T here are little things that I learn in this job almost every single day. Sometimes they’re just handy bits of information or useful resources, other times they’re real eye openers to things I’ve been doing wrong. I thought it might be useful to write some down in case anyone else can find some value in them.
On Rates
Every day I learn something new about what to charge clients and how to do it. In the last 12 months I think I’ve quadrupled my rates, which suggests that I was doing things really wrong to start with. Here’s a handy benchmark: Take what you need to earn in a month to cover your expenses, double it, then divide by 10. Make sure your daily rate isn’t any less than that number.
On Timing
I constantly, constantly underestimate how long things are going to take. It’s so easy to estimate time for something but then fail to take into account that bugs will come up, clients will want revisions, and sometimes everything will go wrong. Nowadays I try to take every time estimate and double it, this tends to be much more reliable.
On Motivation
You can’t control it, it comes and goes. If you aren’t feeling motivated at all but you really need to get work done, I’ve found that the most helpful thing possible is to fully take your mind off everything for 15 minutes. How you do this will be different for everyone, personally I try to get outside of the house and, if possible, chat to someone else on the phone. In fact it was having a good chat to @Japh on the phone just now that gave me the inspiration burst to quickly type up this post.
On Productivity
Much like motivation, it’s a hard one to control. I’ve tried cutting out all distractions and keeping everything (twitter/gtalk/msn/etc) “off” but it didn’t make me any more productive, it just put me in a bad mood. I’ve found that my productivity goes in cycles, so these days I’ve just learned to run with them.
On Clients
Some clients are better than others, but all clients come with challenges. Learn to accept them, and for god’s sake don’t slag off your clients on Twitter. I see so many people doing it and it really boggles my mind. Some people are preaching to their clients about how great and transparent Twitter is, and then talking about them like they’ll never read it. Madness.
On Marketing
Don’t be shy, talk to everyone. I would’ve been out of business within a month if it wasn’t for the fantastic network of peers that I’ve established. Make friends with people, because as has been said time and time again: It’s not what you know, but who you know. If you’ve ever wondered why some mediocre web designers get tons of big clients and magazine features – here’s your answer.
On Red Flags
If a potential client offers you revenue instead of money, talks a lot about “an ongoing relationship”, tells you how bad their previous web designer was, or quibbles over payments or contracts… run a mile. Don’t be blinded by the fact that it might be a lot of money – with this sort of client you’ll probably never see a penny, as I discovered only too painfully myself.
On Developing Your Skills
Never stop learning, always make sure you’re picking up something new, but try not to diversify too much. No one in the world is looking for a “graphic designer who can build adobe air applications and also has experience with Ruby on Rails” – it doesn’t happen. I focus purely on design, front end development, and WordPress. Those three things complement each other and they serve me well.
On Goals
Set them, keep track of them, have a time limit, and review them. Try and make sure you’re always working towards something – my idea of hell is working for the sake of working, and living for the sake of living. I don’t want that, I want to do something with my life. That means never sitting still and just being content with something that’s easy.
On Side Projects
Do them and have fun with them. My article about Moo’d Cards was just a random idea that I had one day and it ended up getting me a lot of traffic just because I blogged about it. If you have an idea that you think could work – go for it. Don’t put it on the back-burner for later. Once you’ve done the first version, you’re far more likely to come back to it in the future.
On Effort
Put 100% into everything. Half hearted attempts at anything will get you nowhere.
What About You?
These are just some of the things that I’ve picked up in the last year or so, but what about you? Got any tips to share? Let me know below in the comments!
Photo by hellosputnik
nice post :)
What a great collection of tips! Even just as reminders to not forget the lessons you’ve already learnt. *Bookmarked!*
Also, glad to hear I inspired a blog post! Always up for a chat mate, so call any time :)
Sorry to sound like a smart-arse here, but you say “Take what you need to earn in a month to cover your expenses, double it, then divide by 10″
why not take what you need to make in a month and divide by 5?
Going by that figure my daily rate has just doubled, sounds good to me :)
Well sure, why not divide it by 2? Hell, why not divide it at all! We could throw these hypothetical ideas around all day, but my numbers were only meant as a baseline tip ;)
I wasn’t trying to question the amount you’re diving by – only that doubling and diving by 10 gives the same result as just diving by 5.
But nevermind – I don’t want to nitpick on what’s another very helpful article.
I see where you’re coming from John, don’t worry! Oh, and there are way too many Johns around here, I’m getting confused. =p
Oh – I totally misunderstood! Sorry John :)
You’re a better man than me John, most of your points are reasons why I stopped freelancing – I just didn’t have the motivation to handle all the non-work stuff that keeps the business afloat. Still, it inspires me to see other freelances completely pwning these areas of business and enjoying the whole experience.
Most of these are still fantastic tips for anyone, even if they don’t freelance and just want to get on top of their personal projects and general productivity.
John, looking past how you come up with a rate, you make good points for people just starting out. Clients would rather you overestimate project delivery times and deliver sooner than to underestimate and give them excuses.
I always try and give myself a month cushion, because as we all know, clients can be fired up right after the meeting and have all of their action items ready to go. Then when the time comes to deliver content to you, email communication becomes non-existant. I’ve had clients not contact me for months, even with me hounding them week after week.
I would even expand and add to this list “deposits”. I think it’s real important to get a good chunk of the overall project cost up front. Otherwise, they may lallygag and never get around to getting the project off the ground.
I thought that went without saying ;)
If you’re new to a certain kind of job or technique, and still are not really ‘quick’ at it, don’t start at a low rate because you’re slow and don’t want the client to pay for your temporary incompetence. Charge a higher rate, but don’t charge all the hours you spend on it. It’s better not to let the client know you invested some extra time. Who seems more professional at a task: the one who charges 10 hours at $30 or the one with 4 hours at $75 ?
It’s always hard to raise your rate in an ongoing relationship with your client. They tend to memorize and label your rate more easily (“oh he’s a nice guy/girl, not too expensive”) than oversee the total cost of a project.
In general, a new technique might take you twice or three times as much time than when you get a routine.
BTW: I used just an imaginary rate in the example. And while we’re on it: don’t use nicely rounded-off rates. These will also too easily be remembered, so you get bolted onto them forever. Use less symbolical rates like $53,20. Such numbers makes it easier to get a clients approval for an understandable slight raise on a (one or two) yearly basis.
Great post – quick read and to the point & encouraging especially on a day of low motivation and many distractions!
Wow, awesome post. I just started a small web design business. One of my biggest issues is networking. I have always been kind of shy and afraid to talk to people. I am getting better at it but I still fumble for the right words. Any tips?
A tip i guess that could be added kind of commons sense though is if your good as a designer put your side projects or what not out there where ever you can Facebook, Myspace, twitter,etc with a link to your business site or a way to contact you. If i had a site right now it would be in the little website box, but i do not so yea.
Point is advertise where ever you can
yo! nice advice, as a new in front end development this would help me to focus and set my goals & priorities straight! im gonna bookmark this! thanks!
I am definitely someone who always underestimated how long a design task would take. I never accounted for simple things out of my control like internet failing, feeling unwell, etc. After university though I am definitely managing my time better now and the tip of giving yourself more time than you think works well. This then accounts for time when everything goes wrong and you feel like throwing it all out of the window.
I think everyone has moments when they just want to give up, especially when personal issues come into play. So finding motivation can be an issue. The tip of just relaxing for 15 minutes definitely works, whether its going for a walk, grabbing a bite to eat or just simply closing your eyes. The main point to remember is not to stress out and worry.
Finally learning something new is always a great tool as the more skills you have the easier you will find it to deal and manage with issues you come across. Not to mention it can only improve your designs and make them look more professional.
Awesome set of tips, I will be sure to keep these in mind for future!!!
Thanks!!