‘Portfolio career’ is such a deceptive phrase. For me, those two words bring to mind a finely tuned array of innovative projects, managed with airtight and formidable efficiency.
I must admit, however, that my ‘portfolio’ is a little too much like the one I heaved around, aged 19, on the tube and in cabs between various art school interviews: overstuffed, unwieldy and containing work on an assortment of somewhat arbitrary themes. Despite this, I remain passionately committed to intertwining art, criticism, public speaking, academic research and blogging, in pursuit of creative integrity and a satisfying alternative to the 9-5.
To extend the art school carry-case metaphor, every scuff, bump and torn page, while disappointing, marks an opportunity to polish up and redraft. In other words, even career mistakes highlight opportunities for growth. The tips below have emerged from my personal freelance setbacks.
1. Ditch the perfectionism. I find this helps with finishing projects on time, working only my planned number of hours in order to preserve a decent hourly wage within my flat fee and having the self-belief to take on new, more complex projects as I allow myself to take creative risks.
2. Value relationships. Rather than viewing each new contact as a business opportunity, I try to enjoy and to cultivate the friendships that crop up in my various lines of work. This way, I appreciate people for their personality as well as their skills, work collaboratively instead of competitively and have some fascinating friends.
3. Be realistic about pricing. When I started getting unsolicited enquiries about my art writing, a chat with a more successful writer showed me that I was drastically underselling myself. New clients were happy to pay more because they recognised my strengths – perhaps more than I did.
4. Sleep. After years of late night deadline scrambles, I now know that I do my best work when I’m well rested, so I make bedtime a priority. This is especially important when dealing with the hectic travel schedule that often comes with multi-project work.
5. Set new, exciting goals. One major advantage of a freelance career is that I can dream big about my future and make step-by-step plans to get there. Right now, I am working on a business plan for a contemporary art gallery and studio complex. By identifying concrete goals, I am also able to propose and select projects that will best equip me to get there: my portfolio therefore becomes more coherent and my motivation soars!
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