FREE SOLOING

Watch This First

(Video Transcript)

Hi! Welcome to Free Soloing: a place for freelancers, solopreneurs, independent contractors, and anybody else who’s self-employed or works alone.

I’m Ron Stauffer, and I’ve been self-employed off and on for the past decade and a half. In that time, I’ve worked as a consultant or a freelancer. I get paid for the work that I do for my clients.

That can be rewarding sometimes, but being self-employed brings its own set of challenges. I started Free Soloing to help people just like me with the same challenges I have, including:

• working remotely
• project management
• time management
• stress management
• staying motivated
• sales tactics
• marketing your own business
• continuing education
• finding a work-life balance
• vision casting
• …and dealing with difficult clients!

When you’re employed by someone else, it’s relatively easy to just show up to work and do what you’re told all day. Plus, you often have the added bonus of paid vacation, health insurance, retirement accounts, and, oh yeah, paydays.

(Ahh, I remember the good old days when I worked for someone else and had a steady paycheck!)

And guess what? This will surprise people who think it must be fun being your own boss: actually, it’s really hard. That’s why I’m here, and that’s why I started Free Soloing.

Several years ago. I realized that being self-employed is a lot like rock climbing. If you’re employed at a larger company, and you have coworkers, that’s like being on a climbing team. There’s a natural buddy system built in to keep you company and to protect you. There are ropes, helmets, carabiners, belay devices, and harnesses. All of these are designed to keep you as safe as possible.

But being self-employed is more like free soloing. In case you’re not familiar with the term “free soloing,” it’s going rock climbing alone, without help, without equipment, and without a safety net. That means it’s inherently very dangerous. Actually, that’s a good point. Why would anyone do that? That sounds crazy!

Leaving aside why you would do something so crazy, let’s just say working as a freelancer or solopreneur is just like that. Being self-employed is, figuratively, the same thing as free soloing. As free soloists, we have to rely on our own skills, our own gear, our own timing, and we have to do all the work ourselves alone.

But wait, here’s the thing: we’re not alone! There are tons of us out there doing the same thing, struggling with the same challenges while climbing our own mountains all at the same time. So let’s start talking, let’s meet each other. Let’s share tips and tricks and offer ourselves as a support system.

Did you know: in 2021, there was a study done that showed that over 57 million Americans performed freelance work? That is a lot of free soloing!

And that’s what this website is all about. I want those of us who are self-employed to know that we may work alone, but we are not alone. If that sounds interesting to you, visit freesoloing.com and check back often, as I work hard to create content that will help me help you and hopefully help all of us. Thanks for watching.