Hey Joe- I was wondering if you’d be able to give us a sample design so we can see what kind of work you do. It will help us make a decision on which designer we should go with.

This is not an uncommon email, especially in the world of web and graphic design. And it seems harmless to a lot of people. Sure, they just want a sample design. But they are really asking for free work. While you as a freelancer might be tempted to do comp/spec work to try and seal the deal on a contract, it’s not the way to go. Last week I posted 10 Reasons to Say No To Spec Work by No!Spec; here is my take on spec work.

Tags: clients, comps, gigs, proposal, relationships, samples, spec work, tips, work | Posted in Advice, Lessons | 4 Comments »

As a designer, you will likely be asked to do comp or spec work; that is, work for free to see if a potential client wants to  hire you. This is a big no no for designers for several reasons. I’ll write up my own post next week (keep an eye out!), but for today the site No!Spec has Ten Reasons to say to No. You should check that out, as well as the rest of the site as it has reasons, horror stories of doing spec work, and more.

(link to post)Visit 10 Reasons to Say No to Spec Work

When I first started freelancing, one thing I knew for sure was the importance of having a contract. I drafted one, had a few people (including a lawyer) look over it, and over the years I have rewrote it and added to it (I posted it way back in February). Whenever I get a new client, I will draft a proposal, and once that’s accepted, send over a contract. Most of the time this takes place online, as I’m dealing with people all over the world. Last week I went over a contract with someone in person, and kind of surprised myself.

Tags: clients, contract, documents, people, relationships, tips | Posted in Advice, Lessons, Stories | Comments Off

Cross posted on my personal blog.

It used to be the case that Sunday truly was a day of rest. Shops closed, people went to church, had an early dinner, and called it a day. Then stores started to stay open on Sundays. The hours got longer. Now some places are open 24 hours, 5 days a week. Some 24/7. It used to be the case that once you left the office for the day, you were done working. How could you work? All your stuff was at the office. How would anyone reach you? Now we have cell phones, IM, email on our phones; we are reachable all the time. “Open” 24/7. And that’s what people expect now. Our culture is moving towards a 24/7 work mentality to be more productive, and make more money. That needs to change.

It’s more coincidence than anything that I started to  have these thoughts before, but on the same day that, I started reading The Four Hour Work Week. I’m just into it, and this post is not a book review, but Ferriss does talk early on about some of the stuff that spurred these thoughts. I wrote a while back about not responding to email right away. It’s not to be rude, but to set a precedent and draw some boundaries. If people think you are always available, they will expect you to be on call all the time. This isn’t healthy for you or them. And it’s not just with email.

I’ve had clients call me at midnight because they ‘needed’ to talk to me. I get calls on the weekend, and people who want to schedule meetings on Sundays. And it’s not that I’m lazy that I don’t want to do that; people can’t work all the time. It’s not physically or mentally healthy. So how do we solve this problem?

Don’t be afraid to draw those boundaries. Tell your clients or co-workers that you’re only available during business hours. Don’t answer business email on the weekend. Take the weekends for yourself. I took the 4th of July weekend completely off. From Friday to Sunday I did no work- I even put up an email auto-response. It was the first time in a long time I did that because I have the same mentality others do- I work a lot. Usually I take the weekends for side projects or small rush jobs I want to get out of the way. But it’s that mentality that causes a lot of people to burn out hard and fast.

Maybe it’s that we are in front of a computer anyway, or we think, “Well I’m not doing anything now,” that we take that call or work on that project. But we don’t have to produce all the time. It’s ok to do nothing. Having a lazy day is perfectly acceptable, and in some cases, needed. So far I like The Four Hour Work Week because Ferriss talks about how to be more productive in less time, and how to take time for yourself. I’ll post more about it as I read it, but remember this: Working 24/7 is NOT a good mentality. I think we should remember the days when Sunday really was a day of rest.

Tags: clients, people, productivity, relationships, tips, work | Posted in Advice, Lessons | 4 Comments »

Welcome to the first installment of Ask Me About It, where freelancers can write in and ask me questions about problems they are having and any advice I can give. Our first question comes from a web designer.

I have a client that keeps adding features to a project. We’ve already agreed to some extra features, but he keeps adding more on top. He is not keen on additional costs, but I feel like I need to come up with a walk-away price on this, and want some advice on whether I should suck it up or not.

This is a fairly common occurrence, especially in web and software development, and it’s called scope creep. You’ll quote and sign a client based one set of requirements and they keep adding new ones on- then complain about you going over time and over budget.

I would say that unless you’re really hurting for work right now, give him a walk away price and if he accepts, he accepts. Otherwise bill him for what you’ve done and hand over what he’s paid for. You could also tell him that you’ll stick with the original plans and original quote and anything new you can work out in a phase 2 of the project- new contract, new quote.

If you do ’suck it up’ it sets a precedent where he thinks he’ll be able to just add features at no cost. He will keep taking advantage of you that way. If he’s given you a down payment, bill him for the rest of what you’ve done and send him packing- he can find another designer.

Tags: answers, ask me, clients, questions, relationships, tips | Posted in Advice, Ask Me About It | Comments Off

I get a lot of questions from people seeking advice on how much to charge, how to handle a certain type of client, and other freelance related things. Following the mantra of every teacher ever, if one person has a question more people probably have the same one. So I figured why not post a question every week from a reader and I will answer it, and of course leave it open for comments.

So here’s a call to action- Fill out the contact form or email me at joe@freelancingthenet.com with a freelance question you have. I will publish the first question/answer next week. If you’re not sure what you should ask, here are some things I consider myself very good at:

• Being a student/freelancer (that’s all I was up until May)
• Finding Work
• Web Development
• Client Relationships

I look forward to hearing from you!

Tags: answer, Q/A, question, site news, tips | Posted in Advice, Announcements, Ask Me About It | Comments Off