by Rachel Smith
11 September 2015
Updated February 2023
A few weeks ago I touched on the notion of meeting up with like-minded creatives to share ideas, vent and generally help one another in our ever changing marketplace. And I wanted to devote a whole post to it as I see it happening more and more, and think finding your freelance tribe – be it in person, or online – can be invaluable when you spend hours and hours on your own.
Finding people you can have regular pow-wows with is essential, and if you can make it a regular thing, that’s even better. After all, we don’t have the luxury of seeing people every day, brainstorming ideas in person, asking how your colleague might phrase a tricky email, and so on.
I do this regularly with Sydney members of the RL team, and also other freelancers who live near me and are long-time pals. I’ve just welcomed one of my besties, Pip Harry, back to Sydney (she lived in Singapore for many years) and although we don’t live AS close as we used to, we are trying to meet up for working bees at least once a month. It’s so fun and so great to work alongside another writer.
I know, I know, we’re all out of the habit of meeting people (strangers, gah!) in person since the pandemic. But it can be a great way to build a supportive tribe of people around you. Conferences, retreats, lunch meet-ups and other formal networking events are worth considering. And also, be open to meeting new people: I just said yes to a dinner knowing I wouldn’t know a soul there except the friend who invited me, but who knows? I could make a new friend or two.
Facebook groups are the ONLY reason I’m on FB these days. I would be lost without the tribe we’ve created of Rachel’s List Gold members – it’s a really amazing group of people who share advice, are happy to answer questions and give each other lots of support. We also share what we’re working on and support each others content if we can which is a great pick-me-up. Other groups worth joining include the Freelance Jungle and The Freelance Content Marketing Writer by US writer Jennifer Goforth Gregory.
The email-based discussion group Freeline has an old-school journo vibe (I mean that in a good way!). Members are usually incredibly supportive and share tips, advice and occasionally, work. When it’s busy, a lot of messages can come through it so it’s worth creating a rule and a separate folder for the messages so you can browse them in your own time. You can also adjust the regularity of messages you do receive.
I use Slack for Rachel’s list and The Content Byte, but I’ve also joined a couple of Slack communities I dip into from time to time. Two I quite like are Leapers, who are ‘the team for people without a team’. They’re all about championing mental health and creating a freelance community. Peak Freelance is another free Slack community geared towards writers and content strategists.
I’m in a writer’s group on Whatsapp – we share leads and gee each other up about pitches we’re sending. This is quite a new group for me but I’ve dropped the ball on pitching and want to get back into the groove with it, so having a group that keeps you accountable and cheers you on can be really appealing.
Have you got a ‘freelance tribe’? What would be your tips for creating a supportive professional group?
