I read “The Seven Tips of Highly Effective Freelancers“, and decided to write this follow up. For me, it’s easier to be told what not to eat, versus what to eat. This is my attempt at tying together the analogy.

Much of this post is just business 101, but broken down in the world of a freelance web designer. Freelancing has it’s ups and downs but is really the only way I see myself achieving the mythical life/work balance, to each their own.

What follows is a list of pitfalls I see in my day to day routine and what I do to avoid them. If you have anything to add, please do so.

Deadline Management
Sometimes there are multiple projects in the queue, sometimes there is just one. Both come with a different set of requirements and approaches to deal with successfully. Personally, I do better with multiple deadlines. Unless a single deadline is a really large project, it can often times be forgotten because, “not much is going on.” Recently I got myself into the situation of having multiple deadlines on the same day. This is bad because it puts you at risk of not being able to deliver, your integrity is your most important asset. Set your own deadlines and don’t agree to something you can’t deliver.

Sick and Vacation Days
While every day may feel like a vacation day when you are working in your pajamas, REAL vacation days and sick days are difficult to come by. When you make the commitment to delivering work, being sick doesn’t really work for an excuse. My trusty MacBook Pro comes in handy for this type of inconvenient situation. It’s tough to sit at a desk when you have snot running like a river. Laying in bed and working is very doable, I believe when I worked for an agency it was called working from home. I have yet to take a vacation, and I admit I don’t ever vacation very well. My work is ALWAYS on my mind, for better or for worse. The idea of being completely cut off from email and cell scares me. Some people probably cope with this much better, get advice from them.

Quality vs. Quantity
It would be really easy to take on tons of projects and turn out sub-par work, but the truth is, long-run this situation doesn’t work. In fact, I think this is a pitfall in any service business. While the quick bucks are really attractive, getting a bad reputation is something that is difficult to get rid of. To maintain quality I always find it best to meet the project requirements and then give myself a day or two of time before the deadline and ask the question, “How can I make this a little bit better.”

Saying Yes When You Should Say No
This kind of goes with the Quality vs. Quantity pitfall from above. When you do what you love and someone asks you to do more of it, it’s really difficult to say no. I have a tendency to get involved with more projects that I have time for, mostly donated time projects. I put projects in three categories; those that pay, those with long term association benefits, and those which would be fun. It is difficult to put a project in just one category as there is often overlap, but I find the projects which I am being paid for take top priority, while the projects with long term association benefits, such as my record label, take a close second. If I had time for all of the fun projects, I would gladly take them, unfortunately it’s difficult to find the time. As web designers, we all have friends that have that great idea they want you to think and build out. I think it would be FUN to build a site to share these stories.

Mind the Gap
I had just gone full freelance when I was hanging out with a friend of mine. We were having a few beers and discussing the new path I was taking. He told me of a friend of his who also does freelance work. His motto was, “Mind the Gap.” The words can be found in every Tube station in London, where he adopted the phrase. As freelancers we get lump sums, not steady payments. We could go a month or two without getting a paycheck, and then get a paycheck that is three times as much as we would have been paid if we had gotten that steady paycheck. What works for me is to have seperate business and living expense bank accounts (and a third for taxes). I place 25% off the top in my tax account, and then put the rest in my business account. I pay my living expense bank account a steady salary to compensate for for the gaps. And I ALWAYS maintain a balance that will pay a few months worth of house payments/rent.

Pushing the Knowledge Base
It’s easy to do that one thing that gets you paid, and then keep doing it again without remembering what got you there in the first place; learning. A lot of the time the work you are given pushes you to learn a new technique or skill, but the real jumps in my opinion, are made when I make that extra effort to make a project better by learning a new skill. It’s intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. Personally, I motivate myself far better than others motivate me. This is a pitfall I am currently trying to work around. Like I said, it’s easy to keep busy and get paid. Luckily, I can learn and work at the same time.

Too Many Eggs in One Basket
This is a pitfall that is much harder to deal with when you’re first starting out than when you’re well estabilished. I really don’t think I am in the well estabilished phase of my business, but I definitely see this is where I need to be. My uncle runs a clown/entertainment company in Seattle, Washington and he was telling me he faced the same situation. In 1984 he relied on Meier & Frank Corporation for over half of his business. It was then that he decided to diversify and pursue other big clients. Different industry, different time, still relevant.

And just for a bonus, don’t stop hustling. That could be the worst pitfall of all.

Am I missing anything?

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