Hello Fellow Freelancer,

I can tell people are behind their screens by the number of emails in my mailbox. Well, let me drop one more in yours :-)

Great news first - The Freelance Business Month programme is published on our web! Have a look at this massive line-up of topics and speakers. We are still working on our last week dedicated to The Future of Work, which will be curated by the Open Assembly and the Center of Transformation of Work. Be ready for a heavy dose of expertise from top leading thinkers in the Freelance Economy. I say no more.

I was recently experimenting with placing gigs on a freelance platform. On one hand, I needed to outsource some work, on another, I wanted to experience the gig economy myself (weirdly said). So much is said about platform's work benefits and downsides, that me, who is not registered on any platform as a freelancer, decided to register as a client.

So while experimenting with #Fiverr as a client, I've learned a big deal about how freelancers are winning deals. If you are interested, head to our Instagram where I share in stories about my experience.

What else have we prepared for you this month:

• Alexandros Ntolgkov helped us to outline the opportunities crypto and blockchain is bringing for freelancers. BTW, 51% freelancers invest in shares, ETFs, funds, and 20% in crypto according to the Freelancer Study done by Freelancermap.

• FBC was featured by Forbes (again, yep!). See here why.

• Have you heard about the European Freelancers Week? Read more below, but in a nutshell, it is about the rights and equality of freelancers. There is lots to be done, cause as WEF reported, men are earning 48% more than women. (shock)

• Would you like to run your own meet-up under FBC brand and with our help? Now is your chance.

• Did you know that Freelance Business Month will also have an online exhibition, advertising options and an opportunity to feature your company in the Freelance Tech Solution session? Interested in any - beep me info@freelancebusiness.eu

• To niche or not to niche, that is the question - see Neil Patel thoughts on this below.

• Are you looking for an alternative to Calendly? Dotcal is pretty awesome and has free features which Calendly doesn't have. You can link payment modules too for just 4 EUR per month if you use our code! Scroll below for the code.

Enjoy the rest!

And, btw, you can always hit reply and let me know what you think or suggest topics for next newsletter.

Regards,
Elina

Freelance Business Month
Programme is Announced

We are proud to share than more than 80 speakers will join our programme. We were notoriously scrutinising speakers' expertise and profiles to be able to provide the best content and the most actual topics.

As you may know there will be 5 sections (see more about it in the previous digest), each of which will open up new aspects of freelance business.

Apart of typical freelance business topics, this year we focus on community, diversity, inclusivity and sustainability and you will find such presentations as:

- How freelancing can support the disabled community
- Embracing dyslexia as your superpower when freelancing
- Invisible freelance identities in an "inclusive" world
- How freelance economy supports the diversity and inclusivity
- How governments can reach the SDGs goals by accepting and promoting freelancing
- Is freelancing eco-friendly?
- Why countries choose to be freelancer friendly
- and more...

You can register for free here. Or you always can buy a donation ticket to help us a bit.

Some highlights:

For the first time we will have sessions in local languages for local communities: in Dutch, in Czech and in Italian.

For the first time as well, FBM is also going live, spreading its brand to other regions via the network of our ambassadors, who will run local live meet-ups in October weekends.

We will have Freelance Tech Solution session where attendees will be able to learn about interesting tools, projects and organisations in a short 5 mins commitment-free presentations.

We are also introducing Freelance World Cafe sessions, where anyone will meet someone new - guaranteed!

In short: lots of excitement, learning and connection possibilities. Book your ticket today, they will turn into a pumpkin a bit earlier this time. We are switching to paid tickets as of 1st of October.

Freelance Business Month is sponsored by The Indie List, MBO Partners, Distributed as well as our community partners Linkus, Betoobe, Charipickers, Topcoder, Freelancermap and CXC Global.

Interested in partnering with us for this event? Please send request to info@freelancebusiness.eu

Robert Vlach: How to Start Freelancing, Freelance Pricing, The Freelance Way Book and More

Elina Jutelyte had a fantastic conversation with Robert Vlach, founder of Freelancing.eu and freelance expert.

He talked about his path into independent work, setting up freelance pricing, working for free, raising prices the right way, his new book The Freelance Way, and more.

Read all this in our article below. Or you can also watch this conversation here.

If you are in Belgium, you may see Robert live on 6th of October speaking at the Day of the Freelancer (this event is in Dutch).

360 Find your Clients:
Business Essentials Workshop
on 15 September

Only three elements contribute to your success as an independent professional: You, Your Clients, and Your Pitch.

On 15 September (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM CEST), Betoobe is preparing a fantastic workshop for finding new clients!

On the programme:

• Your client in one picture
• Client goals
• Drivers and influencers
• A day in the life of your client
• Pains and gains

Grab your free ticket below.

Join our Ambassador Programme by 10th September

This is so exciting! We've already selected 5 Ambassadors from 3 continents. Join us and lets co-create exciting freelance events worldwide!

If you haven't heard about it so far: Freelancer Business Community is looking for ambassadors worldwide who are keen on freelancing and would love to create small-scale, LIVE, fun & networking events in their city during Freelance Business Month (October 2022).

Men Make 48% More than Women in Some Sectors of the Gig Economy, Study Shows

Research from ZenBusiness found that men charged an average of $22.28 per hour more than women for similar assignments.

It is disheartening to learn that 70% of women considering self-employment were doing so to escape workplace discrimination and corporate glass ceilings, only to be met with such a great pay gap in the freelance market.

It is up to us to help improve the work conditions for female gig workers and show them equal respect.

You can find the full data in the World Economic Forum's article below.

59% of Freelancers Say that They Earn More than Their Counterparts Working Full-time

And this is why we freelance, right?

Freelancermap has shared some interesting insights in the recent Freelancer Study.

· 87% of freelancers consider expertise and know-how as the key to succeed (highly-skilled freelancers are demanded)

· Most mentioned benefits: Independence (71%), freedom to decide (62%), time management (55%) and project diversity (46%)

· Most mentioned disadvantages: project acquisition (50%), irregular income (44%), late payments (37%) and unpaid vacation (36%)

· IT industries that will see a rise in the future: IT security (67%), AI (65%), cloud Services (55%) and Big Data (41%)

Let's Grow the Freelancing Pie

Funding, talent supply and competition are just some of the worries of freelance platform leaders these days, but there are many ways we can all do better to support freelancers and the freelancer revolution.

Jon Younger shares 7 areas of focus in his great article, featuring the Freelance Business Community, Open Assembly, Gigged.AI, The Indie List and other great platforms.

European Freelancers Week

The Freelance Business Community has been a European Freelancers Week (#EFWeek) partner for more than two years.

But what is the #EFWeek?

The EFWeek is a movement and celebration of the freelance ecosystem in Europe. Each year a week in October is dedicated to highlight challenges, to drive solutions and to establish new collaborations to support freelancers.

#EFWeek goals are:

1. Generate recognition of the value freelancers bring to the economy and society as well as their role in creating the future of work.
2. Facilitate community building and connection among freelancers through bottom-up initiatives and collaboration.
3. Improve conditions for independent working and workers, through learning, sharing, networking and policy action.
4. Highlight the challenges that freelancers face, as well as showcase the solutions that are at the vanguard of the future of work.
5. Showcase the international freelance ecosystems

#EFWeek produces a manifesto, which each of you can sign to bring attention of governments, businesses, and other stakeholders in the European economy to grapple actively with the changing face of work.

If you run an event or a meet-up for freelancers in October, submit it to the #EFWeek calendar and it will be promoted to a wider community.

Recently, Elina Jutelyte spoke to #EFWeek about why she chose to partner with #EFWeek and what the future holds for the partnership.

This year the #EFWeek will take place from 14-21 October and will be part of the Freelance Business Month programme.

7 Marketing Lessons Learned from Billion Dollar Companies

There are many billion-dollar companies that are not Apple, Nike or Facebook, and they have as many lessons for business growth and marketing as they famous brothers.

Neil Patel has collected 7 great lessons from successful businesses and in his article he will teach you why niching might not be the best approach for your business, why boring work is actually great and what is the best type of marketing.

Are you a fan of Neil Patel? Then you'd love our session with Grant Lingel, the co-founder of Neil Patel Digital Latin America. See his talk here.

Do you use Calendly?

Featuring a great alternative to Calendly - Dotcal.

Dotcal is free, but in case you need:

- Unlimited booking pages
- Brand-free customised booking page
- Custom calendar invite titles
- Accept payments
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Great solution if you do per hour consultation or need a personalised page for your calls booking.

Grab this magic code FREELANCEBUSINESS50

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