Home / Freelancing / 5 things you need to survive as a freelance creative

5 things you need to survive as a freelance creative

Written on 13 February 2012, published in Freelancing with an astounding 7 comments

Being a freelance creative is living the dream right? You work for yourself, you choose your projects and you charge what you want…sounds too good to be true right? That’s because it is, at least in part. So how can we survive as freelancers, what traits or skills can bring us closer to this freelance nirvana? Below are a list of my top 5 things you need to survive as a freelance creative.

1: A desire to succeed as a freelance creative.

It sounds obvious, but that desire will be put to the test. You can only succeed if you have a stream of well paying clients. This means continual marketing, being easy to work with, being competitive (that’s not the same as being cheap), being disciplined, and of course working on paying projects.

It’s a sad fact that many freelancers end up back in full-time employment. This can be due to many factors, and while many of those factors may be outside of our control, that “desire” can be the decisive factor in a win or fail situation.  We need to keep pushing forward, regardless. The desire to succeed can help us to realise our dreams while others around us fail.

2: A pair of “cojones.”

There are many freelancers out there who don’t consider themselves to be ballsy, go get ‘em types. They may think that being a freelancer isn’t for them as they are naturally shy, retiring types. Newsflash, so am I. You’d be surprised at just how much backbone you actually have. After a short while of people continually trying to knock your prices down, you will pipe up and say, “Hey, this is what I’m worth, if you don’t want to pay these prices then you’re free to go elsewhere,” and it will get easier each time. As I write this I have just lost out on what could have been an interesting project because I refused to reduce my rates further than I felt comfortable with. The client has their limits and I have mine. You will discover what yours are very quickly.

I admit this backbone doesn’t form overnight, and I still have sleepless nights worrying about projects and clients, but you will surprise yourself. You will learn to stand up for your work, yourself and your worth. If you don’t feel you have the “cojones” to be a freelancer, don’t worry, it’s something you’ll learn as you move along. Even the shyest of people can make it, so long as they have a desire to succeed.

3: Raw talent.

I’ve written before about the fact that you don’t have to be a rock star designer to succeed in this world. Freelancing is one of the best on-the-job training schools there are, and best of all you won’t get fired by the boss if you mess up.

While you will learn more than you could have ever imagined, there must be an initial seed of raw talent there to nurture. The more you work, the harder you push, the better you will become, and not just as a designer, or writer or illustrator, but as a business owner. You will learn how to manage projects, how to manage clients, accounts, your time and a plethora of other skills.

There are markets for all skill sets and levels, if there weren’t then we would never progress. Just make sure you have a solid base to work off.

4: Discipline and Patience, a double whammy.

Being a freelancer can sound like a sweet gig, but the fact is you will probably work harder for yourself than you ever did as an employee. You will generally only answer to yourself (and perhaps your clients) and you can get out of bed whenever you feel like it, but if you jump into the freelance life thinking that you’ll be working from the beach with a vodka-orange in hand, and someone rubbing suncream on your shoulders then you’ll be in for a severe reality check. My partner constantly points out to me how hard it is being a freelancer. You price your projects, you work on your projects and you collect on your projects, no-one else, just you.

All this requires discipline and patience. For most, success won’t come over night. You have to build up a skill-set, build up a client base and build a reputation. If you don’t want to get up at 7am and be working by 8am, that’s fine, we’re all in this for different reasons, and we all have different methods for working. However, what we must realise, is that regardless of your timetable or methods, without personal discipline we won’t get very far.

I’m one of those guilty freelancers. If I’m not doing my hours, or if I take a morning off or worse still a whole day, I feel guilty. Does that mean I don’t ever take a morning off to do other things? No, these are some of the benefits of working for yourself. If you need to get other things done with your day then freelancers are lucky enough to have that flexibility, but we must keep ourselves in check. Work out a schedule and try to stick to it.

Patience can be a killer. You always seem to be waiting for something. You’re waiting on your client to get that copy to you, you’re waiting on that check to arrive, you’re waiting for the neighbours dog to stop barking so you can concentrate, you’re waiting for that quote to be approved (or turned down), and on and on. Always have something else to be getting on with. If you can’t continue with a client’s project without the copy, let them know and work on something else, even if it’s a personal project (very important by the way). If the neighbour’s dog is driving you crazy, go for a run and plan the rest of your day, or get some headphones and lose yourself in your project. There are always things to be done while we are waiting. My biggest recommendation for any downtime would be to do some marketing. Trust me, you don’t want to be caught without any work at all. You need to make sure you know how to guarantee a stream of clients for your freelance business at all times. It’s not as easy as you might think!

5: Someone who will support you in those darkest of hours.

Now this might sound a bit silly, but speaking from a more mature freelancers point of view, it’s very hard to maintain a freelance business without the support of your significant half. There will be good months, there will be great months, and there will be crippling months. If you have people who count on you, then it’s very important to have their support, whether it’s financial, moral or even physical!

I can say, without any doubt whatsoever, that if it weren’t for the support of Nuria I would have been back in 9-5 employment several times by now. The person who has given me the strength to hang in there and slug it out is the same person who’s celebrates with me when a great contract comes in.

It will be different for all, but I know that without support of any kind, the freelance worker is lost at sea. We all need a good pep talk at some time or another…

If you have any further points you think are essential for the freelancer to survive, then please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my 5 things you need to survive as a freelance creative.

Good luck!