I’m scratching my head that it was more than 2 weeks ago that I was in beautiful San Francisco for the Creative Freelancer Conference and HOW Design Live.
The interim has been hectic: First, my little vintage recipe project on my food blog scored some national media attention, which derailed work for a few days (in a very good way; more on that to come). Then, there was a holiday-shortened week. Now, as I’m about to head off for vacation, I’m swamped.
I was humbled that Ilise Benun of Marketing Mentor, the brains behind the operation, asked me to present at CFC for the first time, after 5 years in various hosting and programming roles. The session was, at its core, about roadblocks—in the form of money (the harsh realities of billing for your work and paying taxes), minutes (the ups and downs of the freelancer’s workload) and marketing (that we need to be realistic and not too hard on ourselves).
I talked about how well-prepared I thought I was when I launched my freelance writing business, and about how I’ve nonetheless run into all the roadblocks I thought I’d drive right past on my way to fame, glory and success.
In fact, my CFC presentation was a metaphor for its content: I hit a roadblock, in the form of technical difficulties that prevented me from seeing my notes on the podium laptop and left me rattled. I didn’t meet my own (perhaps overly lofty) expectations for the presentation, and I was disappointed.
But I learned two lessons: 1) print your notes, knucklehead! And 2) expect and prepare for technical difficulties.
What is a conference if not a learning experience, right? Even though this was my sixth CFC, I continue to glean nuggets of wisdom from it. Here are some ideas that really stuck with me:
The Arc of Failure: Intro and closing speaker Luke Mysse talked about the progression we go through when we’re reaching for a goal, no matter how big or small. We start off at launch with a lot of momentum, work uphill until we reach a plateau … and think: I’ve worked so hard; now what? Why isn’t this as good or interesting as I expected? We then enter a downhill slide into disillusionment, at which point we have two options: recommit or settle. What do you do when you hit that plateau?
The Importance of Values: Supersmart Sarah Durham talked a lot about values, both personal and professional (and the intersection of the two). Values—like balance and decency and collaboration—should drive business decisions, underpin the work and unite the team and client. Note to self: Add a list of my top 5 values to my website.
You Be Cool, I’ll Be Cool: The wildly talented illustrator/designer Jessica Hische (who’s also ridiculously cute and funny) talked about this as a guidepost for every contract. In fact, it pretty much informs any client relationship.
Content, content, content: Good thing I love to write, because Mark O’Brien says we should all be adding 2,000 words per month to our websites, through blog posts, white papers, pages, etc. I figure this post gets me a quarter of the way there for July.
And then there was keynote speaker Austin Kleon, a writer who draws and author of “Newspaper Blackout” and “Steal Like an Artist” (upon which his presentation was based). Wow. I was so incredibly inspired by this guy (and images from his session appear throughout this post). Austin gave everyone permission to be inspired by work done by the people who’ve gone before us, to borrow the best from our creative heroes and make it our own.
Worth Reading
I’ve seen a number of great recaps of CFC and HOW Design Live, including:
From Jill Lynn Design (my web design partner)
From Loretta Robinson
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