What do you call a freelancer who Isn’t just in it for the money?

In days of yore, ‘freelancer’ was practically a dirty word.

Back when loyalty counted for something, the lord would have his trusted knights whom he, or his father before him, had given land in exchange for troops and service when the drums and horns sounded for war.

These men (and occasionally women) were knights, men-at-arms, practically family.

They and their fathers before them had sworn oaths to defend the lord and his fiefdom to the death.

Freelancers, on the other hand, were just that: a free lance. Traveling mercenaries loyal to no lord who were just as likely to sack Constantinople as free the Holy Land, depending on who was easier to loot.

Is it any wonder that they frequently got the worst jobs—the most mind-numbing, soul-killing, life-threatening missions? If freelancers are only around to fight your money, then it’s best for your money if after the fighting there are no freelancers around.

Employers today may no longer be trying to literally work their freelancers to death, they’re still throwing them stuff nobody else wants to do—working late to produce the ideas that are least likely to survive, let alone taste glory.

But what if you took a more chivalrous point of view? Out of the same age from which the freelancer rode, also came the knight-errant. A warrior who tested his skills by wandering the land, aiding men and women from all walks of life.

The knight-errant lived by a code. Where mercenaries fought for money, the knight-errant fought for love. They embarked on quests to solve problems nobody else would.

There’s a reason video games about driven characters with noble purposes sell better than ones about desk workers and indentured servants.

These men and women were shining examples of what we could all be.

Why does this matter now?

Between automation, downsizing, daily predictions of an imminent recession, and the rise of the gig economy, it would seem the old retainer model of full-time employment is on its last legs.

We are entering once more into a period of great upheaval. And it is in these times when the institutions that enforce social norms are collapsing and our truth sources can no longer be trusted (our celebrities are secretly monsters, followers are bought, news is easily faked, and government is a circus), that we must rely instead on judgment of character and word-of-mouth. On older, more deadly serious markers of quality like integrity, and honour.

Time also to reckon with an exciting truth: we have always been self-employed, because our job security is totally dependent on us. How we carry ourselves, how we sell our solutions, how we execute on our promise. When your reputation is all that matters, then it’s your job to make sure it precedes you. And just as in times of old, the most-often told legends are about mighty deeds done in the service of others. We live in a world where several platforms exist purely to spread the word. That should be as much permission as we need to do the things our companies deem too risky, too expensive, too outside their interests. So pick a problem, the world and your community is filled with them, and vanquish it. Most political ads suck and the one good councillor out there running for election could use your help. Despite children screaming at the UN, the world still doesn’t care enough to reduce its consumption. The opioid crisis is still out of control. And if all of these are too grand for your level, there’s always the organization you’re in right now. Freelancers have an objective opinion that the right ears want to listen to, and you have the freedom to voice it that lifers do not. Don’t try to fix these issues because it will garner attention, generate profits, or even because they can be fixed by you alone. Do it because you are uniquely situated and skilled to do it, because that’s what knight-errants do.

The freelancer model is best-equipped to adapt to the modern economic landscape. Steady jobs are vanishing, so whether your craft is the sword or the pen, you’ll have to hit the road.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be a mercenary.

Your lance is finally free. That means the decision of which giants it will take down, is yours.

Note: I hope you enjoyed this post. More than any other, this has been one I’ve mulled over for quite sometime. I really believe that freelancers, and freelance creatives in particular, have a freedom and duty to act better and do more. What’s more, while freelancers are often left off credit sheets and award entries, you nonetheless deserve to be celebrated just as much as any creative. If you agree, please sign up to my mailing list for updates and ideas on how we can make this happen. Thank you! -Richard

When Great Sucks: Why You Should Value Low-Hanging Fruit

Photo by H A M A N N on Unsplash

Perhaps the second greatest idea-killer after, “It’s already been done,” is “That’s low-hanging fruit.”

The phrase, often used with disdain by creative directors when judging work, implies that the strategy, concept, tactic or deck you’ve just presented is within reach of amateurs, requires little effort to produce, and thus isn’t great enought to be worth considering.

All professional creative people, be they writers, art directors, designers or technologists, are trained to go for what’s new and unusual. We’re supposed to challenge ourselves to climb beyond the easy ideas our mothers (and well-meaning account people) point out to us, go out on a limb, and pluck the perfect produce that lies beyond.

All well and good, if everybody’s aligned on procuring award-winning produce.

But what if the people paying you to climb idea trees don’t want a $1,000,000 apple? What if they want fruit at scale because they’re in the business of making pies? And the most efficient way to deliver isn’t to spend days climbing trees but to give one a rigorous shake and catch whatever falls out?

Too often creatives and even some agencies fail because they spend far too much time trying to get the golden fruit way out on some slender branch, only to fall flat on their face at the pitch meeting because their ideas aren’t ripe enough for public consumption or worse: they’re rotten to the core.

Meanwhile, we ignore the bounty beneath us and let someone else use it to satiate our customers. So that the next time our customers are hungry, it’s someone else that gets asked:

“Got anything great?”

A Happy Starbucks Holidays or What I Did Before American New Years

Sometime this year, the word "elevated" attained its final form as the ultimate buzzword for mall retailers across America. Customers wanted it, brands wanted to be it.

And so, the call went out to create an animated video for the Starbucks for Life holiday game that would elevate the living snowflakes out of would-be participants. With our star illustrator out of town and only a few days around Thanksgiving to deliver, I stopped typing and started painting.

We work so much with computers these days that it was really nice to go analog again. I wasn't entirely sure I could do this in a professional context but, minus some tight deadlines and some back and forth over whether to show lids or not, everyone was pretty happy. Really looking forward to painting more in 2018 as it almost feels like a waste not to have this much (relatively) free fun.

All of which is to say, happy holidays everyone and don't forget to enjoy your gifts all year round.  

Madison Avenue's Terrifying Truth

I've been thinking a bit about Howard Gossage and the reasons I wanted to make ads in the first place.

And why some people hate what we make so much.

The common criticism is that we're all liars, but if all advertising was false then our work wouldn't resonate.

The problem isn't that great ads aren't 'true' on some important level...

It's that the solutions offered (e.g. buy a better perfume) aren't sufficient to achieve the aspirations presented (fulfilling relationships).

More than A.I., this will be the biggest problem facing our industry going forward.

11 Rules of Undertaking New Projects

I just finished my first freelance business proposal. It took longer than expected but I learned a lot. Here are 11 things:

1. Always start as early as possible.
2. Don’t just google “How to ____”, google “Samples of ______”
3. Structure first.
4. Never be afraid to be more clear.
5. It can always be simpler.
6. Don’t get caught in the trap of what things should look or sound like. If most businesses fail, then why be like most businesses?
7. Learn from past successes (and failures), but don’t be afraid to try improving.
8. Get a really good editor and partner.
9. Everything you write should speak to your target.
10. The more you set money aside and focus on why they need your help and why you want to help, the more convincing you will be.
11. Every plan has weaknesses, make sure to address yours.

Let me know if you'd like more or have any to share below.

How to Keep the 2016 Election From Happening Again Part 1

Trump won. Protesting isn’t going to change that fact. And neither side is going to forget that this was one of the ugliest and most surprising elections in memory. So what do we do?

We can go on doing the things we’ve done that only soothes our regret or indulges our ids, or we can learn. And I’m speaking to both sides here. Beating up colored people won’t improve your circumstances anymore than occupying Wall Street will, but learning how not to be manipulated by messages crafted to deceive and mislead might. And they were crafted. On both sides.

Trump may be a bully, but he’s not an idiot. This election just proved that he’s more persuasive than Mark Cuban, Robert Cialdini, Hollywood, MSNBC and Hillary Clinton combined. So the first order of business is to learn what Jedi mind tricks he used to get here.

Remember: magic loses its power once you learn how it works. The glass sheet just under the surface makes the walk on water less miraculous.

It won’t be easy, in fact it actually takes more energy to be objective than subjective. But it will help you avoid days like Wednesday, when you were either harassed because you voted for Trump or harassed because you looked like someone who’d vote for Hillary.

I’m an ad guy, and I’m obsessed with persuasion and behavioral psychology. In the next few days/weeks, I’m going to break down some of the ways both candidates manipulated you. And then we’re going to look at what we can do to keep that from happening by thinking like Sherlock Holmes. Finally, we’ll learn how to fight back.

So if you’re interested, stay tuned.