After the last few years of pandemic restrictions, it’s understandable that people are feeling a little disconnected from each other. This separation can often have an impact on our creativity, and stifle the growth of our businesses, whether as a freelancer or a client. While some may think that hiring a freelancer is all about matching their skills to a particular task, it’s equally important to determine the kinds of personalities that you enjoy working with. Cultivating strong, long-term relationships with compatible freelancers will always produce better results for your business.

Late payments or none at all? It’s the bane of every freelancer’s life. Time spent chasing invoices whilst keeping clients happy, struggling to pay bills due to cashflow issues and feeling a growing sense of resentment having worked so hard on a project. All is not lost. There are people out there supporting freelancers and fighting back. Liz Barclay, the Small Business Commissioner and a well-known broadcaster, is one of them.

Whether you’re a photographer, model, make-up artist, hair stylist, creative director, or videographer, you ought to have your work visually displayed in the best possible light. The humble portfolio is often the most important aspect of a job application and goes a long way to determine whether or not you get the job. It's also notoriously difficult to critique your own work and separate your personal connection to the work from an industry-standard visual representation of your ability.    Portfolio review expert and editorial fashion photographer, Dino Busch, offers essential tips on preparing your portfolio and reviews real portfolios live with the freelancers present to offer their thoughts.

Before I begin, let me tell you that I do not intend to intimidate or cause panic, nor do I use the word “entrepreneur” in a literal way.  That is to say that us freelancers need to be tech geniuses who can pinpoint a hole in the market, launch a startup, develop an app, attract tonnes of users, then secure some lucrative Series A Funding and very soon see our names in a Forbes Rich List.  No, I don’t mean entrepreneurialism like this. I’m quite content still being a copywriter for hire.

Over the past few weeks, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has increased dramatically. For freelancers, the necessary self-isolation that comes with a positive test means up to a week of no income and potentially losing their clients, even without any symptoms. So what can you do to stay productive during your enforced alone time?

It’s a strange one.  If I felt like doing “the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done”—which is always a tactical and shamelessly self promoting anecdote to embellish your dating app profile (we won’t get into this now)—and leaving London to go take a punt in the Big Apple with your freelance skillz that pay the billz, it would be just that…a punt. A swing of the bat. A shot in the dark. A drop in the ocean. I cannot actually weigh up the pros and cons.

Freelance photographer, Alexander Blair, was assaulted and robbed on London Underground? His kit and livelihood was taken and he is still battling with his insurance company. We hear from Alexander and, Partner at the legal firm Briffa, Eamon Chawke, about his ordeal and what rights freelancers can lean on during challenging times.

On the 1st of May, Freelancer Club is launching its first international location in New York City. We’re starting small, focusing on photographers, models and hair/makeup artists within the Brooklyn area, before gradually branching out to the rest of the city and beyond. We decided to start in Brooklyn thanks to its vibrant creative scene, full of exceptional creative individuals who are feeling disconnected and undervalued. Those we spoke to highlighted the need for a community platform such as the Freelancer Club to help them facilitate connections in a more meaningful way.