Reddit Reddit reviews Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business

We found 4 Reddit comments about Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business
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4 Reddit comments about Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business:

u/shannanigan86 · 12 pointsr/freelanceWriters

I'm sure other people have better advice, as I only went "full time" this year, but, here's some stuff I've used:

I e-borrowed this book for free https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Inc-Ultimate-Successful-Freelance/dp/0811871614 through the Libby app with my library card. It's written for freelance artists, but the info is relevant for writers too.

My two biggest clients I got through Upwork.com. I watched a LOT of YouTube videos learning the ins and outs of how Upwork works before writing my first proposal, so I wouldn't get blindsided or look like a newb who didn't know how to work the platform. I also went ahead and paid for the membership, so I can see what other people are bidding and make sure I'm within range. I factor the cost of membership, Upwork's cuts, and taxes into my pricing.

Did a lot of reading on Self-Employment tax: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes and how to pay quarterly estimated taxes (US). Also registered as a business with my city, and I file monthly sales taxes with them (they always come out to zero since we only have to pay on in-state sales, and none of my clients are in my state...yet).

I set up my bank account to "auto save" 35% of any large payments that come in, so I'm ready for any tax surprises and to pay an accountant next year.

I started writing the kind of things I want to get hired for on medium.com; it acts as a functional and presentable portfolio, and I make some pennies off of it. I also created a website and use the blog on it to cross-post content, but I get less activity through that; it's more of a way of looking professional to people who inquire. I used WordPress and only paid for the $50/yr site since I didn't think paying for the most expensive option would be worth it just yet.

Make a portfolio, determine what your absolute bare minimum pricing has to be, pitch a little higher than that if your portfolio is any good, and good luck!

As a fellow newbie to the freelance world, reach out if you wanna knock ideas back and forth.

And I'm also watching this thread for myself.

u/TheRealBramtyr · 4 pointsr/freelance

I'm not a web designer, I do motion design. But a lot of this advice is universal for any visual creative freelancing field:
Start collecting inspiration pieces. Stuff you like, stuff that catches your eye, colors you like etc. Websites that "work" Annotate why you like them. Go back through them when starting a project and building mood boards. Always keep expanding. Pinterest can be a good resource for this.

Read. Trade magazines, Communication Arts, etc. Hit up the library and get some books on design fundamentals, composition, grid systems, typography and color theory.

Also, get some books on freelancing. I'd recommenced Creative, Inc. by Meg Ilasco & Joy Cho. This will help you clear your head and get in the "mindset" of freelancing.

Make an account at Adobe's Kuler this is my number #1 color theory cheat sheet, and helps me find color pallets that work.

Flash is going on the wayside, at least from an animation standpoint. Some knowledge might be useful, I rarely touch it anymore. Granted I'm a motion designer and stick primarily to AE, C4D etc. I'm not a webdev, so take that with a grain of salt. (Look into HTML5 maybe?)

Lastly, build some thick skin on taking critique. Knowing how to show your work to people, and work their suggested/requested changes to improve your design (and not take it personally) is very, very important.

u/Upupupupok · 1 pointr/Design

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0811871614?pc_redir=1411696993

Bought it just for the chapter on pricing. Was not disappointed.

u/starrylovesfedoras · 1 pointr/Anxiety

I haven't freelanced yet but I'm thinking about it for the future. The main obstacle, besides getting my skills up, is learning to manage stress because apparently I am terrible at that. Every time I'm going good with anything long term like studies or a personal project, I can rock it for about 10 weeks but then stress builds up more and more until I'm literally sick from it and can't do anything. In order to heal I have to stop doing everything that feels like work for weeks.

Every time this happens, it's very disheartening, because despite being somebody who works hard I also make my health a priority and I regularly exercise, eat healthy, and take breaks. I researched my problem online and it seems maybe what's going on is my breaks simply aren't relaxing to my brain. I am the kind of person who can lay around doing nothing for an hour and feel really stressed the whole time--but I don't notice the stress until it's gone on for many weeks and is already making me sick!

From what I read, I guess I need lots of deep breathing sessions every day, in addition to all the stuff I already do like the exercise.

I hope this works. I'd really like to be able to work 30-40 hours a week consistently, instead of only being able to go 10 weeks before I have to take several weeks off. It's really frustrating.

By the way have you ever read the book Creative, Inc.? It was written specifically for creatives who freelance. I read it once and it seemed good. Maybe it would help you plan your freelancing?

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Inc-Ultimate-Successful-Freelance/dp/0811871614