Freelance Anniversary

This week marks my Seventeenth Year of being a self-employed freelance illustrator. I know it's 17, 'cuz that's the age my nephew Nathan (he of "Sit floor? Play toys?" fame) just turned, and I was doing my very first illustration (for Baby Talk Magazine) the night he was born. Coincedentally, that illustration was of babies running.

I thought I'd pass on 17 things that I've learned over the past years, listed in really no particular order of importance:

1. Do Not Miss Deadlines. Want to keep on doing what you're doing? Then do not give people a reason not to hire you again. If you feel that it's going to be a close-call, give the Art Director the head's up so s/he can make an adjustment. Doing this will accomplish two things: it will let the A.D. know that you are conscientious, and it will most likely give you more time/relief.
2. Keep Records. It doesn't take that long to jot down your beginning mileage and your ending mileage if you keep a little notebook in your car. And keeping up with your receipts and logging them at regular intervals will make your Future-Self happy with your Present-Self. And your Tax-Time-Self will be the happiest of all! If you need cute little pens and cute little stickers to make bookkeeping attractive, do it. Whatever encourages you.
3. Say "Thank you!" If you had a shop, and people came into your shop to buy something, you'd say 'Thank you, please come again!'  Doing this in your metaphorical 'shop' never hurts either. These people are choosing YOU out of a LEGION of other artists, it's something to be grateful for. People remember who was pleasant to work with, and will choose to work with them again.
4. Remember That Telephone Manners/Attitude Are Important. Building on the point before, keep in mind that as a freelancer, chances are most of your contacts with clients will be over the phone. Keep your tone friendly & professional, don't interrupt, and ask questions when you're confused over an art spec. Better to hash it out in the talking stage than after tons of time has been spent in drawing.
5. Get Health Insurance. I know, I know: it's expensive. But it's important. You can go through a professional organization, but what I've found to be the most expedient is to go through your local Chamber of Commerce. They can hook you up with health insurance plans that cater to 1-person businesses. If you have a spouse who is employed and has health insurance, well, then, you've hit the jackpot! :-)
6. Get a Retirement Plan and Contribute Regularly. Again, your Future-Self will thank you. Find a stockbroker that you trust and that can guide you through which stocks/ mutual funds, etc.will be best for you.
7. Time Management. You know how much time the job you have will take, approximately. You know you have a deadline. You know you have to sleep, and eat, and probably mow the lawn. Designing is not just about putting little swirls on a piece of paper, it's about taking into account there only being so many hours in a given day. Giving yourself some padding, timewise, is never a bad idea. Gives you a chance to do any 'tweaking' on a piece, and you never know if someone's gonna get sick, or if the car will need to be taken in and you'll have to sit and wait for it.
8. Motivation. I often hear the comment, "I could NEVER be self-employed! You must be so disciplined!" I don't think that I'm any more disciplined than the next person, and my answer is usually something along the lines of, "There's nothing more motivating than bills to pay." I think that there is a misconception that artists have to wait until there is a 'muse' who will inspire them towards creativity and industry. Nah. You work until 'it' comes, and THEN you ride the wave.
9. Work Schedule. If you're going to be a freelancer, you're gonna have to know yourself pretty well. When do you work best? Are you a morning person or a night owl? Get sleepy at 2pm? Work during the times that you work best, if you can swing it. I know that there are other extenuating circumstances in a person's life that make working 9am- 5pm a more likely prospect, but: if you work at your best time, you work more efficiently, and get more done in a shorter amount of time. There will be days when NO time is your best time. Work anyway.
10. Scheduling Time-Off/Vacations. I still have not conquered this one. I find that when I have the time, I feel as though I do not have the money. And: when I have the money, I do not have the time. As a result, I haven't had a full-on vacation since '94, but don't think that this needs to be what you do. Give me your tips on this one, as I could use them! :-)
11. Managing Stress. As a freelancer, I can pretty much guarantee that there will be stress in your life. Whether it's the stress of meeting a deadline, or the stress of finding work, or the stress of waiting for a check to come in: Count on it. But, deal with it, too. Exercise, eat right, get proper sleep: all those things that your mom told you to do when you were a kid but that you rolled your eyes at. Yeah, those things.
12. Dealing With People's Questions. You will have interesting questions posed to you as a freelancer. Some people have ideas that all freelancers are of the of fuzzy slippers and jammy pant wearing, constant soap opera watching or constantly sleeping variety. There is really no solution to this line of questioning other than to answer their questions as honestly (not defensively) as possible. After awhile, they should see that you are a diligent worker who might have a slightly different schedule than most, but who still punches a "time-clock". Be patient, the comments will eventually stop.
13. During Times of No Work. Don't panic. Panic causes productivity and creativity to come to screeching halt. You have other jobs to do during times when you do not have "paying" work. Market. Create a new promotional postcard. Work on some of your own projects that you 'never have time for'. Re-do your portfolio (online or real). Do some portfolio drop-offs. Got a backlog of laundry? dishes? yardwork? Do it! I have found from personal experience that more work always comes, and if I've spent the intervening time worrying, I have wasted the opportunity to get other stuff done, or have wasted the opportunity to rest/relax.
14. Support System. Have one. :-) If you are working for yourself, by yourself, from your home, you will need human contact. Make sure you know some humans, and interface with them once in a while. If you are also fortunate enough to know other freelancers, form your own "support group".
15. Don't Be Under the Misguided Notion that an Agent Will Work Magic For You. Maybe they will, I don't know. But don't think that once you have found an agent that is willing to take you on, that this will instantaneously bring you in truckloads of work. I would also suggest that you still 'keep on top of' your business. Do not abdicate your role as CEO of your company to your agent, or to your accountant, or to whomever else has a piece of your business. Know where the numbers are coming from. As my dad says, "Trust but Verify."
16. Don't Be Too Proud to Call. Haven't heard from a client for awhile? Do not assume that they no longer like you, or your work, or that they think that your mother was a hamster that smells of elderberries. Contact them, remind them that you're still around, that you'd LOVE to work with them again, that working on the blahblahblah project was a blast, etc. Gentle reminders have gotten me work. Put your pride in your back pocket.
17. Keep Yourself Creative. You know that old chestnut, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Well, how can you keep putting out creatively if you're never taking in? Go to a museum... Go look in the children's section of a book store... Take your camera with you on a walk... Take a class...Take up a new hobby... Get a pile of magazines on a subject you know nothing about.... You'll be surprised what following these other creative pursuits will do for your "paying" artwork.
    

Comments

[Blake Hunter]

great post!

[Jay Montgomery]

Great and practical advice. I'm going on 12 years fullime freelance illustration and all these ring true. I just wish I could follow them all the time.

[Andy J. Smith]

Very cool read! Thanks for the post! And congrats on 17 years as a fulltime freelancer... I'm going on 5 months!
All the best,
Andy

[cat]

Very wise indeed, and bravo for the 17 years !

I free-lanced for many years, and now I'm with a company, but the vacation problem is
always the same. Last year I "lost" 22 days of PAID vacation (I work in Paris,France); here there is a delay to respect and I didn't... for the usual reasons...

But I found a surefire way to insure vacation : simply by talking about upcoming vacation ideas with my loved ones (especially my teen-age kids), which generally puts everyone in a great mood, and prompts me to carry through with my promises ! We all deserve it, and with a little planning and organization everything is possible !

[Jonathan]

Congratulations! These are really great guidelines, thank you.

[gary dunn]

hi from the uk!
there's a lot of stuff here i recognise!-i have been self employed since 1990 and have had many a dilemma to face like you in those years.the hol-work-no money-no time one always seems to rear its head..we now have two boys..so spare time is now stretched so thin!
i work in town-london- in fits and starts and together with my wife we run a home business too-busy most of the time-we still never turn anything away..sort of a survival mentality going on still
i find myself reassuring newbie freelancers in a similar way that you do here..re tax money..time off..and most of all keeping busy..when we are 'lean' i find the garage is incredibly tidy..or the yard is weeded within an inch of its life..funny ..i do the same...and end up thinking about work in a theraputic way.
thanks for posting-and congratulations too!

gary dunn
www.mr-dunn.com
www.um-daddy.blogspot.com

[Chickengirl]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is my first year as a freelance illustrator, I quit my job back in December and your advice is very helpful and valuable.

Congrats on your 17 years of freelancing! I only hope to have as much success as you!

[rebecca]

Even though not a freelancer yet, or maybe I am a freelancer just haven't gotten any work yet! ha, still loved reading the list.

They may be common sense but they can be easily overlooked and who doesn't need a refresher. Congrats on 17, and early congrats on the next 17!

And the orange font does just fine, cause if you really want to read it, you will. ha ha

[Birgit Schultz - Rat & Tat Marketing]

Thank you for all your tips! I'm in my fourth year as a freelancing marketing consultant and am extremely thankful for tip #13. I found that in summers no one seems to have work for me, however, from September onwards customers usually come back. Still, I'm worrying too much in that time.

As for taking vacations - I found that I've got the same feelings as you have but every odd year me and my partner (also a freelancer) feel that we have to get new impressions. There are cheap ways to travel - and sometimes relatives at interesting places may be nice hosts if it's not too long.

Birgit

[Zach Everson]

Congrats! I just celebrated my two-year anniversary of freelancing. My suggestion for taking a vacation: schedule it months in advance. That way you can plan your work around it and notify your regular clients about your not being available.

[Craig]

#18 - Don't use orange font to display something meaningful.

[malvin]

I am only in my third year of freelancing but in a different field, that is programming. I find your advices very useful. Thanks and Best Wishes

[Javier]

Megan,

Nice list, I am from the software area, but all you said applies to us. I have been a freelancer (or sometimes a small business owner) for 11 years. As you said, it is so difficult to have vacations !!

[Jen]

What a great list! Your point about not being afraid to call up a client who's been out of touch for a while is an extremely good one - a tip that has paid off in the past... I can identify with so much of what you say - for example, I find it's a constant struggle to stay organized, and I'm sure that if I could only learn to manage my time a little more effectively, it might actually have been possible to take more than a one-day vacation sometime in the past decade! Congratulations on 17 years of freelancing, and I wish you many more happy and productive years in business!
Jen

[Alfa]

This will be of great help to me. Thanks for the tips!

[Chris Dillon]

Great list and congratulations on your anniversary. I've been an entrepreneur for 11 years, and here are two things that I'd add:

1. Attend conferences and seminars -- they are a great way to stay visible, keep your skills up to date, and meet prospective customers, partners and suppliers.

2. Don't be afraid to (graciously) turn down work. A project or a client that is not a good fit for your skills or your temperment will make you unhappy or worse, and interfere with your ability to do profitable work that you enjoy.

[media]

congratulations!

Good guidlines i have add it to my favorites

[Brian Morris]

Congrats on 17 years - it's inspiring. After 6 years of freelancing, i took a "real job" two weeks ago, and am already questioning my decision.

Your advice is dead on - thanks.

[Doug Schwartz]

17 years? Good job! I'm at 20 and counting.

You must take a vacation. I'm lucky--my wife doesn't work and loves to research the sunny places like Hawaii and Mexico. We usually take 10 days off in the spring when our daughter is on her spring break, so I can tell folks months in advance when I'll be gone.

It takes me about two days to wind down, so then I have another whole week to eat papaya off the tree, etc. I do start getting a bit antsy to get back to it after about a week, so 10 days just works out great.

doug in Seattle

[John Bokma]

@9 "There will be days when NO time is your best time. Work anyway.". My advice, if you have a day that is a NO, then take that day off, *and* when needed, use a weekend day to get even. In my experience trying to force something getting out of your hands results in a very unsatisfying day that can have it's impact on the next.

@10 vacation: plan ahead, months. So you and your customers know it's coming.

Very good list, thanks.

[Bud Bilanich]

Megan:
Congratulations on 17 years in business! I had my 18th anniversary in April.
More importantly, thanks for these great common sense ideas on running a business.
Best wishes for 17 or 34 (or however long you want to work) more years of success.
Bud Bilanich
The Common Sense Guy
www.CommonSenseGuy.com

[brief]

Congrats! Wow, 17 years - that's amazing!

Re. vacation - I personally go around this by traveling to events that take place out of town and tack on an extra couple of days to the trip. (In my case it's rock concerts, but it can be anything.) The event gives me a "deadline" and a better sense of purpose, and even if I really don't have the time for anything more, at least I've managed to get away for a bit.

[Duncan Robertson - Brand Empire]

Congratulations on your 17 years of freelance success!

Thank you for the guidelines for all the rest of us newer freelancers.

[John Cox]

Holidays...

I've only been freelancing for seven years, but I've worked out the holiday thing. Book them ahead and pay for them ahead. I started out booking holidays in January (a traditionaly quiet time) and paying them off over the year. It meant that even if I had no work (and no money) during january I knew I would still be sitting in a resort on a beach for a week, fully paid for.

And another thing about holidays - go somewhere where you HAVE to do nothing. Doing nothing is such a hard thing to do at home, because there is always a few more hours on a project, or a few more emails to check. Go AWAY and turn off. your body and your family will thank you for it.

[tinker]

A belated congratulations/happy freelance anniversary (& happy birthday to your nephew, as well) :)
Thanks for the tips!