Wally's not really a sybarite—he just lives the good life as a freelancer.
What does freelancing mean to you?
“Gulp, I’m on my own now. No paycheck, no safety net”?
Or, “Hallelujah, I’m my own boss, and yes it’s a heckuva challenge, but my time is my own now”?
Or, “Yeah, well, maybe one of these days.”
Whatever it means to you, you have to meet the master of the freelance lifestyle, the guy who savvies the “free” in freelancing better than anyone I know: Wally (Why in the World Would I Ever Want Another Real Job?) Conger.
Wally’s the mastermind of one of the most entertaining and inspiring blogs on the Internet, cleverly titled wallyconger.com. He’ll draw from anything, from television shows to sci fi to, well…ME…in order to sound the call for liberation from the soul-crushing drudgery of cube-farm labor.
In other words, Wally firmly believes that most of us can and should become masters of our own ships, captains of our own souls. For him, that means answering to no one should he decide to savor a cigar and a Guinness in his backyard at a time of day and a day of the week when most people are still hunched over their computers daydreaming about their impending 48-hour furlough.
So how do I enter this picture? For one thing, Wally and I are old friends. We went to high school together, after which we kind of went separate ways—Wally off to the world of corporate communications, me to the world of…well, the world. I became a travel writer. But we always stayed in touch, and read each other’s work with mutual admiration.
As so often happens with jobs that promise security, Wally got shown the exit several years ago during some sort of corporate restructuring. He turned in his name badge, walked through the skyscraper turnstile one last time, returned to our beloved California Central Coast, and trust me; he hasn’t looked back.
With fervor, astute insight, and contagious joie de vivre, Wally savors every moment of freelancing and shares his passion with his readers.
His latest product is called FEARLESS FREELANCER 101. It’s brilliant, and not just because it includes an in-depth interview with yours truly. It’s a bundle of PDFs and mp3s chock full of inspiration and hard-won practical advice. In his “Quick Start Guide to Fearless Freelancing,” Wally addresses every fear the hopeful freelancer faces, kiboshes them all, and serves up highly practical strategies for making the big shift. That includes how to spread the word of your availability and how to deal with money issues.
Not all of Wally’s readers are writers. But for those who are, or who are considering freelance writing, Wally turned to me for specific advice and inspiration. Our interview is included as INSIDER SECRETS FROM A GLOBE-TROTTING FREELANCER. Wally’s a great interviewer. He got me to cough up stuff that isn’t even in my book, though he also includes a chapter from Write Where the Money Is. The one titled, “Why I KNOW You Can Succeed As a Freelance Writer.”
You CAN succeed as a freelance writer. You CAN succeed as a freelancer. Wally Conger will make you a true believer. Check out FEARLESS FREELANCER 101, and let me know what you think.
As Wally would say, here’s to abolishing wage slavery, one job at a time!
