Freelancing: Finding My Way

Well it’s been about three months since I decided to go “freelancing” full time. What have I learned? What would I tell someone who is gearing up for the same move? I think I have done some wise things and some not so wise things in the last few months. I feel like I’m off to a good start. Here’s a few things I’ve gleaned from my limited experience out on the wide open sea of freelancing:

1. Market Yourself
This may seem like a “duh - of course” kind of step, but it can be really easy to let “advertising” your services slip to a back burner. Your work may be excellent in quality, unique in vision and really marketable - BUT if no one knows about it, you don’t have any work. For me this is really hard. I tend to be fairly introspective and don’t feel comfortable talking with people I don’t know real well. I call it the curse of the visual artist. I can speak clearly in print or in an illustration, but put me in a room full of art directors/clients and I’m sure I’ll either a.) Do something amazingly embarrassing or b.) Not be able to eek out my name, much less what I do. Unfortunately marketing yourself is not a step you can fail at and still be successful.

Since I know this is something I struggle with I’ve been trying to set aside time once or twice a week to be intentional about it. I look for opportunities that will give me small jumps in confidence and then use that for fuel in the next situation. The web is a great place for these kind of small steps. I honestly feel a whole lot better about the upcoming months because of the last three of intentional self-marketing on the web. I’m now ready to spend some marketing dollars in some key spots because I’m ready to grow.

2. Use Good Tools
I cannot believe the difference in using my new iMac and Adobe CS3 as opposed to my old beat-up laptop and just plain old CS. It’s been a nice jump and I feel like my work has improved almost instantly. I had to push a little bit to make it happen, but getting the best tools for the job was a step I would have been foolish to miss.

A perfect example would be a design job I was working on last week. I hadn’t used InDesign CS that much to begin with, but learning CS3 has been fairly easy and the work flow on a pretty big project has been a dream. I caught myself saying “what would I have done without this” at least a dozen times. My illustration work has seen an upgrade in overall quality too (at least I think so!). The 20” screen has given me a lot of real estate to see composition more clearly, as well as making more informed color choices. Pick up the best tools if you want to do your best work. Trust me.

3. Seek Out Advice
Maybe because I didn’t just jump in right out of college or perhaps because of my time teaching about wisdom in my former job as a Youth Pastor - I’ve learned to ask questions of people who I admire. I’m not a “complete” illustrator or designer yet AND I don’t suppose there will ever be a day I feel like I’m done learning things. When I don’t know the answer the only wrong way to go is to guess, when there are people out there who know, right?

There are some great sites out there too. Spend some time perusing the web, read blogs from giants in the industry, go the bookstore and spend an afternoon reading that $50 book on design. Why not? I’ve made it a priority to learn about business, technique, software, marketing, etc. It’s an investment.

4. Develop a Schedule that Works
I love what I do, that’s why I decided to freelance. But if spend all of my time working I will get tired and begin to loathe my home office. I can feel this creeping up on Friday afternoons. It’s why I’ve decided to set a work schedule and keep to it. I work Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5pm. I try really hard to not reply to business e-mail on the weekends or weeknights. I schedule time to play or do nothing with my lovely wife on the weekends.

Is this realistic? I’d rather make some hard decisions about schedules now, rather than having serious issues with my job and my relationships in two years. I don’t care if it affects my yearly income. There are things that are worth more! Of course there are times I need to work through an evening because of a due date. Just like there are times when I can step away from the office to do non-work things on a weekday. It’s one of the unforeseen joys of freelancing. It’s about balance. Which leads right into…

5. Don’t Go Too Narrow
I’ve heard from a few people and read in a few places that it’s a good idea to really focus on one area that you do really well. I tend to agree with that idea long-term, but short-term I don’t think it’s wise. I love illustration and I love design. I love logo design and web design, as well as print. I can see my illustration style in a few places that vary in audience. So where do I focus? Everywhere.

I need to have a steady stream of paying work. To get that stream I’ve decided to major in a lot of things. So far, it’s been really wonderful. When I get done with a large illustration piece, I love to not jump right into another. There is something fresh and good about magazine layout coming on the heels of a web design job. Someday I may be able to narrow it down a bunch, but for right now being proficient in bunch of things has some real advantages.

6. Administration
I hate paper work. I hate invoices. I don’t like filing stuff when I could be drawing stuff. That’s who I am. Unfortunately, I know that could be the thing that stops me from succeeding. If you want to spend time doing what you love, you’d better focus on the things that make it possible - even if you’d rather scratch a chalk board or poke your eye out with a spork. That’s life.

So that’s my list so far. There are a few other things that I’ll save for another post, but I think this is a fair look at my first three months. Here’s to learning and loving what you do…

This is where I ramble on and you tell me about it below. Ok, I actually hope to do more than ramble, but the jury is still out.