The Ambiguity of Freelancing

When you meet someone new, one of you will ask the question “What do you do?” I don’t think many people are that interested in the answer though: they’re really asking how you make your money (and therefore get a clue to how little you’re worth). This trite question has become so ingrained in us as a conversation opener that it’s hard to avoid and with my recent changes, I’ve been answering this question a lot.

“Freelance web designer” either meets with fascination or a look of terminal blankness (it might be bordeom, it’s sometimes difficult to tell). Observant conversation partners pick up on the “Freelance” part and their next comment is usually “Oh, it must be lovely working when you choose to.” Of course.

The trouble with freelancing is that while it gives you the flexibility to work how and when you choose, that’s only true when (a) you actually have some work and (b) people give it to you when you expected it.

In October I barely earned enough to cover my expenses. This was partly due to the timings of invoice payments and partly because I was focussed on moving house. Undeterred, and knowing that I would get paid eventually in November, I continued to do work for my small network of referrals. But, disaster: the first job, a six day design project, didn’t materialise. As I obviously couldn’t sit around twiddling my fingers waiting for work, I took on other projects and brought forward some other work I had committed to. No problems there, plenty to keep me occupied.

As a courtesy I emailed the project manager of the prospective design job to say that due to the delays and the uncertainty of knowing when I would be given that work, I could no longer guarantee I would be available to do it. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t happy. But what did he expect? He didn’t deliver the work when he said he would and I had already scheduled my month around doing his 6 days work first. But… this was a new client and the project was potentially worth more further down the line and also as a good portfolio entry. With the benefit of hindsight, I now realise what I did next was probably not the best idea: I offered to work evenings and weekends to achieve his original deadline.

I do not mind hard work and I recognise that I need to invest a lot of time into this new venture if I am to succeed. But this was crazy, even by my standards. I think I ended up doing six weeks work in about four weeks, working on four different projects. I was, and still am, exhausted.

This design project also turned out to be my first “nightmare client” experience as a freelancer. I’m familiar with these creatures of the dark having dealt with same in my previous work lives. The problem was that I was working three steps removed: I reported to the project manager at the agency, he then reported to a partner publisher, and they worked directly with the client – a client who clearly were a committee and who could not agree on anything. The contradictory feedback I received was absurd and resulted in four rounds of amendments where I had only quoted for one.

I try as much as I can to “get things right first time” – it’s my overall philosophy. So the most frustrating aspect of this project was that the earliest work I gave them was much closer to what they wanted than the later revisions! This suggests that the client were not being guided very well but I can only guess as to what happened in those meetings.

So what’s the upshot of all this? Well, I’ve certainly learned a lot and I’ll be doing some things differently in future:

• I won’t promise things I can’t reasonably deliver, however tempted by the financial rewards
• My quotes will be far more detailed and I’m considering removing amendments as a line item and simply adding “Amendments will be charged at my hourly rate.” I know from previous experience that this is often enough to focus clients on providing better, consistent and unified feedback
• I need a better routine because the late nights, late starts (due to late nights) and working weekends have done nothing for my health or social life
• Finally, I need to remember to get away from the computer as much as possible. It’s becoming too much a part of my life and while that’s inevitable to a degree, I need a better balance.

So, is it lovely to work when you choose? Only when your choices don’t rely on the actions of other people.