Running a Freelance Business

3. Income Adventures and Other Paths

Unfortunately, most people who go into freelancing don't do so under ideal circumstances. More often, the ad agency you worked for lost a big account and had to cut back; or your salary was unjustifiable against billings. Sometimes you just annoy the wrong person. I worked at an animation studio and jumped when an art direction opportunity came along. The CEO interviewed me and fell in love with my leave-behind cartoon promotional piece. Unfortunately for me, the job he hired me for involved statistical publications: page after page of tabulations without a single cartoon in sight.

For the first six weeks I worked for him, all my employer talked about to his young wife was that cartoon and my amazing talent. She was standing next to him when he said he wanted me to decorate his new mansion because his wife had no taste. This was at a company cocktail party, and even if I could draw the expression on her face, you wouldn't believe it. From that day forward, she decided I was the enemy and hounded him to get rid of me. He couldn't tell me to my face that he was firing me or explain why; he instructed his CFO to do it. This genteel English gentleman walked into my office appearing quite over burdened. "I really don't know why, but I'm supposed to fire you." he said looking puzzled.

Much earlier in my career I worked at a downtown advertising agency and found myself working with an accomplished copywriter who turned out to be a great mentor for me. This creative director sported a Bette Davis page boy hair style smoked unfiltered Camels and drove an old MG with the top down even though she was in her late forties. She lived with her gal pal in a big house in the suburbs.

One day the owner of the company introduced me to a young man "This is our new trainee and I expect you to show him the ropes" He had just graduated from the local state college. About a month later I was fired they said my work wasn't up to snuff The creative director pulled me aside and informed me the trainee was the son of the agency`s largest client My firing had nothing to do with the quality of my work. The new employee was receiving twice the salary for half the education and none of the experience. After this happens to you a few times you start looking for alternative ways to earn a living. You too can decide to create a job outside the realm of office politics.