Engaging Assistance

Feb 23, 2009 Excerpts 1 Comment

This is an excerpt from the book, The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Sample chapters are available for downloading from this page.

Early on in starting out on your own, you’ll want to make alliances and choose suppliers for those services or products that you don’t offer yourself.

A word from the wise: be very careful when choosing a supplier. Using a third-party product or service for a client project is akin to offering a raving endorsement about them, so it’s important to consider your options before making your decision.

As your freelance business grows, you will find yourself using a multitude of suppliers. You’ll find that whole areas of your business rely on them, and they in turn will benefit from the business that you bring them.

You’ll need a domain name registrar, a hosting company, an office stationery supplier, a printer for business cards or other printed matter, and possibly an accountant or lawyer—or both. There will no doubt be other suppliers along the way. And then, of course, there’s the large question of outsourcing—as we’ll see, it’s a false economy to spend time struggling to fulfil the complex requirements of thorough bookkeeping, to use a common example. There are experts to do it quickly and easily while you devote your time to the work at which you excel and that makes you money.

Spend any amount of time on web-based forums frequented by freelancers and you’ll inevitably find discussion threads regarding freelance tales of woe—freelancers losing all of their data as a result of using the cheapest hosting company they could find, or having suppliers directly contact all of their clients, offering to undercut their best deals.

Note: Lessons Learned
Don’t leave backups to your hosting provider. Regularly back up client sites, just in case—this may save you in the future!

If you’re going to resell third-party services or products, ensure that you have a written contract stating what is acceptable and what isn’t. The last thing you want is for your hosting company to go directly to your client base and offer them a great deal to cut you out of the picture.

Do some online research, and read up on the experiences other freelancers have had with the suppliers you have under consideration. Forums such as Web Hosting Talk (see the Reseller Forum) and the SitePoint Forums (see the Web Hosting Forums) have plenty of posts pertaining to which hosting companies treat their resellers well, and which don’t.

The same approach applies to most suppliers you’ll require—there are domain name registrar reviews, printing company reviews, and plenty of other sites and forums to be found.

Once you have chosen a supplier, I encourage you to build a real rapport with them—a great relationship with a supplier can be worth a fortune in a time of crisis, or when you need something done absolutely drop-everything now.

Asking for Advice

One of the disadvantages of a freelance life is working in isolation. You won’t have a team around you, and at times you may feel as though you’re the last person on earth.

This is even more obvious when you realize you probably don’t have someone to give advice. Sure, your partner or family can help to a degree, but they can’t answer questions about your chosen profession in any great detail, unless web expertise runs in the family.

Look through your contacts, and see if you know someone who would be able or willing to play an informal mentoring role. You may be surprised as you look through your contacts on social networking sites or in your address book as to who could give you a hand; it’s often even more surprising how willing people are to be helpful.

Look for freelance or web industry groups that have meet-ups. There are groups like Refresh, Port80, BarCamp, web design meetups, and more, where you can mingle with like-minded freelancers to share stories and ask for advice.

If there are no obvious candidates among your contacts and no local groups, make contacts through discussion forums and your extended networks, or even consider starting your own group. A buddy system between other freelancers, or with a mentor who’s been doing the freelance or small business gig for a couple of years, can provide an invaluable sounding board and information source.

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Considering Your Business Structure

Feb 16, 2009 Excerpts Leave a comment

This is an excerpt from the book, The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Sample chapters are available for downloading from this page.

When setting yourself up as a business, you should consider the implications of different business structures. If you intend to take on staff within the first few years, you may wish to set up a corporation. If you plan to remain a solo worker, having everything set up as a sole proprietorship may be the best solution.

Having said this, consider speaking to an accountant and possibly a lawyer to seek advice about your particular scenario. You could also speak to local business bureaux (such as SCORE) or associations. They’ll take into account your current personal and financial situation, as well as your legal jurisdiction. Requirements for different business and company registrations will vary depending upon your location.

Each different structure can have a considerable impact on your taxation benefits, your licensing and governmental costs, and your ability to grow the business in the future.

The main differences between a limited liability company (an LLC) and a sole proprietor arrangement reside in the varying levels of possible taxation benefits, legal protection, ability to obtain finance, and your legal requirements.

Setting up an LLC structure has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include:

• greater legal protection—If a client sues the company, only company assets can be seized to pay any judgement, not your own car or house.
• greater ability to obtain credit—Many financial institutions and lenders have a preference for a company, rather than an individual, for business finance.
• tax benefits—In some states and locations, a company receives more taxation benefits than a person.

This option isn’t entirely free of disadvantages, of course. An LLC costs money to set up, and there are ongoing company-related fees. Also, financial reporting is usually more involved than for an individual.

Being in a sole proprietor structure has its fair share of benefits, mostly to do with cost. When compared with an LLC, there’s less financial reporting for most situations, fewer start-up administration costs, and not as many licensing or business costs.

There are disadvantages though, which are easily recognizable as the other side of the LLC advantages:

• zero legal protection—If a client should sue you, the court can order that your assets be taken to pay any legal judgment.
• less access to credit—Business loans are likely to be harder to get for a sole proprietor than for an LLC.
• tax burdens—You may be taxed more than if you were a company.

Ideally, whatever structure you create now will mean that you aren’t paying more than you need to in fees and costs, yet allow you to be flexible enough to accommodate change as your business and your direction evolve.

It’s also a very good idea, regardless of your structure, to open a bank account for your freelance business that is separate from you as an individual. This way, you can pay yourself as if you were an employee, and allow a small nest egg to grow in the business account for those quieter months.

This account will also be used to pay all of your running costs, making the bookkeeping side of your new venture easier to manage.

Speak to as many other freelancers and small business owners as well, and ask them how they set up their own structure—people will soon tell you the pros and cons of their decisions, and this can save you a fortune in reorganization in the future.

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Krissy Bradfield on Freelancing

Feb 11, 2009 50 Words Leave a comment

Krissy says…

Being a freelancer is really hard but it’s all about mindset. My advice? Be positive and positive things will come. Tell everyone you know about your business. Use tools like Twitter to network and get your name out there. Don’t wait for work to come to you - go to it.

About Melissa
Krissy is a freelance writer who began working in the web industry in 1995. She started Wordish.com in 2006 and specialises in creating engaging and dynamic web content.

About this Post
This post is one of a series, written by various people within the web industry. They are responses to my request for a maximum of 50 words on the topic of tips for freelance success. You can use the 50 words category to see all the answers so far.

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Creating Your Brand: the Preliminaries

Feb 9, 2009 Excerpts 1 Comment

This is an excerpt from the book, The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Sample chapters are available for downloading from this page.

We’ll talk more about branding yourself in a later chapter; however, it’s very important that you carefully consider the business name you plan to use, when first kicking off your freelance career. There are two typical approaches: use your personal name, or create an entirely new trading name.

Let’s look at these options in more detail.

Using Your Own Name

Using your own name is a fantastic way to build a personal brand. Taking this option depends on what your vision of the future looks like—if you plan to hire staff at a later date, you may want to avoid using your own full name, but there are still options available even if you do; for example, Burke Design & Development; Miles Burke & Co. On the other hand, if you have every intention of remaining a one-person show, giving yourself a name like “XYZ Corporation” can be considered misleading, as it won’t take long for your clients to realize that you’re a solo worker.

Note: Anything’s Possible!
Many people start off never expecting to take on staff. Don’t rule this out, unless you feel strongly against it. I once couldn’t picture myself hiring employees … and at the time of writing I have 16!

This theory assumes your name is unique enough to be memorable, and that it’s easy for your clients to pronounce. If your name is Bob Smith, you may find that it’s too common for business registration and other registrations, such as domain names or intellectual property.

To recap, the advantages of using your personal name include:

• it builds a reputation around you
• it’s normally easier to recall, since clients already know your name
• it can avoid misleading clients if you plan to stay solo
• it looks far more personal and (depending on the uniqueness of your name) can make you easier to find on the Web

Disadvantages of using your own name include:

• it limits you in terms of hiring staff and possibly even selling the business, if you reach that point someday
• it can make it harder to rank on search engines if your name is very common
• it may be hard to pronounce if your name is very uncommon

Using a Fictitious Name

Irrespective of the business structure, having a business name unrelated to your personal name has a number of considerations that need taking into account.

A business name which when read phonetically is still pronounced correctly is perfect. Pfizer could be a challenge; Sigma is fairly unambiguous. Don’t get too clever with creating crazy business names—most people would regret having to answer the phone with the greeting “Smelly Shoe Design” before long.

Having your main service as part of the name makes sense as well, although be warned against making it too specific. For example, perhaps you’re a designer whose short-term plans are to design web sites only. You’ll need to consider whether you plan to expand into other forms of design in the future. Having a name like “XYZ Web Design” when you’re pitching for a logo design project may not help you beat your competition, so beware of suggesting that you’re only capable of providing one service.

A good business name should be easy to recall, evocative, pronouncable, and unique. You’ll want to register the domain name, so run a WHOIS on your shortlist to rule out those already registered. Don’t just consider your own country extension—register as many extensions (including the top-level domains, .com and .net) as possible.

Warning: Unexpected Domain Names
Take a step back and look at your domain name carefully! There’s been more than one business that has come up with a great trade name and bought the (in)appropriate domain name to match:

• Experts Exchange: expertsexchange.com
• Powergen Italia: powergenitalia.com
• Therapist Finder: therapistfinder.com

The advantages of creating a new name for your business are:

• It keeps your personal and business lives further separated.
• It allows infinite choice of business name.
• It allows you to tailor the name according to domain name availability.
• It’s easier to sell your business or client base in the future.

Disadvantages of using a custom name include:

• You’ll need to exert some energy to get a new name to stick.
• You could have issues finding one that you feel comfortable with and fits you well.
• It’s not an easy process to change the name later on.

If you do decide to use a created name, start by creating a shortlist of options, and then create a spreadsheet. Populate the first column by doing a WHOIS search and finding which domain names are still available (both geographic and top-level).

Then, fire up your favorite search engine and search for those business names. What are the results? You wouldn’t be the first start-up to make it this far, only to find another product or business using the same name. It’s better to do this research now, rather than when the business cards have been printed … Try predictable misspellings of the words, too—often a business name may be only one letter different from another, so make sure you check first!

Thirdly, consult your local trademark database and see if there are any trademarks of which you need to be aware. Even very similar words may be worth avoiding.

You should also speak to some friends and colleagues. Ask them what they think of each name in your refined shortlist, and narrow this list down even further. It’s better to do this face to face to observe an immediate reaction, rather than by email or phone, where they may have a longer time to consider it—you want their gut response.

Finally, go with your instinct. After all, it’s your creation, and you have to like it. If, after hours and hours of soul-searching, you just aren’t happy with your choice, try again or consider using your own name.

Example 2. Bam Creative
When considering my own business name, I had a multitude of options. I liked the idea of incorporating my name in the business identity; however, I did want to leave my options open in case I ever hired staff.

Although my name (Miles Burke) is fairly unusual, the domain name milesburke.com was taken at the time, and I didn’t want to tie it in so closely to me in any case.

My initials are MB or MAB in full, and I didn’t believe these really stood out. However, when you reverse them, you end up with BAM, which I felt suggested impact. I knew that Bam was a very popular word, though, so I assumed there was no chance of getting those domains using it by itself.

Although most of my work at the time was web site design and development, I was occasionally brought in on corporate identity design or consulting projects. I’d already decided that I planned to stick to creative work, so I ended up choosing the business name Bam Creative.

This allows my business to work on anything from web sites to logos and anything else that can be broadly considered creative, and still be true to the name. The word Bam is generic enough for most people never to make the connection that it’s someone’s initials, and certainly not the reverse of someone’s initials!

Funnily enough, I did manage to register the domain bam.com.au, but I had no chance of getting any top-level domains (.com, .net or .org). Luckily, I got the full bam creative business name versions of these.

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Melissa Ek on Freelancing

Feb 4, 2009 50 Words Leave a comment

Melissa says…

Keep a buffer of cash on hand. When that big client doesn’t pay on time, it helps to have something to fall back on.
Hire an accountant. The peace of mind is worth it.
Be nice to EVERYone. You never know who your next client will be.
Network, network, network!

About Melissa
Melissa Ek is a designer (web & print) based in Austin, TX. She can’t believe she’s been freelancing for nearly TEN years!

About this Post
This post is one of a series, written by various people within the web industry. They are responses to my request for a maximum of 50 words on the topic of tips for freelance success. You can use the 50 words category to see all the answers so far.

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