How about “Right Effort” it just can’t happen without a little concentration.

Mrs Hannigan has 6 girls’s last blog post..the no sayer

On the other hand, the purest definition of freelancer is a worker who takes on short-term assignments from employers. No mention of “business”, really, simply the responsibility to produce a service for a set fee.

So maybe we’re both right.

However, you guys do have a business website and promote yourself as an agency for hire… does that not put you in the business category of the whole thing?

And to play devil’s advocate, I do understand the “freelancing should be free” concept. I blogged about the constraints and the problems recently here:

Freelancing Isn’t Free

James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post..The Ultimate Men with Pens Guide to Twitter

Lis – I am also picky about the clients I take. To me, no amount of money is worth losing the freedom I’ve gained from being a freelancer. Having a toddler means my life is not my own – that’s simply where I am right now. If my clients can’t handle it, I’ll find some who can.

I feel as though I am tethered to my computer, and it’s really not how I want to live my life. I think if I didn’t have my daughter at home with me during the day, I would be able to make the distinction between home and work more easily. Work would be from 8-2 with weekends off. But when kids are home, work time is always fragmented. You have to take time off to fly a kite every so often, because toddlers simply do not understand if you say “no, I’m busy.” I find I am very picky about the people for whom I work. If they can’t understand that, at this point in my life, my kids are my first priority while they are home from school, then I can’t work for them. It’s not me being unprofessional; it’s me being a good and responsible parent.

I can see both sides of the coin. As a businessman, I don’t like unresponsive workers, and I tend not to work with them again if it takes a day to get an answer, especially during what I consider working hours: Mon to Fri, 9 to 5.

As a freelancer, I do need free time and I do take time off to enjoy my family. The fast pace of Internet working can be draining.

But to work in a freelance Internet environment was my choice – and so, I must deal, cope, and find strategies to run my business and respond to clients.

When you’re in business, you do need to be responsive. Stores post hours of operation, and they can’t just shut down when they feel like taking a day off.

They do shut down though. Stores in my region don’t open after 5pm. They may not open on weekends. I think freelancers are allowed that right to have free time as well.

I think it comes down to making the decision of what your work is: a hobby or a business?

Set hours if you feel it’s too much. Be responsive during those hours. Put up an email auto-responder when the shop is closed.

But I don’t think it’s fair to expect clients to be understanding when you say, “Sorry, I was out flying a kite with my kids.” Most people *will* understand (I do), but many won’t. A lack of same day response on a working day isn’t acceptable, in my mind.

James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post..The Ultimate Men with Pens Guide to Twitter