Despite the economy being what it is, I'm finding myself poised for my most successful year yet. I know, it's only March and I really shouldn't be counting my chickens, blah blah ... but the fact is, except for a couple of scary weeks last month, I've managed to stay solidly busy since about last November or so, and it's not showing any sign of letting up. I'm excited to be making this increasingly a viable business and I want to keep an eye on what's working and why so that I can continue the momentum. So, why the growth?
On the surface I haven't done anything differently in the past couple of months. I think the growth I'm seeing is based on longer-term efforts that are slowly but steadily coming to fruition. Here's what I think is working:
1. Streamlined creative process.In the early years of freelancing, I would put together 3 or 4 or 5 concepts for a client. I would labor over getting all of them just right so that I could feel pleased moving forward with any one of them. I would proudly present them to the client and await their response. But I soon learned that this method was just as likely to garner a "Hmmm... these aren't really what I was picturing..." as a "#2 is GREAT—let's print it!" I was always disappointed when the client didn't 'get' what I was going for or when I had to step back to square one, sacrificing all those billable hours rather than blow their budget and lose the job.
One of the most valuable things I'm working on is engaging the client in the creative process at an earlier phase. I have started to do this through the likes of creative brief documents, sharing and discussing lots of visual reference, creating inspiration boards and having informal brainstorming meetings, all before even touching the actual work. These tools don't cost nearly the time they save, and they help eliminate subjective decision-making later on. They really help to focus the design objectives at an early stage, and when I sit down to build the actual piece, I already know what colors, fonts, and aesthetic are going to work for the client and their audience. Many times I need only show one concept to nail it.
2. Evolving the portfolio.At the end of each project, I decide whether it's the kind of work I want to do more of in the future or not. If it is, and it's an example of my best work, I'll put it in my online portfolio. Before I put it in, I take a look at the existing portfolio and decide if there's something in there that can be replaced with the new piece, either because it's old and doesn't show my current skills or because it's not something I want or need to do more of. This way, I'm constantly shaping my portfolio to show the kind of work I want to be doing. Like attracts like—slowly my client base shifts in the direction that allows my to do my best work.
3. Building a wide skillset and not being picky.The work I love most will never make up 100% of the work I do, simply because there's not enough of it to go around. In my opinion, refusing to do work you're not passionate about will put you out of business faster than you can realize what's happened. Not every client can afford (or needs) a well-thought out total branding solution, but there are all sorts of jobs out there that can fill in the gaps and make up the billable hours. I'll never be a star programmer, but the passable display coding skills I've picked up can provide a good source of income in the downtime. So can those quick print design jobs without a budget, where the work is largely just picking nice colors and fonts so that the client looks a little better than their competition. The secret is to tailor the work to the budget, then, if you want to shine, give it just 10% more.
4. Careful tracking.I keep a running spreadsheet that tallies my daily and weekly hours worked, percent billable, money brought in and effective hourly rate. I know where I should be to make a solid living. With this constant reference point, I am motivated to work that extra billable hour or take that quick programming job that I might not otherwise be thrilled about.
And where I've got room for improvement:1. Be more responsive.I HATE talking on the phone and there are lots of days that I get into the groove of working and don't stop to return or make calls or reply to emails. I tend to put off communicating where I wouldn't put off actual work, and there are inevitably opportunities that pass me by and small tasks that slip through the cracks as a result. I always feel like a huge jerk when a client has to remind me about some detail they asked me about 3 weeks ago. I need to be better about taking a chunk of my day to respond to and take care of those little things.
2. Administrative efficiencies.Most of my records are kept in various spreadsheets. I could probably gain a good chunk of time by further consolidating that info, and maybe starting to use some time tracking and bookkeeping software.
Professionally printing some items, like envelopes and letterheads, could save me from needless struggle with the printer as I relearn which way to feed things in, unjam it, run to the store for ink, etc.
My templates for estimates, contracts and invoices are ongoing project. I used to write them almost from scratch each time. I'm now getting close to some standard formats, so that I can just fill in the project-specific details and send them off. I'm also working on keeping them short and simple so that clients don't become overwhelmed (or scared) by unnecessary legalese.
3. More structure.When I sit down to work, or when I'm between tasks, I tend to spend a good chunk of time reading design blogs, checking Facebook, doing my personal banking online, etc, etc.. My work day is not very structured. If I haven't got a lot of billable work, I'll get up and do laundry, go for a walk, clean the dishes. I love this flexibility and the integration of work and life, but it's not always the most efficient. I should probably be about 50% better about making working hours for work, so I don't lose time in the transitions. I'm thinking of maybe trying to focus on work and only work between 8-12 am, or 10-2, and leaving the rest of the hours open to a flexible work/life balance.
4. Marketing.This one's a bit of a mystery to me. Most of my work comes from referrals or from people finding my website and calling me. I know that if I want to take it to the next level, I need to do more direct marketing. I've done some postcard mailings in the past and I always do a holiday card/mailing of some sort, but I know that's not enough. I've seen that often clients don't realize I do more than the one thing they've hired me for and that's an obvious marketing opportunity. I'm hoping to put together a solid promotional brochure to send to past clients that will highlight other things I might be able to do for them. And then I have to get over my phone-phobia and follow up with them!
Labels: business, freelancing
