Sophie Cross, the editor of Freelancer Magazine, tells us about Issue 2 of the brand new mag which is out next week. It’s themed ‘Community’ and features lots of familiar faces.
Issue 1 of Freelancer Magazine was always going to be a tough act to follow, but making Issue 2 about all things community made it much easier. After all, it’s what the magazine was born out of (over 400 incredible Kickstarter backers) and what it was created for – to connect freelancers through sharing stories and knowledge. To make us feel like we’re not alone as freelancers and to promote collaboration over competition.
We see the incredible value of community on a day-to-day basis. We know that for a community to work it has to be inclusive, it has to be for the benefit of the members (not just for the creator’s motivations) and it needs to bring together everyone who is in it (not just be a dialogue between the community leader and the members). We know that supporting others makes us feel great and helps us to help ourselves. We know that the sum is greater than the parts. Much greater.
Issue 2 of Freelancer Magazine explores why community is so powerful, what makes a great community and how you can build a community. As freelancers, we often work independently and remotely and it can be isolating. Seeing how other people are doing things will only serve to be helpful and inspirational, and if you can make true connections with those people and start to forge relationships then freelancing becomes much more fun.
Issue 2 of the mag will start to land in letterboxes and inboxes towards the end of next week and contains 96-pages of freelancing stories and interviews, freelancer specific business insight advice, practical tips, resources and recommendations.
A teaser of some of the features in Issue 2 – ‘Community’…
The Best Freelance Communities – including Freelance Heroes (naturally)
We interviewed Ed Goodman about running Freelance Heroes with Annie Browne. We find out how the community started and his best tip for creating and joining communities.
“The more you put in, the more you’ll get out.”
Do Give Up You Day Job
Ella Orr was employed in education for 30 years before giving it up to go freelance in her fifties as a social media marketer. In her own words, if anything she’s “far too sociable.” (And she has the most incredible smile!)
“I think of it as planting a seed; not all of them will grow into great contacts, friendships and collaborations but some will.”
Family with Gareth K Thomas
Gareth runs digital strategy consultancy, Clarified, and is a single foster dad to three boys. His story and outlook on work and life is fascinating.
“Community is beyond essential; it’s life-changing.”
A Day in the Life of… Joe Glover
The wonderful human behind The Marketing Meetup talks us through a typical 24-hours in his world.
“The most important thing is being present.”
Adult Packed Lunches
ChihYu Smith is the creator of the popular food blog I Heart Umami and she has given us three tasty recipes for make ahead breakfasts and lunches including sweet potato and sage sausage patties.
Writing Communities
A brilliant way to write more and write better is to join a writing community or accountability group. Ed Callow shares with us how he started writing challenge #Write52 essentially by accident and how you can join.
“It turns out loads of people felt the exact same way as I did.”
The Best Coworking Spaces
We asked our readers where their favourite coworking spaces were across the UK and the world and they told us. Find out where in London has the mintiest tea and where in the UK is child friendly.
The ‘Community’ Playlist 🎵
Every issue, I curate a Spotify playlist especially for you to pop on while you put your feet up and read the magazine. This one is all about friendship.
Cover Stars 🤩
And what better way to honour our community than by including as many of them as possible as Issue 2 cover stars? Over 100 freelancers submitted their pictures (so many that we had to use the front and back covers) and it looks absolutely fantastic.
Subscribe to the quarterly Freelancer Magazine for £10 every three months (+P&P) at freelancermagazine.co.uk.
