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MEDIUM – 19th March 2019 – by Scott Hoover
My journey to remote freelancing began in 2009. I was sitting in my 10×10 office at the regional CPA firm where I worked, putting in my time in like thousands of other public accountants.
I enjoyed working for my firm, and even liked my boss, but hated the red tape and office politics of corporate America. I knew in my heart I wanted to be a freelancer. I wanted to be a freelance CFO.
When I shared my plan with my boss, he respectfully doubted there were enough clients in our rural Wisconsin community to keep bread on my family’s table (he didn’t quite say it that way, but you get the drift).
I followed my entrepreneurial streak and left anyway.
It turned out my boss’s fears were unfounded. Within a couple years I had all the freelance CFO work I could handle. There was a need in the local marketplace and I loved filling that need.
Time went on and by 2017 I was looking for a change again. My local freelance gigs were becoming routine. My family was growing and I was serving in my church and on two non-profit boards.
It was getting harder to spend full days at my clients. While onsite I was constantly interrupted with activity from other clients and my other obligations. It felt like I could be more effective if I serviced everyone from my command center at my home office above the garage.
Carefully, I began the transition from local onsite client work to being a remote freelancer on Upwork (and lately, Toptal). Today, I still work onsite for several local companies, but the rest of my clients are scattered from New Jersey to Hawaii.
I love the diversity of remote finance and the ability to experience the subcultures of Georgia or Los Angeles or Nebraska through my clients in those locales. When the snow is blowing outside my office window, there’s something refreshing about talking to a client who has the AC on in California.
I like being available when my children come home from school. I like the tradition my wife and I started of drinking tea together at 10am every morning. Those are real benefits of remote freelancing.
Why then am I writing about the hurdles of remote freelancing?
I am writing because my experience is unique and probably not mainstream. Before going remote, I spent years gaining experience as a local freelancer. That experience provided a natural segue into remote freelancing. Also, I’m an entrepreneur at heart, which is a helpful trait for any freelancer.
But for remote freelancing to go mainstream, it has to appeal to the masses. And to appeal to the masses, it must overcome these four hurdles:
Hurdle #1 — The real decision makers are not online.
America’s mainstream private companies are largely owned by 50 and 60 year-olds. It’s probably always been that way. By the time you have the know-how and capital to operate a good-sized private business, you are that age.
I don’t know how old my oldest freelance client is. I’ve never met most of them. But they skew younger. In my experience, a 63-year-old executive will not naturally turn to Upwork to hire a remote stranger for $150 an hour. I’m not trying to be stereotypical here— just practical.
Even in the younger age brackets, there are plenty of business owners (perhaps especially in the trades) who need to shake a hand and see a smiling face to be able to work with someone. That limits the potential market size of remote freelancing.
Hurdle #2 — Of the people who are hiring online, about 97% are looking for cheap.
97% isn’t based on any formal studies. It’s based on personal experience submitting hundreds of proposals on Upwork and sifting through thousands of online job postings. The reality is startups and bootstrapped (and dare I say cash-strapped!) companies are the ones that often head for the internet.
The good part about that is these 97% scare off the big players (big accounting firms, for example) from going online to find work. That leaves the door open for diligent freelancers to connect with the 3% who really are looking for value from the results side, not the cost side. Finding the 3% is the ticket to successful remote freelancing.
Still, it is frustrating to submit 20 proposals and maybe get 1 or 2 responses and then watch as those fade away over price concerns. It isn’t for the faint of heart. You kind of have to have an entrepreneurial spirit to survive.
Which leads me to my next point…
Hurdle #3— Most qualified professionals are not good promoters.
I think it’s fair to say most professionals enjoy the work of their profession, but aren’t exactly born marketers. A lot of professionals would struggle to sell freelance services even locally, where you can actually shake hands with people and sit down to talk.
Selling freelance services remotely is a whole new level. You have to be able to write well, for one. And you have to have a knack for separating yourself (often through phone conversations) from other (usually much cheaper) candidates. You have to respond quickly to communications, to catch the momentum.
A platform like Toptal helps remove this barrier by doing a lot of the screening upfront and providing freelancers with resources to connect with qualified clients. Toptal’s model has a lot going for it in that regard. However, even there you still need to be able to market yourself remotely through writing and virtual communication.
Which leads to the last point…
Hurdle #4— Freelancing can be lonely.
I’ve probably got it about as good as any freelancer. I have two employees who work for me, and we meet (physically) every week or two to discuss our schedules. My children visit my office throughout the day and I’m able to eat lunch with my family.
Yet there is still something special about the day each week where I actually leave the house and go to work at one of my local clients. I believe God designed people to interact with other people. Remote freelancing perhaps takes away some of that intended interaction.
Video conferencing helps immensely. Phone calls are better than emails. Having local clients mixes things up. Being part of a virtual team is better than being a lone freelancer.
But ultimately, lack of social interaction is a constraining factor on remote freelancing. Any freelancer entering the field needs to find workarounds to meet the inner need for camaraderie.
Conclusion
Despite these hurdles, I still love freelancing. I’m grateful to live in an age where remote freelancing is possible and where platforms like Upwork and Toptal enable its success. I cringe at articles that rail on freelancing, because for me it’s been a good experience.
The points I’ve listed are simply hurdles. They aren’t holding everyone back; they’re just keeping the movement from going mainstream. For the right person, remote freelancing can be an opportunity that “checks all the boxes”. It truly can be a flexible and rewarding way to earn a living.
View original article at medium.com
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