Badass Freelancer by Renegade Strategic Creative Agency, Inc.

Badass Freelancer

Badass Freelancer Originally published as Modern Freelancing by Mike Vargas Copyright © 2012 Michael Vargas All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the author. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter that is covered. It is published with the understanding that the publisher is not authorized to offer legal, accounting, or any other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Any trade mark mentioned belongs to the respective owner. Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher has used its best efforts in preparing this book, and the information provided herein is provided “as is”. Atlas Project Support makes no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of

merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. First Publishing, 2012 ISBN 978-0-9853568-0-4 Published in the United States of America

BADASS FREELANCER

CONTENTS

Home Office or Off Site Contractor? ............205 Making Your Space Work for You ................216 Having the Right Tools for the Job ............189

Introduction ............................................. 08 What Is Freelancing? .................................. 23 Conquering the Freelancerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hardships ....... 49 How to Start Your Freelancing Career ......... 69 Managing Your Finances ............................. 80 Becoming Your Own Business ....................... 99 Banking and Taxes ....................................116 Branding Yourself ....................................150 Why Web Presence and Social Networking Is Crucial ....................................................170 Creating a Website That Wows .....................189

Being Productive .....................................205 How to Beat the Cabin Fever ......................216 Pricing - How to Keep Competitive Without Sacrificing .............................................189 How to Keep Positive When a Deal Goes Bad ..205 When to Cut Your Losses and Walk Away ........216 Making Your Space Work for You ................216 Becoming a Fulltime Freelancer

...............189

Afterword ................................................. 18 Resources ................................................. 18

BADASS FREELANCER

Introduction Everyone dreams of one day casting off the shackles

very important not to get discouraged. With hard work

of their monotonous day job: no more sitting in their

and determination, and the right tools, you will find

offices performing repetitive tasks, making someone

success.

else great deals of money, while receiving barely enough to scrape by. And why should your hard work

The rewards from a freelance career go far beyond

benefit someone else? Within these pages you will find

financial; there is no price that you can put on being

the tools to free yourself, to be your own boss, and

your own boss, setting your own schedule, answering

benefit fully from the products of your labor.

only to yourself. The keyword in the term freelancer is “free”. That is not to say your work is free, just you.

This book will guide you on your first steps into the

You are free to make whatever choices you want. Take

world of self employment, and also give precious advice

the jobs you want, charge what you want.

on how to avoid most of the hardships and dangers you might encounter while carving out your piece in

By the end of the book we will have you ready for

the world of freelancing. The advent of the internet

business. From your first steps into the world of self

has made it easier for people to go into business for

employment, to growing your own business, handling

themselves, but it also made it more dangerous, because

and managing your finances, and just what to do when

not every client is trustworthy, and, as you learn to

things don’t go as planned. You are being built into

hone your skills in your chosen profession, so to must you hone your instincts when it comes to taking jobs

Imagine, in your current work, your boss asking you to

and clients.

do a task you find unpleasant, and you saying no. That would never fly, would it? Or better yet, tell your boss

We will cover the pros and cons of the freelancing

you’ll do it, but only for an extra hundred dollars.

lifestyle, and give you the tools to succeed. From

That most likely would get you walking to your car

getting started, to making your first money as a full

with your possessions in a box, and asked to never

time freelancer. The road can be arduous, but it is

return.

BADASS FREELANCER

As a freelancer, you can decide on how hard you want to work and how much your effort is worth. Join me, as I introduce you to this wonderful world and teach you how to make a living following your passion and doing what you love. The old eastern adage goes: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. So let’s get our comfortable shoes, roll our sleeves up, and get cracking, there is a lot of work to be done, and many miles

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS FREELANCI NG?

to go, before we sleep. In this book we will lay out all of the decisions you need to factor in before you take the first leap. It was written to guide you, even through choppy waters, as you grow into the role of a real full time freelancer.

ssentially, a freelancer is an independent contractor. You pitch your services, either as a journalist, blogger, writer, artist, or designer, and, if accepted, bill the company for services rendered. However, instead of working for a salary, generally you negotiate a fixed price or an hourly rate. You can be a single freelancer or you can be involved with a studio of freelancers working together. The best examples of the studio based freelance model can be seen in the comic book industry. U-don, Gaijin

BADASS FREELANCER

Studios, or the Japan based CLAMP, all work for publishers, where the studio head either organizes the assignments and teams members of the studio up to work together on a project, or hands assignments to a single freelancer in the studio. More often than not, you will be working alone, which means you will wear many hats. Chief among them is the hat of the talent. You will be providing work of the highest quality for your client by the agreed upon deadline, as well as negotiating your own pay scale, terms of payment, and frequency of work.

BADASS FREELANCER

CHAPTER 2

CONQUERING THE FREELANCER’S HARDSHIPS

Balancing these roles can be difficult, and you must remember, even though you are in a relaxed atmosphere, you are still providing a service, and should keep in mind that this is a business. As a freelancer, your reputation is wholly dependent upon meeting your deadlines and giving your customers quality work. The creative pool is wide, and there are many people gunning for freelance opportunities. The best way to stand out, besides providing high quality work, is by proving you are able to meet deadlines also. As a freelancer, your reputation is wholly dependent upon meeting your deadlines and giving your customers quality work. The creative pool is wide, and there are many people gunning for freelance opportunities. The best way to stand out, besides providing high quality work, is by proving you are able to meet deadlines also.

Now that you are getting ready for the steps you must take to be a freelance creator, there are admittedly some downsides that you must be aware of. The road may not always be easy but you can’t beat the destination… You can’t beat the freedom of being your own boss, but there are some sacrifices that come with leaving the safety of a 9 to 5, which is why casting off those shackles that were mentioned in the opening might have to wait until you are a bit more established.

BADASS FREELANCER

For one, you will have to be responsible for your own medical insurance, although with more and more businesses cutting back their workforce to save on paying out benefits for full time workers, there is a chance that you may already be dealing with that particular reality. The other downside is, unlike a normal “day job,” you are not guaranteed a regular paycheck. Unexpected things happen, projects fall through, people may not pay on time (in some cases not at all) and in the beginning you’ll have to make yourself seen. Don’t let this discourage you however; remember what I said in the last chapter. You are going to have a period of adjustment between your life chained to the time clock, and your life making your own rules. As I said, a lot of things can happen in the course of your freelance career. Funding for a project either dries up or disappears, or someone from up on high decides that there is a better use for the money that was going to be used for your project and appropriates it for something else… Then there is what I like to call the “Wimpy Contractors”… For those less nerdy than me, or just not old enough for the reference, Wimpy was this kindly portly character in the Popeye cartoons that always promised: “I’ll pay you tomorrow for the hamburgers I eat today”. Day in and day out, Wimpy’s IOU’s continued, always with some understandable happenstance being the sole reason. Left his wallet in his other pants, sure that’s an easy mistake to make. Got mugged on the way to the restaurant, oh goodness me, at least you’re

BADASS FREELANCER

all right; here, have a burger… No matter how careful you are there will always be one or two shady characters that slip by with a convincing enough grift that you don’t even see it coming until after you get stuck with doing a lot of work and not seeing nary a penny for your efforts. It’s rare, but it happens. It would be irresponsible to have a book on freelancing and not cover those times when we just trust the wrong folks. In a later chapter we’ll get into the ins and outs of what to do when you come across such unprofessional types, but for now, we need to prepare you for your eventual full time freelance career. The much talked about “spec” work. This will be a majority of your time when starting out. Sending out samples, putting together your portfolio, doing anything and everything you can, to build your body of work. This takes time, and unless you have serious financial backing, you are going to need to hold onto your day job now more than ever. In these trying times, we can’t afford to just toss things out the window willy-nilly and go chasing our dreams. If you already have a full time job, you’re probably going to wind up having some sleepless nights. If you are fortunate enough to have a part time job, however, try to work on your craft in every spare moment. Unlike most jobs, the more you put into your freelance career the more you get out of it and the happier you will be.

BADASS FREELANCER

Try to focus this time wisely by making as many contacts and connections as possible. While these relationships may not net any real gains now, in the freelance world it is just as much important who you know, as what you do. Also, if you are serious about being a freelancer, then you may want to take this opportunity to learn how to be frugal. In this world it is often “feast or famine”. Like the wise squirrel in the winter, stocking away his nuts for the bare season, so to you must do your best to store away a “rainy day fund” for when things start getting tight. In the winter time, freelance gigs tend to dry up as editors and content providers tend to run items known as “inventory stories/ content”, where they’ve purchased an article, story, or some form of content, in advance and just keep it in the vault for occasions like a freelancer falling flat on a deadline, or just wanting to take advantage of a long holiday weekend. I’m pretty sure that it is the point at which it is great if you were the one selling that inventory content, but more likely than not, that money has long been spent, but bills will still keep coming in, even if your editor is on holiday.

BADASS FREELANCER