There is a perverse karma in freelancing in that, sometimes, the most lucrative and most plentiful work can be the ugliest. Or the work that makes your skull ache is precisely the work clients love you for. A programmer friend of mine moans that he could spend six months a year collecting $10,000 checks for [...]
Low-talent freelancing
How good must you be to freelance successfully? Do you need to be a rock star genius in your craft? Nah. Being a genius may be useful. But it’s not a requirement. Heck, just fancying yourself a genius is sometimes enough. (I’ve gotten by on that for years.) And yes, as I’ve said, having a [...]
Take the job? Or not.
There are only three possible reasons for saying ‘yes’ to a freelance assignment. You’re making a good pile of money. You’ll have a lot of fun doing it. You’ll be doing good for a bunch of people. None of the above? Pass.
Shooting yourself in the wallet
A new client calls about a possible project. It feels right, like it might be a steady client. You discuss the project, figure out what she wants. How many pages, how many shots, what’s broken, what she needs fixed. What she wants built. It’s not so tough. You do the figuring and thinking. It seems [...]
Andrea Mignolo: Will design for beer
Okay, before you get the wrong idea: Andrea Mignolo does not literally design for beer. (Not anymore, anyway.) She is not hurting for clients, nor does she work cheap. If you want her to design your web site or software front end, it will cost you way more than a case of some amber-bottled beverage. [...]