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I ran across a blog post the other day, that prompted me to think about what was good and bad about my personal experience on being a freelancer. The post, entitled 7 Habits of a Highly Successful Freelance Web Designer was written by Andy Budd, the managing director of a user experience consultancy in England. After being asked by a couple people on how to make it as a freelance web designer, he posted his thoughts as 7 ideas. Here’s a summary:

1. Love what you do:

…you need to have a passion for what you do. Passion (with the aid of caffeine) will keep you working late into the night when the rest of your friends are down the pub or fast asleep.

2. Never stop learning:

…the best web designers are endlessly inquisitive and always want to keep abreast of the latest trends and technologies.

3. Specialise:

Some skills are more in demand than others, but if you’re the top of your field in a particular language or skill, you’ll always be in demand.

4. Get a killer portfolio:

…don’t post up every project you’ve ever done. You’re only as good as your last couple of projects so put your best foot forward and showcase your most recent work.

5. Network like crazy:

…people much prefer doing businesses with somebody they have met and feel comfortable with. Next time they need help on a particular project, they are much more likely to remember you and get in touch.

6. Manage your time:

Make sure people know the difference between your work time and your home time. Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you have time to do the dishes, clean the house and take out the trash. Conversely don’t participate in avoidance techniques like doing the chores, making snacks or watching TV.

7. Build your reputation:

…become the person people want to do business with. That way, rather than searching for new clients, they will come to you.

Read the entire post here.

My addition to this list, would probably be:

Develop a dual personality:
Keep your personal life and work life completely separate by having separate phone numbers (don’t give out your home number), maintain a work email that is separate that your personal email, and divide your personal space into “office” and home (even if you work in a small space).

Find opportunities to be on-site:
Freelancing from home became a lonely experience for me, so I often found opportunities to visit my clients at their offices. I’d drop by in the morning with donuts (my business card attached), or schedule lunches in advance with my clients near their office. I even kept an extra computer that I could keep onsite with one of my clients to work in their office on larger projects. These clients were happy to give me some space and an Internet connection – and things moved much smoother when the client was right there.

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Are you being paid what you’re worth? This designer salaries link, sponsored by AIGA (the organization for designers I recently became a part of) and Aquent (a marketing and creative services group) has a link to give you an idea of what your worth.

Check it out –>AIGA/AQUENT Survey of Design Salaries 2006

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