Learn to Conquer the Gig Economy in This Free, Two-Day Online Summit
Good advice is hard to come by.
But for self-employed workers or anyone looking to join their ranks, we found 32 straight hours of good advice in an online summit aimed at helping independent contractors navigate the budding freelance and gig economies.
The Independent Contractors & Freelancers Online Summit runs Feb. 21 and 22, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m each day. The two-day summit concludes National Entrepreneurship Week, a congressionally chartered initiative to spur entrepreneurial education. The event is free and does not require full attendance to participate.
Anyone who is “interested in working for themselves should attend, as well as self-employed professionals who want to expand their business,” said event host, speaker and author Angela Heath, aka the Gig Income Guru. “Understanding business practices and advanced strategies to create a profitable business is the major hurdle that the summit will address.”
To register, visit the landing page and enter your name and email address. Shortly after registration, you will receive an email confirmation with details about the summit, including access to the list of webcasts over both days.
Including Heath, 14 speakers are slated to present. Among them are a mix of entrepreneurs, career coaches, journalists and authors who will guide you through the process of finding a profitable gig, fresh clients and long-term success.
Day one focuses on client-wrangling strategies with presentations on:
- Finding profitable side hustles
- Navigating the gig marketplace
- Leveraging the power of LinkedIn, and more
Day two dissects freelance-business best practices such as:
- Understanding financial statements
- Promoting your freelance business
- Automating the grunt work
Notable speakers include Elaine Pofeldt, journalist and author of The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business. She will present trends from self-employed millionaires. Leading personal finance writer and founding editor of SideHusl Kathy Kristof joins Pofeldt to speak on which side gigs are worth your time – and which aren’t.
Heath will cover how to find clients using various gig marketplaces, while speakers Muhammad Faheem and William Craig exemplify the opportunity such gig marketplaces provide – when used intentionally. Both Faheem and Craig leveraged their success on Upwork and Fiverr to springboard their own freelance businesses.
There’s little disputing that the freelance economy is booming.
Citing a U.S. Census report, Heath said that solo contract workers now represent three-fourths of American businesses – yet they are often left out of conversations on entrepreneurship.
“Most programs totally ignore that one-person businesses are important for the American economy,” Heath said.
A recent study by Freelancers Union and Upwork bolsters her case. In 2019, the freelance economy raked in nearly $1 trillion. The report also found that 35% of all U.S. workers, aka 57 million people, freelanced last year.
To join their ranks and to cash in on a skyrocketing industry, be sure to mark your calendars for Feb. 21 and 22. While the live event is free, archived recordings won’t be.
Adam Hardy is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. He covers the gig economy, entrepreneurship and unique ways to make money. Read his latest articles here, or say hi on Twitter @hardyjournalism.
