Archive | finances for freelancers

“Budget is a big concern” is not my concern…

By • May 30, 2008 • advice, finances for freelancers, finding work • 3 Comments

I garner a fair amount of work from online sources, and I’ve found that there are a couple of universal red flags when it comes to bidding on projects or quoting a job. I’ll go into some of the others later, but the big one is “Budget is a concern.”

While I understand that money is an issue in a lot of situations, if a person upfront about the budget being the primary concern, I’ve discovered that 99% of the time I don’t want that job.

If a prospective client makes it plain that budget is #1, then that’s precisely what the main concern is going to be. Not the design. Not the process. Not the thought that goes into the work. Not you. The money will be the main concern and will always be the main concern. And that’s really not a great way to start a relationship.

I don’t want my work to be all about the money. I want to make money. I want to be paid what I’m worth – but I also want the design and the art and the craft to be at the heart of it. If the client is only concerned about the dough, all the esoteric stuff is out the window. And that’s no fun.

The other issue with this sort of client and project is that it often turns into a situation where you get locked into a low bid and you wind up working way, way too hard for the money you are getting. They’re concerned about the dollar. Not much else.

This might be a generalization, but I’ve found that my worst clients over the past 10 years have been the ones that come in needling for low-ball quotes and bids.

Don’t chase the low bids. Don’t bid on projects that say “money is tight” or “we’re a startup, so budget is low.” You might unearth a diamond of a client – but more often than not, you’re stuck holding a lump of coal.

Too Busy Making Money to Make Money

By • September 19, 2007 • finances for freelancers, finding work • 2 Comments

I’ve found that a lot of freelancers out there (myself included) have fallen into a trap of working too hard to make too little. Some of that goes back panic (read a little on that in an older post) and some of that goes to picking the wrong clients.

But the fact remains that if you chase too many $100 projects, you will miss out on too many $1000 projects. If you sell your services cheaply, you will be in a hole – you’ll wind up too busy making money to make money.

stack.jpgFreelancing can be a feast-or-famine proposition, and weathering the famine will make you realize that you want the feast. One way to keep the feast going is to charge enough for what you do and pick up clients that will pay you what you’re worth. If your power bill is due, you need money – but will you take a $100 logo design job in order just to pay it, when you know you should be charging $500? I know the need for money NOW – but I also know that planning ahead will help you avoid having to take a million bad projects just to keep your head above water.

What I’ve done – and I challenge you to do, too, is sit down and write out a real monthly budget. Figure out your bills – and estimate high. Figure out how much you need for groceries and entertainment. Figure out your needs for salary (yeah – pay yourself) and how much you’d like to set aside for the future. Now – add it all up and and divide that by 22, which is the number of work days in a 4 week month, minus weekends.

That will give you a figure of what you need to bank each and every day. Now, the hard part is going out and finding the projects that will pay that every day. The more realistic approach is to find the total number and then build enough projects to fit into that amount. Then, every month – try to find projects to fill that amount or more.

A little forethought will keep you from scrambling to make ends meet, and it’ll keep you from having to kill yourself and your opportunities with too many little, unsatisfying jobs.

If you can make it all with one project that will take you 2 hours – go for it! Imagine how great it would be to meet your monthly nut and have all those extra hours left!

(yeah, I’m still trying to find out how that feels, too…)