FREELANCING

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Will Patterson - Freelance Graphic Design: Everything you need to know (Youtube)

  • Patience and perseverance are an absolute must! It is a huge part of learning and engaging with clients. Perseverance in design is about to keep going at it and do not get caught up by rejection.
  • Pricing is something you have to develop yourself, there is no general guideline. You are the product, what are you worth? But, you also need to consider the scale of the project, the client, what is their budget? How much time have you spent on it? Your pricing will differ from project to project. 
  • Sometimes you will not get paid what you wanted but, that just means you need to learn more ways to market yourself or set a plan to get the money you intend for a piece of design. 
  • You will never stop learning, there are new challenges every single day, embrace that. There is no endgame, just a constant flow. Plus, the industry is ever-changing and you need to keep up to date on that. 
  • One thing you HAVE to do whilst working as a full-time freelance graphic designer is ORGANISATION. In order to design the outcomes and meet deadlines, it is all on you. Sometimes you become too consumed by making the ultimate best design, that's great but stick to your time frame. 
  • This is not a hobby anymore, it's your job. It is great if you enjoy it still as a hobby but, I and many others have found that it just burns you out. If you want to do this, make sure you work on something completely different from the project you are doing to allow balance, preferably something that is not a paid opportunity. This then takes away the pressure of perfection for customer standards.
The Futur - How to talk to clients (Freelance Fridays)

Client Communication formula
  • Be clear - give context
  • Agree on expectations 
  • Be transparent
  • Always deliver 
Delivery and Tone
  • It's not just what you say, it is how you say it 
  • Keep your emotion out of it 
  • Focus on how you'll get there vs. the work it means for you 
  • Be helpful - care about the outcome 
  • Use "Us", "We" instead of "you"
Client Communication Formule Applied

Beginning of the Project

Be clear - give context
  • What is my specific role and responsibilities?
  • What are my goals and parameters of the assignment?
Agree on expectations 
  • What's expected of me and by when?
  • Clear budget or rate: how many days or deliverables?
  • If remote - set boundaries of your "office hours" 
Be transparent
  • Raise any challenges or issues 
  • Ask questions. Clarify anything that sounds unclear
Sharing your work in progress

Be clear - give context
  • Here is what I did and how it accomplishes the goal and fits within the parameters you've given me (list) 
Agree on expectations 
  • Based on the feedback you've given me, I will work on these (the feedback list)
  • I can have the following (list) done by the next milestone
  • Set date and time 
Be transparent
  • If you have any challenges, bring them up early 
  • Additional questions 
  • If you have any concerns about not meeting the deadline 
Always deliver 
  • You must get your work in on time 
  • Your client may have a small window to review 
Receiving feedback 

Be clear - give context
  • Always try to map their feedback to the project objectives 
  • "I'm having a hard time understanding how this feedback addresses the objectives. can you help me understand better?"
Agree on expectations 
  • What's next? When by?
  • Prioritize - What's the most important thing to address?
Be transparent
  • If it sounds outside the scope, or incredibly challenging 
  • Something conflicting? challenge it 
  • Clarify coded language (eg. "epic" , "energetic")
I found this video very helpful on how to communicate with clients and structuring a project plan for both of us to work on. This is one of my fears for going into freelance, I will have to back myself up and not rely on anyone to do it for me. I feel like this formula is clear to work from to keep successful relationships with clients. 

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