In part 6 of this series I talk about accepting advice/feedback from others, and give my two cents about what good advice is. I have included your best advice, and lessons learned in the freelance world. Thanks to those who submitted videos, and quotes there is a lot of great advice and a variety of opinions… So I am hoping for some good discussion (hint, hint)

Let the pontification begin!

Josh Hemsley

The Visual Click
The most valuable advice I would give is to stay on top of client communication!! Clients should be the number one priority yet it can be easy to let their emails slip or pile up on you. It took me a while to really find a good system but if you can keep a constant communication with your clients they will earn your trust professionally.

It’s a burden you don’t necessarily notice at first but emailing becomes the biggest annoyance and distraction when you are trying to be productive, so setting an hour or so a day to make sure every email is responded to will really help this.

Liz

cmdshiftdesign.com

Do, or do not… There is no try.

Paul Anthony

Webdistortion.com
“‘I’ve only really went out on my own freelancing in the past month – so I’ll be the first to read the post to hear others opinions! My own two cents for picking up business? Get your business cards in good shape and attend as many networking events / business events in your area as you can. Word of mouth is definitely one of the best ways to grow a service based  business.

Guest blogging – particularly on websites which are business related rather than web design / dev related is also a must if you are looking at getting leads through the web. Thinking outside the box, and hanging out in communities which don’t consist solely of other freelancers / designers is also worth thinking about – remember that your customers aren’t likely to be other dev’s / designers – and its an easy mistake to make when marketing yourself as these communities will be your comfort zones. Sometime targeting a lower traffic’d site full of prospective customers is better than pimping your articles on a high traffic one full of other designers.”

Whitney Hess

Whitneyhess.com
It goes against conventional wisdom, but if you want more business, you need to charge more — not less. You create the perception of your worth with the dollar amount you assign to your time. Don’t be Payless, be Prada. Some people might not want to pay for Prada, and that’s okay. But there will always be people who are willing to pay top dollar for top quality — and that’s who you want as your clients.

Daniel Collins

Danielcollinsdesign.com
As one who freelances and has full-time gig, here are some tips I’ve tried to incorporate:
(In no particular order)
•  The client doesn’t care if your in a rut or are in need of inspiration. This is a business. Get ‘er done.
•  Be professional, but also be yourself. People like working with real, genuine people.
•  Take criticism like a professional – It’s the clients project, not yours.
•  Get an accountant.
•  Get a lawyer.
•  Back it up, then back it up again. Make this a habit.
•  Have a contract for EVERY project. And get the client to sign on the line which is dotted.
•  Get everything in writing.
•  Make time for your family and yourself.
•  Buy something for your wife / husband / other – They are working just as hard as you.
•  You’re only as good as your last project.
•  Use social media. It’s free!
•  Always be building your network.
•  Don’t burn bridges
•  Protect your reputation
•  Protect your brand – You can’t control what people say about you. Make it so they only have good things to say
•  Ask for help
•  Market yourself. Be proud of your work and share your accomplishments with others – but don’t overdo it.
•  Don’t take things too seriously.

Brian Klepper

Briannotbryan.com
Making $20,000 one month and $1000 another is never a good thing because your living off of luck! The trick to surviving freelance is realizing that you will run out of work at one point or another. You need to plan and always think ahead.

Geoff Walker

Thdsupport.com
The best advice I can give to someone who is starting to freelance, above all the other advice that is already out there, is to stay on top of taxes.

Here’s how I do it:
Project out the year’s income based on last year’s income, or based on a goal of income every month ($10,000 gross -> $120,000 gross)
Determine your tax bracket based on your filing status for that amount of revenue, for both state and federal
Every deposit you make, siphon off the summed percentages of state and federal into an interest earning savings account (I like ING Orange)
Pay your filings quarterly, yearly, etc.

Unfortunately there is no automatic way (yet) to tell the bank “Every time I make a deposit, pull this percentage.” So it has to be done manually.

Timothy Blake

www.creativenerds.co.uk
I think the best tip I would recommend for anyone starting out within a freelance career would be to build up a passive income have multiple sources where you can earn money from i.e. set up a blog and offer advertising spots, create Wordpress themes and sell them on theme forest(www.themeforest.com), sell vector resources on istock etc.

It’s important to rely on other sources of income because you may be working for a client and waiting months before you received your first pay check , alternatively you may not be approached by any clients to work with over a long period of time which could put a halt on income if freelancing is your only source of income.

Himanshu Khanna

www.sparklin.com

- Never start a work unless u get an advance and clarify all terms related to the project. Also, no mockups!! Exceptions excluded.
- Networking is key! The more people you interact with, the easier it is to get good work.
- One should try to display his/her skills in personal projects i.e. A website designer should not take his portfolio website for granted
- Repeated infinite times, time management is very important as a freelancer has to play all the key roles, from a sales person to project manager.

Chris Powell

Christopherpowell.ca
Know how much work you can take on at any given time. This takes time to figure out, and isn’t something that will ever be set in stone, but it is important to know how much you can handle so that you don’t miss deadlines or burn out.

Know what you can and can’t do. Can you code a CMS from the floor up, or are you better served using something out of the box? Either way it is important to know so that you don’t over-promise, or under-bill. If you need help on a project, make sure you account for that in your estimates and plans.

Know what you are willing to do. Would you be willing to work on an adult site, or are you unwilling to do anything that would be rated above “G”? It’s important to know what you are willing to put your name on.

Also, in case they aren’t mentioned by others, in no particular order:
Have a contract.
Hire an accountant.
Bill for everything, never work for free.
Pro bono work isn’t working for free.
Don’t overwork yourself, set a schedule and stick to it.
Lock down distractions while working.
Set aside some time for pet/personal projects.
Don’t take every job that comes your way if you don’t want to.
Know how to say no.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to sit down and record a vid or contribute to this post. For more insight from freelancers check this post I did for Noupe last year “The Pros and Cons of freelancing”.

This Vidcast Sponsored by Cherrp, and Solv Interactive