Source: Phrasee
Since going freelance, I’ve grown, a lot.
My last full-time position left me miserable by the end, and all creativity and passion for email had been extinguished within me. I’m not even sure how I had the drive to go solo – I think it was more a drive just to get out. But then I started getting contracts, and experiencing the different ways that companies go about handling the same problems, and I started to learn again.
I learned better ways of coding and better ways to approach issues; I started getting my mojo back. And from these learnings, I was better able to solve problems for clients, and help other developers I encountered to find better ways.
My actual approach to campaigns probably hasn’t changed all that much, but the knowledge and experience I bring to the table is now a lot richer. But I don’t think this should or does only apply to freelancers, but it definitely goes with the territory, there are things that employers and devs themselves can do to help keep the fire alive.
I think when you’re perm it can be easy to become stale. You get into the same routines with the same people every day, and the learning process can easily be stunted. A lot of companies, especially agencies funnily enough – the companies who SHOULD be being creative and at the forefront of new technologies – don’t value R&D enough. Letting, nay encouraging, a developer to have some time booked out each week to just play and research and experiment can help to stay fresh and innovative, which in turn improves your campaigns.
Attending conferences and seminars like the Litmus Conference can help keep batteries recharged as well. And to the devs themselves, if you’re company doesn’t, or can’t afford to let you go to these events, there are plenty of free events you can attend in your own time (Action Rocket, Noble Email, Email on Acid etc) – not only do you learn from the talks themselves, but you build a network of like-minded people, who are in themselves an invaluable resource!