Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - What is the best word.. Freelancing, Free Agent, Independent, Consultant.. ?

jasonwisdom · 10-15-2009, 06:45 PM

Hi all,
I'm looking for the "right" word to describe a person who works for themselves, for a number of clients, without considering any of those clients to be their employer.

Everyone has heard the term Freelancer, but there is this stigma of being an out-of-work journalist who gets $120 in a month.
Daniel Pink used the term Free Agent in his book Free Agent Nation, and even he acknowledged there was no one word that quite fit the bill.
I've heard Consultant, however consulting could mean employee at Accenture, or anything else.
Legally there are Sole Proprietors, however many sole proprietors have their own LLC's or S-Corporations, not a Sole Proprietorship.
There there is Independents - which kind of sounds more like a political label than a career description.

Again I am looking for the right word, or 2-word phrase, that describes this kind of person. Anybody have any ideas?

10-15-2009, 06:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
jasonwisdom Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: New York, NY Posts: 117	What is the best word.. Freelancing, Free Agent, Independent, Consultant.. ? Hi all, I'm looking for the "right" word to describe a person who works for themselves, for a number of clients, without considering any of those clients to be their employer. Everyone has heard the term Freelancer, but there is this stigma of being an out-of-work journalist who gets $120 in a month. Daniel Pink used the term Free Agent in his book Free Agent Nation, and even he acknowledged there was no one word that quite fit the bill. I've heard Consultant, however consulting could mean employee at Accenture, or anything else. Legally there are Sole Proprietors, however many sole proprietors have their own LLC's or S-Corporations, not a Sole Proprietorship. There there is Independents - which kind of sounds more like a political label than a career description. Again I am looking for the right word, or 2-word phrase, that describes this kind of person. Anybody have any ideas?