Finding others for video conference check-ins for self-employed

July 8, 2011 12:07 PM

I'm a freelancer with plenty of ideas for what I should be doing to improve my business (and life in general), but I have a real hard time getting down to work without any kind of accountability or structure in my life. So here's what I'm thinking: Find 2 or 3 like-minded people and have brief daily check-ins via video conference to state our goals between now and our next session, and how we've done since our last session -- just keeping each other honest and on some kind of schedule. Where do I find people who would like to participate?

I tried Craigslist, but there isn't an appropriate category. I might start a Meetup group, but would rather not pay a monthly fee if possible and I'm only looking for a few people.

posted by SampleSize to work & money (12 answers total)

Sounds good. I send an e-mail every day to a friend of mine with what I'm doing that day. E-mail is a good motivator that doesn't take much time, and I'm sure you have a friend who also needs to motivate himself or herself.
posted by michaelh at 12:13 PM on July 8, 2011

What kind of freelance work do you do? I am a writer in the education/social justice field and might be interested in something like this. In terms of finding others, perhaps a temporary group on LinkedIn would work just to gather the group together and set up a structure.
posted by aimeedee at 12:15 PM on July 8, 2011

I could've sworn I wrote this question in my sleep!

I have a freelancer friend who I often work on projects with (she's a designer, I'm a WordPress developer), and we've both been meeting up at either of our houses, or squatting in a coffeeshop/quiet bar/restaurant. Co-working, basically. It helps spur me to not sit there surfing Metafilter all day (whoops!) and actually get something done, because I know that she is sitting there banging out work also.

I think the key to this arrangement is complimentary or similar roles. It certainly wouldn't work very well for me if I was doing this with someone who was a writer or insurance salesperson (or something equally unrelated).
posted by chrisfromthelc at 12:45 PM on July 8, 2011

I'm setting up something similar with some friends from grad school as I'm making the transition from coursework to self-directed research. Accountability is good!

As to how to find people, do you know any other freelancers? Do you go to any networking things? Do you have anyone you used to work with who is also doing self-directed work now, even if it's not exactly what you do?
posted by foodmapper at 1:05 PM on July 8, 2011

aimeedee - I do PowerPoint design for continuing health education.
posted by SampleSize at 1:37 PM on July 8, 2011

maybe meetup.com?
posted by gilsonal at 2:12 PM on July 8, 2011

Are there any online forums geared toward the kind of work that you do? I think those would probably be a good place to look. One general forum you might look at is Freelance Switch.

I would actually volunteer to be your "accountability pal" myself if I didn't have such a wacky schedule right now. Your idea is a good one and I've heard of people doing similar arrangements with great results.
posted by Jess the Mess at 3:32 PM on July 8, 2011

that's such a great idea !
I would like to join some people like that ! or be your accountability pal .

I think there is many different parts in the work ; maybe different stuff can be matched with different people ? For example , talk about computers with computer people , about art -- with artists , about paperwork that should be done -- with ... ? Marketing -- also separate ? because it might depend rather on the size of a business or some other factors .
posted by Oli D. at 9:23 PM on July 8, 2011

This sounds fun! I'd like to be a part of it as well. I agree that similar roles would be a good idea.
posted by piato at 12:34 AM on July 9, 2011

This kind of thing could be very helpful for me.
If there isn't a group that works precisely in the same field, at least people could provide a space to talk about issues such as billing, project management, client relationships, time management, etc.

Perhaps a daily email check-in and a weekly virtual meet up would provide enough structure to help those of us who could use the extra structural support...
posted by aimeedee at 3:37 AM on July 9, 2011

could we make something like this here , at MeFi ? Seems like a right place !
posted by Oli D. at 7:24 AM on July 9, 2011

Awesome that others are interested! I made a thread over on MeTalk, thinking that followup discussion maybe belongs there. Hop on over and post if you'd like to be part of a group.
posted by SampleSize at 7:07 PM on July 10, 2011