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Hello everyone,
My name is Whitney. A month ago I quit my job and left my industry in sports & entertainment. A mentorship in real estate investment fell through and now I’m left to my own devices. I’m a jack of all trades but my strength is in sales and marketing. In my last role I was handling marketing for a 10k seat arena creating and distributing press releases, managing social media, email campaigns, and the website in addition to selling premium seating and hospitality. I also tutor students with their writing skills. I would like to focus on a niche, but I have a lot of strengths and interests.
My goal is to provide myself solely from freelancing and never return to a cubicle again.
Thank you!
Hi Whitney!
You’ve got a lot you can work with! What type of freelancing/skillset are you interested in? The real estate and sports niches have a lot going on in them. Your specialization in sports venues could be REALLY interesting on the B2B side (targeting suppliers, seat manufacturers, security companies, etc.)
Megan
Thanks Megan! I want to stick with marketing and sales. I currently have a B2C client and it’s not my most favorite thing. In my industry I always worked B2B so there was a sense of urgency with everything that i’m missing now! But…its some quick money coming in while helping a friend 🙂
Hey Everyone,
My name is Chelsea Hamlet. I’ve been freelancing for about a year now but I’m looking to recalibrate my target audience, services, and skills. I’m feeling all over the place so I’m looking to gain clarity in my business and overall career.
It’s a pleasure to meet everyone virtually.
Sincerely,
Chelsea 🙂
Hello Everyone!
My name is Karyn and I just joined today after about a month of perusing Black Freelance’s blog and Twitter account. I’m very happy to be here. I’m an attorney and I am in the process of rebuilding/sorting out my law practice after some time away. I have been making ends meet by taking on what are known as document review projects through staffing agencies and I’m looking to get away from that as it typically involves 9 to 5 work in some form of cubicle and not really using any of my skill sets as a lawyer. I have been fortunate enough to get to use my language skills (French and German) on some of these projects so I’m looking for a way to kind of blend these two skills (legal and language) in some type of freelancing career as I work on rebuilding/sorting out my practice. I am very much interested in the freelance model of work because I believe in being strategic (and discrete) in terms of how POC secure employment opportunities and the more we can have control over this process, the better. I don’t know if anyone watches The Blacklist, but I find the main character’s way of working (kind of in the shadows, not advertising everywhere, going after opportunities directly, having a specific clientele) intriguing and, as a black woman, I’m looking to explore this more. So, while I’m re-calibrating and trying to figure out which style of work suits me best, I hope to get to know you better and contribute to the forums in any way that I can. Thanks!
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This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by
Karyn.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by
AnonymousHi all,
My name is Dee and I joined here after following @BlackFreelance for a few months on Twitter and devouring all the blog posts on the website. I am transitioning out of my current job as a photo editor and am finally (finally) ready to take the plunge and work for myself as a photographer and photo editor. My specialties are food and portrait photography, using natural light.
In the past, I’ve been frustrated by attempts to freelance and I think my problem was I was trying to do be all things to all people rather than focusing more specifically on what I can offer to potential clients. I’m eager to break out of my current 9 to 5 (which is more like a 9 to 10 or 9 to midnight or 9 to 4am the next morning) and start working for myself. I think I am experiencing severe burnout (and on top of that low pay) and I’d rather quit now than wait for things to get worse. I’m looking forward to trying to get at least one or two clients lined up before I leave my current job at the end of next month.
Hello,
I am AJ (@fromajwithlove). I am a writer, poet, editor, and educator. I write about all things Black culture (Love, relationships, music, politics, etc.).
From AJ With Love
Hey folks,
I joined the site about a month ago. I first became interested in freelancing and “side hustling” about 2 years ago. I’ve recently taken serious steps in launching a passion project, but I’m still trying to decide what my chief freelance gig will be, which, hopefully, will align with what my career has been based on for the past 6 years.
I have a biopharma background, including experience working in microbiology labs and blood banks. I’m currently a quality assurance manager for a plasma donation center (I can see the furrowed brows of people reading this now, lol) and have been in the plasma industry for nearly 5 years. I have two industry certifications relating to quality improvement and quality auditing. Though I have ideas of what I’d like to offer as services and to who (probably B2B; thanks, Megan), I’m not sure if they’d be lucrative or how I’d even go about marketing them or even validating the idea(s).
Anyhoo, I plan to devour the resources here and hopefully connect with and learn from y’all as we navigate this journey to financial independence!
–Brittaney
Hello all,
I’m chrstnalxndra – Christina Alexandra. I am a trained writer but new to Freelancing. I have been writing on my blog chrstnalxndra.com for a while however, I wanted to move into Freelancing since I am unsatisfied in my job and I have a ton of skills that I never have the opportunity to use as an admin professional. My Bachelor’s degree is in English Writing & Rhetoric and I have a minor in Professional & Academic writing from Pepperdine University. I am also a photographer and graphic designer. I am also currently studying digital marketing and social media management.
My blog is focused on self-development and growth. However, I have interest in technology and pop-culture. I want to transition into part-time freelancing and then full-time so I can focus on my brand and freelancing career. I currently want to use my freelancing career to supplement my income.
I’m hoping to develop my niche, skillset, and my clienle throught the academy.
Become your best self.
Hello!
My name is Verdell. I’m looking to use my writing and editing skills to create income for myself. I’ve created content for non-profits around social justice and religious issues for over five years. I also edit academic work.
Excited to learn and grow with you all!
Hi everyone!
My name is Kaylan and I’m an American who’s been living in Namibia for the last 7 years. I have a bachelor’s in journalism from Howard U and had “good” jobs in broadcast news right out of college. However, by the tender age of 23, I was pretty disenchanted with corporate America and America on a whole. So, I ended up moving abroad to Barbados and eventually to Namibia where I am now (I moved to Namibia with an American non-profit as an English and computer teacher).
I currently manage the blog “African American In Africa“, which I founded back in 2013…piggybacking off of my Youtube channel. On my site, I chronicle the experiences of African Americans living in Africa through interviews and articles of my own. My blog gets a lot of praise but it doesn’t pay the bills! However, blogging awakened me to the fact that I am skilled at writing. And funny enough, my late mother was a phenomenal writer and poet who always dreamed of getting published.
I’ve done many things in Namibia, including working as a local journalist. In 2015, I become a mother but found I wasn’t comfortable with the childcare options available in my small Namibian town. I began researching ways to work from home and freelance writing popped up, but I didn’t begin writing for pay until 2017. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to get writing jobs. But, I burnt out quick writing for a content mill and a super low paying parenting blog, knew I deserved better, quit both jobs and strategized.
I then purchased two freelance writing courses (Earn More Writing and Killer Cold Emailing) to get a better feel for the industry. Still, I knew deep down that connections and perspectives from successful Black freelance writers was missing. The successful Black freelance writers that I’ve gotten to know have been blessings and have not disappointed.
I recently completed an unpaid travel/SEO writing internship and was offered to come on board as a paid contributor. So that was awesome! Right now, I’d say my niches are international education, travel, expat life, motherhood, volunteering, and teaching abroad, and Black travel…but I’ve realized that being a good researcher opens up access to just about any niche! So, I’m re-evaluating.
I also recently began doing academic editing (dissertations) here in Namibia as well. My goal is to make a full-time income from writing and editing. I’m also trying to convince my dad who’s been an attorney for 40 years to look into freelance legal writing as a viable retirement option.
Megan, thank you for this platform and it’s wonderful to connect with everyone!
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This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by
Kaylan Reid.
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Hello everyone!
My name is Raamyn. I’ve been living in Tokyo, Japan for around 8 years or so now working as an English Teacher on contract and as a freelance business trainer. I started to consider getting out of English teaching by focusing more on my writing and editing skills.
While I’ve done a few small offline contracts in Japan, I wanted to do more location independent work. Going forward I’m hoping to develop not just myself in terms of niche and skillset but also to connect with other black freelancers.
Looking forward to meeting you all!
Hello Everyone!
My name is Cam. I also follow Black Freelance on Twitter which motivated me to join the academy.
I left my management role in a large media company due to burnout. Took some time off to travel and decompress. During this time, I realized how much I missed producing creative content. My background fuses the creative with technical, which led me to becoming well versed in broadcast and media technology, media asset management, and music technology to complement my background in audio/music, video, and multimedia production and post production.
In previous roles I served as: Audio Engineer, Mix Engineer, Sound Designer, Sound Editor, Video Producer/Editor, Motion Graphics Designer, Editor, & Producer, Media Asset Management and Systems Support.
Now I am trying to figure out what type of business pain I am able to solve incorporating creative audio/music/multimedia with technology.
My goal is to refine my niche, build a sustained client base, and build a residual income business model while also building productive partnerships with other freelance businesses.
Thank you Megan for creating a space to share our collective knowledge and to network and collaborate with fellow black freelancers. Looking forward to working with and supporting everyone.
Hi everyone!
I’m Margaret and I like corgis.
Now that I got (most of) the weird out of the way, I used to be a lab assistant for a biopharma company. It was a one-year gig so I knew I would be without a job a year hence. During that time, my older sister kept nagging me about pursuing a freelancer’s life since I seem to have rotten luck with traditional jobs (refer to laundry list of temp gigs). In the last few weeks leading up to my inevitable end date, I stumbled upon (read: stalked) BlackFreelance in my freelancing research.
I am aiming for expanding my skills as a science writer, since it’s a field I’m more familiar with from the start. However, I am still working out how far to narrow my niche to match industry demands (among other things common for a new freelancer).
I’m looking forward to growing as a freelancer and connecting with other black freelancers! Just excuse the weirdness.
Hi Margaret!
Science writing is a good one! Low competition, especially if you can find your corner of science to master…and weirdness is welcome:)
Welcome Cam!
With that skillset, I’m sure you can find a space that NEEDS your skill and media experience. Is there any particular industry/vertical that interests you? I can see you being a real asset to medium sized businesses.
Megan
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