"I used to be a freelancer, now I'm self-employed..."

An Australian mate was in town this week so Katy and I went along to a dinner with a bunch of his London friends, none of whom we'd met previously.

I was sat next to a woman who immediately declared she'd just started her own events company. She went on to say that she'd worked in the industry for years as a freelancer before starting her own business. I spent much of the evening trying to understand her distinction between 'freelancing' and 'self-employment'.

I think she was describing the transition from price-taking to price-setting. Freelancers provide something commodity-like ("We need a photographer for the shoot") whereas self-employment is about building a brand ("We're getting Mario Testino").

So whilst all freelancers are self-employed, not all self-employed people see themselves as freelancers.