Re: Making the Switch from Full Time to Freelance/Contract - Looking for Advice

["Chris Morton" <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I've not had any issue with EFT payments being made every two weeks after
the first pay period has passed. It also took six months to find this gig; I
hope I'm able to find another far more quickly once this one is over.
Something about being over 50 and being "over-qualified" (the kudos one gets
for being good at what one does).

Jag


On 5/7/08, voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Louise,
>
> Make sure you have 6 months of living expenses in the bank (double the
> usual
> "emergency fund"). Expect to wait at least 2 months for your first
> paycheck
> after starting a gig - you typically bill monthly, and companies (on a
> good
> day) pay net 30. Net 45 is more typical, and net 60 is not unheard of,
> either. Once that pipeline is filled, it's OK, but that first long wait
> for
> your first paycheck is not an easy thing. You also may have times where
> you
> are between contracts and having that 6 month cushion keeps you from
> panicking about the mortgage payment.
>
> Contract positions can limit your shopping yourself as a freelancer. Pay
> careful attention to the contracts you sign and don't sign any with
> non-compete clauses (I've seen some that would prevent me from working as
> a
> tech writer in my industry for 5 years after terminating my relationship
> with the contract house). FYI, I have had bad experiences with Volt as a
> contract house. The up-side with contracting vs. freelancing with your own
> company is that you can collect unemployment between gigs if you're a
> contractor (you can't if you're self-employed).
>
> Expect to pay 1000/month for health insurance if you have to now insure
> your
> entire family yourself (even through a contract house - they offer group
> insurance, but they do not contribute any money towards it). You may also
> need to carry liability and other insurances.
>
> If you are going the self-employment route (and are working in the US),
> remember to make quarterly tax payments to the IRS. On the up-side, you
> will
> find that you can now deduct a whole lot of things as a business owner
> that
> you weren't able to do before.
>
> In my own case, I have had the most successful indie projects from people
> I've worked for/with before. Either working directly for them as a
> freelancer, or from direct recommendations.
>
> I have also used freelance job boards and craigslist to find short term
> gigs
> with mixed results.
>
> Good luck!
> -Wendy
>
> On Tue, May 6, 2008 at 2:33 PM, Louise Kasemeier <
> louisekasemeier -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> wrote:
>
> > I've finally decided to take the plunge and make the switch from full
> time
> > writing posiitons to freelance or contract positions and I'm looking for
> any
> > advice or wisdom from people who have already done it. I've been a full
> time
> > technical writer for ten years, here in the Atlanta area and previously
> in
> > th UK. I've worked in the software industry for most of that time
> writing
> > user documentation and internal/systems stuff, API references etc. In
> the
> > past 2 years or so I've also been doing a lot of work with DITA and XML,
> > both as a content writer and on the technical implementation side of
> things.
> >
> > I'm really looking for advice on the best way to find contracts and to
> get
> > my name out there. Should I use an agency or contact potential employers
> > myself? Are there any good web sites or other resources out there that I
> > should be looking at? Anything really that you think a newbie freelancer
> > should be aware of.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Louise
> >
> >
> >
>
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