I gave an hour and twenty minute talk at How Design Live / Creative Freelance Conference in Boston on the art of the start. This talk has some serious meat on its bones. The organizers were kind enough to provide me the audio and I then paired it with the slides to create a video to share. We always give our educational content away for free to our audience and this isn’t going to be any different.
I started freelancing full time out of necessity during the dot bomb in 2001. There were no blogs on freelancing, no conferences, but I was deeply blessed to find a mentor who helped me avoid the worst mistakes my first year. While you shouldn’t get paralysis by analysis (just get started), certain key tips often make the difference between navigating a successful freelance career and a lot of sleepless nights. Whether you are dreaming about freelancing or in the thick of bootstrapping, be practical and be intentional about running a business and you will be successful.
- Why you ALWAYS get a deposit
- What to spend money on and what to skip
- How to get a business license and what form of business to choose
- Don’t be a cowboy, get input from the right people
- Why you should clock your time, even if your aren’t paid for it
- Contracts matter – finding a template you can use
- The IRS is watching: separate bank accounts and track your finances
- Planing makes you real money: think about deductions and expenses now
- Avoid the bad projects and evil clients with a project checklist
- 6 months in the bank = freedom to define your terms
- And so much more…
Watch The Video Now
Although the video was previously only available to those who’d signed up to receive the Tribesterly email digest we’ve been working on, it’s now public and accessible to everyone. Check it out:
Some supplemental resources can be found below, too.
With The Right Setup, Anyone Can Kick Ass
I included the table of contents for the talk below as well as a small additional set of thoughts on the biggest mistakes freelancers make. Hope you enjoy.
You might also want to check out other articles & videos we have on the topic of freelancing (there are tons more beyond these):
- What should I charge?
- Working Remotely with a new baby.
- Marry your clients.
- Be Dependable
- Contract Template
- Freelancer’s Guide to Sales: followthrough
- Measuring your pipeline
The Why
The Vehicle
The 6 Fs
My Dreams List
The Setup
Business Type
Biz License & other paperwork
SBDC
Professionals pay off
Your up-front costs
The IRS is watching: separate bank accounts / cc
Track your finances: Quickbooks, Quicken, Freshbooks …
You MUST pay taxes
What can you deduct?
#1 goal: 6 months in the bank
The Patterns
Rhythm
Daily Habits
Work Comfortably
Home Vs Coworking Vs ?
Clock all your time
The Calendar
The Daily minimum
The Urgent Vs The Important
Balancing the Fs
Back your shit up
Finding Your Customers
Make a list – contact everyone
The perfect voicemail
Agencies
Marketing – website, portfolio etc
The project checklist
Sell when you need it least
Fixed Vs Hourly
Managing your load
Experiment with your rate: Supply & Demand
My income per year
“Do Good Work & Tell People About It”
Working With Customers
How do we win?
Contracts
Deposit
1 out of 3: why they fail
HHCA
Management Slides
bonus thoughts for this post:
(not in the video as I had to cut it due to time):
Most Common Mistakes
Not clocking
Taking on too much
Waiting to sell until you need it
Failing to experimenting with your rate
Forgetting to save for taxes or tracking expenses
Setting expectations poorly
Pretending to be what you are not (an agency)
Wasting money on the wrong things
Not getting the legal biz basic in place (but not obsessing about them)
Allowing the urgent to trump the important
Going with the torrent rather than creating a pattern to live and work by
Not having a backup in place
Working without a contract (or neglecting to read it)
Not getting paid a deposit up front
Finding out how to win a project after you have it