Here’s a summary…”Today, careers consist of piecing together various types of work, juggling multiple clients, learning to be marketing and accounting experts, and creating offices in bedrooms/coffee shops/coworking spaces. ”

This intrigues me because I am part of the Gig Economy. My current occupation is college professor/consultant/speaker-workshopleader/blogger. The way I work is more common than I would have thought.

Interestingly, in 2005, the government stopped calculating ‘freelancers’ so we really have no idea how many people are working this way but estimates have at about 42 million people.

As freelancers we face all kinds of issues. This month I found out by accident that my health insurance (which came through COBRA) had been cancelled. I got no letter, no warning from my insurance company. Just shut off. When I called my insurance company, they said, “We have no obligation to tell you that your insurance is lapsing.”

Thanks, no really, thanks a million.

I am one of the lucky ones, I have a way to get health insurance. If you want to read more about the reality of health insurance for freelancers, check out this post in the NY Times, “Safety Nets for Freelancers.”

I love working this way but it takes a lot of discipline, hard work, flexibility and perseverance. What’s my secret?

1. Focus. I am clear about what I need to do and don’t wander around the house until I accomplish certain things.
2. Finish. Get it done. Period.
3. Fun. I reward myself when I’ve finished something that I totally did not want to do.

Freelancer? How do you get it done?

Photo credit: LindaGeezblog.com

The stereotype of a freelancer is a geek with a laptop sitting at home on their sofa in their sweats. You might be surprised that freelancers, like entrepreneurs, come in all shapes, sizes and are from many different fields. Think for a minute of consultants; engineering, management,etc.

I have a strategic marketing consulting practice that is supplemented by teaching at the Masters level and an active speaking schedule so I consider myself both an entrepreneur and a freelancer.  As more  folks aged 50+ lose their jobs (and have lost significant value in their retirement plans) — more of us will need to find work wherever we can.

This week I had the opportunity to visit NYS Senator Joe Robach with a group of freelancers and representatives from the Freelancers Union . (If you are an independent worker, you may want to check out their site. It’s free to join!) At issue is the right for freelance workers to have the same protection to ‘get paid’ as ‘regular’ workers;  83% of freelancers have experienced delayed, reduced or non-payment. Senator Robach was very supportive of the bill.

If we are going to adapt to a global marketplace, we are going to need keep up our legal and regulatory supports for new kinds of work. Are you working freelance? I’d love to hear from you.

Photo credit: Freelance Switch.com

For many of us, the way we have worked in the past has changed. Most of us will no longer work for one employer for a lifetime; we’ll need to act as freelancers who ‘market’ their skills to organizations who pay to get work done.

For employers, the economics of this might make sense but how can they be sure that their ad hoc work team has the right skills? How do they compensate them?

For workers, how will we keep our skills up to date? How will we get benefits? How will employers find us? What skills will we need to negotiate our new contracts? These are just a few of the questions that we and the next generation of workers will need to face.

Technology is enabling new ways of working together. Google Wave, cloud computing, Google docs and Basecamp are just a few examples of current tools that are changing the way we work.

Sure there still will be plenty of ‘regular’ jobs, but it’s worthwhile for all of us to think about what we will need to do to rise to this challenge. Entrepreneurs have a golden opportunity to create the tools for the coming freelance boom.

For more thoughts about the changing nature of work check out, Predictions for 2010: Five Changes in the Way We Work. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think.