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Did you know that there is a printed Freelancer Magazine? It is a 100-pages business magazine for B2B and creative freelancers, being published every three months in the UK, and delivered to subscribers worldwide.
They also organize regular Freelance Virtual Coworking sessions every week, free for all freelancers to attend.
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New research The Freelancer Pay Gap analyzed data of ca. 6,000 US-based freelancers that have billed at least 100 hours of work in the last 6 months on Upwork. It found out that men charged 48% more than women for the equivalent role overall.
However, the data sample was not representative of a wider freelance population, so the gaps for different industries varied greatly. They were huge in some technical professions, such as DevOps, and rather small-to-negligent in others. In some, such as copywriting, women were charging more than men.
What to do about it? The research not only minds the gaps but also suggests the following 7 Tips to Set Freelance Rates:
Other helpful guidelines are outlined in a related article written by Sarah Duran.
Note: In the UK, similar research by IPSE revealed in 2020 that self-employed men earned 43% more than women.
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Great news: HarperCollins acquires global English publishing rights for The Freelance Way best-selling book, written by Robert Vlach. Their international edition, published earlier this spring in Asia, will be sold via major e-retailers worldwide. The audiobook production starts in September.
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Across Europe, October seems to be the month of freelancing: There is Freelancers Week, the Day of the Freelancer in Brussels, and then there is Freelance Business Month — arguably the largest online event for freelancers in the world, organized by the one and only Elina Jutelyte.
As of now, you can register for free or buy a donation ticket to enjoy a full month of talks, conversations, and online networking with professionals from all over the world in a friendly informal setting. We’re proud to be among the FBM partners because the event helps freelancers bond over almost any distance.
As often happens in business, Elina’s journey wasn’t easy. She shared her origins story and the hardships she had to endure in her memorable talk for Freelance Friends. If you haven’t watched it yet, here’s a friendly reminder:
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This tip comes from our favorite lifehacker Tom Baranek who uses E-Ink tablets extensively for reading and taking notes as a publisher and editor. His workflows are quite advanced, so he’s definitely to be trusted on his tools of choice.
He has recently highlighted two gadgets that he has enjoyed using besides his iPad Pro:
None of the two comes cheap, but if you work extensively with digital documents and text, it may pay off in improved productivity.
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The Belgo-Dutch server NextConomy has published an English interview with Robert Vlach as a teaser for his upcoming keynote at the Day of the Freelancer conference in Brussels, on October 6.
The interview, titled The Freelance Way of Personal Finance, covers many aspects of freelance finances and pricing:
“For example, I’ve already been a freelancer for over 20 years, but my monthly revenues and cash flows keep swinging up and down, depending on concurring projects as well as wider market conditions,” says Robert about a problem that many freelancers have to struggle with. „Balancing out this level of uncertainty isn’t easy for any freelancer, no matter how experienced they are. So we’re all in this together one way or another,” he adds.
The interview also includes an excerpt from Robert’s book The Freelance Way published by HarperCollins, explaining why beginning freelancers should consult with an accountant or tax advisor.
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Netflix has a great track record of covering independent professions in their original shows, such as agents representing actors in Call My Agent! or real-estate brokers in The Parisian Agency.
Their recent reality TV series Indian Matchmaking is similarly ambitious: It follows the work of Sima Taparia, who is said to be the best marriage consultant in Mumbai, guiding her clients in the US and India in the arranged marriage process.
The Emmy-nominated hit show offers a blend of modern and oriental elements, such as consulting a face reader or astrologist in client work. Sima is quite a remarkable freelancer, too. As she proudly says: “All my clients are my children.”
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Some time ago, Freelancing.eu’s founder Robert Vlach sat down with Elina Jutelyte for a masterclass session. The expanded transcript of the interview highlights has now been published, covering Robert’s origins story, as well as How to Start Freelancing, Freelance Pricing, The Freelance Way book, and more:
“Because we have these pros and cons that bring up strong emotions when freelancing, it is very important to build a system in your business that supports you whether you are feeling great or down at the moment. That’s actually one of the reasons why I wrote The Freelance Way. I wanted to help freelancers to be much more systematic in preparing themselves and their business for moments that are unexpected or unprecedented, since these have to be handled well in order to keep the business going.”
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Freelancing.eu’s founder Robert Vlach will present the opening keynote at The Day of the Freelancer (or Dag van de Freelancer) conference in Brussels on October 6.
Some 200 Dutch and Belgian freelancers will gather to network and learn from each other. Robert’s talk will be titled The Freelance Way of Personal Finance. Here is the outline:
All established freelancers realize that financial self-management is incredibly important. It gives us the raw monetary strength and endurance to manage financial swings, to cover unexpected costs or losses, and to face anything and everything that life in business throws our way.
However, not all freelancers behave accordingly. Some are creative, artistic minds rightfully afraid of spreadsheet poisoning. Others believe they are financially safe, and overspend — until they are not. And nearly all of us have financial blind spots due to outdated presumptions, psychological biases, negligence, or lifestyle creep.
Robert’s talk will outline the most typical problems that freelancers usually face on their way to greater financial independence, as well as practical solutions to them.
From the first elementary steps of record-keeping, through improving financial reserves and cost-control, to more advanced topics of financial planning and wealth management, his keynote will present you with an upbeat comprehensive approach to building and improving your own system of personal finance as a freelancer. And it will work for you, not the other way around, leaving you stronger and more confident to face future challenges 💪
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It’s a hot, humid day in Hong Kong circa 2015. Freelance copywriter Kim Hobson drives to a meeting with a prospect. She doesn’t get the gig and is told later by her recruiter that she came across as “cold and arrogant” during the interview. Kim got her hard-learned lesson:
Likable freelancers win clients and get better deals more often than those who are, well, less likable.
This, and other hard truths about “why freelancers need to be likable” are described in Kim’s useful article titled 10 Ways Freelancers Can Leverage Likeability Techniques To Win More Work. These are her main points, all explained in the article:
Note: You can also subscribe to Kim’s freelance newsletter.
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