Freelancing: Getting Started Guide

Posted on August 17th, 2011 | Freelancing / Business | 3 Comments »

Freelancing is a great career choice with a lot of freedom, which is part of makes it so appealing, but also a career choice that takes a lot of work to get started and to maintain. Because it is a challenge, many freelancers before me have created their own guides, books, set of resources, and so on for starting up a freelance business. When I was starting out, I found these resources invaluable, so I’m also going to create my own, specifically targeted at my niche and how I do business: completely online and in the world of website design and development.

If you are just starting out or are planning on exploring the possibility of freelancing, use this guide to help get you going on the right path. While many of these tips may be targeted at web people, there are many other types of freelance businesses that can follow similar models for starting out.

1. Before You Begin:

Have a Backup Means of Finances

Since I began freelancing while still in college, I worked through part-time jobs until I really got going. For many, it may just be a matter of freelancing on the side with their current (career-based) job. For the luckiest, if you’re as young as being in high school, you don’t need much for money in order to survive.

No matter what, have a backup means of financial security. Nobody gets freelancing 100% right the first time they jump in! Beyond that, it takes time to build up a client base, and even a few years to build up one good enough to survive full-time on. Give it time — you don’t want to be stuck in your new business without the possibility to move forward because you’re so financially insecure that you have no time to learn new things or search for bigger and better opportunities.

Try Several Freelancing “Paths” or Business Models

Do you want to work for clients your entire career? Live off of passive income? What type of work do you want to do? What type of clients do you want to have? What sort of professional reputation would you like to have? You may think you know the answers now, but things may turn out far differently once you try them out. While you can still be financially secure by other means, try out a few different routes.

For me, I’ve dabbled in development-only work, mostly design, stretched my skill set out to logo and print design, and even tried different types of development (custom apps, WordPress, standard front-end development) to see what sort of projects I liked taking on best. Beyond that, I’ve switched between the types of clients I take on, and experimented with both passive income and working full-time with clients directly. I’ve even tried out working entirely online vs. meeting with clients face-to-face. Being young, I even had a quick internship to make sure I wouldn’t prefer an office job after all!

In the end of it all, over the course of a few years, I’ve found that I like working completely online best, doing mostly front-end development and WordPress work (although sometimes I get in the mood to make a web app), and taking on a lot more web design work than I originally ever thought I would enjoy, excluding branding and print work. That’s just me though; it may be entirely opposite for you!

Try several things before becoming dependent on one business model. Once your income depends on it, it’s very difficult, although possible, to switch paths. If you need to depend on it for a long term, you better enjoy what you’re doing!

2. Make Plans

Next, decide on your plan of action, including your business name, business model, goals, and your next set of steps in order to move forward with those goals. You don’t need a 10 page business plan to get started, just be sure to get a rough plan to make sure you know where you’re headed.

This is also a good time to determine your design or development process — how you initiate a project from start to finish. It’s important to create a process and stick to it. If you’ve ever read any sort of business book, one of the core lessons many business owners learn is that consistency is key. You need a process for how you run everything in your business, from each project, to your finances, and to your daily schedule.

Consider the following when making plans for your business:

• How will you ask for, collect, and organize legal documents such as contracts and NDA’s? (Yes, they are required!)
• How will you collect payments, what will be your standard and what will you prefer?
• What will be your working hours? When can clients get a hold of you?
• How will you keep track of your finances in order to know you’re moving forward instead of backwards into debt? How will you keep track for taxes, savings, retirement, health insurance, and more? (Even, let’s say, if you’re still in school and don’t need to buy your own health insurance yet for example, still begin thinking of these things! It is essential, and you’ll be so glad you did in years to come.)
• What’s your means of communicate with clients? How do you organize your emails, meeting schedule, and documents concerning a project?
• Keep overhead low. Don’t go and start using a project management app that looks cool for $30 a month if you can’t afford it. Don’t go buy hundreds of dollars in new office furniture and supplies. Think of these things as luxuries rather than necessities; they are something you can get (by all means, especially if they make you more productive) when you and your business can afford them.

Literally Write This Stuff Down

Organize the way you’ll do things exactly and write it down. Keep to it. The glorious thing about freelancing, then, is that if you end up wanting to change something or trying out a different process in one area, you can change it to try that out for awhile. When changing things up, be sure to track your business progress and satisfaction with your work.

3. Set Up Shop! (Your Portfolio)

Finally, get things set up in order to get going. In many states (US), you don’t need to do anything when starting up if you plan on working as the sole proprietor of your business. Check local laws though to ensure you’re doing everything legally, and also brush up on various business models within your country in case you do want to upgrade someday, as well as educate yourself on dealing with taxes or any other business obligations.

When you can, set up your portfolio online. If you’re a web designer or developer, then great, no need to hire someone! If not, this is one business expense that won’t go wasted. Hire a professional to build yourself a professional and functional website. Even if you’re a developer that has less than desirable design skills (or vice versa), hire whoever you need to get the job done right. Best of all, you’ll be able to write it off as a business expense anyway.

No projects to display? That’s fine. Just create some sample work for you portfolio and that’s usually sufficient in order to get you started. Or, even better, get some work up and accepted into some online marketplaces for templates, themes, and more. Or, release freebies for your site’s visitors. These are great marketing tactics that will help you get really going in the following steps. Beyond your portfolio pieces, include some content about who you are, what you do, your expertise, and anything else you want to put up. A blog for example is a popular option, but mind you, it is a big commitment.

On to Freelancing: Getting Started Guide – Part 2