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The Rich Freelancer Isn't A Designer
Do what you love. That's what the career counselors tell you when you are young. That is what your parents pretend to instill on you when you are born. What they forgot to mention is that very few people are doing what they love and making a ton of money from it. Before I carry on any further let me talk about money.
It Isn't Everything
This is very true. I've been on both ends of the spectrum where I had money to burn without any concerns and also not a dime to go and buy dinner and in neither case did money effect my attitude (maybe just a tiny bit). Sure without money I would stress about how to pay the next bill and with money I would stress a bit about how I was going to keep it, but at the end of the day I could have fun with the people I love and that was that.
However, I've always preferred to be financially secure than not and so I wouldn't mind being on the end of the money spectrum where I have some to burn because you never know what is going to happen to you tomorrow.
Ever see the show Dirty Jobs? It's about a guy who travels the country finding the jobs that nobody else wants to do, but somebody has to do it. There hasn't been a show yet that I've seen where the people claim they love their jobs. They do it to survive and that is how most of the world works. You can be content with your job, but true happiness is doing what you love AND making enough to actually enjoy what you really love in life. As a freelancer this mean you need to become a better business person than designer.
Here is a TED Talk by Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs. Watch it.
The Top 1%
There are thousands of freelancers out there, designers and programmers. I don't know the percentage of them that make 6 figures a year, but I would have to assume it is very, very small. There is also a small percentage that make enough that they get to live comfortably in life. The rest? Simply trying to grind it out so they can eat and pay bills or grind it out so they can get to that level. While I don't think there will ever be a shortage of clients, that doesn't mean the competition pool isn't going to increase because it does.
The problem is that the competition pool grows faster than your skillset. It can take years to become the type of designer that you aspire to be and it takes only seconds for another 50 people to decide they want to do freelance work. In most cases I see freelancers say they need to get better and continue to go out and look for more work. This is a good strategy, but think about it for a second from an economical standpoint.
There is only one of you and that includes the work you outsource to others and there is only so much time in the day you can devote to work. If you aren't working then work isn't getting done and if work isn't getting done then you aren't finishing up projects to help get you paid. The less projects that get done the less money you get paid. Freelancers know this logic, but they don't seem to consider it too often. This is why it's easy to find someone who has put too much on their plate.
If you are doing $2,000 jobs with 3 month timelines then you have to work on 3 projects at the same rate simultaneously just to make $2,000 a month. Not sure about where you live, but in America you are going to struggle at that income level. You can make it, but you aren't afforded any luxuries.
Simple math dictates that if you want to make more then you have two real options.
- Take on more expensive projects. However, these have to fit within the same timeline as the $2,000 projects for any revenue increase. For example, you finally landed that $20,000 job, but it takes 10 months to complete and it's the only project you are working on during that timeframe. That's no different than the simple website you did for $2,000 that took one month before. You're a freelancer so you will stack projects so you don't just have one you are working on.
- You pile on more projects. This means you pile on stress and time constraints as well, have fun with that.
Now you have to figure that you are going to be doing this for the rest of your life. One more time. The rest of your life. To pull this off you better run a pretty damn good business, but do you really think you are going to reach your goal of retirement? Freelance money is rarely used to think about the future, it's always about the here and now.
Time to change that.
Freelancing Business
Where to go
Places that sell themes and digital goodies.
Themes
If you follow the design community enough you have probably come across an article or two about designing themes to sell. You've heard the tales of designers pulling in 5-6 figures a month from these themes and while those are true know that those success stories are far and few between. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go this route though. Instead though of focusing all of your time in making a theme (they can be time-consuming), why not use the throwaway designs from your clients' rejections?
You spend time doing mockups and having them rejected by clients and what do you do with them afterwards? You can't tell me someone out there doesn't have a use for them. Tidy them up a bit and put them on sale. If someone doesn't buy them it's no sweat off your back, but if someone does then you made a little bit of coin. There are cultures that make sure to eat every part of the animal and you should find a way to use every single thing you design to your advantage.
You don't even have to sell whole themes, you can simply sell digital assets (logos, icons, etc).
E-Books
Every project is an experience. It's a story that someone would love to hear. I'm not going to suggest that you start a blog because creating a successful blog is a full-time job. What I think you should do is whenever you finish a project, take a day to write about the experience of it. Jot down everything that you can think of from lessons learned to things you would've done differently. Over a year's time you have yourself a pretty good first draft for a book.
Set some weekends to clean it up and in no time you have an e-book that you can sell. Freelancers are always wanting to learn and they do that from the experiences of others.
As a freelancer you can make money off of everything that you do. No work should go to waste and over time you will find that you have set yourself up with a sizable passive income stream that might rival your freelancing money. Set that money aside and you are looking great for retirement or that dream vacation. Be a business and everything you do is an asset.
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17 Comments
I totally agree with your statement about using every part of the animal. All the pieces of a rejected design have the potential to be recycled an used as marketable inventory for theme sites, stock sites, etc. And if the designs don't sell you can always offer them on your personal site as a freebie to visitors. Generosity goes a long way and sometimes leads to client work.
Hmm I haven't had the same problem. Most of my projects only last a week or two, I get paid quickly and often, and make about 3 times more what the most senior of my positions would make at a full-time job. I wouldn't trade freelancing for anything. Plus, in about 30 minutes, I'm taking the rest of the day off to meet up with a girlfriend to eat cupcakes and work on my scrapbook, what other job lets me do that on a friday?
Word. I'm always surprised when I hear people go into this biz without realizing 1) how much they have to charge and 2) how much they have to innovate and 3) how much they need to act like a business.
Being a designer (or being 'designer-like') is something you have to balance against the business end of things.
Good ideas for additional revenue streams.
:D
@Amber, I would presume you've smashed yourself into that top 1%. That's pretty good for you and I look forward to getting to this position someday. As for right now though, I'm very happy to be just a student, living free and not very dependent on his freelance income.
I hope that some time in the future, I will be able to depend on it entirely though.
I completely support the notion of using up the whole animal :) Very smart.
It took me a while to admit, but I'm actually a better business person than designer. Although I had to lose some idealism to accept it - it has served me very well in acquiring and retaining clients, invoicing on time etc. etc. and ultimately it's what allows me to continue to do what I enjoy.
Amber codes up designs so I'd imagine her churn rate is pretty good. Correct me if I'm wrong Amber, but you don't deal in the actual design of things for the most part so in actuality you are in a good business.
@Scrivs - Once again sir, a fantastic article! Made for a very good read.
The very first thing I would like to ask, as this is a question that I find myself answering frequently, is how do you consider the difference between rich, and poor? I don't make a 6 figure sum, I work a 30-50 hour week, I don't drive a fast car (or at all for that matter^^) and yet if someone asks me if I considered myself to be rich, or poor, on a scale of one to 10, I'd say I'm happy :P I got my bills covered, I have money to do what I like, my son is looked after, and my partner is relatively happy.
So by that definition of the word rich... I am very very rich - right?
The reason I think this way is because when I was younger, I spent a lot of time in trouble, a lot of time out of work, and a fair whack of time homeless. I don't need stuff. I don't need money. I'm in this business for the kicks. I don't wait for my paycheck, I wait for my client to tell me I've done a good job, and can he call me again.
As for income streams, theme forest is part of the Envato Marketplaces network, and you can sell pretty much ANY digital creation there, on one of their sites. It's well worth a look into - I personally use the envato marketplaces as a way to make a little extra cash when I have the time to work on small projects, personal goals, or when I'm just testing - everybodywants something.
Secondly, when work is slow, I take out my yellow pages/phone book. I'll pick a page, pick an ad, find their website, see if there is anything I can do to better it, and then send the owners of the website a letter with a proposal. It hurts nobody, and it had made me a damn lotta business!
What about recurring income? There are many ways that designers can turn a one-time job into one that has recurring fees, especially if the target audience is businesses. For example:
200 clients X $20.00/mo - $4000/mo x 12 mos = $48,000 recurring income
I picked 200 because I know designers who have that many clients over a couple year span but usually the relationship with the client ends once the design is done.
Forums do this. You buy the license then pay for upgrades/support. Or instead of putting themes on a 3rd party site, build a presence where the designer sells pre-made themes and keeps 100% of the money.
There are many ways for designers to have recurring income in addition to the design fees.
Indeed a great way to go about it Tyme. Also you can work a deal out with a hosting service to get a monthly fee for anybody you refer to them.
Home run post! Every bit of makes perfect sense and great advice.
Thank you
@Tyme/Scrivs: I'm sorry, I need clarification - how/why would you get a recurring fee from a client?
@Kathleen - There are many ways in which you can provide extra services to your clients. You could provide them with hosting, maintenance, updates, consultation... The list is endless.
@Kathleen: Like a lawyer is on retainer I know designers that are on retainers with their clients. They are paid a monthly recurring fee and do whatever design work/changes that is needed by the client. There are other ways as well, you just have to think of them. Part of business is being creative with how you make your money.
Well it took over a decade of freelancing to figure out that freelancing all by itself is not a way to raise a family. The power it takes out of you is just too much. I have 3 kids and a wife. And 2 cats. They need me more than any client, I need them more than any great project.
After I started blogging, I quickly realized that the competition for work was worse than ever. And the competition isn't really with peers - it's from people who nabbed a copy of Photoshop, changed a few templates from a WP theme site, and started making list posts. Also, some great competition started happening with other great designers in a down-turned and client-sparse economy. So we are at the crossroads with more designers, more great designers, and less work, than at any time since I got on the scene back in 92, or full time freelance in 97.
The way out is to innovate, and market the fruits of those innovations. For instance, I took one of my own strange fetishes for font combinations and created a book that is coming out shortly. I took my multi-platform web development knowledge, together with print, and will be offering 2 versions of the book in print and 2 in eBook format for Kindle and Nook. And, I developed a font combination iPhone app. Now, innovating more with the coming HTML5 revolution with products like sencha.com (the jquery touch project combined with a few others), I'll be able to take the app to iPad and Android. For more info on any of the above, hit bonfx.com.
All that to say this: necessity is the mother of invention. When I got the first app in the App Store and started seeing sales trickle in - when I was asleep - it woke me right up. I wondered why on earth I had been putting up with fickle clients and getting ripped off and not sleeping for so long, with no recourse to any other source of income. Let's just say "I get it now", in a deep and profound way. Freelancing has been a mixed blessing. It's opened doors for me, but it was an exorbitant cost. Not everyone can pay what it costs, honestly.
I will also add that if you want to remain freelancing, and get the best you can out of it, you must find a niche. It's imperative you become known for something in particular, and then target market your website or blog (SEO), printed marketing materials, etc., all to that one end. From that foundation, you can branch out. But, start the process of getting in a niche now and you'll get the rewards later. If you don't you'll either end up in a low paying design job somewhere due to the economy, or you'll be working in an unrelated field that at least puts groceries on the table. The random buckshot approach to marketing yourself is the surefire way to hit nothing, and waste your life doing it. You only live once, so find your passion and only work with that.
This is weird. I just mentioned in my previous comment how a lot of competition these days comes from people that nabbed a copy of Photoshop last week. Now read this quote:
"...there are many who are jumping online and accepting diluted definitions of what graphic design is, what graphic art is, what typography means, what illustration is, what photography can be and on and on and on. All these wonderful mediums are being abused into a concoction that would best find a home at the bottom of a witch’s cauldron."
That is from this article I just found on twitter from 2 days ago:
Photoshop has (almost) nothing to do with graphic design at retinart.net.
Fantastic read, and part of the problem you need a niche. Without a niche, you can hide your incompetence quite easily. A niche gives you the opportunity to shine in the way only you can. Be inspired and make a living off it!
I like the part where you said "creating a successful blog is a full-time job". That would make a good title for another article ^^
Good article! Made me finally sign up to Drawar ^^
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Scrivs, I love the concept on this article. As a former freelancer (who now enjoys the agency life), these were always the concepts that I struggled with.
Paydays while freelancing were absolutely killer, but the problem was knowing that the project had taken so many, many hours out of me. It wasn't a matter of underestimating most of the time, but finally realizing that 45-hour weeks were to happen if I was going to be the success story.
Your concept of using up every byproduct during the process is the same as Jason Fried's of 37 Signals. REWORK was just a collection of notes and ideas he had collected while working for the past few years.