Let’s Freelance This Bitch (week 3)
The Good, the Bad, and the fuck it.
Hello! It’s Elliot, Ben’s brother who decided to also say fuck it and quit his job to try living off of freelance work.
For this update, I wanted to highlight some of the habits you pick up when you start trying to work as a freelancer. Some are good. Others not so much.
The Good:
- Reading: I am actually reading books again. Yeah bookS, with an S. Oh. Have I finished them? No. Baby steps.
- Sleeping: Getting a solid 8 hours of sleep every night is nearly impossible but freelancing has allowed us to both (usually) do this. The sleep isn’t always quality but we’ll get to that.
- Cleaning: When you spend most of each day in your kitchen, you are confronted by the evidence of your dirty lifestyle. Our sink has never been more free of dishes (and cockroaches).
- Cats: We get to hang out with our cats all day—Wait. Are we just old people? Has freelancing turned us into babushkas? Shit.
The Bad:
- Eating: We don’t always eat breakfast. Coffee is a much bigger priority. Wait, this was a problem before. We should really eat breakfast.
- Drinking: Every night is the weekend! Right? Guys, right?
- Work/Life Balance: 1pm in the kitchen, 8pm at a bar, 2am in the kitchen. These are normal times and places for work.
The Ugly:
- Showering: I don’t think I need to elaborate.
- Shaving: See “Showering.”
- Clothing: 3 day jeans become 1 week jeans. We’re both essentially recurring cartoon characters at this point
SUCCESS!
Two articles in Russia Beyond.
Accepted as “blaster” (yeah that’s the position title) on Blasting News.
Part-Time remote work with NDA.
Video explainer script finished.
Accepted job writing text for online comics.
Total Made: $480 (More to come)
FAILURE:
3 Different pitches for a film news site have been rejected (ignored)
Still no word from Cards Against Humanity.
Fun Stuff:
We went on vacation! Romania is one of the best places either of us have ever been. For perspective, Ben hasn’t lived in America in almost 10 years. If you are looking for a cheaper, significantly less-crowded, and equally (more) beautiful European destination, check Romania. Don’t believe me? Look at this:
Elliot Davis, 2018
Ben’s Book, The King of Fu is officially out on Paperback! He and Nikita had a reading at Mayakovskogo Library. Enjoy Ben’s nervous face below:
Previous work:
3 Reasons you’re not funny in Russia (Published in Russia Beyond)
How Russians Changed my Life [Published in Russia Beyond]
3 Insane Conversations with my Russian Girlfriend [Published in Russia Beyond]
Why Russians and Americans are not that Different [Published in Russia Beyond]
Why does Bitcoin Have Value? [Published in Hackernoon]
The Longest New York Minute [Published in Dataspaceone]
Who Owns Your Body? [Published in Dataspaceone]
RATE CARD:
| Article Writing (Technology & Business) |
400-600 words: $100
800-1000 words: $150
1200+ words: per project |
| Article Writing (Lifestyle) |
$50-100 based on |
| Editorial Services (Creative works) |
$.05 / word |
| Editorial Services (Technical) |
$20 / hour |
| Copywriting for Social Media |
Per Project |
| Resume Writing |
$200 |
| Web Content Creation |
Per Project |
| Social Media Creation / Management |
Per Project |
| Video Production Services |
Per Project |
| Voice Recording |
$15 per minute |
[min charge for any project – Equivalent of 1 Hour]
