Another way freelance jobs are changing the face of the job market–thanks to technology and a savvy workforce.

If there’s one lasting result of the Great Recession, it’s the rise of freelance work. First out of necessity and then realizing its flexibility, freelance workers have changed the face of the new economy.

Freelance writing has transformed my life, personally. It allows me to do what I love all around a schedule that I create. If you can make it work, it makes for fantastic work/life balance. And now, more sections of the labor market are including freelance jobs. Technology is the driving force, allowing freelance jobs to expand like never before.

The Economist recently reported on a startup called HANDY. The company has created an app that matches jobs with independent contractors, all at a moment’s notice. They supply the labor and services on demand. Started in San Francisco, the company is providing service to 29 U.S. cities.

Contractors must choose between 5 and 35 hours a week for which they’re willing to work. In all, 20 percent of workers do the high end of the workload spectrum and according to the company, they make around $2,500 per month. That’s pretty good money depending on where you live and if you have another job as well.

The services are widely varied basically consisting of help around the house with tasks that people would rather not do or don’t have the skills to do–everything from furniture assembly, interior painting, moving, and home cleaning. It’s all basically within the genres of handy work, plumbing, electrical, and cleaning.

It’s the Uber of home and office maintenance and all at the click of an app and they’re not the only company jumping into the market. According to The Economist:

Handy’s hometown, ground zero for this on-demand economy—young professionals who work for Google and Facebook can use the apps on their phones to get their apartments cleaned by Handy or Homejoy; their groceries bought and delivered by Instacart; their clothes washed by Washio and their flowers delivered by BloomThat. Fancy Hands will provide them with personal assistants who can book trips or negotiate with the cable company. TaskRabbit will send somebody out to pick up a last-minute gift and Shyp will gift-wrap and deliver it. SpoonRocket will deliver a restaurant-quality meal to the door within ten minutes.

It’s a win-win for those that need something very specific done and don’t necessarily want to schedule something continuously. Not to mention that it provides those trying to make ends meet in a low wage economy freelance jobs, allowing them some room to breathe when money comes up short. If you’re willing to work, you too can make it happen. Especially if you live in an area with a super high cost of living like San Francisco, the startup’s home base.

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Column“Lean In” continues to divide women on issues related to work, privilege and balance. Is my decision to go freelance leaning in or leaning out?

Sheryl Sandberg and the Lean In brand have suffered a few blows recently.

Sandberg threw her big name behind Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a congressional candidate who has a consistent record of voting against women’s rights.

Then there’s the Makers Conference. What started as a documentary about the history of women’s equality is now its own fancy-schmancy entity — and Sandberg is at the center of the controversy. Makers’ three-day (invite-only) conference where she and other powerhouses plan to “reset the agenda for women in the workplace in the 21st century” is under fire for its obvious elitism.

But, I mean, Chelsea Handler will be there, so at least it should be a good time.

With this renewed interest in — albeit criticism, of “Lean In” — I’m looking at my own recent choice to leave my full-time job and go out on my own and wondering: Which way am I leaning?

Some might say the decision to leave a career where I was on the team of strategic decision-makers for a company is leaning out. But, I am building my own business, which is a definite lean in. I’m incorporating, you guys!

That said, the path to Libby, Inc. may not impress Sandberg. I spent a lot of time chasing the dream job until I realized that the magical ‘90s office (with work-life balance built into the culture in the form of a ping pong table and a keg) didn’t exist anymore — if it ever did.

I have quit 13 full-time jobs since graduating from college. Yet I have managed to advance in my field and learn new things. In fact, I have learned enough stuff to feel good about my ability to make a living working for myself. That brings me to work-life balance — or, the lean.

I’m working way more hours than I did as a full-time employee and I’m making less money. But, I went to yoga this morning, regularly wear yoga pants all day and take breaks to cuddle with my dog.

I work from home nearly every day, and if you know anything about the weather in Chicago this winter, this is a perk that cannot be underestimated. And I’d say this to the queen of working from the office, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer: I can prove that I get more done out of an office.

While I’m not Makers Conference invite privileged, I don’t take it for granted that even thinking about work-life balance is a privilege. I’m extremely lucky to have a choice in how I make a living, and to have had access to an education that enabled me to get the jobs that have taken me this far.

My goal isn’t to lean in or lean out. My goal is to stay centered and recognize that balance and success are intertwined, not different sides of a coin.

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Image: Giorgio Montersino

That Happened is Libby Lowe’s weekly column for EcoSalon analyzing media, news and pop culture through a feminist lens. Keep in touch with Libby @LibbyLowe.

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Is it ever appropriate to work for free? Even if you’re a freelancer?

If you’re a creative, there is a 99.9 percent chance that you have at one point or another worked for free. Sure, you were “paid” in coffee or some other barter system, but there was no cash transaction. And even if you have never worked for free, it’s 99.99 percent certain that you have worked for less money then you deserved to earn.

It has been said that we are the slaves of the internet, and in a culture of content creation, the value of content has gone down. The market is saturated, and when there are so many wanting to make it and offering up their services for free, the chance that you will get paid for your content goes down.

Of course this is an oversimplification of a problem that ultimately comes down to a vicious cycle: individuals undervalue their own work, which in turn makes other people undervalue it as well. If you want your work to be seen as valuable, then you have to see it as valuable first, especially if you’re embarking on a career as a freelancer.

Should you work for free?

No. Well, sometimes yes. But, no, really you should always try to say no. Except for in those situations where you should say yes.

You can see why this is complicated.

Working for free sets a precedent, and while you may just want to get your name out there, if you’re trying to build a client list and a respectable reputation, taking jobs that don’t pay anything doesn’t help you do that.

On the other hand, sometimes doing something for free isn’t necessarily about the payment, it’s about the promotion, or about spreading a certain idea.

As marketing expert and author Seth Godin says, “The more generous you are with your ideas, and the more they spread, the more likely it is your perceived value goes up.” This means, however, that you need to gauge the level at which your ideas are being spread. Free work for www.noonehaseverbeentothiswebsite.com is one thing, and an opinion piece in a nationally acclaimed newspaper, is quite another.

Need some direction in establishing whether or not you should work for free? Illustrator Jessica Hische designed the Should I Work for Free? flow chart. It’s a bit tongue in cheek and yet I have found myself referencing it regularly. In a nutshell: your mother deserves your free labor, but the established business that promises you “a good portfolio piece” doesn’t.

Talk to anyone that works in the freelance business and the likelihood is that at some point during their career they assessed a situation to evaluate whether or not they should work for free. Often times, when people have weighed the pros and cons, and know what the potential benefits of free work will be, they will go ahead and do it. Everyone has a “well, I did this for free, and then it lead to this and then it lead to this and now I am doing this other great paying project.”

And unfortunately, we live in a society where money equals success.

As Tim Kreider points out in The New York Times, “Practicalities aside, money is also how our culture defines value, and being told that what you do is of no ($0.00) value to the society you live in is, frankly, demoralizing. Even sort of insulting. And of course when you live in a culture that treats your work as frivolous you can’t help but internalize some of that devaluation and think of yourself as something less than a bona fide grown-up.”

Ultimately, it comes down to the value question: do you truly feel that your own work is being valued? And to add on the that question, have you thought about the value of the work of other people in your industry, and are you helping or hindering it?

Decide your value and do your best so that others understand that value as well.

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Images: Jessica Hische, Anonymous

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