Sleepless in new york, zurich, eindhoven, etc

SLEEPLESS IN NEW YORK, ZURICH,EINDHOVEN,ETC

www.copywritercollective.com

This campaign was created while

on the road by globetrotting

freelancer, Fraser Bailey. Here he

discusses how mixing travelling

and working has both up- and

downsides.

http://copywritercollective.com/


Fraser’s a busy man but that’s the way he likes it. Even

while putting this article together he’s also getting ready for

another trip – this time to Rotterdam where he’ll be

working on a new pitch for another client. What is it,

though, that appeals to him about combining his working

life with travel? For most people doing one thing at a time

is quite enough.



Fraser explains that there’s a sense of excitement or

even glamour about this freer-than-freelancing

lifestyle: “I love jumping on planes and trains to work

for agencies in different cities and different countries. I

actually created my first online content in New York in

1996 which was a great experience.” Travel brings

other benefits too, like awards, friendships and the

chance to discover new cities and new cultures. As

Fraser puts it, “I won awards and made lifelong friends

on a big project in Warsaw. And while working

in Hamburg I discovered my favourite part of any

European city – the Schanzenviertel in St Pauli.”

What’s not to love about this way of life?

THE UPS


THE DOWNS Although working ‘on the road’ takes you

out of your normal routine and brings you

into contact with some great people and

great places, it’s not always easy. You

frequently arrive tired and hungry after

getting a very early plane. You don’t know if

you’ll be staying in a good hotel or a

cardboard box. Sometimes the agency

doesn’t even know who you are or why

you’re there. In the middle of all this, you

are expected to bash out a bunch of world-

class campaign concepts for a review at four

o’clock that afternoon… No pressure then.



PLAN AHEADOf course, it doesn’t have to be like this. A bit of planning goes a long way to avoiding many of the pitfalls. It helps, for a start, if you don’t begin your trip with an exploration of the local nightlife which might also contribute to your ‘red-eye’ look the morning you turn up at the agency. There’ll be plenty of time for that at the end of the job. Clients, too, could do more to help the weary and wide-eyed freelancer and to make their life as easy as possible. Fraser’s advice for clients is born out of bitter experience: “Don’t, for instance, arrange for your freelancer to stay in a Dusseldorf guesthouse that’s located above an all-night bar favoured by karaoke-loving Japanese businessmen.



Try not to put them in a motel on a traffic

island near Eindhoven with rooms less

spacious and comfortable than a North Korean

prison cell,” he ruefully suggests. Some places

even fail at providing the most rudimentary

essentials like a desk or (in your dreams!) an

office. It can also be a bit lonely turning up in

an unfamiliar place so wouldn’t it be great if

more clients made the effort and took the

freelancer out on that first night to check out a

couple of good bars?



It sounds trivial but there’s a serious point to

this. After all, clients pay freelancers good

money to solve difficult problems so it makes

sense to ensure that they are well rested and

comfortable.

To that end, it’s much better to have

travel arranged the day before the

assignment starts. That way, you

arrive at the agency after a good

sleep and a good breakfast, eager to

promote products and services to a

grateful world. Remember, it’s always

worth discussing things like this with

the company employing you and to

point out that it’s in their interests to

give you the optimum conditions to

work under.

IN CLIENTS’ INTERESTS



WORKING AND TRAVELLING AND ENJOYING LIFE

Clearly, there are ups and downs to the

travel-work lifestyle but, according to

Fraser, “On the whole, working away

from home has been a wonderful thing

thanks to the many wonderful agencies

that have actually made the effort”. So,

zipping up his suitcase and checking his

passport once again, he’s more than

happy to be getting back on the road

one more time.


THANK YOU

www.beacopywriter.org

Sleepless in new york, zurich, eindhoven, etc

Travel

Transcript of Sleepless in new york, zurich, eindhoven, etc