Join in if you are self-employed and work from home

Purpleroses

Purpleroses wrote: »

[STRIKE]finish samples[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]call supplier[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]call courier[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]call dyers[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]reply to emails that came in this morning[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]update accounts,[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]send any reminder invoices[/STRIKE]
make a start on the 100 promotional packs i have to send out. oh lord thats going to take ages!
[STRIKE]wash floor of shop for clients coming in aftenoon[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]
pack and parcel 3 orders ready for posting tomorrow morning

[/STRIKE]

phew what a busy day. another client for the books today and a go ahead from the designer so we opened some champagne! Think i've done enough for one week so will leave the rest until monday.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

moneymabel

great news purpleroses!!! Congratulations to you

BusyLizzie_3

Thought I'd join in with this great thread, thank you Wordsmith for starting it. I've recently started working as a freelance editor and proofreader, on a very part-time basis at least until my youngest child starts school in September. I worked in-house for an academic publisher for 12 years until I decided not to return after maternity leave with my youngest (three children under two and the childcare costs were way more than my salary), and it feels great to be earning some money again, however little! Just a quick question for the other editors and proofreaders on this thread - are any of you members of the SFEP and do you think it's a worthwhile thing to do in terms of finding new clients? I'm quite tempted by their 'Going Freelance and Staying There' course, but it would be quite a big investment for me in the light of my earnings.

tyllwyd

BusyLizzie wrote: »

... Just a quick question for the other editors and proofreaders on this thread - are any of you members of the SFEP and do you think it's a worthwhile thing to do in terms of finding new clients? ...

I'm a legal/academic editor and I've been freelance since 2000. I've looked at the SFEP and wondered about it, but like you say it's a quite a big investment compared to the amount I earn. For me, I haven't found that I need to spend much time to look for clients - I sent my cv out when I first started out, and after a couple of years it settled down to four or five clients. It's changed a few times since then as publishers have been taken over etc but I've always had as much work as I needed without having to go and seek it out. The best source of work is personal recommendation - keep in touch with your old colleagues, and when they move to new companies you might find that you have a new client. I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences though.

Wordsmith

Welcome Demonloop and BusyLizzie.

Good on you, Purpleroses. I hope the champagne is going (went?) down well.

BusyLizzie and Tyllwyd, I would definitely recommend the SFEP (www.sfep.org.uk). It is a professional body and therefore so much more than a vehicle for getting work, although it can be useful for that, too. If you are aiming to work for publishers, the SFEP will be well known to all of them and being a member will help them see that you mean business - it may even be that if they have a choice of two editors they will pick the SFEP member. A number of publishers are corporate members of the society. SFEP courses are very good, and they have a mentoring scheme for new proofreaders. You can also become accredited through them and this too will help towards getting work. They have an annual directory that you can advertise in, although I don't know how much work you would get through this. They have an annual conference where you can meet other members and attend useful talks, and a monthly newsletter. In addition, you can subscribe to receive emails from other members, which can be useful for finding out answers to queries on all aspects of the work.

You might also find www.electriceditors.net a useful resource.

Seaxwyn

Hi there

Busylizzie, I am another freelance writer and editor and I had never even heard of SFEP till lately. Like tyllwyd, I have found the best route for getting work is personal contacts and recommendations. I've got all my work this way and never been short of work in 14 years of freelancing.

I feel a bit of a fraud on this thread now as I have just taken on a two-day-a-week contract which involves mainly working in the client's office. They gave me the choice of working at home but I opted to work mainly there, partly as it will be easier working with colleagues etc but also as I find it so hard to clock up an 8 hour day at home. Working at home is fine if you are very focussed and disciplined, but focussing on work is something I have never cracked.

BusyLizzie_3

Thank you, Tyllwyd and Wordsmith. My former company was a corporate member of the SFEP, and I went on several of their courses and an annual conference some years ago when I was a young sub-editor. I know they're really the only professional body for the freelance industry, and that the networking/training opportunities would be very helpful, just not quite decided whether I can justify the cost of joining and taking training at this early stage of my freelance career. My youngest child is at nursery 2.5 hours a day, so I'm hoping to expand my work and client list once she is at full-time school in September. That might be the time to review joining the SFEP. Wordsmith - may I ask if you have gone down the accreditation route?

Tellywd, thank you for your comments too. My work is coming mostly from my former colleagues at the moment, but I'm starting to make contact with other colleagues who have moved companies in the last few years, it's all quite daunting, but I definitely need to build up my client list.

BusyLizzie_3

Don't feel a fraud Seaxwyn! Isn't that the joy of being freelance, being able to choose your work, and choose where to work? Two days a week in the client's office sounds perfect to me, and still allows you time to carry on working for your other clients. Glad to hear that you've never found yourself short of work - did you start off life working in house too?

Wordsmith

Ooh, no, Seaxwyn, not a fraud at all. After all, you're still freelancing aren't you? Well done on getting the contract, by the way. A regular income will help no end. Presumably you will continue with freelancing? Are you looking forward to going in-house?

I agree that the best way of getting work is by word of mouth - and so much more satisfying to know that someone has appreciated you enough to pass your name on.

Actually, I have to confess to not being a member of the SFEP at the moment - I just can't find the money for it. And, no, I'm not accredited. But I do still think it is a worthwhile organisation to belong to for many reasons apart from a way of getting work. I'm sure lots of people would say, "Can you afford not to be a member?"

Incidentally, have you thought of working for non-publishers? Every organisation that prints anything can do with a proofreader (the difficulty lies in persuading them that they need one!).

Seaxwyn

Yes still self-employed..

I don't work for publishers per se. Most of my clients are charities or NGOs, and one or two local authorities. They all publish vast volumes of stuff, and need writers and editors. My clients probably haven't heard of SFEP either - personal recommendation is definitely what they trust.