Streetlife

networking is always good.  i'd be up for it - freelancing on PR, copywriting, marketing, people management.  

i'm in.. IT and Web consultancy

IT also, but I use Meetup.com for networking, wider audience than here.

I'm in. I find new clients for SMEs who don't have the time or the inclination to do their own marketing or selling.

I'm game too. I also do corporate PR plus business journalism and web content.

I was just discussing this with my husband the other day- freelancing has it's benefits but one can feel rather isolated at times! It's a great idea, good to have a local forum for getting advice & feedback or just bouncing ideas... Let us know when you have your first meeting! I am an artist & he is in training & coaching (personal & professional development).

I'm very interested too although not a lot of free time. I'm a freelance journalist, writing about architecture, have been freelancing for three and a half years. I certainly feel the lack of support in things like IT decisions. On a positive note my life was transformed when I found a book-keeper (on Streetlife) who keeps things in shape for my accountant and also, very importantly, keeps track of and chases my invoices. I'm sure she'd love to work for other people too.

What a great idea to set up a freelance group.  Count me in, definitely.  I would love to get some more book-keeping work and thank you Ruth for mentioning me on your post.  Working from home one certainly can feel isolated at times, however, I have a 6 year old child who is at school in the day. He certainly keeps me busy so generally I am quite greatful for the peace and quiet.

Excellent idea. About time someone came up with this. I'm in.

Best - Ian

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the responses. sounds like there is enough interest to get something going.

Forgot to introduce myself. I'm in Software / IT. I freelance so that I can spend more time with my children at home. So far its working, but sometimes I feel like I'm trying to do two jobs at once !

I'll get in touch with Streetlife to ask how to go about setting up a discussion group.

Cheers

Yep. That's a great idea... I'm an innovation and marketing consultant, helping businesses to have new ideas and testing them with their customers.

Asher

Terrific idea, and I like the idea of a networking group that addresses specific topics for the meetups/shared conversations. A better use of time than just meeting up for a general chinwag - as theraputic as that sometimes is! 

I think freelancers can face common roadblocks, and these often seem to be distinct from people running small businesses, so it will be good to discuss issues and ideas with people in the same boat.

I m in as well Pete ! great and thanks for creating that interest! i have myself set the buzz up from home , I bake Gluten free delices cakes !

I help run the freelance group for my professional association of corporate film makers (IVCA).  There's so much to gain from sharing ideas or forming alliances for business opportunities. We freelancers need all the support we can get so this is a brilliant idea.

Hi, I'm a freelance newspaper journalist (Bonnie Estridge)....  Mainly do general features (eg the Dangerous Dogs piece in the Express a few weeks ago which I flagged up on Streetlife, but also a lot of health stuff.  Mainly work from home, always looking for interesting human interest stories whatever they may be...  Animal welfare issues are a particularly big interest of mine...   Sharing ideas to generate new work an excellent idea...

Please count me in. I'm a graphic designer & artist, work from home here in Tooting.

Please count me in too - i'm a freelance advertising copywriter.

Great idea - I'm new to freelancing (15 months), but marketing, advertising and communications are my areas of expertise - would love to meet local freelancers to share the highs & the lows!

I'm an illustrator and commercial artist, similar to Ludwig W. I've been freelance for 22 years and the most important thing I've learnt is that you need to network and market. Any group like this can only be a benefit.

Best - Ian

This is a good idea and very topical for me right now.  I am a Freelance Marketing Consultant and Interior Designer and actually like to bounce ideas with other people as sometime you do miss having colleagues, even if you have new clients.

I'm in too, I'm an artist and curator.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks again for all the responses. I'm waiting to hear back from Streetlife about how to best run the group. Will get back to you as soon as possible.

Cheers

Hi Pete, would a sole trader (running own small business) be considered a freelancer, out of interest? thanks

Hello there,

This is a great thread and we thought we might be able to help. At Third Door, we have just scheduled a Drupal Coworking Day on Friday July 27th for 10 people which is organised by one of our members. This is for people who work with Drupal and want to work with their peers for the day. If any of you are interested please email me on anna@third-door.com.

We are also in the process of organising more coworking days for freelancers in the local area and came across this discussion! We are thinking of having a freelance day mid-June (Friday 15th)  for creatives where you would work from Third Door meeting room for the day. Again, please email me if you are interested. anna@third-door.com.

And here's some background on Third Door:

Third Door is a coworking space in SW18 with an onsite flexible daycare nursery. Many of our members are like yourselves, freelancers/self employed and work from Third Door as they want to work from a productive work environment as well as be with like minded people. We have lots of interesting members (both parents and non-parents) and their professionals range from digital marketing consultants, charity consultant, sustainability consultant, medical copy editor, those setting up entrepreneurial businesses, novel writer, TV writer, marketing specialists, fashion designer, Wordpress/Drupal website developer etc 

We also organise events and workshops using our members skills as well as outside experts.

We have a few coming up in the next few weeks:

A FREE event on managing Outlook better http://outlooktipsthirddoor.eventbrite.co.uk [

A sales masterclass by a wonderful lady who has set up 7 six-figure businesses, please do purchase your tickets here http://amberlife.com/sales-masterclass-workshop-for-third-door/

And we also have a HR freelance expert coming in soon.

We do advertise our courses on Streetlife as well as our Facebook page www.facebook.com/thirddoor

Warmest wishes

Anna,

anna@third-door.com

www.third-door.com

Hi AndyM,

Yes, I think Sole traders qualify as freelancers ! I was mainly thinking of people who generally work as individuals, so dont have the support of a company structure. Glad to have you here !