Freelance in the New Economy

As cliche as it might sound, we live in new economic times. Because of this, being a freelance web developer / designer is a bit different than it was, even 6 months ago. Gone are the days when client’s pay exorbitant amounts of cash for trivial work. Clients will evaluate you, and your work, and make decisions that benefit themselves.

Prioritize Clients

Knowing this is powerful. By knowing this, you can make the conscious effort to prioritize your current clients. You do not receive the same benefits from all of your clients. They are inequal.

Evaluate Current Clients

So, evaluate them. After all, they’ll be evaluating you. As a freelance ‘web guy’, you’ll possibly be the most expendable asset of your client’s team. They’ll likely make a list of pros and cons about you. That’s very fair, and you should make the same list about each of your clients.

Figure Out Who Is Awesome

Typically awesome clients are stable, pay well, pay on time, and have potential for more work. A lot of those assets tie in to each other. By a client being stable, there is a bit of an implicit expectation that they will pay on time.

Figure Out Who Sucks

This is essentially the opposite of how a client can be obvious. Businesses who are leveraging their property as capital to make payroll are likely not going to pay you on time. However, add to that, the neediness of a client. A client who argues for hours over the hue of red in their logo, is likely going to drain your ability to satisfy other clients.

Keep One Main Client

This isn’t to say that you should put all of your eggs in one basket. However, the other side of that, is don’t spread yourself so thin, that you’re killing yourself to make a decent living. For every client you have, there is some level of non-billable overhead associated with working with them. There’s a bit of acceptability in this, since that’s exactly what allows you the freelance lifestyle that you want to begin with. Too much of this is a total drag though, and will wear you out. So, keep at least one client, who’s stable, to ensure some consistent cash flow.

Keep One Interesting Client

Nobody works all the time. Everyone has something outside of work they find interesting. Try to land a client that’s doing something you’d find interesting, even if you weren’t a freelancer.

Find New Clients

Even with all the work to keep your existing clients happy, and weed out the clients who are dragging you down, you’ll still want to get new work. No relationship lasts forever (well, work relationship). So make a conscious effort to try to predict the future.

Old Skool Networking

Facebook is cool, but the bar is better. Most people hire folks they trust. Trust can’t be built online. For someone to believe in your ability to get the job done, they need to know you. The only way to do that is to step away from the computer, and get to know people.

U Need Communication Skillz

This should be obvious, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen the rudest behavior from people in conversations. Don’t interrupt people. Be polite. Be friendly. Be genuine. If you’ve taken the time to meet people to build relationships with them, then take the time to listen to them. RT(f)M, in the real world, is “shutup and listen”.

Use CoLab

There is an awesome space available to the community to overcome some of the traditional problems associated with being a freelancer (meeting clients at Starbucks, working at home too much, getting kicked out of Panera). There’s tons of people who can provide work at CoLab. Don’t miss the amazing opportunity there.

When It’s Time To Work, Do It

Don’t even look at your Xbox. If you’ve got 50 hours a week of work lined up, get it done. Don’t put your work off until the last minute. If you’ve got distractions where you’re working, try to remove them. If you can’t remove those distractions, like crying babies, then work somewhere else.

Don’t Be Flaky

If a client is starting to suck, or the situation regarding the project your on isn’t cool, take note of it, and finish the project. There’s few instances where you’ll be able to back out of a project entirely. Keep that in mind. Plus, selling out your client is THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO GET A BAD REPUTATION. As a freelancer, you live and starve on your reputation. Once you’ve established that you’re willing to screw someone because they were a nuisance to you, 68.8234% of possible new clients will walk away.

Get Productive

There’s a few things that can make your working environment more productive. Silence the phone, turn off email (twitter), drink copious amounts of Monster Energy drinks and put girls in bikinis on your desktop. The world is definitely your canvas here. If you find yourself getting more code done, but doing a certain something, then do more of that.

“Hustle”

For those of you who went to FOWA last week, you know what I’m talking about. Actually, a lot of my talk here is a bit inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk’s talk in Miami. Figure out what you want to do, and do it. Don’t be passive about it. Find what works and do it.

Save Money

If you can, of course. If you’re making enough money now, where you could save money, or if you’ve got expenses you could cut (and not screw your business), do it. Find a way to save money while you can. Inevitably, there will be times where cash is no longer coming in. If you can’t weather the dry times with clients, you won’t last in freelancing.

Don’t Wait For Government

I know I’m showing some of my politics here, but there’s still a valid (bi-partisan) point to be made. Nobody is going to save you from bad clients, slow cash-flow, or your own lack of knowledge. Having a victim mindset will only ensure your failure. Being a freelancer is being an entrepreneur. You have zero job stability (so, remember to save)

Don’t Burn Out

Don’t book 70hrs of work / week.

Get Inspired

Inspiration is what makes you come back. If you’re running low on inspiration, then your work will reflect it. Even worse, your life will reflect it. Don’t hate your job.

Get More Info

Don’t listen to anything I just told you. I’ve got 7 weeks total of freelance experience ever. I know a couple of things, but mostly I pick up stuff from Google. Freelanceswitch is a great resource for new / experienced freelancers out there. They’ve got a great podcast as well, which has been awesome reference material for me. Ask people you know about how they’re staying afloat. At least you’ll be networking

We’ve shared space with Push for 18 months now. We love those folks. They’re an amazing bunch of people, who I’m pretty stoked to call friends now. Friendship aside however, it was time we had our own space, to *push* our own identity. Hopefully we’ll all still see each other at Lizzy’s. Our new office _is_ right there anyways …

All of the team spent a hell of a lot of time preparing the new office into something we could call home. When we got the space, it was setup for a construction company. I guess that’s a bit ironic for me, but it plain sucks for everyone else. So, we all worked our asses off to remove carpet, paint, clean, and do a million other things to make the office into something that begins to represent Hydra, the raddest digital agency in the world.

The whole process was a little cliche of the things you’d expect from working your balls off after a full day’s worth of regular work with co-workers. I have a bit more respect for everyone, and I definitely care a smidgeon more about everyone there. I know it sounds like a load of crap, but everyone really gave it their all, and I couldn’t be more proud of what all of us have been able to pull off. 

The move definitely had it’s perils though. I had to dodge insane traffic to pick up equipment I dropped in the middle of 50 during rush hour. We destroyed some walls we had to put back. More than a few nerves were a little frayed from the tremendous amount of work we had to do. 

I know I’m gonna get some shit for this: Regardless, of everyone who stands out in this whole process, Bobby Jones is definitely the man. Bobby is undoubtedly the best employer I’ve ever known. During the entire transition between offices, Bobby probably worked 80 to 100 hours on the new office. He poured himself into making the transition relatively smooth, and keeping the rest of us motivated while we helped realize his vision. The sort of stress he must have been under is impressive. What’s more impressive, is how calm and collected he remained throughout the affair. Ask Rob and Parker how many times Bobby took the late workers out to IHOP at 5:00am to feed the most dedicated of folks. I’ll probably follow up my ‘Folks that mean shit to me’ lineup with Bobby next (even if it does give me a brown nose).

Anyways, a mega-huge thanks to everyone at Hydra for working your asses off doing shit you didn’t know how to do, but did it anyways. I’m honored to call all of you my coworkers, and more honored to call all of you, my friends. I’ve worked with some of the toughest people in the world. I’d trade every one of them for you guys, you’re all the best.

That’s not to take away from the incredible significance of what July 4th is to everyone else. I suppose it’s easy to forget, or take for granted, the awesome opportunities we have in the United States. The bravery and commitment it must have taken, to violently break from from an oppressive government, is awe-inspiring.

But that’s exactly what is inspiring me to go ‘indie’ …

While I certainly don’t have to resort to war, or worry about death as a consequence of my own ‘liberation’, I do have a mortgage, and all the other associated bills that so many Americans struggle with every day. By leaving a steady job, I leave the security of steady income. The consequences of that, often feel like impending death. I’ve had a hard time sleeping lately. I wake up in the night, with pain in my chest, from the stress of it all.

But with consequence, comes the potential for great reward …

When the US declared it’s independence, and successfully fought to keep it, we opened the door of opportunity to become the most amazing country in modern times, possibly ever. Despite what you might hear on CNN tonight, or what the regulars on Digg like to say about this country, there truly is no better place to live in the world. The reason? Opportunity. There simply is no other government in the world that provides opportunity on a silver platter like this country. It may sound cliche, but if you can dream it, this country won’t stop you from doing it.

So, with my own departure from a stable job, at an up-and-coming startup, I’ve opened the door to a level of opportunities that I simply wouldn’t have otherwise. I don’t know what’s in store for me, but I do know I’ve met some amazing folks, who I hope to work with on projects that will change the world (hopefully).

I’ve no illusions about what this means for me. The rewards that may come my way, aren’t without stupendous amounts of work due to realize them. That’s fine with me. I’ve come from a family of working types, and I’ve done more than mine (and your) fair share of work. The difference between before, and now, is that I’ll be the one deciding how I’ll get it done.

I’ve leaned on a few folks for advice in making the decisions I’ve made lately. You know who you are, and I’ll never be able to repay all of you for all the help you’ve been to me.

This guy had some intial transition issues, and turned it into an excuse to write about the ‘flaws’ of switching to Mac. His company uses lame software that was specifically designed for windows, and complains about Mac not working for it. It’s a weird argument, ’cause he prefixes all of this by saying he’s been a Mac user for years. The issues he complains about are largely encountered by newbs. Either he’s a liar, or he’s playing ‘Devils Advocate’ for the inevitable issues new Mac converts will face.

While it is mega-lame, it does give some validity to his argument. Many small business ARE using terrible software, and would be faced with serious costs if they chose to change software and hardware at the same time. Remember, most business users don’t like computers. They’re a tool for doing a job they don’t want to do.

So the issue here really is, ‘Do you like your job’? because if you do, then you would want to use the best possible equipment to get it done. You would want to be as efficient at your job as you possibly could. If your job sucks however, then you probably just want to get it done and get out.

That’s sort of the “State Of Business” for much of corporate America. There’s a reason why everyone you meet loves ‘Office-Space’. It’s because most people have shitty jobs. It might seem like a stretch, but I think there’s a real correlation between Mac / PC users and folks with good / bad jobs.

Figure it like this: if your employer doesn’t want to fork an extra thousand bucks on a computer that works more efficiently for you, do you think they’re gonna provide any other incentives?

Doubt it.

All of us at NFi work very hard to produce product that is above and beyond client expectation. Just the other day I worked from 8 in the morning until midnight. While that’s not an everyday occurence, it happens quite a bit. Sometimes in this business, there’s just far too much to do. So when I hear some appreciation from the boss, I guess I get a little choked up.

I shoud count my blessings. I work in an environment where I can wear just about whatever I want, I can say pretty much whatever is on my mind, and I can listen to Death Metal all day (with headphones, of course).

Sterling is a dedicated entreprenuer who has the insight to know that while teamwork and dedication are critical to success, an uptight or stifling atmosphere is not. There’s a weird balance between fostering creativity, and discouraging a lack of productivity that Sterling does a pretty stand up job at acheiving here.

The guys (and gals) I work with are a really cool bunch of folks. I’ve mentioned Sterling, but Derek, Bender, Elizabeth, Rick, CJ, and now Chris are all friends to me. I routinely heckle Bender and Derek is always teaching me something.

Our office is awesome. It’s in the heart of Downtown Orlando. We have wood floors, and a great view (though the shades are frequently closed to keep the glare to a minimum). We get to meet a lot of really awesome folks because of our location alone.

So, I really like working with these guys at NFi. I can’t think of a better place to be.