I’ve got a few irons in the fire, so to speak. Along with proposals I send out regularly, I’ve got a few people who keep their ears to the ground about potential gigs. One was recently offered to me that paid what I was currently making now and required less time. The gig was full time and would last a year, which basically means that I wouldn’t have to hunt for new business.

Briefly – very briefly – the idea of working less for the same amount of money danced in front of my eyes. I was tempted by the thought of coming home at night and doing nothing instead of spending the occasional evening cranking out deadlines or having a late night meeting with someone in Australia.

But I turned it down. My friends thought I was crazy but there are good reasons why I didn’t want it. When you are offered a premium job like this, you need to think very seriously about whether it is as good as it sounds. I’ll tell you my reasons below so you can see my thought process on the matter.

1. Wrapping up current contracts: Clients are relying on me to deliver work to them. I probably could wrap up those contracts fairly easily and quickly but I’ve built up such a great relationship with them that it would be very difficult to unwind from those relationships.
2. Freedom: The gig was onsite. Every day. I don’t mind being onsite for some client work but I became a freelancer because I wanted to get out of the corporate world. And even though I’d be on contract, I’d be back in the game I once longed to leave.
3. Current variety versus single focus: Today, I write different things for different clients in different industries. In this new potential gig, I would be writing one thing for one client 8 hours a day for the next twelve months. I live the variety I have today.
4. Specialization, which changes the roadmap: This is related to the point above. Since I’d be writing for one client about one thing for so long, I would develop some serious expertise in that field. That’s not a bad thing. But it’s not where I want my business to go in the future.
5. What to do after: When the contract is done, there’s the distinct possibility that the contract could be extended. However, there are no guarantees. And I’ve seen it happen before: A freelancer puts all of their eggs in one basket and when that basket is taken away, they’re left with nothing and need to rebuild from scratch.

The job was attractive. But these factors kept me from taking it. However, if I did take the job, here’s what I would have done:

• Blogged incessantly to develop and promote thought-leadership in the subject matter that I would finish with once the year was over. That way, if I needed to go out looking for more business, I would have a year’s worth of blogs under my belt to demonstrate ongoing thought in the field.
• Written a book. I want to do it. I might have had some time.
• Cultivated relationships so I could leverage my newly acquired expertise for the future.

Getting a gig like this might be perfect for you. If this job came at a different time in my career, I might have jumped at it. But for me, for right now, it wasn’t good. And I wanted to outline my thinking so you could see how to weigh your current business against potential opportunities that come your way.