If you can do it for someone else, why not do it for yourself? Better communications technology and less rigid working practices allow more people to work freelance than ever before. This creates opportunities for those who; enjoy challenge and variety; need flexible working hours because of family commitments; feel stifled or overlooked in a corporate environment; are facing redundancy but still have much to offer. Perfect Freelancing takes a practical look at: -Getting started -Finding clients - and keeping them -Coping with the culture shocks -Working from home and time management -What to do when things go wrong -Tax and legal considerations -Case studies - freelancers and employers compare notes
How to start your own business, grow you client base, and promote yourself without selling out or starving. This no faff, no fluff guide is peppered with applicable advice (things we learned from starting our own business), unasked-for humor, and worksheets (homework, gasp!) to help you just get started already. Because raw talent and good ideas aren't enough. And because you can do this. Really.Learn How to: Structure your business, File all the paperwork,Write a business plan, Make a budget, Get great contract templates, Set pricing, Pitch a quote, Build a client roster, Communicate effectively, Stay organized, Grow your audience, Manage your money, & More!
Designing beautiful boards and making smooth animation come naturally to us Motion Designers. It's what we're good at. However, designing the career we want, with the freedom, flexibility, and pay we crave, that's more difficult. All of the above is within your grasp if you're willing to take the plunge into freelancing. School of Motion founder Joey Korenman worked in every kind of Motion Design role before discovering that freelancing offered him not only more autonomy but also higher pay, less stress, and more creativity. Since then, he's taught hundreds of School of Motion students his playbook for becoming a six-figure freelancer. Now he shares his experience and advice on breaking out of the nine-to-five mold in this comprehensive and tactical handbook. The Freelance Manifesto offers a field guide for Motion Design professionals looking to make the leap to freelance in two clear and concise parts. The first examines the goals, benefits, myths, and realities of the freelance lifestyle, while the second provides future freelancers with a five-step guide to launching and maintaining a solo business, including making contact, selling yourself, closing the deal, being indispensable, and becoming a lucrative enterprise. If you're feeling stifled by long hours, low-paying gigs, and an unfulfilling career, make the choice to redesign yourself as a freelancer-and, with the help of this book and some hard work, reclaim your time, independence, and inspiration for yourself.
A complete guide to freelance graphic design—created specifically for design students Why wait until you graduate? Freelancing is a great way to jumpstart your career in graphic design. It lets you apply what you've been learning in school, close the gaps in your education with real-world experience, enhance your portfolio—and make a little money at the same time. A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect covers everything you need to know to begin successfully freelancing as a designer, including how to set up your business, deal with legal and financial issues, find clients, and work with them effectively. This full-color guide is divided into sections that correspond to your particular skill level as a student—beginner, intermediate, or advanced. These sections give you specific tasks and goals to help your freelance design work go smoothly as you progress from your very first professional job to gain experience with a range of projects and clients and prepare to move into a full-time graphic design career once you complete your studies. Complete with sample forms available online (invoices, a proof approval form, job jacket, and more) and 175 color images, including samples of paid work created by students, A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect will help you navigate the world of freelance design with confidence. Inside this book, you will learn to: Write a business plan Purchase key equipment Set rates and draw up contracts Find and manage clients Create and show concepts Market your company Expand your business Develop your portfolio And more
Amazingly, one-third of the American workforce is freelance—that’s 42 million people who have to wrestle with not just doing the work, but finding the work, then getting paid for the work, plus health care, taxes, setting up an office, marketing, and so on. Now help is here, and consultants, independent contractors, the self-employed, “solopreneurs,” and everyone else living a freelancer’s life will never be alone again but instead can be part of a strong and vibrant community. Written by the authority on freelance working, Sara Horowitz, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow and founder of the national Freelancers Union and, most recently, the Freelancers Insurance Company, The Freelancer’s Bible will help those new to freelancing learn the ropes, and will help those who’ve been freelancing for a while grow and expand. It’s the one-stop, all-encompassing guide to every practical detail and challenge of being a nimble, flexible, and successful freelancer: the three essentials of getting clients and the three most important ways to keep them happy. Five fee-setting strategies. Thirteen tactics for making it through a prolonged dry spell. Setting up a home office vs. renting space. The one-hour contract. A dozen negotiating dos and don’ts. Building and maintaining your reputation. Dealing with deadbeats. Health Insurance 101. Record-keeping and taxes. Productivity, including a quiz: “What Is Your Ideal Day?” Building a community. Subcontracting and other strategies for taking your freelancing career to the next level. Retirement plans, plans for saving for education, and how to achieve financial freedom.
Earn six figures as a freelance content marketing writer with this comprehensive how-to-guide. Jennifer shares her proven ideas, step-by-step processes and templates for writers of all career stages. Hundreds of writers (including Jennifer, herself) have used these methods to find high-paying clients, increase their income and create businesses they truly love.
In this thoroughly revised edition of his classic book, Alan Weiss shows how consulting fees are dependent on only two things: value provided in the perception of the buyer and the intent of the buyer and the consultant to act ethically. Many consultants, however, fail to understand that perceived value is the basis of the fee, or that they must translate the importance of their advice into long-term gains for the client in the client's perception. Still others fail to have the courage and the belief system that support the high value delivered to clients, thereby reducing fees to a level commensurate with the consultant's own low self-esteem. Ultimately, says Weiss, consultants, not clients, are the main cause of low consulting fees.
This is a book for people like us, and we all know who we are. We make our own hours, keep our own profits, chart our own way. We have things like gigs, contracts, clients, and assignments. All of us are working toward our dreams: doing our own work, on our own time, on our own terms. We have no real boss, no corporate nameplate, no cubicle of our very own. Unfortunately, we also have no 401(k)s and no one matching them, no benefits package, and no one collecting our taxes until April 15th. It’s time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be. Ask yourself: Who is planning for your retirement? Who covers your expenses when clients flake out and checks are late? Who is setting money aside for your taxes? Who is responsible for your health insurance? Take a good look in the mirror: You are. The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed describes a completely new, comprehensive system for earning, spending, saving, and surviving as an independent worker. From interviews with financial experts to anecdotes from real-life freelancers, plus handy charts and graphs to help you visualize key concepts, you’ll learn about topics including: • Managing Cash Flow When the Cash Isn’t Flowing Your Way • Getting Real About What You’re Really Earning • Tools for Getting Out of Debt and Into Financial Security • Saving Consistently When You Earn Irregularly • What To Do When a Client’s Check Doesn’t Come In • Health Savings Accounts and How To Use Them • Planning for Retirement, Taxes and Dreams—All On Your Own
