Some designers make a great career out of freelancing, some struggle to ever pay the bills solely from freelancing income.
If you are already a successful freelancer, you will probably see that you are not guilty of most of the points made below. If you are hoping to be a full-time freelancer, or are currently finding it difficult to get your freelancing going, some points below may help you figure out why!
To explain this post a little better, my personal opinion on when a freelancer knows they have "made it", is when you own your own house, own your own car, and can comfortably pay 100% of your bills from your freelancing income. Some of you may disagree with that description of "making it", but that is how I personally measure it. I encourage you to add your thoughts in the comments at the end, thanks!
And so, the 50 reasons why you will not make it as a freelancer:
- The thought of working a 16 – 19 hour day makes you feel violently ill
- You sleep in past 12pm most mornings
- You don’t know what the word "typography " means
- You hear the word "Hex " and you think someone is talking about dinosaurs
- When meeting clients, you wear jeans and a t-shirt
- Your hair is a mess, all the time
- Your phone manner is terrible (you answer with "hello", and nothing else)
- You don’t understand what a "bleed " is
- Your business card is a home-made Microsoft Publisher job
- You have never started conversation with a stranger
- You are not confident
- You are not likeable
- You do not manage your personal finances well
- Your mum doesn’t even like your design work
- You want to be successful, but your drive is completely lacking
- You are not self-motivated
- You don’t have a desire to be the most successful person you know
- You don’t have a website
- Explaining the difference between 300 dpi and 72 dpi is like speaking a foreign language to you
- You think white space is wasted space
- The bevel function in Photoshop doesn’t work anymore because you have worn it out so badly
- You struggle to actually complete a project
- You have to give your clients money back because you over promised on your ability
- You have 0 business skills and have no idea how to develop them
- You really dislike sales and feeling like a sales person
- You don’t make your clients sign contracts
- You think it’s cool to be flaky and disorganized because that is what "us creative types are like"
- You think you are right, and the client is wrong
- You think that your prices need to be lower than anyone around so that you can get the business
- Your people skills are terrible
- You don’t have a plan for your freelancing career, you are just floating along
- You don’t really understand what marketing is
- You haven’t developed a brand for your freelancing career
- You are unable to save money
- You don’t have a desire to continue learning all the time
- You have never worked more than 40 hours a week in your life
- You have never worked for a design company
- Seeing a logo you designed on a billboard or on tv doesn’t give you a rush
- You design things that look good but don’t match the brief whatsoever
- You spend most of your time working on entries for silly online design contests
- You let clients name their price
- You’re not a risk taker
- You do not manage your time whatsoever
- You are not disciplined in a daily routine
- You don’t study your competition
- You don’t even know who your competition is
- The word "crop " makes you think of the farm
- You suck at Photoshop
- You are guilty of over 20 of the points above
- You are angry at me after reading this
Do you have any to add? How many of the 50 are you guilty of?
Related links and helpful articles about freelancing
How To Fail Miserably as a Freelancer
How To Fail at Freelancing in 5 Easy Steps
Why Failure as a Freelancer can be a Good Thing
The 7 Deadly Sins of Freelancing
10 Tips for Getting More Personal Interaction as a Freelancer