Throughout my freelance career I've been told I need a niche and I've found it really difficult to just pick one thing, or one typel of client, or one industry.
I've written a blog post on how being a generalist or a 'Jack of all trades' could actually be a superpower.
I've been freelancing since 2017 and every time I've tried to niche it's been like flogging a dead horse.
What do you think? Are you on the side of niching or not?
I’ve spoken to loads of freelancers over the years about why they chose to do what they do and the one thing that keeps being mentioned is freedom.
For me I’d always wanted to be self employed, but I didn’t have the guts to do it until I was made redundant…. Then I’ve never looked back.
So what’s your reason? Is it freedom? To work with who you want on what you want when you want?
I love a good expo and my favourites in the UK are World of Learning and Learning Technologies. But here's the thing - they're pretty much geared towards organisations and buyers, not freelancers.
Which means if you rock up without a plan you're basically wandering around picking up free pens and eating someone else's sweets.
I've been going for a few years now and I've also been on the vendor side of the stand, which gives you a pretty different perspective on the whole thing. Those stands are bloody expensive so they're going to try their best to sell you their product.
When you go to industry expos or conferences, what are your go-to tips for making the most of it as a freelancer? Do you:
I've whipped up my own 10-tip survival guide https://ldfreespirits.com/tips-for-learning-technologies-expo/