The Death of Freelance?
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- breadlegz
Freelancers, I am doing a big report at the moment into the BIGGEST issues that freelancers have. The one's that nearly put you out of business or make you want to get a job again.
Thanks for your help in this..
- harlequino0
Many places are favoring in-house hires over using freelance as it's cheaper over the year.
So there's that issue.- is employment an issue? most people would go for the regular pay cheque given the chance...kingsteven
- doesnotexist0
it's cheaper and they only work in a single area, freelancers are continually expected to fill the role of creative directors.
- nadnerb0
Was (knowingly) unprepared going in and didn't have a money buffer - living from check to check is not how it should go as a freelancer, esp. when your main client is a disorganized a-hole and usually takes asking 4 or 5 times for late invices to be honored. Stress. Self-inflicted pretty much.
Also doing one's own negotiating with clients and stuff gets tiresome.
In other circumstances i.e. having some money to sit on for when things are slow, and having a few more decent and consistent clients I'd probably happily stay at it for a long time. Love the perks.
- woodyBatts0
Bread, I have started blogging about the freelance life recently.
http://blog.woodybatts.com/?cat=…
I was fortunate to have a job in sales through college so I was already conditioned to bank my money. What through me for a loop though was last year having a dramatic decrease in one of my major clients ( literally a 80% drop ) and having to make up that difference.
In the end i was able to dig up more clients and come out stronger, but it did shake me up a bit.
- nice blog.polyestercorp
- Good blog! When someone offers me stock, I ask them what exchange their stock trades on.boobs
- Thanks, I'll be moving it to a new URL soon.woodyBatts
- Everyday I'm (also) Hustlin'... Good hustle bud-e...ideaist
- subscribed via google reader :Dsherm
- Thanks...maybe I'll just keep it on woodybatts.comwoodyBatts
- Woody got the ill knowledge, SON! I recommend reading this for any freelancer!dMullins
- jamble0
I went back to fulltime working for a mate in a small (I'm the 3rd person) agency after nearly 3 years fulltime freelance and I did it primarily because I'm now a dad and wanted the stability of being able to budget from month to month.
I found that while working for myself, the difficulty was always banking enough for a rainy day or drop in work and while I was able to save money, some months I was doing great guns and others were quiet in addition to the traditional quiet times of year the agencies didn't call so much last year so nice contract/project jobs dropped off.
I had a really quiet summer (2009) and had to dip into savings which really hit home with a family to support. I think the savings issue and unreliability of income will always be the biggest problem with self-employment.
- cannonball19780
Projects never get finished, or they get put in a holding pattern and by the time they are put out into the world, they have an entirely new staff on them.
Repeating this over and over again kills your portfolio.
- < very true...hektor911
- This describes everything I did between 2004-2007winnie_the_shit
- truealicetheblue
- +Gucci
- monospaced0
Just do a search for "freelance" on QBN and you'll find some nightmares.
- fyoucher10
#1 problem I've always had over the course of 12 years of freelancing...
Not having enough time and being unavailable to clients because my other clients have me booked. What happens is that you have your so-called 'bread and butter' clients. They book ALL of your time up and you give it to them because they pay good and always come back to you. Then whenever your other clients want to book you, you can't because you don't have enough time to take on their projects. Then that other client goes somewhere else, to some other vendor or freelancer. Eventually they stop coming to you b/c you're always unavailable...essentially you're losing that client. It's a give or take situation I guess. You don't want to turn down work from clients that are great to you (they're always priority) but at the same time you're working on the same people and brands all of the time. And for me, my family comes first, so it's always whatever pays more and gives me a more relaxed schedule, more time to spend with my family. There's a bunch of folks and agencies I really miss working with though... and from time to time I'll squeeze a project in for them and work those all-nighters for like half of what I normally get paid. Just because I enjoy their work, their ideas, and the people there.
- concurjbasnight
- What about outsourcing your other clients to other designers. So it looks like you do the work?capn_ron
- Hard to find good folks...fyoucher1
- For what it's worth, your portfolio is pretty awesome, bud. Keep up the hustle!Andrew_D
- understandable, but if you can find them you can take your cut and not do the work.capn_ron
- Thanx Andrew_D!fyoucher1
- Yeah, it's just a bit more than I want to deal with. Eventually I'll spend some quality time searching for a few good folks.fyoucher1
- It's the whole managing and even micro-managing aspect I dislike doing. Clients expect a certain quality which is hard to find.fyoucher1
- ...find.fyoucher1
- hektor9110
This is a very depressed thread.... for a Monday guys...
never the less is reality.... What I've been doing for the last couple of years is freelancing and working part-time for a marketing department... they have very flexible hours and I think the combination of both has helped me a lot. Cheer up guys... regards..
- dibec0
Not death but rather dance.
- lukus_W0
Of course, the death of freelance could equal expansion into a small business...
- whatsup0
Getting ripped off by the client with no purpose in suing because it'd just waste your time and you'd end up with no money in the end.
- really? is that the final verdict?dibec
- brick+window=pay backdavebellechique
- Dancer0
Yeah whats with all the "down-in-the-dumps" moods.
I am in a similar position to fyoucher & hektor for some part.. (long story).
I really need another pair of hands though or someone to take the client management away from me, but I am yet to find any decent designers in the local area... safe to say that most eveneings I am working well into the wee hours
- winnie_the_shit0
The BIGGEST issue as Freelance developer.. is that people do not VALUE what you are making for them.. because they can't SEE/UNDERSTAND anything you did.
- Yes, have to resort to comparisons with plumbers and such to aide in their understanding...duckofrubber
- akrokdesign0
#1. Stress.
- Josev0
What Winnie said. I'm really tired of explaining to people what it is that I'm doing, or why something takes so long or costs so much.
I'm currently working with a client who, unbeknownst to me, had fired and agency and freelancer before I came in. They're happy with my work but not happy about the cost or time that it's taking (even though they were 3 months late on their deliverables). I can talk to them until I'm blue in the face but they wont listen or care. I've been freelancing for 16 years and this problem is worse than ever.
- Josev0
I've seen a lot of people clients for favors (pricing/free work) now, too. I'm not sure if it's due to the economy being down and they feel it's fair to make that request, or what.
- gramme0
The problem I currently have is not in finding enough work to keep going and make a profit. It's the fact that I have a great client who placed me on retainer and takes up apx. 70% of my time. I'm about to start outsourcing to freelancers, and if any of them work out well and can help my business grow, I'l hire someone. Then I'll be spending about 35% of my time on one client, which is more manageable.
- Feel free to toss your extra to me. I'm just right down the street.duckofrubber
- :)gramme
- Hey how's the married life treating you?gramme
- Fantastic. It's done wonderful things for my tax return this year.duckofrubber
- Hahaha, amen to that.gramme
- jteore0
Freelance Didn't Exist in 2009. 2010 is starting slow but things are moving a bit. I would say want to judge until the end of 1st quarter. That is the point in time people will have budget projections for the year and know who it is they can hire freelance and/or full time.
- lukus_W0
I wish that all clients realised that if they change their mind, it will almost always cost them money.
- changes cost money! ALL WORK costs money. Period.winnie_the_shit
- ... no shit Sherlock ;)lukus_W
- I think clients sometimes don't realise how costly changing their mind will be though.lukus_W
- or how much it cost to have a clear idea of what they want to accomplisheryx