Hi! I’m Anna Codrea-Rado and this is my newsletter about the highs and lows of working for yourself. I’m a freelance journalist, podcaster and author. If you liked this email, press that little heart button, leave me a comment and forward it to a friend 💙

It takes a (freelance) village

Fellow freelancers are your colleagues, not the competition

Anna Codrea-Rado

Jun 11

I used to think that I hated working with other people. I disliked offices, networking events and – to be honest – working on something as a team. So, when I started working for myself, I assumed that I’d be working by myself.

At first, I was happy in my bubble. I worked completely alone from home. I wasn’t even interested in working in a coffee shop, let alone a co-working space. I quickly learned how shortsighted that attitude was, and indeed how different it is to work with other people as a freelancer.

For starters, fellow freelancers are your colleagues, not your competition. I realised this when something went wrong with a client in the early days; I panicked and looked around the room for someone to help me. My dog stared back at me, blankly. I grabbed my phone, but had no one to call.

In that moment, I realised I needed someone on my team. Thankfully, now I have an army of freelance buddies, who are a voice note away; ready to calm me down, pep me up and help me put things into perspective. People who just get it. What I know now is that it takes a village to freelance.

When I look at the projects I'm working on right now, the majority of them involve another freelancer. Everything from my co-hosted podcast and co-founded freelance writing awards, to even the ads in this newsletter, which are now run as a collective. And the projects that give me the most stress are the ones I’m working on by myself for a client. What’s different now, however, is that while I’m doing that work alone, I definitely don’t feel alone anymore.

---------------       
THE CLASSIFIEDS   
---------------       

➤ Subkit is an all-in-one tool to turn your service into a subscription and grow your business. Exclusive offer: get six months free membership by joining our exclusive beta program today.

➤ Want to level up as an internet writer? Ship 30 For 30 is a learning cohort combining frameworks, community, and accountability to boost your confidence and build your audience. Enrol today.

--------------- 
Want to reach 16,000+ weekly readers? LANCE is part of an advertising collective with other independent creators. Hit reply to ask about taking out a classified ad

💌 P.S.

UPDATES FROM ME

Is coaching bullshit? On the latest episode of the podcast, we get into a juicy debate about the seeming rise of online coaching. We covered: what coaching actually is, what some of the concerns around it are and whether there’s some work shaming going on in the discourse around it. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Acast or wherever you get your pods.
Is coaching bullshit?By Anna Codrea-Rado and Tiffany PhilippouPodcast episode

WEEKLY FAVS

“Overthinking is nothing more than pretentious procrastination.” Tiffany Philippou sent me this article about why ambitious people fail at online business, and oof did I feel seen
Generational labels like “millennials” are meaningless, so why do we still cling to them?
I wept reading this piece about having to put down a newly rescued dog because she kept biting people because the same thing happened to me a few years ago
What Jenni Gritters learned about her phone addiction by switching to a dumb phone for a couple of weeks
Another longread on the death of the girlboss
“When two people work on a shared project – a joke, gossip, a product, an essay – and are able to understand and build on each other, that’s the peak of the human condition.” The goal is resonance
And finally, possibly the first time I’ve recommended a food item in this list?? The Red Diamond strawberries from M&S. So delicious, they have their own trademark

SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE

If this newsletter left you better than it found you, please forward it to a friend. And if you aren’t already, sign up to receive it directly to your inbox

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. The revenue generated supports this newsletter. All my work is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

LANCE - It takes a (freelance) village

It takes a (freelance) village

Fellow freelancers are your colleagues, not the competition

💌 P.S.

UPDATES FROM ME

WEEKLY FAVS

SUBSCRIBE AND SHARE

Older messages

Battery low

You Might Also Like

🔮 $320B investments by Meta, Amazon, & Google!

✍🏼 Why founders are using Playbookz

Is AI going to help or hurt your SEO?

Our marketing playbook revealed

Connect one-on-one with programmatic marketing leaders

Outsmart Your SaaS Competitors with These SEO Strategies 🚀

Temu and Shein's Dominance Is Over [Roundup]

"Agencies are dying."

Is GEO replacing SEO?

🌁#87: Why DeepResearch Should Be Your New Hire