I was the Head of Marketing for a hot Bay Area startup, making well over six figures, when one day I woke up and, coldly, unceremoniously quit. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say I was miserable. Fast-forward and I spent 3.5 glorious years as a full-time freelance marketer. Sure, it’s not all unicorns or rainbows: there is no fixed salary or benefits, there are distractions everywhere, and it gets lonely being a one-person show. But, for me, the benefits far outweigh the cons:
- A flexible schedule. I worked when it was best suited for my schedule. I no longer felt the pressure to put in long hours to be noticed.
- Good money. Even though I was working about 12 hours less a week, I still pulled in the same salary.
- Work with cool companies. Knowing my niche and target market helped me land projectest with several high-growth SaaS companies.
- The power to say no. If a prospect or a project didn’t sit well with me, I confidently turned down the work.
- Learn new things. Running a business is an entirely new learning curve. I learned about business operations and learned about sales and selling, not to mention I learned a great deal about myself.
If you’re looking for a career change and are considering freelance marketing, I’ve compiled 21 things I’ve learned throughout my freelancing journey to help others navigate the peaks and valleys.