CreativesAtWork - Business Of Freelancing, The: How To Thrive As A Freelancer

Published by

World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224

USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

THE BUSINESS OF FREELANCING
How to Thrive as a Freelancer

Copyright 2021 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher.

ISBN 978-981-122-265-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-981-122-420-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-981-122-266-5 (ebook for institutions)

ISBN 978-981-122-267-2 (ebook for individuals)

For any available supplementary material, please visit
https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/11894#t=suppl

Desk Editor: Sandhya Venkatesh

Typeset by Stallion Press

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Printed in Singapore

Our sincere appreciation to:

Ryan Ong
Kristen Smith
Kevin Ou
Chan Pei Ling
Danny Lee
Teo Yi-Ling
Adrian Kwong
Amerline Lee
Tan Siew Ann
Venkat Iyer

Jayce Tham, Co-founder of CreativesAtWork (CAW)

Jayce left her corporate high-flyer job in 2012 to start CreativesAtWork. Other than handling the business development aspect of the company, she is also a host to a podcast on freelancing The Freelance Creative Exchange a trainer and an executive producer to several TV projects and documentaries that CAW completed. In her free time, she is a mother and a tuition teacher to her son.

Fanny Tham, Co-founder of CreativesAtWork

Fanny started her media career in 2005 when she joined an independent broadcast network. Looking for a fresh start in life, she left the company in 2012 the same year she got married. She co-founded CreativesAtWork in 2012 after she was tired from planning her wedding. Apart from the three tiny human beings she has co-created, matching freelancers to jobs gives her the greatest joy.

Loh Yen-Lyng

Having been let go from her job suddenly in 2016, Yen-Lyng found herself at a crossroads. She gave a shot at freelancing and has never turned back on her entrepreneurial road ever since. Currently involved in building the CreativesAtWork freelancers community, she is also an avid gardener and environmentalist.

Raven Lim

Since starting as a production assistant in the television, Raven alternated between freelancing and full-time position throughout her entire career. As audience viewing habits switched to digital, she witnessed the slow decline of the broadcast industry. So she returned to freelancing and pivoted into creating online content and project management. An avid podcaster, she is also the producer behind CreativesAtWorks Freelance Creative Exchange podcast.

Kyle Ong

A self-dubbed Creative Swiss Army Knife, Kyle has spent the past seven years as a freelancer working on video and photo projects for brands such as Nikon, DBS, Singtel, Starhub and Sunsilk ranging from directing, production to post-production. As a creative with CreativesAtWork, Kyle is involved in many of CreativesAtWorks initiatives.

1.1INTRODUCTION (WHY WE MADE THIS BOOK)

Freelancing is one of the fastest growing career paths for young people today. It is a response to what they see as the overly structured work environment of previous generations. They are bolder than previous freelancing generations, taking the reins of their careers in their hands. They are freelancing full-time, across borders, industries and occupations. With rapid changes in the economy, technology and work cultures, we see that even those who are more accustomed to a fixed office environment turn to freelancing or risk being left behind.

One of their biggest challenges is connecting with companies who need their services. Conversely, companies constantly face the challenge of finding good, proven, project-based talent for their initiatives. In 2012, CreativesAtWork was set up to be that essential link, bringing together the freelancer and the employer for media projects across Asia.

We connect talented freelancers to project owners with our matchmaking and project management services. With a strong network of media freelancers, CreativesAtWork provides a complete solution to every project owners media needs and requirements. Since our inception, we have built a network of over 1,500 specialists in the media industry and completed more than SGD$10 million worth of projects.

The COVID-19 era shows us that the future of work is here. More projects and less budget mean that selecting the right person for the right project is imperative to success. Companies from large Multi-National Corporations to Small Middle Enterprises have less wiggle room than ever before. We believe creative freelancers will play a pivotal role in helping large corporations, SMEs or startup companies to manage their internal resources and enable the use of exceptional project-based talent that would otherwise not be economically feasible to bring on board. Most importantly, during times of uncertain market conditions, they enable businesses to maximise performance across peaks and troughs in demand.

We hope through this book, it will bring about more awareness of the lesser known profession called freelancer and generates the next wave of Future Leaders with entrepreneurial and self-employed mindsets.

If you have not started your freelancing career yet, there are many things you can do to prepare yourself before you jump in. For those who have already started freelancing, we hope you find these tips useful too.

1.2SO WHAT IS FREELANCING ALL ABOUT?

Freelancing is not always the easy, laid back lifestyle that people believe. It is challenging, many times more so than being an employee. You do not have the support of co-workers, a boss or a training team, so it is up to you to keep yourself and your business on track. Being a freelancer requires a lot of grit. But just like with everything, this mindset is something you can develop!

On the surface, a freelancer is someone who works on a contract basis. But the real differences are seen when you check under the hood mindset, lifestyle, and skills that would differentiate the freelancer from a regular employee. As a freelancer, you will find yourself having to make many decisions that most employees take for granted such as invoicing, negotiating your pay (constantly), even where and when you work, just to name a few. All these might seem small, but they do add up the mental load that many will crumble under.