About

What is BlackFreelance?

Community…to connect and support BlackFreelancers around the world with all the freelance questions and concerns that pop up

Resources…a site full of articles, a strategic framework, marketing guidance, and more

Real Perspectives…as told through the BF Podcast

Evolution…through the BlackFreelance Academy focus on being a better CEO, CMO, and COO of your freelance business

 

About BlackFreelance

BlackFreelance centers the experience of the Black freelancer, practicing or aspiring, regardless of skill, age, education or career level, or financial goals. It positions freelancing as a tool in life improvement, not an end on its own. It’s an action-focused platform that emphasizes individual reflection and the importance of practice, habits, and discipline in improving the lives of Black freelancers.

Black labor has been historically and systemically undervalued, and too many online business spaces fail to address Black experiences either in the workplace or in entrepreneurial materials. BlackFreelance is centered around the experience of working independently while Black, and addressing challenges and opportunities particular to those efforts (accessing the proper networks, online presence questions, communication, leveraging education and experience, etc.)

All races of people are welcome here, but resources and interactions will be centered around Black experiences.

BlackFreelance is biased toward B2B work that takes full advantage of remote, location-independent opportunities.

 

Mission

To serve as a long-term, communal resource for Black people taking or considering the journey of freelance work for our financial, mental, and social well-being, and provide support, education, resources, and networking to help us in meeting our goals.

 

Beliefs

• A person’s career does not fall on an independent/employment binary. In the modern work economy, most of us will flow in and out and combine variations of both across our lives. This will become a necessary skill as the global economy matures.
• Freelancing as discussed on BlackFreelance is defined by four traits
  • A lack of commitment to one organization. Variations like “permalancing” are just employment with fewer benefits are not true freelancing.
  • Custom solutions. You’re creating work that’s specific to each customer’s needs.
  • A lack of scalability. Freelance work doesn’t scale. At some level, you’re trading hours for dollars. Scalability inches closer to the entrepreneurship end of the spectrum.
  • Translation to employment. Your work has an employed counterpart. 
• Independent work holds the potential to address many of the issues that Black workers face across the globe. This is because of the opportunity to practice distance management from racialized interview processes and workplaces and the increased opportunity to choose where we work and how we live our lives.
• “Low-friction” freelancing is critical to meeting the needs of most black freelancers. At BlackFreelance, finding the intersection of peace and profitability is prioritized over capitalizing on passion.
• Mainstream independent work/freelance resources do not address the particular needs and opportunities that Black freelancers encounter.
• The Internet holds particular opportunities for Black freelancers to take advantage of business growth and innovation.
• Independent work and freelancing are fundamental to the way we live. They require special types of communities and self-care.
• Black independent workers can interact fluidly in multiple cultural spaces, Black or non-Black.
• The business of successful, “strategic freelancing” can be learned by almost anyone who is willing to play the long-term game.
• All Blackness, regardless of nationality, belief system, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or physical or mental health or ability should be openly welcomed and supported in independent workspaces.
• Launching any type of business endeavor requires support and safety nets and that neither of those are fairly distributed.

 

About Me

I’m Megan and I keep BlackFreelance running. I launched this platform because it’s what I wanted and honestly needed when I started life as a freelancer.

I’ve invested large amounts of time and money being coached, reading, and learning about freelancing and wanted to bring similar resources to you in a way that will allow you to see what it’s really like to freelance without taking as many of the risks or making the mistakes that I did. I want to see more Black people leveraging freelancing to improve their lives, and I’m here to make your journey around freelancing as easy as possible.

I have a long history in online entrepreneurship — from my first shot at an online writing business in 2001, to a niche print and digital publication, shopping tools, and multiple blogs. Some have been for profit, some solely for the love of a community. Some I built completely on my own, others took months of research and collaboration with designers and developers. Some have reached their goals, some haven’t, but all were learning experiences. I am continually educating myself on freelancing and business environments.

My formal education includes an MBA which has both helped and hindered my entrepreneurial life. I work full-time as a content strategist and freelance business writer and have been featured on MakeALivingWriting.com as well as served as a panel member for Copyblogger’s Authority program.

Before I became a full-time independent worker, I spent a little over a decade in corporate America. I believe deeply in the potential of independent work to change the lives and careers of Black people around the world and in multiple industries, mostly because it completely changed mine.