A few months ago I received a review copy of “My So-Called Freelance Life” by Michelle Goodman.   Because of all I have going on it took me a while to read through it.   When I did get time, though it read like the voice of a trusted friend who has walked the road of self-employment for many years telling me all the pitfalls to avoid and “must-dos” if I wish to succeed.   With flat out honesty and a snarky writing style (remember the trusted friend who tells it like it is part?) Goodman teaches you how to leave the cube farm and make it work.

As I read the book, though I started feeling like in today’s environment employees need to adopt a freelance mindset just as much as the self-employed business owner needs to.   With the days of lifetime employment with a cushy pension long gone, all professionals need to tap into their inner entrepreneur if they want a thriving career.

In fact Goodman shares this herself in an article on her blog “What pink-slipped employees can learn from freelancers” excerpted from her column on ABC News:

I’ve been through financial fallouts before as a freelancer. OK,
maybe not the “worst financial crisis since the Depression.” But I was
self-employed when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, taking much of my
freelance work with it, and after 9/11, when many staff and freelance
budgets vanished seemingly overnight. Both times, I spit-polished my
resume, hit the online highway and came up with a new set of clients
and projects.

And while I know that the rapid-fire freelance job hunt can’t
compare to the umpteen weeks and financial and emotional toll that
looking for a staff position takes, I can’t help but think that
full-time job hunters could learn a trick or two from their scrappier
self-employed counterparts.

In an economic climate like this, you can’t entrust your fate to the employers and hiring managers. Not when you have a mortgage to pay and
a family to feed. You have to be proactive, flexible, enterprising,
even bootstrapping.

In short, you have to operate like a free agent.

For me the biggest mindset shift came not when I started my business part-time but years ago when I was an employee looking for a career change from accounting and auditing to, well anything else.   A consultant told me I needed to adopt the mindset of being CEO of You, Inc.   From that moment forward my life changed.   Since that pivotal conversation over 12 years ago, the business climate has changed so much that it is no longer a cutting edge mindset to adopt it is absolutely critical if you plan on having any sort of successful career – employed or flying solo.

Whether you are looking for new clients or a new job, you need to get honest with yourself – Would You Hire You? :

So, take some time to consider the way you come across to potential
clients. Ask yourself if you were the person doing the hiring, Would
you hire you? If the answer is anything other than, “Yes, absolutely,”
you need to make some changes.

Self-promotion gets a bad wrap, especially for women.   If a woman toots her own horn she is almost instantly pegged a bitch or arrogant.   There just is a double standard and this year it played out on a very public stage. Yet self-promotion is exactly what the world needs now and what you need to thrive. But why is it so hard?

The world isn’t hungering for more super
models or crying out for manicured lawns and good hair. The world
doesn’t need more perfection. We need more humanity.

And there’s nothing like self promotion for bringing one face to face with one’s own humanity.

Hey, Could You Turn that Light Down? Self promotion shines a light on
the things we want to share with the world, and, in the process, it’s
illuminates things we’d rather not advertise.

That’s a good thing.

For every accomplishment we can claim with pride, there’s bound to
be a corresponding flaw, error, or oversight. For every strength, there
will be a weakness. There will be instances of our failure to live up
to our own standards.

Conscious self promotion requires us to accept ourselves as we are
without defense or justification. And it won’t let us get away with
delaying life and work until we get one more certificate, one more
degree, one more insight.

In the end, I believe this excerpt from Goodman’s epilogue in “My So-Called Freelance Life” sums it up:

So don’t worry about what Martha Stewart or Steve Jobs would do — here’s a better list of freelancer goals to aspire to: Be true to yourself. Work when and how and with whom you want. Treat your clients well. Charge what you’re worth. Keep setting new goals for yourself. Branch out into new niches. Learn new tricks and acquire new skills. Plant your ass in the chair and make time to refine your craft. Read interviews with your career heroes. Follow the news of your field. Take classes on anything that excites you.   Go to book readings, art exhibits, rock shows, or whatever else inspires you. Rub elbows with like minded indie professionals at happy hours and conferences. Make new freelance friends – even with competitors. Encourage, cajole, and collaborate. Celebrate your wins. Learn from your defeats, but don’t dwell on them. And above all, remember to have fun.

Paula Gregorowicz, owner of The Paula G. Company, offers life coaching for lesbians who are ready to create their lives and businesses in a way that fits who they are rather than how they were told they “should”. Visit http://www.thepaulagcompany.com and get the free eCourse “How to Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin” and start taking charge of your own success.