Working for someone whose mission and attitude you love: You can’t buy that kind of client. You can’t bill for that kind of client. You can’t plan that kind of client.
But to have that kind of client makes working a journey and a discovery, instead of a drag or a slog.
So how do you give yourself the gift of meaningful work? After all, you’re freelancing: YOU get to choose, right?
The truth is, sometimes yes and sometimes no.
When I began freelancing, my first client looked like a winner. This woman was a pearl with an artistic side-business and an elderly-care front business, and she talked shop like family. She just wanted to invite everybody in to the little shindig of her life, and pals was the catchword.
My job was a slightly unorthodox mix of promotion and some on-site care for the owner of the client’s apartment complex.
The bastard-blend of work could have been a warning. At this point in my career, I would call it a definite red flag. If my job is not clear as new paint, and carefully relegated to writing, branding, coaching, or social media support, I have come to expect blurry boundaries, arguments about rate, and increasing expectations as to my involvement and responsibility without increased pay.
It was no red-flag at the time. I was also a little starving on the work-frontier.
At the end of it, I got physically ill. But I also cut ties professionally and completely. What I didn’t cut was lingering awkwardness, and the fact that I was renting from said client’s client.
Awkward, yes. Uncomfortable, yes. Predictable? Avoidable? Probably not.
NOT MEANINGFUL WORK. NOT HEALTHY WORK.
The one thing I could have changed was my attitude of scarcity: that desperation that says take anything now you won’t make it you may not deserve better.
My next gig was better. It came about not through starving, but through a friendship and referral. All right, I was in dire straits. But I didn’t approach it as a kid in dire straits; I approached it like a manager interviewing a new employee. Did I fit with this company? Were they teachable? Did they want to work with me, not pal around?
Most importantly: Did I resonate with their mission and business practice?
Personally, I cannot do branding work for a client whose mission or voice clash with mine. It may be a universal rule of freelancing that good work is like a good marriage — compatibility and willingness to trust and communicate — but it is definitely a personal freelance rule for me.
Did I resonate? Yes. Was it a perfect fit? No, we talked it out. Was their mission meaningful and authentic? Yes.
Do I love exploring the content they promote, hawking their courses across social media, and teaching their staff how to navigate blogging? Absolutely yes.
I could not have planned this gig if I tried. What I could do, and did, was own my voice, own my boundaries, respect my value — and remain open to the next opportunity.
You may not be able to plan the work that feels like play, exploration, or relationship, but you can do these three things to get in its way:
1. Know what you do, do what you do, and take clients who want what you do.
2. CHOOSE. Don’t dive for a gig out of desperation or wont. There is no scarcity of work. Scarcity is fear in disguise, and it’s an attitude.
3. Continue to develop YOUR voice. Without self-development, you won’t know if you’ve connected with a client who resonates or not. You won’t have the chance to choose. You’ll lose your voice in the slog of someone’s brand.
So how do you find that sweet-spot of meaningful work? Look out for it, expect it, and no — you can’t plan it. But enjoy it when you get it — one good gig leads to another, as they say; and having a good time (or enjoying a good job) means giving a good time (and doing a good job).
C.J. Williams 