Draft ECMA-262 / October 20, 2022

Could you be the first-ever Freelancer Magazine Guest Editor?

⭐️ FREELANCER MAGAZINE READER COMPETITION ⭐️
We're looking for our second Guest Editor from our reader community for Issue 10 (out July 2023).

To be in with a chance of winning, we’d like to know the theme you would have for your issue and why you think you’d be the best Guest Editor.

The winning Guest Editor for Issue 10 will:

• Win £500 prize money

• Have their theme used for the magazine

• Have their name and photo featured on the Editor’s page and write the Editor’s letter for the issue

• Take part in 2 x Zoom planning meetings with Sophie Cross to help choose the main topics and titles for the issue

• Suggest people and items they’d like to feature for our regulars: Newsletter Love, A Day in the Life, Top of the Shops, What We’re…

• Write two articles for the magazine

Enter by using the form below. The closing date for entries is midnight on 31st December 2022.

With a staggering 1,036,649 Linkedin followers, and over 296,000 Twitter followers, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of Hubspot, is the most influential person in SEO from the study. Prior to HubSpot, he was founder and chief executive officer of Pyramid Digital Solutions, a software company, and has published a number of books including Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google. 

In second place comes John Rampton, who is an entrepreneur, investor, and online marketing guru He is also founder of the online payments company Due and productivity company Calendar. 

He was recently named #2 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine and blogging Expert by Time, so it’s no surprise to see he has the highest number of Twitter followers from our study, with a staggering 1,257,792. 

With the highest number of Tweets in the study, third place goes to Pam Moore, founder of digital marketing agency, Marketing Nutz. Sharing her 25+ years’ experience with the world, Pam has composed 134,776 tweets, giving advice and industry views to her 285,548 followers. 

Two more influential females in SEO appear in the top 10, including founder of Zen Media Shama Hyder who comes in ninth place, and International SEO Consultant and founder of Orainti, Aleya Solis. Shama Hyder is most popular on Linkedin with an incredible 615,959 followers, while Aleyda Solis has a higher number of Twitter followers (125,110).  

Google’s very own Public Liason Officer, Danny Sullivan, is also in the top five, thanks to his impressive number of tweets (78,888) and Twitter followers (533,000). It’s probably no surprise to also see Google’s John Mueller further down the list, known in the SEO industry for sharing tips and dropping hints about what to expect next from Google. With the most Twitter mentions in our study, it’s clear his followers are keen to get his advice and opinions on the latest industry trends. 

Next up are two popular figures, Rand Fishkin and Neil Patel. Rand Fishkin is famously the founder of Moz while Neil Patel is the founder of Kissmetrics. Both figures are extremely popular on social media, especially Twitter, where they both have over 400,000 followers. When it comes to Linkedin Neil Patel has a substantially higher number of followers (453,000) while Rand Fishkin has 128,000.  

And, while Rand Fishkin is the most influential figure from Moz overall, Marketing Scientist, Dr Pete Myers is 12th on the list, followed by Julie Joyce from Linked Fish Media and Anne Smarty from Viral Bee Content.  

Further down, we see Gsquared Interactive’s Glenn Gabe, followed by Brian Dean from Banklink.io, a service which offers SEO and Link Building strategies to businesses and marketing professionals.  

With the lowest number of Tweets in the study (7,167) it’s possible that Brian Dean gives more advice via his subscription service, rather than social media.  

Marketing consultant, Shane Barker, and Former Hubspot CMO Mike Volpe are also among the most influential, and although Volpe has over 40,000 more Twitter followers than Barker, Barker tweets a lot more advice, with 82,147 posts overall.   

Last but not least, Will Reynolds from SEER Interactive makes the top 20, followed by Cyrus Shepard from Fazillion Media, both of whom are definitely worth a follow.  

The study was conducted by Rock The Rankings, which is dedicated to helping grow SaaS and B2B Tech companies with SEO-focused content marketing. 

To help you get connected, here are the Twitter Handles for each influencer in the top 20.

Our days are starting to have the look and feel of prepandemic life, but everything has changed – most of all us. How do we recalibrate? Penny Brazier investigates.

Restrictions have been lifted for a good few months, foreign travel is back, and the likelihood of another lockdown seems a distant prospect. Life is as close to pre-pandemic times as it has been so far, and yet, from where I’m standing, everything still feels pretty damn wobbly.

As a home-based copywriter, I’ve been able to keep working through most of the chaos, but while my fingers kept typing, my mental health slowly fizzled. This year, at last, there have been glimmers of lost energy returning, but it’s been slow and sticky progress.

Whatever our experience of the last few years has been, it’s going to take a while to piece ourselves back together. And when we do, I’m not sure anyone will be quite the same. So how is everybody else in freelance-land dealing with 2022 life? Does anybody have it figured out yet?

Getting people back together

Emma Bearman is the founder of Playful Anywhere, a not-for-profit that brings people together to connect and create, mostly in urban spaces. It’s a business with a cheerful surface and a serious purpose and relies heavily on the nuances of in-person human connection. Is it starting to feel better now we can hold events again?

“It is getting better slowly, although you have to plan events differently. You have to prepare for the fact that your plan A might not be the one you get to do,” says Emma.

“And we’re all more aware of each others’ needs. I work with associates and most of them have families, young children, older parents that need caring for. Everyone feels more stretched, people haven’t got their energy levels back yet. So while it is definitely getting better, and I am optimistic, there’s still a real sense of before and after.”

When I try to remember my “before” self, it feels a bit like peering down the wrong end of a telescope. There’s somebody there, but they’re far away and indistinct. A perky thing who posted regularly on social media, had thoughtful things to say, and confronted every working day with pluck and pep. The “after” self is a slower, sleepier, more lumbering thing, more apt to stare off into the distance, less likely to know what day it is. And while I’m mostly pleased with how my work is going, it seems to take me a hell of a lot longer to produce it than it used to.

A call-out on Twitter revealed a lot of freelancers are feeling the same. There’s definitely a restlessness that simply wasn’t there before – a distractibility, a battle to stay focused on our work. But why?

What happens when the work’s not working?

Tech writer Craig Wright wondered “if it’s the pandemic making me reassess what really matters. It kinda made me realise what I already knew – the only things really worthwhile in life are family (if you have a good ones!), friends, nature, exercise and refuelling. Everything else is just a way to fill time until you die, so try to fill it with more good stuff and less work.” A shift in priorities to focus on things that actually matter – that has to be a win?

Meanwhile copywriter Mel Barfield puts it down to the fact our nerves are basically shot: “My theory is that being on constant high alert along with WFH multitasking for so long during the early catastrophe times (remember when people were disinfecting their Tesco deliveries?) has left us unable to concentrate. It was all frazzle, no dazzle.”

As a fellow parent-of-young-children, this hits home. It feels like there’s still a bit of my brain simultaneously fretting about elderly family members, trying to remember the latest set of rules, and bracing myself for a child to start screaming in the next room. Anxiety is a constant background whirr, like a MacBook fan loudly reminding me that my tabs still haven’t quite been restored.

One freelance foot in front of the other

Like most of us, I could probably do with at least a month off on a sunny beach. But after two years of financial yo-yoing, taking a long break feels like something I can ill afford. If getting off the work treadmill isn’t an option right now, how do we keep ourselves going?

HR consultant Kirsten Smith says keeping up with the little things that do her good is keeping her afloat:

“I have to be bang on exercise, nutrition, time for myself and sleep to achieve proper productivity. Planning the day to day – nutritious meals, exercise, eight hours sleep, a bedtime routine for myself, meditation and time out, less screen time.”

This rings true for me. I recently signed up for a half marathon (highly out of character), which has forced me to put in place a good routine of eating, sleeping and getting away from my screen at lunchtime at least once every couple of days. It has lifted my overall mood, something I hadn’t anticipated. Neglecting my physical health over the last few years has probably been contributing to my general malaise – seems pretty bloody obvious now I think about it.

Making time for ourselves

But I don’t think it’s compulsory to lace up your running shoes to get back to yourself. It’s about choosing your favourite restorative activities – things that put you in the elusive “flow state” – and making time for them.

Brand strategist and writer Becca Magnus has been shielding for the last two years. She’s starting to get back out into the world, but it’s far from straightforward: ”Recovery from such a traumatic time is hard and definitely not linear. Walking helps – give the restlessness some physicality, feel it in my body, walk it out. I find making art helps too, putting my creativity into things that aren’t client work. It can feel like a luxury, a waste of time, but it’s anything but.”

It is so hard to get past that fear of not being productive to make space for those non-work activities that will help us feel better, and work better too. Even when we promise ourselves that we’ll get around to them, they often slip to the bottom of the list. We may understand that the answer lies in prioritising ourselves somehow, but in reality, we still need to (re)balance that against our other responsibilities.

What matters most? What can drop? What isn’t serving us anymore that we can move away from, to make time for what we actually need?

Start where you are

So perhaps it’s about building a new life that works better for us, whoever we are now. Since I started to accept that I may never fully return to that perky “before” at the wrong end of the telescope, things have started to feel a bit lighter. And, actually? Things might feel different, even difficult, but we’re doing ok. We’ve been through a lot, and we’re still here, hanging on.

As somebody whose work is rooted in finding happiness in messy and unexpected places, Emma agrees: “Ultimately, freelancers – whether we liked it or not – had a fragile existence even before the pandemic. Then we managed to come out of it, still here, maybe a bit bruised and battered, but we’re all still finding ways to keep creating value.”

Taking the unexpected and rolling with it. As freelancers, that’s what we do best. ●

This article was written in June 2020. The landscape of the pandemic may have changed again since going to print (although we really hope not). Wherever you are in the world, we hope you’re doing ok. Love from the Freelancer Magazine team.

Penny Brazier is a freelance writer and copy coach based in Leeds. She’s been freelance (this time around!) for four years and still enjoys being in full charge of the office stereo 100% of the time.

@penthemighty

Buy Freelancer Magazine Issue #6 - The Lets’s Get Together Edition.

Three leading universities in London are working with UnderPinned, an online platform for freelancers, in a first-of-a-kind partnership to support their students in commercialising their skills as they enter the increasingly hybridised workforce, it has been announced today.

These partnerships give around 22,200 students - at the University of the Arts London, London College of Communication, St Mary’s University Twickenham, and London Metropolitan - access to an innovative online platform which provides a ‘virtual office’, including tools to build a freelance portfolio, find and manage clients and projects, and produce invoices and contracts. Students can also participate in a Freelance Business Accelerator programme, a comprehensive online course with modules helping students learn how to price their work, pitch to clients, and build their portfolio.

Currently freelancers in the UK face barriers which are particularly challenging for young people, with research carried out by UnderPinned and the Small Business Commissioner finding that 41% of invoices are consistently paid late to freelancers, with up to 55% of freelancers having not been paid at all for work carried out. 

According to the latest ONS data, there are 4.1 million self-employed people, meaning those who run their business for themselves, making up around 14.8% of the UK’s workforce. The UK ranks second globally in terms of the proportion of its workforce that is self-employed, ahead of the US, Germany and France and behind only Italy. 

The latest available data, however, also shows people under the age of 24 represent only 3.8% of the UK’s self-employed. For comparison, those aged 50-54 make up 13.7% and ages 45-49 make up 13%. Analysis shows there is also a significant gender gap - with the self-employed in the UK made up of 65% men and 35% women. 

The aim of UnderPinned and the partnering universities is to enable UK graduates to equip themselves with the knowledge needed to build a business around their skills. This in turn will boost the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and support the drive to a more hybridised future of work built around a mix of full-time employees and freelance workers.

Albert Azis-Clauson, CEO of UnderPinned, said: “The UK is fundamentally bad at professional education. We produce some of the most skilled individuals in the world, but we fail to equip them with the knowledge or tools they need to build a business around their skills. 

“Our educational focus on getting people into full time employment is fundamentally damaging the opportunities of young people. Businesses are increasingly turning to freelancers and hybridised workers, but the self-employed are disproportionately older. Whether they go directly into freelancing or into a new form of hybridised employment, young people need to get access to the knowledge and tools to commercialise their skills in the modern world of work if they want to succeed. 

“It’s fantastic that London universities are recognising this fundamental shift away from traditional linear employment paths. The capital is one of the best places in the world to be an entrepreneur, but this is just the beginning - we plan to scale up and partner with universities right across the country to help give students from all backgrounds and of all ages the confidence to become freelancers – and to give companies access to the flexibility and skills of freelancers that could transform their business.”

Mandip Takhar, Placements Manager at University of the Arts London, London College of Communication, said: “Often, students entering higher education are conditioned to think that the goal is to graduate and find employment within a business or organisation, but this isn’t always the case and that’s why LCC’s partnership with UnderPinned is such a valuable one, because we have the same innovative and entrepreneurial way of thinking. The LCC and UnderPinned partnership celebrates the diversity of our students that applies beyond simply identifying their core skills sets: it extends to how best they can use these skills to broaden their appeal as independent creatives.

“Working with UnderPinned has enabled us to promote that the opportunity for our students to seek freelance work – whether during their studies or following their graduation –  can increase their appeal to employers in a way that captures their entrepreneurial drive and combines it with the ability to practice these skills within a ‘professional lens’.

“Not only do students gain a deeper understanding of their value as freelancers, they are also able to gain tangible experience and present this to future employers as a testament to their unique ability to seek out the work that matches their skills. UnderPinned’s offer has enhanced our approach in dealing with how we guide students and graduates into their desired line of work and help them to gain a deeper understanding into their value as creative freelancers in their chosen field of expertise.”

We’re so excited to have copywriting extraordinaire, Penny Brazier, joining us as Guest Editor for Issue 5 of Freelancer Magazine. Her winning theme: Freelance Reinvention, Transformation and Survival Against the Odds.

Here’s your chance to get to know our Guest Editor in just 30 questions…

1. What do you do? 

I’m a freelance copywriter and copy coach. I divide my time between writing for clients and running workshops and 1:1s for small business owners to help them nail their online messaging.

2. How long have you been freelancing?

This time around? Three years.

3. How did you get into freelancing?

I couldn’t bear another second in my in-house comms role! And, despite looking for years, I could never find another job at my level that I could flex around my family commitments. So back to self-employment I went.

4. What's the best thing about freelancing?

Being able to set my hours is still the best part. The novelty hasn’t worn off. That and having control over my career, regaining the ability to keep learning and keep earning. There was no career path that excited me in my in-house jobs. But the possibilities of freelancing excite me every day. No limits!

5. What have you found most challenging about freelancing?

I’ve found quiet months hard to deal with. It’s not easy to relax and trust that the work will come. I started doing my Mighty Messaging workshops and 1:1s as a way to maintain a steadier income and now they give me so much joy. Sometimes hard times force you into trying cool stuff and you end up in a better place than where you started.

6. When are you most productive?

After a strong cup of coffee. Whenever that happens.

7. How did you find out about Freelancer Mag?

I discovered Sophie through the #ContentClubUK community on Twitter a few years ago, so I’ve been following and getting excited about the magazine since the start.

8. How did you come up with the winning theme idea?

The big heart and soul stories in Freelancer Magazine are always my favourites, so I chose a theme that I hoped would bring more of the big emotional stuff out. I’m just a sap really. 

9. How did you feel when you found out you won the Guest Editor spot?

I did a big snotty cry for about five minutes before my other half could get out of me what had happened.

10. What have you enjoyed most about being Guest Editor?

Aside from getting to work with Sophie and having a nosey around behind the scenes, all of which I knew would be ace, it’s been the writing. It’s been brilliant. I haven’t written about things I care about this much for ages.

11. What have you found most challenging being Guest Editor?

Getting covid in the middle of proceedings!

12. What piece of work are you most proud of?

I’ve wanted to explore the topic of freelancer resilience for ages, so I’m really happy I got to cover that for this issue. I could have gone on for at least another ten pages!

13. If you could be another freelancer for a day, who would you be and why?

Emma Cownley. She’s got cool witchy stuff to play with in her office, I could try out all her eyeshadows, and I would be imbued with her awesome video-making and drumming skills.

14. What is success for you?

Time and space to create. Plus enough money to have a few nice things without worrying.

15. What piece of advice would you give to someone starting as a freelancer?

Get involved with freelancer communities, you’ll gain so much.

16. Cats or dogs?

Both, ideally.

17. Who is your inspiration and why?

Dolly Parton. Queen of getting good shit done.

18. What's your favourite biscuit?

I embrace all biscuits, even pink wafers, but those chocolate biscuit selection boxes you get at Christmas make me go weak at the knees.

19. Work from home or a cafe?

I mostly work from home, but I do pop into my co-working space (the beautiful Assembly Bradford) from time to time. I live in Leeds, but it’s worth the commute.

20. What scares you?

Unpaid invoices.

21. What’s your hobby?

I persist in bothering the Leeds music scene by playing in multiple bands.

22. Print or digital version of Freelancer Mag?

Print allll the way.

23. What’s your favourite podcast?

I wish I was more consistent with podcasts. The one I tune in to religiously is Doing It For The Kids.

24. What book are you reading at the moment?

The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr – it’s excellent.

25. Sunrise or sunset?

Sunset. Preferably somewhere spectacular, with friends.

26. Tea or coffee?

Yes please.

27. What’s your favourite film?

The Shining. I like scary, and I like ‘70s.

28. How do you start your day?

Like everyone else in 2022, with Wordle.

29. What other area of freelancing would you love to try?

I’ve become obsessed with photography and have been doing a few shoots for mates. If there was a way to bring that into the business, that might be fun.

30. What’s the one thing you’d like to achieve by the end of 2022?

To have written more of my own stuff.

Here are the top 15 copywriting websites our Editor, Sophie Cross, refers to again and again when she’s writing and how she uses them…

1. Otter

A go-to for transcribing interviews and for videos. Say, if a client sends over a video to refer to or you want to copy a video script structure. Simply press record on Otter, play on the vid, put your feet up and feel like a genius.

2. Deck of Brilliance

The only tools you'll ever need to breathe life into your creative processes. It can help you face that blank page and looming deadline with a bit more confidence.

3. Grammarly

For spelling, grammar and sentences that don't make that much sense. You won't agree with all the suggestions but that's part of the "fun".

Premium is definitely worth it but give cancelling your existing subscription a try as you may get a sweet 'please don't go' deal.

4. Power Thesaurus

The best thesaurus, wordbook, synonym dictionary, book that sounds like a dinosaur.

6. Google Images

Bookmarked as a reminder to use for inspiration when coming up with ideas around a topic, see what people are searching for and what's trending >> Google IMAGES.

7. Google Trends

And, more obviously (but isn't the obvious always so easy to forget?) >> Google Trends.

8. Free SEO Tools

SEO, baby. Moz have collected the 60 best free SEO tools. Thank you, Moz.

9. Headline Analyser

You've spent ages on an article or blog, it really is worth spending time on the headline to entice people to read it.

11. Word Frequency Calculator

A really handy tool for really being able to see how many times you've really used the same word. Like really.

12. Only The Questions

Haven't found a proper useful use for this one yet, but our Editor likes it. Cut and paste text to extract only the questions.

13. Hemingway Editor

Highlights parts of your work to edit or change to increase its quality and readability.

14. Read Aloud Function

Windows shortcut:

Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter - Start or stop narrator

Mac shortcut:

Press the specified keyboard shortcut (the default key combination is Option-Esc).

15. Words to Time Calculator

Find out how long it will take you to read a script. Converts number of words, lines and pages into how long the audio will last.

16. Naming Something

This guide is an on-going open source attempt to organize the best tools and resources for naming things.

17. Text Sniper

Extract text from images and other digital documents on your screen.

Latasha James is based in Detroit, Michigan, and is an online educator and content creator in the marketing space. She now mainly spends her time helping social media managers to build their businesses and refine their craft.

We asked Latasha what makes a great social media manager, the best and worst things about the role and she shared the advice she’d give to someone starting out as a freelance social media manager.

How did you get into being a social media manager?

I started being a social media manager around 2015, working for a non-profit and then a corporate. I started side hustling and started getting serious with it in 2017. I've been full-time freelance for the past three years.

Now, I'm mainly an educator for other social media managers. I still do some client work to have a pulse on the industry, but it's a much smaller part of what I do.

What does a social media manager do?

The role can really vary. In general, it's to prepare the content calendar for a brand, schedule posts, do community management and engage with the audience.

It's questionable when they become video editors, designers, customer service people, etc. It will depend on what you're good at, what you want to do, the brand's needs, and the team's size.

What makes a great social media manager?

Attention to detail is my number one. Then, be in tune with the digital space - paying attention and keeping up to date with trends, the latest news, and pop culture. It's hard to be unplugged and do your job well. And creativity - take risks, try new things, go for it.

How do you market yourself?

It's a combination of inbound and outbound marketing. Inbound primarily comes from my posting on YouTube. I post high-value videos consistently on that channel. I love it because it's long-form and not as fleeting as other channels.

For outbound, I've used Upwork for years on and off as a backup, I go to networking events, and word of mouth and referrals are also a big part of my pipeline.

What are the best things about being a social media manager?

If you love the space and the internet, you get to be online all the time, which is fun. It's very creative and very social, so if that's your thing, that's great. Whether you work for yourself or are employed, it's also a very remote-friendly role. You can work from anywhere you have a laptop.

What are the worst things?

You have to be connected all the time. It's hard to unplug and hard to get a work-life balance. If you like being online as a form of entertainment, then it's challenging to find where the line is.

How do you keep the love for what you do?

It's essential for any creative person to have passion projects. Things they do just for them. That's how my blog and YouTube channel started for me. It helped me stay in tune with what was going on in digital in a way that felt authentic for me. Maybe your passion project will grow into something that could become a business for you one day.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be strict with your boundaries and set working hours. I was the first freelancer in my family, so I didn't know people who could advise me on taking calls at night or working on the weekend. When you reply to emails late, you set a precedent, and it becomes an expectation. 

I'd also have raised my rates earlier. Any freelancer I speak to could benefit from this. It's all part of it to go through these experiences, to build up and create your processes, but I wish I'd done them a bit sooner.

What advice would you give to someone starting out as a social media manager?

Just start. This applies to anything.

I hear people say, 'I don't know how to do Facebook Ads', 'I don't know how to use Google Analytics, "I haven't used this scheduling tool'. Just dive, you probably won't break anything, and it's the best way to learn.

Use your accounts or create a passion project as a testing platform for you. I use my personal brand as a guinea pig, so I don't have to use clients' channels to test things. Get in there and then cross-reference and backup with YouTube videos, courses and education.

Find Latasha atlatashajames.com.

Hannah Lawrence is a freelance French to English translator and copywriter. After eight years living in London, she’s now based back home in New Zealand.

We asked Hannah about how she got into being a translator, the best and worst thing about being freelance, and the advice she’d give to someone starting out as a freelance translator.

What does a translator do?

A translator translates texts from one language into another. (Not to be confused with an interpreter, who deals with the spoken word). Rather than simply swapping out one word for another, it’s a case of understanding the message of the French and coming up with a way of getting that across in natural English.

How did you get into being a translator and how long have you been doing it?

Translation seemed like the perfect fit with my skills and interests. And being in the UK, with France just across the ditch, it actually seemed like a genuine career. So I dusted off my French and headed back to uni. I finished my Masters in translation in summer 2019 and launched myself into freelance life right away, combining my marketing knowledge and copywriting skills with translation work.

It’s now been two years. It hasn't been easy but I’ve given it my all. And I even won the Institute of Translation and Interpreting Best Newcomer – Freelancing Award, so I must be doing something right! And I just love that I’m paid to grapple with words and language every day.

Who was your first client and how did you get them?

My first translation client was a UK-based translation agency and I landed them after taking part in a competition they ran on Twitter. That brought me to their attention and that very afternoon they contacted me about a job.

How do you market yourself?

Through social media, my website (including a portfolio and blog), and networking and training events through industry bodies like the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. I also have a profile on various websites such as ProCopywriters.

Several of my direct clients have found me through LinkedIn or Google, or have listed a job on LinkedIn which I’ve applied to. The wonderful community of copywriters and translators I’ve got to know through social media has also proved a great place to find or pass on work or clients.

What are the best things about freelancing?

Being able to choose which projects I work on, and which clients I work with. Being able to choose my own hours. Oh, and being able to just go ahead and create and publish my own content without it needing to go through various rounds of approval.

What are the worst things about freelancing?

Not being able to switch off. Feeling the need to be at the top of your game all the time.

How do you keep the love for what you do?

Sometimes, like when I’m trying to get to the bottom of what an especially vague French text is actually saying, I do have to remind myself that I chose this career! In those times, I guess I try to remember the fun projects I’ve worked on. Or how great that eureka moment feels, when I’ve come up with the perfect way of putting something in English. Along with any opportunity to use puns.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting out as a translator?

Do it. It’s not easy. But if you love working with words and across cultures, it’s incredibly rewarding. Don’t be put off by the doomsayers who say machine translation, AI, or Brexit mean there will be less need for human translation.

There is work out there and with the amount of content being published continuing to rise, it’s not going anywhere. The key is positioning yourself in areas that will see increased demand. For me, this means SEO translation, transcreation, and marketing translation.

Find Hannah at hannahtranslates.com.

Angela Lyons has been freelancing in graphic design for over 10 years and is Freelancer Magazine’s very own Creative Lead.

We asked Angela about how she got into graphic design, the best and worst thing about being freelance, and the advice she’d give to someone starting out as a freelance graphic designer.

What started your interest in graphic design?

I trained in Product Design at Central St Martin’s, and every time I had to show my work, I got positive feedback about my graphics and visual presentation. When I left, I started an internship in Habitat’s merchandising department, thinking that I would be a product designer, but again I started leaning towards graphics.

A guy who worked there in packaging designs used to let me play around on his Mac and said I should do a graphic design course, so I did.

What was your first job in graphic design?

A local company came looking for an intern while I was taking my evening graphic design course at a local college. This was my first ever magazine design work: the publication was Tractor Resale! It might not have been a glamourous title, but I learnt all about the print process, including plates and inks. They only paid for my lunch and bus pass, but luckily I was still living at home.

How did you make the move to freelance?

From Wardour, I moved to a software company. I got more money, had less responsibility, and worked just three days a week, but I hated it. There was no creativity and they had very strict corporate guidelines. It made me miserable, so I left after five months.

It was at this point I decided to go freelance. My husband encouraged me to do it, and so did my friends. I had my two children by this point too, which meant I wanted a bit more flexibility with my working hours.

How did you get your first clients?

I got one job through a recruitment agency, but apart from that, every client has come from people I’ve worked with within the past or by word of mouth.

What’s the best and worst thing about being freelance?

The best is when you feel like part of a team and are given recognition. And of course, the flexibility with work and time.

The worst thing is when clients ask, “Can you just photoshop this quickly?” “Can you just fit this in? It’ll only take a minute.” It never takes a minute…

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting as a graphic designer?

Keep your eye on the world of design, follow inspirational people and progressive companies on Instagram/online. I look at lots of magazines to keep up to date with design.

Build your portfolio. College can only teach you so much, and people want to see your creativity.

Find Angela at angelalyons.com.

Andy Smith has been a freelance photographer for 14 years and travels all over the world for his clients.

We asked Andy how he got his first client, how he finds inspiration and he shared the advice he’d give to someone starting out as a freelance photographer.

Who was your first client and how did you get them?

It was a chain of Indian and Pakistani restaurants in Yorkshire, where I’m from. It was one of my favourite places to eat, and I contacted the owners and asked if I could photograph one of the restaurant interiors and staff while they were working.

I said I’d do it for nothing, but if they liked the images and decided to use them, would they consider paying me to do the same at the other restaurants. They agreed, and it went from there.

I photographed all 12 of their restaurants as well as staff at work and portraits. I planned each visit so that I arrived a few hours before evening service. This meant the light outside was really nice, so I could photograph the restaurant exterior looking its best. A great client, and to be honest, I’d have just done it for the curry.

How do you market yourself?

I have a website portfolio with my work on it, and I try to keep in front of relevant people without being too annoying. It’s a combination of different methods, including email marketing, social channels, print mailers and word of mouth.

With a name like mine, you really need a logo, so I use that to help people recognise me and my work. It’s not one thing that works, and it takes time, so all of these tactics combined and a lot of patience.

Contacting people directly works well on some channels and not so well on others, so choosing how to reach people and where can make a difference.

What’s the best and worst thing about freelancing?

The best thing is lots of cycling in my spare time. Monday mornings are not so bad, and it doesn’t always feel like work.

The worst thing I’ve found is planning life around work. Over the years, I’ve missed Christmas, weddings, birthdays and family visits. The other thing is feeling isolated at times, and it’s easy to doubt yourself when you’re working alone, and things are quiet. I’m not sure I’ve ever learnt how to deal with that, to be honest.

How do you get inspiration/keep the love for what you do?

I love looking at old documentary photography and films. Travel keeps me interested as well. And 40-50% of my portfolio is stuff I’ve shot for pleasure. I’m doing a personal project with a boxer at the moment and trying out equipment that I haven’t used before, which I would never do on a client project.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Remember that photography is a business, and not everyone is as invested in your business as you are.

Try not to take it personally.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting as a photographer?

I’m going to borrow some lyrics from Baz Luhrmann’s Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - ‘the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.’

Or in other words, it’s a long game, so plan, be patient and don’t get distracted by what other people are doing.

Find Andy at andysmithphoto.com.

Probably the best thing about coworking as a freelancer is creating that separation between work and home life. We asked our readers where their favourite spaces to cowork are in Scotland, here’s what they told us…