Freelancer Or Entrepreneur?

This Friday I recommend the first episode of Seth Godin’s Startup School: Freelancer or Entrepreneur? The entire series of 15 episodes is worth listening to for insights on starting a business regardless what you plan to do with your writing. But this first one is particularly eye opening for someone like me, who has one profession (law) where I typically charge an hourly rate and one (writing) where I earn money selling products I create.

Before listening to this podcast, I didn’t quite grasp why some of what I learned starting my own law firm, which I thought made me an entrepreneur, didn’t quite translate to the business side of my writing. Now I know that as a solo lawyer, though it was my name on the door, I was still much more like a freelancer than an entrepreneur. For one thing, I still mainly sold my time and expertise. That’s not bad, but it does explain why I ultimately found the experience less satisfying than I expected. I’d kept the same model I had at the large law firm–the reward for good work is more work. That’s good for the short-term bottom line in a financial sense. But in the long run, you never get off the treadmill.

https://soundcloud.com/startup-school/freelancer-or-entrepreneur

Whether you are paid now by the hour or not, I think you’ll find this discussion of being a freelancer versus an entrepreneur both enlightening and practical.

Please let me know what you think!

Until Sunday, when I’ll write about doing-it-yourself versus hiring freelancers–

Best,

L.M. Lilly