Welcome to The Friendly Freelancer 👋
Because freelancers are stronger when they share, when they get together, when they help each other out.
We met on a cold, dark winter evening at a mutual friend’s book launch party in a neighbouring town.
Sipping our wines, leafing through the books on display, we quickly realised how much we had in common. Two freelance writers, two introverts who’d learned to pass for extroverts, two women frustrated at the old boy's network of the journalism industry. We bonded hard and fast 🔥💪💪🏽
We never made a pact to help each other out. It just sort of happened.
We started forwarding each other Twitter threads and newsletters, tools that we thought the other might find helpful. We became each other’s cheerleaders, urging each other to negotiate rate increases, to accept speaking engagements that we felt under-qualified for. We sent rant texts to each other when we got rejections and told each other all the things you need to hear when you start thinking maybe a salaried job wouldn’t be so bad and you secretly start browsing job boards.
Since we met on a dark February evening roughly a year ago, our friendship has paid dividends. It’s made us better negotiators, it’s landed us new commissions and clients, and it’s made us stronger.
Neither of us believes in holding our contacts, resources, strategies close to our chest. It’s in that spirit that we’ve decided to launch this newsletter.
A lot of creative freelancers became self-employed so they wouldn’t have to nine-to-five it from an open desk. But the fact that we’re the only ones sitting at our desk of course also means that, er, there’s no-one else around 😅 Even though the number of freelancers continues to grow, it often feels like you’re out there on your own. That’s why we’ve launched The Friendly Freelancer - a bimonthly newsletter that connects freelancers.
The Friendly Freelancer is about finding the answers to the questions we’ve all struggled with. For instance:
How do you find new clients?
What should you do if you land more work than you ever expected to?
Should you get a side hustle?
How can you network if you’re introverted?
We’ll tackle one subject every newsletter, highlight interesting articles we’ve read and other handy resources for creative freelancers. Oh, and we’ll give you a peek of our own office (more on that in two weeks.) 👀
At The Friendly Freelancer, we also want to hear and learn from you. So get in touch with us at freelancerthefriendly@gmail.com and tell us about your freelancing joys, frustrations and questions.
Oh, and we’ll publish this newsletter in English and Dutch. Subscribe to the Dutch-language newsletter here and the English-language newsletter here.
See you in two weeks,
Selma and Linda
About us:
Selma Franssen is a Dutch freelance journalist living in Brussels. She is the author of Vriendschap in tijden van eenzaamheid and has written for Charlie Magazine,OneWorld, De Morgen, De Standaard, The New Statesman, Bustle, Knack, VPRO, & Newsweek.
Linda A. Thompson is a Belgian freelance journalist specialised in covering corporate tax and social injustice. She’s written for Bloomberg Law, Deutsche Welle, OZY, International Politics & Society, USA Today and Equal Times.