I’m going to preface this blog post with the disclaimer that I have now been a freelance graphic designer for all of two days.

A big motivation for me to freelance was the ability and demand (always a good thing!) and the existing relationships I have with clients I love. I have been very fortunate in having clients who are a joy to work with, who challenge and encourage me creatively, and who have become close friends.

That being said, freelance work – even for two days – has already presented me with challenges! Here are a few joys, challenges and resources I’ve pulled together as part of my major-league-sized learning curve:

Joys:

• Setting my own hours. This is something I hadn’t thought about when leaving my last job. I am able to take time in the middle of my day to run errands if I need to – knowing of course that I could be up late making up for this time.
• Working in my bathrobe. With my heated blanket. Enough said.
• Having ample time to commit to my clients projects. This is something that may go away when I get busier, but when I’m working on a few projects at a time, I’m able to really give my clients and workload my full focus and attention – a luxury, I know.
• The chance to learn how to operate a business from sales to billing.
• Working from anywhere! Currently, I’m working out of the public library in Sellwood, and between the adorable kids fighting over Chihuahua books and the senior citizens reading through the paper, I’m feeling very “it takes a village to raise a freelancer” at the moment.

Challenges:

• Setting my own hours. This can be challenging in that I haven’t found a routine yet- I work best in the mornings and late at night, and this can be a challenging schedule to set for myself.
• Working solo. One of the best things about my work with Scene was the opportunity to collaborate and interact with the lovely ladies over there. Luckily they’re just one gchat away- and I try to not abuse that privilege.
• The logistics of billing, invoicing, setting up rates and payments, etc. I have set up an account with the Freshbooks service that luckily makes most of this process idiot-proof, but I’m sure there is much and more to learn.

Excellent Resources:

• An incredibly thorough (and almost over my head) resource on pricing, rights and copyrights, intellectual property and more from the talented Jessica Hische.
• Easy-to-follow advice on where design meets business from one of my favorite blogs, DESIGN LOVE FEST.
• An article from The 99 % that makes me scratch my head, stroke my imaginary beard and consider my workdays a little more closely.
• Some straight-talk on freelancing (and the spaces between jobs!) from Isaac Hindin-Miller.

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