Today's co-host is Emily Leach. Emily has been a freelancer for 20 years and organizes many big events, including TEDx Talks and the Freelance Conference.Emily is a hustler. If she puts her mind to something, she goes out and does it. Most recently, she set out to host her first virtual summit. Freelance Conference (or FreeCon), was created out of a need that Emily was already working to fill through her site,  Texas Freelance Association. In the beginning, she had hundreds of freelancers, but no gigs. Knowing that it would fizzle out quickly if she didn’t do something, she started personally evaluating jobs on Craigslist and other platforms and then hand-matching them to freelancers in her community. As Emily watched the community grow, and more freelancers find the support they needed, she saw an opportunity to scratch her own itch and create something unique. And thus FreeCon was born. In today's episode, I talk with Emily about socializing for introverts, how to find solutions by looking at your own skillset, and how to evaluate your business needs without over-committing yourself.I really want their [freelancers] voice out there. It gives me an opportunity to support the work that you guys are doing and put you in front of other people and engage with what you're talking about and help some other freelance business owners get more reach. ~ @emilyleachMain takeaways
It's important for freelancers to be able to meet up and support each other through shared ideas and networking. Conferences are a great way to do this.
Figure out how to market your skillset. You may not even realize that you possess a skill that's valuable or needed by someone else. You can become a specialist by looking at what people need.
It's easy to take on a lot of different projects as a freelancer, but once you're over-committed, it can be hard to identify what you should let go. It’s important to evaluate everything you’re doing and figure out what’s important.
Links and important mentions
Emily Leach
FreeCon
Texas Freelance Association
Freelance Business Weeks
Emily Leach on Twitter
Stay in touch
Feast Club
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
For full show notes and resourcesLive In The Feast - Episode 1 of Season 8