Inspired by Brian Yerkes’ blog post, 50 Reasons Why You Will Not Make It as a Freelancer, I was thinking about my own journey as a freelancer and what I’ve learned from freelancers I know who are successful (Humbly, I would not consider myself successful, as I am not yet making enough to quit my day job). However, in response to the article about why people won't make it as freelancers, here are my thoughts on those who will make it.
They’re disciplined.
Being a freelancer is hard work. You must be fully prepared to work long days, nights, and weekends. You don’t get to wake up at noon, skip a shower, and surf the net all day. Being a good freelancer means disciplining yourself to make deadlines, set goals, and actively pursue new clients and jobs. You must divide up your time between art direction, production work, project management, and client relations. Only those who take pride in their work and make their career a priority will have the stamina to survive the early years of establishing themselves as designers.
They aren’t afraid to charge their clients what the job is worth.
A very common mistake when you’re starting to freelance (I am guilty of this one) is not charging your clients for jobs early on, because you’re afraid they won’t like the work, or think it’s not to spec, or because you’re just plain afraid you won’t get the job unless you do it for free. I’ve figured out that if you have even a little bit of design skill, people will pay you to take advantage of it. Design is not a skill or talent everybody has. While it’s one thing to make a birthday announcement for your niece’s 8th birthday party for free, it’s another when you make a habit of never charging for small jobs. Take pride in yourself and your work! If you never charge people at the start of your career, they’ll expect the same treatment later on when you’d normally bill a hundred dollars an hour.
They have a good understanding of marketing skills.
If you became a graphic designer because you thought you’d never have to sell anything, think again! A graphic designer is a salesperson for themselves— the difference is you are selling something you’re passionate about and understand the value in. The biggest mistake you can make as a freelance graphic designer is neglecting to network with people. You MUST be able to talk confidently about your value to others who may or may not share the same view. Social networking is crucial to maintaining a loyal client base and building upon it. Second to that, you must have a clear understanding of who your target client is— and to know that, you must first know what kind of design business you’d like to build. Which leads me to the last point…
They have a clearly defined business goal.
Jumping into a game without being prepared puts you at a huge disadvantage. If you clearly define what the goal of your design business is, you’ll be far more successful at reaching the right clients and establishing yourself professionally. A good place to start is to list out your own personal interests. Are you passionate about sustainable business? Sports? Popular media? Music? Designers can tailor their business to serving clients that fit their interests, or they can build their design style around these interests. But starting on the right foot and defining a business goal creates motivation and momentum to overcome obstacles and failures (which you will inevitably encounter). Also, having a business goal will help you better explain your business to potential clients, which will create confidence and encourage loyalty. Yay!
So freelance isn't for everyone. It's a tough business! But the freedom of self-employment and ability to define your own work are well worth the effort.
