Black Freelance Blog 1
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EnglishVoice Age
Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
North American (General) North American (US General American - GenAM)Transcript
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One thing I don't worry about these days is whether or not there's opportunity in my corner of freelancing trust that wasn't always true. But after these past few years, I've learned what exactly it is about the skill set and niche dimensions I've chosen. That's helped me build some certainty into my freelance life. I say some because nothing lasts forever and nobody has complete visibility. I'm not taking credit for being some kind of niche whisper, but I am practical and tend to lean toward what works for my goals. That's why when someone asked me whether there's opportunity in the direction they're taking their freelance career and I get that question quite a bit, I give pretty much the same answer. I'm not sure, but there are ways to find out. I think a lot of us missed effect that freelancing isn't some magical game of balancing passion, manifesting grinding and guesswork. There are a lot of really tangible ways to pay attention to opportunities toe well paying and enjoyable work, and today I'm going to cover five of those. So if you want to find well paying enjoyable work here, five areas to keep an eye on number one. Sector size, health care, real estate, information technology. Those are all sectors. Different sectors have different amounts of money flowing through them. The more money of sectors got, the more space you'll have to optimize the return on your labor as freelancers. You'll only be dealing with a microscopic section of any of these, but the point isn't so much to deal with. The exact numbers is to get used to thinking about your work in relation to a bigger picture and keep your mind open toe aligning with higher earning potential Number two activity activity around in each could be a strong indicator that it has earning potential. But you have to be careful about what kind of activity you're paying attention to. Likes don't count podcast Don't count Ted. Talks don't count. When I say activity, I mean the movement of actual money and transactions. I mean, where people and organisations air spending pay attention to the spending habits off you, your family, friends and community co workers, employers, schools and local governments and nonprofit organizations. That kind of activity is never a guarantee, but in the age of the attention economy and endless noise developing a sense for the flow of money can be incredibly powerful. Number three Employment trends. I'm listing this one with a bit of the caveat, because individual company news can lead you a stray here. Trend reports from organizations like the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US could be really useful in understanding where your work might fit with the needs of organizations. But things can get murky if you get too precise. For example, if I'm a content marketer and I see that A T and T is pouring $10 million into expanding its content presence over the next year, I might want to hit up their marketing department. But I shouldn't take their one decision as an indication that content market is blowing up across the board. It's not even a reliable sign that A T and T themselves air open toe working with freelancers. After all, some companies grow on an internal basis. Only now I might have an opportunity to align my skills with their overall strategy. But again, unless I've got some kind of connection that's risky. Remember that you're not employed and you're not trying to hit your career to any one organization anymore. Number four freelancer Knowledge. There are a lot of freelancers out here. 55 million in the U. S. Alone. We've got a lot of community knowledge bouncing around between us. If you've got access to some of that insight, don't pass it by when individual freelancers say they've had success somewhere. Believe them when they say they've had problems. The same thing goes, I know that personally tuning into other freelancers and listening to their tips versus stubbornly sticking to my own ideas of what the work should be like. Help me get past a bunch of early freelancer hurdles relatively quickly. It's not just about individuals, though. As freelancing grows, we're getting more and better high level insight into what our world really looks like. My two favorites right now are up works. Quarterly skills Index toe. Understand what skill sets are growing fastest and Ed Gandhi is freelance niece. Report. Take a look at those and revisit them is needed. Number five. Cultural knowledge. I think there's huge opportunity here, especially for people who are willing to treat black businesses with respect and dedication, particularly those that serve black consumer. Specifically, a lot of us have deep life earned understandings of black spending habits and opportunities within our communities, countries and regions around the world. The only caveat here is to keep a clear perspective on what we're spending on versus what's hyper visible. For example, it will be very hard to optimize their income in social justice spaces, even though there's a huge amount of attention there that goes back to the activity question again. So as long as you keep your eyes on the cash flows, you'll be in a stronger position. So there you have it. Five areas that can help you find the kind of opportunities that will work best for you. There are many more than once you get used to looking for them. You'll be in a much better position to shape the freelance career you want all that said, You've got to find your own balance. If you know me, you know I'll take the job that pays $2 a word. And camouflage is the fact that I even exists over the one that pays 30 cents and gets me some social media credit on a call from a great on. But that's me. Income might be less important to you or you might be game for more demanding work. The point is to simply be aware so that you can make choices that actively push your freelance business in a direction that gets you closer to your goals.