My Own TEDtalk: Freelancing

            Hi, my name is Hannah Wong and today I want to cover the topic of freelancing. What is freelancing and who can be a freelancer? According to Wikipedia, a freelancer is “somebody who is self-employed and not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are sometimes represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and labor contributed by its regular employees.” Independent contractors is also another way to describe freelancer. In simpler terms, anyone can be a freelancer, YOU can be a freelancer.

            So here’s a step by step guide, let’s call it Freelancing 101. Are you ready? Here we go.

            Step 1: Discover. What’s your favorite hobby? Favorite pastime? What’s your niche? It could be anything like playing an instrument, baking, making music, or even fashion styling. I highly suggest choosing a hobby that you really enjoy doing.

            Step 2: Invest. Invest your time and money into this activity. Practice it, get good at it. If you have the resources to, then by all means invest in the thingy that you use in your activity. Get an even BETTER thingy so you can take your practicing to the next level. Or if not, invest that time and money into classes. If your school happens to offer a class that may help improve your skills, take it! If not, get out there and look for some, or train under someone you know that is good at what you want to do. If your niche is baking, invest in a better mixer. If your niche is painting, invest in higher quality art supplies and maybe some art classes.

            Step 3:  Get out there. Step outside your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to show off your talent. Find a creative outlet where you can easily and comfortable express yourself. Once you get good at what you do and feel more comfortable, start looking out for opportunities to apply your talent. Start looking for random gigs and any small opportunities to get your name out there to people. Practice with family and friends. That’ll help you to eventually feel more comfortable doing what you do! They will also most likely help you in the advertising department.

            Now let me give you a personal example that might help you see how to apply these 3 seemingly simple steps. The key to following these steps is to let things happen naturally. This isn’t something you can achieve overnight solely by your own effort.

            Here’s my example. My personal niche is photography. I don’t love photography enough to go to art school for it, but I would love to continue photography as a side hobby/job. My sophomore year I started tinkering with my digital camera, a Canon Powershot to be specific. Junior year I graduated from a simple digital camera to a Panasonic Lumix Gf3 (a micro 4/3rds camera). I started taking my camera everywhere with me. I photographed my friends, my travels over summer and winter break, and then I started my own blog. Tumblr and facebook became my creative outlets.

Little by little, friends and family started to recognize my interest in photography. And then finally this past summer I finally upgraded to an actual DSLR camera. A hand me down, but still a DSLR. I learned how to edit photos using Photoshop and Lightroom and enrolled in the AP Photography class at school. I do little things like take profile pictures for friends on Facebook and just through that I’ve been able to get my name out there. I’ve gotten little gigs here and there like photographing for the school prom fashion show and had a photo shoot with an aspiring musician friend.

Other ways to put your name out there is by creating a Facebook page. I have plenty of friends that have made musician and photography pages. Volunteering yourself will also help you get gigs. If you plan an instrument, offer to play at your church Sunday service and so forth. So remember, discover, invest, and get out there! Good luck. J