“If someone else is doing something similar, reach out”
Lizzy Dening about the importance of connecting freelancers
Lizzy Dening was a journalist writing about health and fitness when she was made redundant. Becoming a freelance journalist wasn’t her own choice, but she made it work, and in June 2020 she launched the weekly newsletter Out Of Office, which connects and supports self-employed women like herself. We asked her why it’s so important to reach out to other freelancers.
Hi Lizzy, why did you start writing Out Of Office?
“I had been playing with the idea of making a magazine about work for women for years, because I hardly ever recognised myself in career content, which in the UK tends to be focused on top earners in London. When I started freelancing a couple of years ago after being made redundant, I had to figure out a lot of things myself, from filing taxes to marketing. It shouldn’t be that way, I felt, and so I wanted to connect self-employed women who are in the same boat. The lockdowns gave me the final push: while stuck at home, Out Of Office gave me a reason to reach out and ask others how they organise their work.”
Who is your target audience?
“I write for anyone who identifies as a self-employed woman. Because whether we’re writers or jewellery makers, the problems we encounter are often the same. The self-employed have few rights, no maternity pay, struggle with complicated taxes, our invoices can go unpaid for months and that’s legal and accepted… There is no support network from the British government. Yet we are a growing demographic; especially the number of female freelancers is on the rise.”
Out Of Office is published weekly, how do you keep coming up with topics?
“Often topics arise from something I am struck by. For example, recently I realised that every time I saw people tweet about professional victories, I felt jealous. And so I explored the theme of professional jealousy and how to deal with it. I don’t want Out Of Office to become too ‘dear diary’ though, because then I will run out of ideas – I basically have only three modes: I’m doing well, I’m feeling overwhelmed, or I have no idea what I’m doing. However, those tend to be the most popular topics, I suppose because many readers are feeling the same way. I balance the more personal writing out with expert interviews and very practical newsletters that suggest things that are helpful, without making readers feel like they have more to do. For June for example, I set an open challenge: do one thing that pushes the needle towards to what you really want to be doing, since our bread-and-butter work isn’t always that.”
How did you encourage community building around the newsletter?
“Readers often reach out in response to my newsletter and share their struggles and advice. In that sense, writing a newsletter is effortless networking! I wanted to enable them to also share those thoughts with each other, so I started a Facebook group and began organising accountability and co-working sessions on Zoom. I try to keep it as casual as possible. There are already a lot of online networking spaces and my aim was to create something different: a safe space where we can ask advice and vent and cheer each other on when we have done things, even if it wasn’t our entire to-do list. Organising those recurring events has also helped me structure my week while working from home.”
What does the newsletter bring you?
“As a journalist, I specialise in writing about sexual violence, and that’s quite a heavy topic; I couldn’t write about it five days a week. Out Of Office helps me stay balanced and show a different side of myself: in the newsletter I get to use my own voice and silly Spice Girl GIFs. Writing about two very different topics in different styles does bring up new questions though, that I haven’t entirely figured out yet: do I have an unclear personal brand? Should I separate myself into two social media brands?”
Readers can support your newsletter financially – how does that work?
“I currently spend about one day a week on the newsletter. It’s quite a big commitment, but I really enjoy it, and I do hope that over time it will be a source of income. I am aware of how precarious journalism is at the moment, and like many journalists, I’d rather get paid directly by readers. So far, the Patreon and Ko-fi accounts that I’ve set up aren’t bringing in that much money – combining Patreon and Kofi I've made about £200 (€233) – but I also haven’t promoted them as much as I could have.”
What is your best advice to other freelancers who want to start a newsletter aimed at peers or clients?
“What I love about newsletters is that you can really make them your own. You can adapt the tone, length and pictures as you go along. You’ll grow with your audience and can afford to experiment – the statistics and reader response give you direct feedback about what works. Before my newsletter launched, I conducted a survey, in which freelancers indicated that most of all, they wanted to get practical advice. Now that I’ve been publishing for a year though, the most popular topic turns out to be mental health – something that has been on my mind a lot, too. So follow your gut feeling: if something is important to you, there’s a good chance your readers will feel the same way.
If you have a niche and someone else is doing something similar, reach out and collaborate. The newsletter community is a generous, nice space, perhaps because it’s a rather intimate way of writing. Both readers and writers are curious and happy to be in touch. Through my newsletter I made friends and found spaces where I can honestly talk to other self-employed people. It has really been my lifeline during lockdown.”