art, Gates of Fire, and other timeless fiction and nonfiction titles.
In this new book, he tells his full origin story for the first time and shares many valuable insights into how the publishing and movie industries work on the inside. It’s a tough business, mostly, and a formidable challenge for any idealistic, creative soul like Steve. He struggled and persevered for decades, working odd freelance or temp jobs, and he turned 52 before his first novel was published.
Govt Cheese is a thrilling, unputdownable masterpiece, especially when it comes to the author-narrated audiobook on Audible.
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A new article on BBC Worklife, The quiet guilt of self-employment written by Kate Morgan, spells out a problem known to many freelancers:
It’s expensive to take a time off, and it’s easy to work more hours and make more money instead of taking a rest.
“This is not to say self-employment is all bad. Despite the long hours and the stress of being the sole source of your own income – and even despite the burnout – some data shows some self-employed people report higher rates of satisfaction and feel more fulfilled at work. There’s a good reason many keep at it.”
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Freelancing is a long game. A successful freelance career can easily span many decades, so it’s natural that there will be emotional ups and downs along the way, which may include anxiety, burnout, or outright mental-health issues.
For people prone to such problems, there is Leapers — a large online community created to support the mental health of freelancers and the self-employed. It does this by publishing useful resources, articles, and comprehensive annual mental-health reports.
Finally, as another level of prevention, Leapers has developed a Freelance Friendly pledge or framework, which provides 10 suggested guidelines for organizations.
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Did you know there’s an entire community dedicated to freelance parents trying to make flexible working work?
Doing It For The Kids, launched in 2016 by Frankie Tortora in the UK, includes a blog, award-winning podcast, newsletter, paid membership and more.
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