Ilasco Meg Mateo - Creative, inc.: the ultimate guide to running a successful freelance business

The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business

MEG MATEO ILASCO &
JOY DEANGDEELERT CHO

To our husbandsMarvin and Bob,

Thank you for not only being our partners in life but also for being our biggest fans. Thanks for your love, support, patience, and humor with our nontraditional career choices.

Freelancing is a leap of faith. Announce to your friends and family that youre quitting your day job to freelance and its unlikely that congratulations will come from every angle. For the more traditional types (read: Mom and Dad), the idea of turning down a steady paycheck to pursue a career doing what many would consider just a creative hobby sounds like a risky venture. To others, the word freelance conjures romantic images of Carrie Bradshaw types waiting for assignments as they sip decaf caramel machiatos at the corner cafe. While there may be truth to both viewpoints, the reality of creative freelancing is that it gives you the unique opportunity to put your individual talents to work and earn a living while youre at it. Enjoying what you do for a living doesnt have to be an idle dream.

As the new kid to freelancing, you will learn the rules of the playground and the pitfalls to avoid. Whether youre a designer, illustrator, animator, stylist, photographer, or other creative, well show you how to set up your business, promote your work, find and work with clients, set your fees, acquire an agent, and handle your bookkeeping. Well also get into the nitty-gritty of partnering, balancing your personal and work life, and what to do when things are going so well that you have to expand your business. From the interviews of the experienced self-employed creatives in this book, youll learn about freelancing directly from the source, discovering that the journey to being a successful freelancer begins differently for everyone. Some have degrees from art school, while others cultivated their education on their own. Some start by accident, others out of sheer drive, while still others find freelancing as the silver lining in an otherwise adverse situation, such as a layoff. Through it all, though, youll learn lessons through their hiccups and victories.

Freelancing is by no means a quick and easy pursuit. More than likely, youll be going at it alone, which means making decisions on your own. But there are certainly advantages to being autonomous. You can change the characteristics of your business at a moments notice and turn down unappealing assignments when they just dont fit. But be clear with yourself about the reasons youre getting into freelancing. If youre leaving your day job because its too much work or too stressful, be aware that freelancing may require even more hours and carry even greater pressure. Switching from a steady job to a work life filled with new clientele and unexpected (often daily) changes can be daunting. Fortunately for you, well prepare you for this new lifestyle and warn you about potential stumbling blocks and how to overcome them.

All this raises the question Why put myself through the stress of starting and running my own business? The answer is a matter of payoff. Making your passion pay is a gamblebut the greater the stakes, the greater the rewards, both financially and creatively. Though youll probably be working more hours than ever, youll work with artistic freedom on a larger variety of projects than youd probably have if you were on staff somewhere, and youll have the potential to earn more money with every commission. Youll soon see why people who become freelancers would use the word liberating to describe a career move that does not immediately produce a bigger paycheck. Surely, as your client base grows, more money will come. But for passionate freelancers, money isnt the only goal. Its the happiness derived from a sense of purpose and the excitement that comes with the challenges of every new project. Freelancing takes vision, dedication, hard work, organization, business savvy, and, of course, a true love of your art. In this book, well give you the guidance you need to turn your creative skills into a full-fledged freelance career. In time, youll become a part of a rare group of people whose career represents a creative extension of themselves, who never have a case of the Mondays, and who havent looked back since taking the freelance leap.

Do you ever wonder where your talents would take you if you put just as much effort (if not more) into working for yourself as you do working for someone else? If testing your creative potential has crossed your mind, its likely that freelancing could be that change youve been searching for. Freelancing offers you the opportunity to shape your career however you like. You can choose your clients, how much you want to work, what type of work to do, and how much to charge. Freelancing means youll no longer be clocking in hours for the Man; youll be turning your art into a full-time career and working for the best boss of all, You. In this chapter youll find out the qualities you need to succeed and determine whether the creative freelancing lifestyle is for you.

We define creative freelancer as someone who is a self-employed subcontractor offering her creative services to buyers. Typically a solitary practice, creative freelancing can be a group effort as well: whether a group of colleagues or a husband-and-wife team, freelancers can band together as a collective or form a partnership. However you do it, creative freelancing requires you to step up to the dual challenge of producing effective visual communications and managing a business. Remember, just because you are embarking on an artistic career without suits and ties, or even walls, that doesnt mean you should use your newly found freedom to operate your venture on the fly. To succeed, you have to manage your freelance business with the same level of seriousness as that of a corporate CEO. You simply cant rely on your talents alone. You need to know as much about managing a business as you do about your art. Luckily, youll find everything you need to get started here.

How do you know if youre freelance material? Its a vocation thats not for everyone. You need to be self-motivated, self-reliant, organized, confident, and an effective communicator. You may not possess all these characteristics right now, but with practice and a little discipline you can certainly develop them and be on your way to freelance success.

Creative freelancing is not just about producing good work. Its essential to develop a strong business acumen as well. Theres enough ego and talent coursing through the creative world for even the most gifted artist to get lost in the crowd. The ones who flex their business muscle become the most identifiable and successful. Even though youll have more freedom than the typical nine-to-fiver, freelancing carries all the responsibilities of an independent business, including marketing, accounting, and office management. When youre running a business, youll find yourself having to make many solo decisions at any given point, so youll have to be a confident decision maker. You will also need self-motivation and resourcefulness to maintain your own schedule and provide structure to your workdayqualities that will come in handy when youre chasing down payments from clients!