Well… that’s it people. I think it’s pretty much case closed now.

Economists, academics, thought leaders, bestselling authors… it seems just about everyone has weighed in on the topic of the new economy and the fact that self-employed professionals are taking center stage.

But this month, freelancing or “working independently” or being a “solopreneur” (no one has quite settled on the catch-all phrase to describe us yet) was officially ordained as the way of the future by the mainest of mainstream media…

It’s right there in black and white, on page 42 of the July issue of O Magazine…

“Stop looking for a staff position…” “…package yourself as an independent contractor for hire on a project by project basis.” – Suze Orman O Magazine, July 2010

O My!
Let’s just pause for a second and appreciate the gravity of this… here you have Suze Orman, perhaps the most recognized personal finance expert in America, in one of the nation’s leading magazines, telling millions of readers to eschew the traditional J-O-B and go solo.

Um. That’s HUGE.

You can read the full article online for the proper context, but basically Orman’s advice came in response to a reader (someone with a master’s in HR) who was frustrated with job hunting after 40 applications turned up crickets .

With her advice to look for project-based contract work, Orman adds her voice to the chorus of people like Seth Godin, Dan Pink and countless others who’ve been telling us for years (many years, in Pink’s case) that freelancing, or whatever you want to call it, is increasingly how we roll in North America now. (Seth Godin even refers to himself a freelancer, in this recent video interview.)

Seeing advice like this in the pages of O, from a mega-high profile author like Orman will be a wake-up call for a lot of people. If you thought “going solo” was just a trend, watch what happens now, and in the next few years to come.

Who stands to profit from this? YOU!
If you’re reading this blog, odds are you’re already an indpendent professional, consultant, freelancer, solopreneur, whatever-you-call-yourself or you’re working toward that vision. So… if you’ve been hesitantly dipping your toe in the warm waters of freelancing, now is the time to take the plunge. FULLY. Get ahead of the wave, go all out, and build your solo business. NOW is the time.

*
Pete Savage is co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer and doesn’t quite know how to answer, “Why were you reading Oprah Magazine, anyway?” so don’t ask.

Don’t let the title of this post fool you. It has nothing to do with bullying. And everything to do with supporting you in achieving your goals.

Let me explain.

Several years ago, I was about 35 pounds overweight. I had a serious addiction to muffins (which have more calories than you might expect) and the only real exercise I got was playing in the park with my daughter. And even that got me winded!

“I need to get into better shape,” I told myself one New Year’s Eve. So I made a resolution to start jogging.

Not right away, of course. Tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.

My first run, which I finally did sometime in the middle of January, was around the block. I got about halfway, then walked.

I had a plan, of course. I would jog a few minutes a day, five days a week, just to get into the habit.

But, for some reason, I couldn’t even stay motivated to do that much. I would miss a few days here and there. Then a whole week would slip by and I wouldn’t jog at all.

I decided I needed to give myself a push. So, in an act of reckless spontaneity, I signed up for a 5K (3.5 mile) road race.

What was I thinking? The race was just five weeks away. And I had never run, jogged, or even power-walked that distance in my life!

Panicked, I found a 5K training schedule on the internet and followed it rigorously.

Well, almost rigorously.

Again, I missed a few days here and there. I didn’t do any of the scheduled “long runs”.

Before I knew it, it was the day before the race. And I felt completely unprepared.

“I’m going to drop out,” I told my friend, Ron, a former tri-athlete who had agreed to run the race with me.

I explained to him in a very convincing way (hey, I’m a copywriter) exactly why it would not be a good idea for me to do the race. I didn’t finish the training program . . . I might get hurt because I’m not in good enough shape yet . . . I would just end up not finishing and disappoint my 5-year old daughter who would be waiting for her daddy at the finish line . . . (Yep, I shamelessly played that card.)

Ron didn’t buy a word of it.

“You’re doing the race,” he said in an almost parentally dismissive tone.

“Listen, I appreciate your support,” I countered. “But I’m not really quitting the race. I’m just re-scheduling. I’ll try a 5K in the fall when I’m in better shape and…”

“Tomorrow,” he said, cutting me off. “I’ll be waiting for you at the starting line. Be there.”

Pushy bastard. Who did he think he was? (At it turned out, he was being a friend.)

Early the next morning, Ron and I took our places at the starting line.

One minute before the race: “I’m just going to walk it.”

“You’re going to run it,” Ron said.

Ten seconds before the race: “I have to pee.”

“Pee later,” Ron muttered.

Then the starting gun went off. And to my amazement, I ran the entire distance without stopping, not even once. I crossed the finish line with my arms in the air, like an Olympic athlete who had just won the gold.

It was one of the best days of my life.

And if my friend hadn’t given me that push, I may not have ever achieved that milestone.

In fact, since that day, I have run several 10K races and a half-marathon. I’m currently training for the 30K (18.6 mile) Run-Around-The-Lake in Hamilton, Ontario — the oldest footrace in North America.

What does all this have to do with copywriting success?

If you have a big goal for your business this coming year, chances are, you’re going to need a serious push — or even a good kick in the you-know-what — at some point to achieve it. So find someone now who can do that for you . . . someone who won’t let you give up when the going gets tough.

That pushy friend might be just what you need to take your business where you want it to be in 2010.

—————

Steve Slaunwhite is the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting A Web-Based Business and five other books. It’s only a coincidence that there’s a Starbucks on his jogging route.

Back when I was slaving away in a corporate job, I promised myself that when I became a full-time freelancer, I’d do things much differently.

I promised I’d take a day off every month to reflect on the events of the previous four weeks. I would use this day to think about what went right, what went wrong and how I handled the challenges that came my way. I would reexamine my list of goals and make adjustments as needed.

I’d then spend a few hours strategizing for the next month. And I’d cap off the day with a hike in the woods and a one-hour massage, after which I’d pick up my son from school and we’d go fishing or play some baseball.

When I first went solo, I made good on my promise. But then I got busy — very busy. And I stopped making time for my “Day of Reflection,” as I like to call it.

During a recent weekend backpacking trip, as I enjoyed the beauty of the Appalachian foothills, I realized how much I miss that Day of Reflection. For me, there’s great value in taking time to assess and make changes. And I love capping off the day with a relaxing massage and one-on-one time with my son.

No, it’s not the only reason I decided to become a freelancer. It’s just a nice perk I instituted way back then. A perk I’m proud to have added to my list of “company benefits” here at Gandia Communications Inc. And a perk that actually means something to me (as opposed to things like “pet insurance” or other ridiculous benefits my last employer offered).

That’s why I’ve recently gotten back into that habit…and why I’m going to stick to it this time.

Because it’s important to me. And because I can.

What about you? Have you made a similar mistake? What little perks did you promise you’d give yourself…but have since gotten away from?

What’s stopping you from getting back into those habits? How could you restructure your week or your business to make it happen again?

————

Ed Gandia is a co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com and a co-creator of The “Launch Email” Technique: The Fastest Way to Attract Good-Paying Clients as a New Freelancer.

Photo courtesty of  Michael Haring via Flickr

I love BlackBerries and iPhones. They’re wonderful tools for staying in touch and getting things done. They’re also very, very dangerous because they can commandeer your personal time.

This became a big problem for me.

For a long time, I allowed my BlackBerry to creep into my personal time which, for me, is the evenings when I hang out with my wife and kids. I was always quite good about not responding to emails after I had left my office, but whenever I saw that flashing red “You’ve got mail!” light on my BlackBerry, I would open it up and read it.

The trouble was, if I read an email at 7:00pm, it would be on my mind for hours. This prevented me from detaching from work after long day, and being fully mentally present with my wife and kids.

Even if I didn’t physically reply to the email until the next day, I found myself beginning to craft the reply in my mind right after reading the email!

After letting this problem go on for too long, one day I just decided to take the “drastic” step of cancelling the data plan on my phone, meaning I stopped paying for the service that delivered the emails to the phone itself.

I suppose if I were really brave I would have gotten rid of it altogether. However, I find having the device itself a tremendous convenience in my personal life. My wife and I phone or text one another over details about who’s picking up the kids, etcetera.

The point here is that I eliminated the features that were hindering my personal life, and I kept those that were helping it.

I’m not suggesting you cancel your data plan or trash your cell phone. What I am saying is, if you’re feeling “too connected,” take a good hard look at your use of technology like BlackBerries and iPhones and ask yourself this one question:

Is this technology supporting or upsetting MY work-life balance? Then, take steps to make the technology work for you, not against you.

Pete Savage is co-founder of TheWealthy Freelancer.com and co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle. (Coming from Penguin, 2010). (And no, that is not him in the picture up there holding his daughter while checking email. That has never, umm, ahhhh, ever, happened. Not to my knowledge. Maybe.) Pete’s on Twitter at Twitter.com/petesavage

“I’m looking for the least possible amount of responsibility.” What a great line from the movie American Beauty.

In this scene, Lester Burnham, a tired and overworked 14-year advertising executive (played by Kevin Spacey), has just quit his corporate job. He’s tired of his life at home and his dead-end career. And upon seeing a “Now Hiring” sign at the local fast-food joint, he decides to really simplify and start all over as a burger flipper.

This scene came to mind when I read an article in the Los Angeles Times about high-powered and highly educated single young professionals who have recently lost their jobs. The article talked about a trend called “funemployment,” where many young professionals are opting to stay unemployed indefinitely.

Basically, these individuals gave their careers everything they had. And after years of sacrifice, they suddenly find themselves unemployed…and tired of the corporate BS. So instead of looking for another job, they’re taking advantage of the opportunity to do all the things they’ve been putting off for years.

Some are traveling the world. Others just want to hang out at the beach and drink margaritas, take road trips to see friends and family, or play golf every day.

To me, this is just more evidence that we’re about to see a massive paradigm shift in the way we view work. The current “work them to death” model in corporate America is broken. People are tired of sacrificing everything for their career, only to get a pink slip at the end. And we have a new generation entering the workforce that has a very different view of what the right work-life balance should be.

That’s why I’m confident that a large percentage of these “funemployed” will come back (when their severance and savings run out!) as freelancers and solo professionals – not as corporate execs. They want the high pay, but they’re not willing to compromise too much to get it. Which means that in many cases they’ll have to settle for less until they build their solo careers.

But I think most of them will be OK with that. The freedom to design the life they want and live by their own rules will be the biggest reward. And it won’t be long before many of them are earning more (and doing more of what they want) than they did in their corporate jobs.

What do you think? When you talk to friends and colleagues, are you sensing the same attitude changes about work?

Whenever I came cross biographies or anecdotes about people who achieved great things, I was left with burning questions like, How did this person accomplish so much? And, How did he or she find the time?

Well…I think I’ve figured it out. 

That’s not to say I’ve discovered something totally new, but rather that I’ve woken up to a simple truth that I should have recognized long ago. Today I’m able to make it work for me, with great results. (Namely, I get more done and I experience far less stress.) 

I’ve put some visual imagery to this truth, so that it continues to serve me well. I call it my Jigsaw Puzzle Visual™ approach to time management. And it’s pretty simple.

To illustrate it, picture a completed jigsaw puzzle. The number of pieces does not matter, for now. 

Let’s say this jigsaw puzzle represents your work life. Each piece of the puzzle represents one of the “projects” you currently have on your plate. By “projects” I mean the major categories into which your individual tasks or “to dos” are grouped. 

For simplicity, say there are five projects in total, labeled as follows:

1. Direct mail campaign for new clients

2. Blog: Launch it this month

3. Ongoing client copywriting jobs

4. Book proposal: Write and submit to publishers

5. Commercial real estate business opportunity with John

So, five projects on your plate equals five pieces in your jigsaw puzzle.

Now, here’s how my discovery came to be…

The list above is fictional, but items #4 and #5 were real puzzle pieces in my own jigsaw puzzle a couple months ago. 

Then one day, about a month back, I actually landed a book deal with a publisher! 

Suddenly, my puzzle piece #4 swelled in size because I instantly found myself committed to co-authoring a book (with Steve Slaunwhite and Ed Gandia as it happens.) 

Pre-book deal, my puzzle piece #4 required no more than a few hours of my time each week. But actually writing the book will now require several hours of focused work every day.  

This means puzzle piece #4 must now take up more space on my jigsaw puzzle.

Prior to using this jigsaw puzzle visual, I would have just updated item #4 on my list to read “Write the book!” and left it at that. I would have tried to “work smarter” or “dig deep” believing (naively) that I could somehow manage to write the book with no impact to the other commitments (“projects”) on the list. 

Using the Jigsaw Puzzle Visual, however, it’s clear to see that in order for item #4 to expand in size, another puzzle piece must shrink, or disappear altogether. 

That realization has made all the difference for me. 

As a result of getting the book deal, I’ve bumped the commercial real estate opportunity off of list of commitments. Is my colleague in this project disappointed? Perhaps.

But he’s a good friend and he understands how important this book deal is. And, even if he didn’t understand, it would not be fair to him, nor to me, to move forward with that puzzle piece still holding a spot in my jigsaw puzzle. 

Now he’s free to go it alone, or find another interested party and I’m free of the anxiety over when and how I would be able to fit that project item into my schedule.

By keeping the Jigsaw Puzzle Visual in mind, now I no longer need to ask how high achievers accomplish so many impressive feats. They find the time to do worthwhile and exciting things not by constantly adding to their list of commitments, but by constantly examining their own personal jigsaw puzzles, and re-sizing or re-structuring the puzzle pieces according to the changing circumstances and opportunities that show up in their lives. 

~~~

Pete Savage is co-editor of this blog and grew up, he just now realizes, with a mild phobia of 1000+ piece  jigsaw puzzles, which he regularly saw in various states of incomplete upon the kitchen table in his childhood home. Also, he has a free newsletter just for freelancers at http://www.savagemarketing.com/ 

In recognition of how weird we freelancers can be… what follows is an open letter to spouses and partners of new and soon-to-be freelancers. You’re in for a fun (and sometimes bumpy!) ride. And though you probably deserve your own support group, hopefully this letter will help life with us freelancers be a little more manageable… 

Dear Significant Other,

You have the hardest job of all. Living with a freelance professional who works from home aint easy. We know that, and in the interest of peace and harmony at home, please allow us to make a few special requests…  

Let us off the hook for past commitments. I know, we promised to build a deck, refinish the antique dining room table, and shingle the roof, but that was before we launched the business and it’s unlikely we’ll have time to follow through on some or all of these things. Which of these are non-critical at this point in our life? Can we cancel or postpone them for now? Or pay someone else to do them?

Forgive if we forget. If you tell us something, especially when we’re working, we’re likely to forget. Same is true if you tell us something in passing, like, “Annie has ballet this Saturday at two o’clock.” (This forgetfulness is much worse if we are male.)

Let’s start a family calendar (a paper or online version) where all those details are recorded, so we can keep track of things that are important to us both in our business and personal lives. 

Help us protect our time. We creative types are not always the most disciplined people in the world, and we tend to get distracted easily. (Oh, you’ve noticed?) Please help us guard our time by resisting the urge to interrupt us when we’re hard at work.

Even if you just pop into our office to tell us something quickly, this can be enough to send us off track for the next half-hour! Before we know it, we’re checking email when we should be back to the task at hand, or we’re following you out into the kitchen to continue to the conversation and make coffee.

Staying focused and disciplined when you work from home is HARD! So unless the house is on fire… let’s talk at dinner. 

Be prepared for peaks and valleys in our cash flow. If we freelancers go a few weeks without much work, sooner or later we’ll feel it in the bank account. Try not to worry. If you honestly believe that we’re working hard to make the business work, then have faith that the ups and downs will smooth out.

Also, realize that we’re really at the mercy of whenever our clients get around to paying us. Some will be prompt, others will take their time. It drives us crazy too! But it’s largely out of our control.

Help us relax. We’ve a lot on our minds! We’re constantly thinking about clients, our workload, how to market ourselves, how to get more and better work, and millions of other things about our business.

At the end of the day, or week, it can be hard to let go, wind down, and leave the business behind. But we want to! So let’s actually schedule some relaxing or romantic time together each week. We’ll go out to dinner, we’ll take a long walk, or we’ll just sit together on the couch and watch LOST. (Sans laptop.)  

Oh, and, um, if we haven’t said it lately… we love you. And we’re so grateful that you put up with us.

Love,

Us Weird and Wonderful Freelancer Types

—

Pete Savage is co-Editor of this cool blog.  He wishes this letter was available years ago when he started his freelance business. He is spoiled rotten with support from a loving wife who puts up with his antics while running the house, raising two young kids, and calming the family Weimaraner. Pete writes a free newsletter just for you weird and wonderful freelancer types at http://www.savagemarketing.com/.

One of the most appealing aspects of being a freelance professional is the opportunity to work from home. I know it was a real lure for me when I got started about a gazillion years ago.

However, I’ve since found that a home office can be both a blessing and a curse.

Sure, there are a lot of advantages. (Like being able to stay in your pyjamas until noon.)

But if you’re not careful, the “home” in home office can have a disastrous impact on your productivity. Think of all the wonderful things that are so temptingly close by. The kids… the television… the refrigerator. It’s all too easy to get sidetracked.

Just last week I was chatting with a fellow home office dweller about this very topic. She said, “Yesterday, I went to the kitchen to make myself a coffee and, before I realized it, I was putting away some dishes, wiping the countertops and flipping through the newspaper. A five minute coffee break turned into a half an hour!”

So how do you avoid the built-in distractions of a home office so you don’t fall behind on important projects? Here’s what works for me:

• Keep office hours. If you plan to work from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., don’t do anything else but work. Don’t answer your house phone. Don’t check the mail. Don’t catch a few minutes of Oprah. Pretend your office is far from home, on the other side of town.
• Set the rules. Make sure everyone in your family understands that when you’re working, you cannot be disturbed. In his book, Six Steps to One Million Dollars, Gordon Pape tells the story of having a special code for his home office. Door open: I can be interrupted. Door slightly ajar: Interrupt me only if it’s important. Door closed: Unless there’s a fire, please don’t disturb me!
• Don’t juggle. Avoid trying to make dinner and sketch out ideas for a client’s brochure at the same time. You’ll only spill the sauce and mess up the drawing. Keep home stuff separate from work stuff.
• Be disciplined. A house is filled with tempting diversions. I know that when I’m up against a tight deadline with a client project, I suddenly get the burning desire to do just about anything else — like cleaning the toilets. Be your own tough boss. The more productive you are in your home office, the more time you will have later on for family and hobbies.
• Stock up. Make sure you have plenty of supplies, such as forms, paper, printer cartridges, etc. Nothing kills home office productivity quite like running out of an important necessity, like paperclips. (And if there’s a Starbucks on the way to Staples, you’re in real trouble!)

Go ahead and enjoy working from home. I certainly do. Just don’t forget that the most important word in “home office” is office.