Feelancers can get inquiries about new projects at any time from prospective or returning clients.  Sometimes projects are in our wheelhouses, other times they may push the envelope of things we’ve done or require skills we’re not sure we have. 

In some situations, we may refer the assignment to a colleague.  Especially if the project necessitates significant expenditure, say for software or hardware.  Assuming the project goes well, that’s good networking.  The client is happy, the colleague is happy, we’re happy.  We didn’t accept that gig, but we’ve become a resource for the client.  In others, we may choose to take on a challenge, perhaps because we want to expand our repertoire.  On the other hand, we want to be sure the new task is of the same quality our client has come to expect.  We may team with a colleague, if the client is willing.

Doing something new can be exciting and/or stressful.  There’s a risk of failure.  A learning curve.  Being proactive and staying up to date on trends in our fields and thinking once a month, “What other services can I offer?” can help us expand our product line with greater comfort.  We may ask colleagues for advice and/or assistance.

There may be times we simply have to say no, because we don’t want to or don’t choose to learn how to do an assignment.  We may chicken out so we can remain in our comfort zone.  But if we never push ourselves, how can we grow, both professionally and personally? 

21 times for a freelancer to say no
Working with other freelancers  
What’s your freelance specialty?    

The Gainfully Unemployed feelancer may find it easier to stay motivated and on task when under deadline.  A client is expecting your work.  Not only will you damage your professional reputation if you don’t turn it in on time, you may get less or no money.

But when in between projects, we’re on our own.  There’s no boss, manager or even fellow employee to tell us what to do or make sure we move forward.  Will we choose to spend our time self-marketing–contacting current, former or potential clients, updating our websites, taking a course to enhance our skills, or will we convince ourselves we deserve a reward–playing hooky via sleeping in, a spa day, shopping spree, vegging in front of the TV, or cruising the Internet for political commentary and/or pictures to post on Facebook?

These days, many people work more than 40 hours a week–maybe because there’s just that much work or they want to show their employers how devoted they are.  Actors often have to work every day…learning lines for upcoming gigs and performances, or working a day job and taking a class or doing a play, concert or comedy show at night.  So when do we get our weekends?  If we take the traditional two days off for downtime, socializing and/or errands or chores, when will we get the rest of our work done?  There are only seven days a week.

Inc.com-Why working more than 40 hours a week is useless

Libertymutual.com-Is the 40 hour work week back?  

Gobankingrates.com-History of the 40 hour work week

These days, we often have the choice of doing many things ourselves that we used to have to pay for…from pumping our own gas to printing our own business cards and documents.  We may save time and money…or not.  We may enjoy the control over our products and time, or be frustrated by the process.  (Does anyone like self-checkout at the grocery?  It’s not faster–there’s often a line, and scanning your own items is tedious, especially when you have to type in produce codes, etc.  And when the machine acts up, you have to wait for an employee to help…)

When I was in graduate school, my typewriter (remember those?) had a correct key, but if I wanted a copy (there was no saving documents back then, not even on a disk), I’d use carbon paper to save the trip to and expense of a photocopy place (no printers, either).  You had to have your acting and business resumes typset and printed, so any change was a cumbersome and expensive process.     

As Internet use blossomed, more individuals had websites.  Even in 2006, designing your own site required knowledge of complicated code.  A few do it yourself options existed, but IMO the result looked too much like a template instead of professional graphics.  I couldn’t figure out how to design a quality product on my own.  So after extensive research, I hired a designer for my author site (xuni.com).  Now there’s WordPress and Weebly, among others. 

I recently asked my ruthtalks.com designer (biondo studio) to transfer that site to WordPress so I could update it…adding audio, video, links and new clients.  The goal was to save money.  Her rates are reasonable, but I want to make changes more frequently, which could add up.

But what is my time worth?  Do I want to learn all of these new products, programs and skills so I can adminster my business, or is the effort better spent on craft and marketing?  I tried to figure out WordPress, but didn’t find it intuitive.  Adding additional text is one thing, but adding audio and video and/or adjusting the layout is quite another. Now a friend is helping me figure it out and offered to do my updates.  I’ve helped another friend print assorted documents because her printer died, and she hasn’t made time to research and purchase another.          

So sometimes do it yourself becomes do it for your friends.                  

If you say you’re going to do something, do it.  When you said you would. 

Some days feelancing, like many careers, is more stressful than others, mentally and physically.  I’m much better now than when I started at letting little inconveniences go, and doing so quickly.  Don’t sweat the small stuff, as they say.  Still, challenges exist. 

VO talents might have to postpone recording because of thunderstorms or construction, which can get frustrating and increase time pressure. because I can’t know when it’ll be quiet again. Technology may not cooperate.

When I’m fortunate to get a lot of projects at once (I’ve had five VO jobs this week, only one at a recording studio), cramming in extra hours hunched over a computer can take its toll.  I have an ergonomic setup–under the desk keyboard, adjustable desk chair sized for a short person, etc.  Some may have back or neck pain, and so sit on balls, kneel on stools or even get a standing desk.  I’m susceptible to forearm pain similar to carpal tunnel. 

To deal with job stresses and frustrations,  I:
–focus on gratitude and all of the great things about being a feelancer 
—make sure I take frequent, short breaks to rest my eyes 
–do arm and hand and body stretches
–switch between my laptop and my PC
–take deep breaths in through the nose and let them out slowly through the mouth
–look forward to and enjoy relaxing get-togethers with friends.              

Authors and actors need to get their names out there.  We need to meet industry professionals.  But the plethora of in person and online networking opportunities and ways to best utilize them and time can overwhelm any feelancer.  There’s social media from Facebook to Twitter.  Sites such as Goodreads.  Actual networking sites such as LinkedIn.  Alumni and industry events, some free, some not.  Friends connecting other friends. 

How many sites should we be on? Should we blog, comment on comments–and what’s a good balance of self-promotion vs. contribution?  Should we worry about how others perceive our online personas?  How much time should we spend online and at events?  What are the benefits of each opportunity?

Take LinkedIn.  People often ask if creatives can benefit as much as corporate types seem to.  Recently I’ve heard good things about LinkedIn Groups.  I’ll investigate.  I’m already in assorted author and actor groups, and will assess the pros and cons of even more emails to read.  But you never know when a gem of an opportunity or information snippet will pop up. 

Some things to consider about networking:
–Time and money spent vs. value obtained.
–The enjoyment of reading interesting posts and getting comments on your own carefully crafted contributions vs. allowing social media and events distract you vs. getting actual work done.
–Providing something useful vs. constant self-promotion.
–How much is too much? 
–What’s appropriate vs. aggressive.  Example:  I was talking to an editor at a luncheon.  An author came up to us, and without even introducing herself launched into her pitch.

 

My definition of a working actor includes getting paid fair wages for your time and skills…most of the time. 

Many Chicago plays and films offer no monetary remuneration, not even reimbursement of expenses. Some offer a stipend, but that can end up being minimum wage or less per hour.  Often indie and student films at least offer food and a copy of the work (if you can actually get it).  Actors can end up losing money on the deal if they have to pay for parking, gas (or public transportation), and some self-costuming. 

But they choose to spend several nights a week rehearsing and performing for the joy of it.  For the experience, resume credit, chance to work with well-known/up and coming production staff, and hope of good reviews and/or that agents and casting directors might see it and take note.  Those things can make free or low-paying work worth the effort.
 
I hope actors who work that hard for others also work as hard for themselves…self-marketing for additional opportunities.  Which is why I give workshops on that topic.  Actors are entrepreneurs and thus need to keep putting irons in the fire to increase chances for a steady stream of opportunities.  My many years of sales experience have helped with that.  Some weeks, it really pays off…with multiple auditions (both on-camera and VO) and several jobs. 

On Sunday, July 1st, I had the honor of being a featured storyteller at Here’s the Story, at Stage 773 on Belmont. 
HtS’s mission  is “to bring together Chicago’s various creative communities, to connect with one another, to foster the art of telling and listening, to provide a platform of support for the work of known and developing storytellers, monologists, and solo performers.”

The program opens with each audience member turning to someone he/she doesn’t know and sharing a two minute story.  Five featured tellers, who get 10 to 12 minutes, alternate with five walkups, who get five to six minutes each.  The audience gets 50 points to vote on the walkups. Whoever gets the most points is invited back as a featured storyteller the next month.

I’ve given many workshops and performed at numerous venues.  I was on National Appellate Team in law school (we came in second nationwide out of around 150 teams) and speech team in high school.  So I assumed telling a story would be fairly easy. 

Storytellers at some other local events read word for word from printed pages.  But HtS prefers no pages.  Not even notes.  Preparing turned out to be more challenging than I’d expected.

My topic was “The Most Rejected Person in America,” because as a writer and actress (who also collected many rejections during 15+ years in sales) on any given day I could be rejected by, among others, casting directors, editors, clients and/or producers.  I wrote a synopsis of the things I wanted to cover, and felt attached to the written page. I didn’t want to go out of order or miss a key point. 

My friend Darren Stephens was also a featured teller.  We got together the night before to rehearse and critique each other’s stories.  That proved very helpful, revealing things that needed clarification, and where to elaborate, add or make cuts.  We still didn’t feel quite ready, so we rehearsed and critiqued by phone on Sunday.  And then again later in the afternoon…in addition to individual work.  We smoothed out our tales, tied sections together with good transitions and developed an emotional ebb and flow intended to keep the many audience members on the edges of their seats. 

The preparation paid off.  Both of us (and other storytellers) got laughs–in the right places–and compliments afterward.  Listen to the podcast, which will be available soon, to hear the final product.

I haven’t taken that many vacations since I became a feelancer. Why? Because every time I have, I’ve missed opportunities for auditions and work. Because I never know when a significant project will pop up. For example, I recently got a large VO project due in July.

For many years I’ve taken a trip to Romance Writers of America’s national conference. I say trip, not vacation, because the conference is so jam-packed with activities (from workshops to keynote speakers to book signings to appointments with editors and agents to catching up with and making new friends) that the day might start with an early morning breakfast meeting and continue through a late-night party. Yes, parties are fun, but because of the need to be “on,” not exactly relaxing. A friend and I stayed for a few days after the New York conference last year to see several shows….basically a long weekend, which was a lot of fun.

This year’s conference is in a few weeks in Anaheim. I’ve decided not to make another trek to California. I’d rather be right on the beach enjoying the setting and restaurants than spend the vast majority of my California time in a hotel near Disneyland.

And to get the most out of the events, I’d miss 4 weekdays. That may not sound like a lot to some who get paid vacation, but a big audition can pop up at any time. If I get a callback, my agent and the casting agency will know, which I might prove beneficial with future auditions. If I book the job, it means income and new/reinforced connections, and shows my agent, the casting agency, the production company and the client that I can do the work.

The occasional weekend getaway is the answer.  On the one hand, I might still miss work.  The Biography Channel pilot I’m working on shoots on a Friday and Saturday. I didn’t know if my character would be needed those days when I accepted the role. On the other hand, everyone needs time off, away from thinking about work and typing for hours on a computer responding to client emails, recording, editing and sending audio files.

When and where will my next weekend getaway be?

Computer technology changes so quickly that it’s easy to fall behind or miss out on useful features.  I confess I tend to put off computer-y things.  As mentioned before, I don’t like trial and error and have found that many tutorials are slow-paced or take too long to get to or don’t cover what I want to know.  In the past week alone, it’s become clear that I need to spend more time learning and utilizing several sites, programs, etc. 

I’m a bit leery about diving into these as yet barely charted waters, but….

1) Twitter.  I already have some followers and keep hearing how this or that person connected with or learned from following some industry professional.  Yet so far, I’ve found reading tweets confusing and mostly uninformative.  And there are so many!  I haven’t thought of anything useful to say.  To me, it’s slightly annoying when tweets go directly to Facebook and you see a bunch in a row.  So I need to learn how to tweet effectively and separate the wheat from the chaff. 

2) WordPress.  So that I (or with a friend’s help) can quickly and more frequently update and add to my voiceover/on-camera site, my designer is transferring it to WordPress.  More than one person has said it’s easy to use, but I had trouble figuring out Weebly and I’ve heard WordPress is more challenging.  The few things I’ve heard have been mentioned people who know what they’re doing vs. explaining in layman’s terms.  

3)  Cloud computing.  I do some, but options and ways to organize are numerous and confusing.  And I’m not sure how to benefit from some of the features of sites I’m on.  

What do you need to learn?