I get a lot of questions about freelancing.
How's it going? Do you have enough work? Are you working from home? Isn't working from home distracting? Be honest, are you really just listening to Beyoncé all day + having a dance party?
The answers : good ( most days ), thankfully yes, yes, sometimes and some days.
Pound real talk.
Honestly, I've discovered that working for yourself is about finding a whole lot of ways of doing things that don't work. The beauty of this process is that through trial + error, the things that do work, over time, reveal themselves to you. Slowly but surely, you become more confident in your abilities both as a designer ( or other professional ) and a business person. And perhaps best of all, you learn more about yourself + who you are EVERY DAY—what works best for you, when your best time of day is, where you work best, what your evil nemesis is ( finances! ), how to avoid your evil nemesis ( a good accountant! ), and most importantly, why you do what you do.
I'm chest-deep in this process and will likely be for good long while. I make a lot of mistakes. I apologize genuinely + profusely. And I always try to be better the next time around.
Freelancing isn't for everyone, but if you're thinking of making the leap, please know that if I can do it, anyone can do it. Out of the five steps I recommend you take to start freelancing, I only did two of them when I first started out.
There's hope for all of us, friends.
( 01 )
DEFINE YOUR GOALS
Before you even start thinking about making the jump to freelancing, I recommend sitting down with an old-school calculator and hammering out some concrete numbers.
How much do you need to cover your bare minimum monthly expenses? Ideally, how much income would you like to make a year? What is the current status of your emergency savings + retirement funds?
Remember, the general rule is to set aside 25% to 30% of your income for taxes, so factor that in. Once you calculate these numbers, you'll have a clearer sense of how much work you need to stay afloat + how much to charge. If you're working full-time, you can also start to put away more of your hard-earned benjamins and build up your savings for when you do make the jump.
( 02 )
TAP INTO YOUR NETWORK
It's pretty simple—nobody is going to hire you if they don't know you're looking for work. Putting yourself out there can be awkward and all sorts of middle school weird, but it's essential. Start by letting family + friends know you want extra freelance work, then do the same on social media. I recommend posting a piece or two of your work, so people can see you've got skillz. If you're on good terms, email old bosses and work connections. If there's an agency or company you love, grow some balls and write an email saying you dig their stuff. Agencies often hire freelancers, especially when things get busy, and if they like you, it's a promising sign for more work.
( 03 )
TRY SOMETHING NEW
When you're starting out, every single talent you possess must be leveraged. Honestly, it's the only reason I've survived this long. When I first started out, I took freelance writing jobs and said yes to freelance photography work, even though I felt so unqualified for it. These jobs helped pay the bills as I finished my last year of school, as well as expanded my skill set and marketability. Whether it's writing, photography, blogging, social media, marketing, communications or stripping ( hey, no judgment ), every talent you have can and will help you start living the freelance life.
( 04 )
ORGANIZE YOUR BUSINESS
This is the one that I wish ( so hard ) that I had paid more attention to when I first started out. Getting the back end of your business together + tidy is one of the best things you can do to set yourself up for long-term success. It becomes so much easier to manage your day-to-day tasks—from email to incoming inquiries to getting PAID.
Register for an LLC ( or other business entity ) so you're legit. In Wisconsin, you can do this online at the Department of Financial Institutions. Most other states have a similar process.
Find a good small business accountant. They will be your savior.
Make business templates. I'm talking contracts, invoices, project proposals, FAQs, pricing guides, email templates, etc. They save you so much time.
Set up an invoicing, payments + expenses tracking system that works for you.
Get a website and online portfolio, stat! If you're a designer, Behance and Dribbble are great for showcasing your work. Personally, I've had a handful of freelance inquiries via Behance.
( 05 )
DON'T WORK TOO HARD
Making the transition from full-time to freelance is most likely going to require getting home from putting in an 8-hour day then doing at least a few more hours of work. It's hard. It often sucks. But it's necessary to making the big leap. That being said, don't work too hard or put undue pressure on yourself. It takes time to make the jump to freelance, and working yourself brain dead only means your work suffers, which is the very thing that's going to get you hired. And yes, this is the piece of advice that I need to take from myself most of all.
Like I said, I'm still learning.