There are several online communities and in-person communities that are helpful to join whether you're just starting out as a freelancer or have been freelancing for years. These communities are an excellent resource to ask questions, network, see what challenges other freelancers have had and how to resolve them, recruit, and find out about new opportunities. Freelancing can be a lonely experience and finding community can significantly improve your quality of life.
How to Find the Freelancing Community for You
Online Freelancing Groups
There are many niche freelancing groups. From those catered to women, digital nomads, or the specific niche you're in, doing some general research-based around who you are will help you find the right group for you. Other modifiers when searching include the city that you're currently in.
One great tip for finding people in your city or cities you travel to is using the digital nomad modifier. Most cities have a specific digital nomad facebook group and many digital nomads are freelancers who would be open to meeting up. The purpose of these groups is to share events, connect with other people in the same city, and network, so if your goal for joining communities is to meet other people this is a great start.
Other online communities on Facebook focus specifically on job postings and listings. Joining several of these groups and vetting them for their quality and applicability to your skillset or the roles you're hiring for is a helpful tool. I've found several leads on freelancing work from Facebook communities, specifically those that are around my alumni association for school and my existing company. On other communities I haven't been able to find any roles applicable to my skill set, however, I have used it to hire multiple people or recruit for companies that I've been working for.
In-Person Freelancing Communities
Meetups
Another tip for finding a community of other freelancers is using Meetup. These are focused on in-person meet-ups for coworking together or other get-togethers to network and build community. To get started on Meetup, simply enter your city and search for any of the following: coworking, entrepreneurship, creative freelancers, work at home, startup businesses, professional networking, small business, graphic design, co-working space, or web design. There are dozens of niche communities so play around with the adjectives that best describe you and then vet the different groups for the activity and frequency you desire.
Creative Mornings
Creative Mornings is one of my favorite events that I attend. They happen monthly all around the world and are open to anyone who would classify themselves as creative. It doesn't matter if it's in your work, profession, or hobby, but anybody is welcome to join. They have local speakers that discuss the theme of the month and before and after there is a lot of time to chat with other attendees. Creative Mornings is a great way to network and connect with like-minded people.
Finding a freelancing community can provide so much value in so many different ways, so taking a first step to get started can help a lot in accomplishing your goals.
