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| Our group of solopreneurs with Kathryn White and Elaine Bailey |
It was while riding my horse, Wilbur, through the autumnal
woods close to home that the idea came to me. Why not organise a medical
writer’s retreat to provide a support network for freelancers based in the UK?
I am a member of a similar and regional network of freelance
clinical researchers who meet once a year to discuss topics relevant to their
role. I have found these meetings invaluable and a fantastic opportunity to
meet like-minded people. I am also actively involved in the EMWA Freelance Business
Forum and have been involved in the Institute of Clinical Research Freelance Forum,
so I have experienced, first-hand, how useful these meetings can be.
The task seemed daunting at first but I enlisted the help of
business coach Elaine Bailey who acted as a sounding board for my ideas, adding
suggestions from her own experience of setting up workshops and training
retreats. I knew the idea was good, but I was still uncertain of how to move
forward. Why would anyone want to come along to something I had organised and
was there a need for such a forum in the UK? Elaine laid down the gauntlet - if
I organised one for 2012 she would come along to provide group coaching to the
attendees. It was a deal. This would provide the perfect launch and provide
participants an opportunity to receive sound business advice, whilst networking
with their peers. My objective was to offer my fellow freelancers a day away
from the office in comfortable, informal surroundings where everyone could
concentrate, without the distractions of work or home-life, on developing
themselves and their businesses alongside others in a similar situation. I
wanted to bring everyone together to swap ideas, thoughts and concerns.
I am fortunate to have a fantastic network of freelancers
and colleagues, many of whom have been mentors to me since beginning my
freelance career, while others are considering a move into freelancing, and I
have been happy to answer any queries they have about that. The first step was
to contact everyone I knew within that network and ask them whether they would
attend such a retreat. The response I received was overwhelmingly positive. It
seemed my intuition was correct – freelancers do value support from their peers
and an opportunity to network with like-minded people.
I kept the venue for the meeting local to my home to aid the
organisational logistics. The Greyhound is a pub in the village where I live and
the proprietors very kindly agreed to let me have the use of a room to conduct
the retreat. A questionnaire was sent out to the participants beforehand to establish
their needs so that, with Elaine’s help, we could tailor the training to meet
their requests. The day of the retreat dawned and all my concerns melted away.
People travelled from all over the UK to be there. The energy and enthusiasm in
the room was palpable. We mixed group discussion with smaller break-out
sessions and covered a wide range of topics in relation to managing a business,
dealing with client demands and understanding our own value as medical writers.
Everyone went away feeling positive and enthused and this was evident from
their feedback. On that note, I will hand over to attendee, Alysia,
I
have value, do you want some?
Throughout the day, the atmosphere in the room was buzzing.
As soon as I sat down I was drawn into conversation with the other freelancers
around me. The range of freelance experience in our group was varied and so
were our client portfolios. The honest revelations and often humorous
contributions from the floor, combined with Elaine’s clever guidance using descriptive
keywords and quotes helped us to collate a fantastic bundle of ideas and tools
with which to improve our careers as freelancers.
When asked what issues we wanted to tackle in our
freelancing lives, most of our concerns fell into two categories: how to become
better freelancers and how to optimise client relationships. Some of us wanted
to improve our time management and be more effective at our jobs, others wanted
to learn how to best deal with criticism without feeling devalued. Some of us
felt that we had taken on too much work, while others wanted to attract more
clients through better marketing. All of us felt uncomfortable in talking about
money with our clients.
After putting our heads together, a number of valuable strategies
emerged on how a freelancer can grow and improve including how to master
self-leadership and how to believe in our own self-worth. Our discussions also covered the practical sides of running
a freelance business, including the value of online visibility in the form of freelance
registries, a business website and social media sites.
With all that brain storming we were ready for a late lunch
at the pub! After good food and drink we all returned home. For some this was
just a short walk, for others it was as far as North West England and Wales.
Had it been worth the long drive over? Definitely and I am looking forward to
the next one.
The next one was held on 20 Sept 2013 and was another great success! Thank you to everyone for their continued support of this initiative.
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