Posts from Freelance Lessons
Billing by the hour is the most common way to make money in the freelance world, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to balk at higher hourly rates, mainly because they're comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer little reward for the freelancer to be either fast or efficient. And as for the client, besides worrying about a freelancer who's freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So for those reasons (and perhaps others), there are times when project pricing becomes a great way to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could hourly (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers). [Read More]
Throughout the span of this blog's existence, the question I've seen most is, "How can I find more/better freelance work?" To be sure, this is probably a key aspect for most freelancers, often causing them to accept work that is not necessarily profitable or within their talent scope. This is not always a bad thing since such work is sometimes necessary (or at least instructive) during the initial growth of a freelance career. But hopefully, as your freelance business grows, you will begin to elicit more requests than you have time to attend to. So it helps to set some loose guidelines in determing what freelance work you will turn down. Such predetermined guidelines are necessary because people will naturally say yes to most if not all freelance requests, even if the work may negatively affect the freelancer or the client. So let's look at a few aspects of freelance work and see why certain work should sometimes not be taken. [Read More]
As a solo freelancer, the easiest and most consistent way to find work is to connect with design or marketing firms who are looking for reliable contractors. In fact, over half of my own clients are firms who use me as a website contractor. So over the years, I've had a good share of conversations with clients concerning their frustrations with other freelancers (usually resulting in more work for me). Interestingly enough, the most common problem these clients have with freelancers is not related to talent or skill, but rather communication. In fact, a client told me this week that he'd happily take a sub-par freelancer who communicated well over a talented freelancer who did not. So here are a few points to consider for any freelancer: [Read More]
One of the most frustrating paradigms in the modern workplace is that "staying busy" is often substituted for "staying efficient." You can stay busy for eight hours and get very little work done (we all have known coworkers like this) while others can stay efficient and get 2-3 times as much done in half the time. So what makes an efficient person? Well, I would venture to say that being efficient is more about what you "cut out" than what you "add in," although most productivity tips include more of the latter. That said, here are 10 ways that I've found to be helpful in trimming excess waste in my typical freelancing work week. [Read More]
There were about five years between the Dot-com bubble (which had officially "burst" by 2001) and the ubiquity of Web 2.0 (whose roots began earlier but really came into mainstream by 2006). During those five years, people realized true strength of the internet as they utilized standardized formats like XML and RSS, service-oriented web applications, user-controlled data, and, of course, the social aspect of the internet. We've seen the rise of social networks, the appearance of some pretty interactive web applications, and overall, the integration of the online world and your personal information flow. If you were freelancing during these five years, you probably had your share of work on blogs, social-based sites, Flash, or web applications. Furthermore, you could (and still can) make a pretty good living by just focusing on being a good designer or developer.
So the question is, what about the next five years of website freelancing? And how will they affect your average freelance designer or developer? Here are five predictions... [Read More]
One of the upsides of working for a firm is that you always have a layer of shiny, happy people between you and the client, also known as Client Services. When a client gets upset, those friendly folks get an earful of anger while you get the same message in a much more amiable form. This all changes when you set out to freelance or start your own business. That's when managing (or containing) upset clients becomes part of your job – a part that can make a big difference in your future success. So here are some helpful guidelines to help keep everyone happy in times of trouble. [Read More]
From friends who think I make easy money to my mother who (lovingly) admonishes me to get a real job, everybody seems to have their own idea of what freelancing is all about. Many of these ideas come from misconceptions of the freelancing life, and here are eight of the most popular: [Read More]
There are many popular mega-lists out there nowadays (75 Ways to Boost your Self-Esteem, 101 Ways to Open Firefox, 503 Ways to Make Your List Longer). But often, these lists have too many "filler" items, and many items have such diminuitive returns that I'd rather just have a list of their ten best items. So in that vein, here is a list of what I consider my favorite productivity tips – ten in all. Feel free to add your own favorites (and then maybe we can get to 101). [Read More]
William James, the 19th century philosopher and Pragmatist, rightly noted that "nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task." So in the spirit of the new year and getting things done, here are a few tasks you should stop putting off. [Read More]
With the new year just around the corner, there's no better time to begin thinking about your own freelancing and business plans for 2008. This is important because it's rather easy to go year after year without any real thought towards your own career and future (other than making sure that you have work and that you get paid for that work). So here are three steps that help guide aspirations and plans for the coming year. [Read More]
Designing websites, building applications, and writing content can be very draining activities requiring as many "breaks" as your schedule or boss allows. These breaks are even more frequent for freelancers, who can often justify taking a nap or watching the tube in the middle of the day. But before you turn on the Wii for your third break of the day, consider these other, more useful ways to "waste time." [Read More]
Certain occupations tend to elicit more "favor asking" than others: tax accountants, auto mechanics, and website designers come to mind. And in my experience, people who create websites are usually very giving people, often working nights and weekends for free. The problem is, as a website creator, it's easy to focus on the people or cause you are helping and forget those things that you are sacrificing in the process. [Read More]
One of the tougher aspects of freelancing is making sure you get paid a fair amount for your work. I'm sure every freelancer has at least one story of either getting grossly underpaid or not getting paid at all. So here are seven tips to help you improve your quoting. [Read More]
Just so I don’t invoke bad karma from the client gods that be, I've decided I should follow up on my previous post, '10 Absolute "No's!" for Freelancers.' I've been fortunate enough to usually fill up my freelance hours, and I think the following answers have played a big part in this success. Feel free to add what has worked for you! [Read More]
When I first started freelancing as a college student, I was eager to do any website and would say "Yes" to anything, regardless of my skill set or the time involved. It was just nice to know that someone needed me for a skilled task. Unfortunately, I quickly found myself working all the time, eating Ramen noodles, and not getting anywhere in terms of paying off my wonderful college debt. To make things worse, these people were also giving my contact info out to other such people (you know, the lady who has been thinking about selling dog sweaters online and has a $100 budget for an e-commerce site, 1000 brochures, and a guaranteed #1 Google search result for the words "dog", "sweater", and "love"). [Read More]
When you decide to go freelance or even map out your year's goals, you need to have your end goal in mind. When I decided to go freelance a few months ago, I had three routes. [Read More]
When I graduated from college 4 years ago, many of my programming and design peers spoke of starting their own business/studio. The idea seemed simple: work at home, charge the masses for your work, sleep in every day. However, I only know of one guy who pulled it off, mainly because he does really amazing stuff. Freelancing isn't a walk in the park. That's why most people work for someone else. And to be honest, I don't think I could be freelance now if I didn't work for three "someone elses" before making the switch. If you're thinking about going freelance, here's a few tips to help: [Read More]
Billing by the hour is the most common way to make money in the freelance world, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to balk at higher hourly rates, mainly because they're comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer little reward for the freelancer to be either fast or efficient. And as for the client, besides worrying about a freelancer who's freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So for those reasons (and perhaps others), there are times when project pricing becomes a great way to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could hourly (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers). [Read More]
Throughout the span of this blog's existence, the question I've seen most is, "How can I find more/better freelance work?" To be sure, this is probably a key aspect for most freelancers, often causing them to accept work that is not necessarily profitable or within their talent scope. This is not always a bad thing since such work is sometimes necessary (or at least instructive) during the initial growth of a freelance career. But hopefully, as your freelance business grows, you will begin to elicit more requests than you have time to attend to. So it helps to set some loose guidelines in determing what freelance work you will turn down. Such predetermined guidelines are necessary because people will naturally say yes to most if not all freelance requests, even if the work may negatively affect the freelancer or the client. So let's look at a few aspects of freelance work and see why certain work should sometimes not be taken. [Read More]
As a solo freelancer, the easiest and most consistent way to find work is to connect with design or marketing firms who are looking for reliable contractors. In fact, over half of my own clients are firms who use me as a website contractor. So over the years, I've had a good share of conversations with clients concerning their frustrations with other freelancers (usually resulting in more work for me). Interestingly enough, the most common problem these clients have with freelancers is not related to talent or skill, but rather communication. In fact, a client told me this week that he'd happily take a sub-par freelancer who communicated well over a talented freelancer who did not. So here are a few points to consider for any freelancer: [Read More]
One of the most frustrating paradigms in the modern workplace is that "staying busy" is often substituted for "staying efficient." You can stay busy for eight hours and get very little work done (we all have known coworkers like this) while others can stay efficient and get 2-3 times as much done in half the time. So what makes an efficient person? Well, I would venture to say that being efficient is more about what you "cut out" than what you "add in," although most productivity tips include more of the latter. That said, here are 10 ways that I've found to be helpful in trimming excess waste in my typical freelancing work week. [Read More]
There were about five years between the Dot-com bubble (which had officially "burst" by 2001) and the ubiquity of Web 2.0 (whose roots began earlier but really came into mainstream by 2006). During those five years, people realized true strength of the internet as they utilized standardized formats like XML and RSS, service-oriented web applications, user-controlled data, and, of course, the social aspect of the internet. We've seen the rise of social networks, the appearance of some pretty interactive web applications, and overall, the integration of the online world and your personal information flow. If you were freelancing during these five years, you probably had your share of work on blogs, social-based sites, Flash, or web applications. Furthermore, you could (and still can) make a pretty good living by just focusing on being a good designer or developer.
So the question is, what about the next five years of website freelancing? And how will they affect your average freelance designer or developer? Here are five predictions... [Read More]
One of the upsides of working for a firm is that you always have a layer of shiny, happy people between you and the client, also known as Client Services. When a client gets upset, those friendly folks get an earful of anger while you get the same message in a much more amiable form. This all changes when you set out to freelance or start your own business. That's when managing (or containing) upset clients becomes part of your job – a part that can make a big difference in your future success. So here are some helpful guidelines to help keep everyone happy in times of trouble. [Read More]
From friends who think I make easy money to my mother who (lovingly) admonishes me to get a real job, everybody seems to have their own idea of what freelancing is all about. Many of these ideas come from misconceptions of the freelancing life, and here are eight of the most popular: [Read More]
There are many popular mega-lists out there nowadays (75 Ways to Boost your Self-Esteem, 101 Ways to Open Firefox, 503 Ways to Make Your List Longer). But often, these lists have too many "filler" items, and many items have such diminuitive returns that I'd rather just have a list of their ten best items. So in that vein, here is a list of what I consider my favorite productivity tips – ten in all. Feel free to add your own favorites (and then maybe we can get to 101). [Read More]
William James, the 19th century philosopher and Pragmatist, rightly noted that "nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task." So in the spirit of the new year and getting things done, here are a few tasks you should stop putting off. [Read More]
With the new year just around the corner, there's no better time to begin thinking about your own freelancing and business plans for 2008. This is important because it's rather easy to go year after year without any real thought towards your own career and future (other than making sure that you have work and that you get paid for that work). So here are three steps that help guide aspirations and plans for the coming year. [Read More]
Designing websites, building applications, and writing content can be very draining activities requiring as many "breaks" as your schedule or boss allows. These breaks are even more frequent for freelancers, who can often justify taking a nap or watching the tube in the middle of the day. But before you turn on the Wii for your third break of the day, consider these other, more useful ways to "waste time." [Read More]
Certain occupations tend to elicit more "favor asking" than others: tax accountants, auto mechanics, and website designers come to mind. And in my experience, people who create websites are usually very giving people, often working nights and weekends for free. The problem is, as a website creator, it's easy to focus on the people or cause you are helping and forget those things that you are sacrificing in the process. [Read More]
One of the tougher aspects of freelancing is making sure you get paid a fair amount for your work. I'm sure every freelancer has at least one story of either getting grossly underpaid or not getting paid at all. So here are seven tips to help you improve your quoting. [Read More]
Just so I don’t invoke bad karma from the client gods that be, I've decided I should follow up on my previous post, '10 Absolute "No's!" for Freelancers.' I've been fortunate enough to usually fill up my freelance hours, and I think the following answers have played a big part in this success. Feel free to add what has worked for you! [Read More]
When I first started freelancing as a college student, I was eager to do any website and would say "Yes" to anything, regardless of my skill set or the time involved. It was just nice to know that someone needed me for a skilled task. Unfortunately, I quickly found myself working all the time, eating Ramen noodles, and not getting anywhere in terms of paying off my wonderful college debt. To make things worse, these people were also giving my contact info out to other such people (you know, the lady who has been thinking about selling dog sweaters online and has a $100 budget for an e-commerce site, 1000 brochures, and a guaranteed #1 Google search result for the words "dog", "sweater", and "love"). [Read More]
When you decide to go freelance or even map out your year's goals, you need to have your end goal in mind. When I decided to go freelance a few months ago, I had three routes. [Read More]
When I graduated from college 4 years ago, many of my programming and design peers spoke of starting their own business/studio. The idea seemed simple: work at home, charge the masses for your work, sleep in every day. However, I only know of one guy who pulled it off, mainly because he does really amazing stuff. Freelancing isn't a walk in the park. That's why most people work for someone else. And to be honest, I don't think I could be freelance now if I didn't work for three "someone elses" before making the switch. If you're thinking about going freelance, here's a few tips to help: [Read More]
