Freelancing may be a hobby for some, but it may also be a full time job for others. In either case, if you want to be successful in freelancing whether it be design, backend development, print design, etc, it is very important to follow these tips in order to not ‘burn out’ as a freelancer:

1. Treat it as a business – Whether you think freelancing is a hobby or an actual business for you, it doesn’t matter. In either case, treat your freelancing work as a real  business. By this I mean when working with clients, provide them documentation, terms of contract, a price chart (I’ll discuss more on why these are helpful in a later post), and be supportive and understanding with your clients.
2. Keep up with the trends – It’s no use designing concepts that were popular in 2006. And your logo design probably won’t win if you drew it in MS Paint. The idea I’m trying to get across is keep up with the latest trends and ideas or even develop your own unique ideas.
   How I do it?
   • Visit popular CSS galleries (ie Website-Gallery.com, and FaveUp)
   • Tutorial sites (such as PSDTuts.com, Tutorialized.com)
   • ColourLover
   • Check out Competitor Sites
   • Browse through other design work

   NOTE: Don’t copy others work. This is not only unethical, but illegal. Oh and might I add it doesn’t really qualify as a tip on being a successful freelancer.

3. Manage your budget – Photoshop CS4 is just around the corner and many designers are getting their cash or (most likely) credit cards ready to spend big. My advice: Buying CS4 isn’t going to get you more clients, nor is CS3 going to cost you clients. Sure CS4 is loaded with goodies you can’t wait to try out, but is it really worth spending several grand for a piece of software? Read more on my five dumb budgeting mistakes.
4. Never stop learning – This is more of a branch-off from point #2, but in my career as a freelance designer as well as a corporate designer is to never stop learning. Tutorial sites are especially great for this and my three favorite ones are PSDTuts.com, NETTuts.com, and VECTORTuts.com. What makes these sites stick out of the crowd? These sites cut out the beginner lessons that many other tutorial sites focus on, and instead focus on technique rather than the actual design. Sure I might create the same design that these sites present without even reading the tutorial, but its the technique that we’re looking for that will help us out.
5. Keep your idea box full – It is not always that you start a new project that an idea immediately gets you into action. More often than not, you’ll sit there analyzing several ideas and thinking what would best fit the situation at hand. And the majority of the time, these ideas seem incomplete or inappropriate to use at that point.
   So what do I do to prevent this from happening? Similarly to how I use a journal to keep all of my blogging ideas, I also have a special bookmark folder with all kinds of links to various sites, images, or anything else that might have stuck to me at some point in time. You might even use a sketchpad to keep your ideas as well, but that is only used when there’s an idea in the real world otherwise click and bookmark beats the sketchpad time-wise.
6. Ethics – One thing I cannot stand is dishonest, blatant, and unethical clients and from a clients point of view, I hate dishonest, blatant, and unethical freelancers that I come across. If you want to be successful in the freelance world of competition, make yourself known for your integrity, honesty, worksmanship, and professionalism.
7. Attitude – Attitude goes hand in hand with ethics. If your ethics aren’t in place, then your attitude probably isn’t either. The kind of attitude I’m talking about is helpful and supportive of clients. Take each new project on with the kind of attitude that this may be the project that will take you to high places. By this I mean put in some actual thought and effort into the project to make it a success.
8. Advertising – Aside from all the attitude and education lessons above, in order to be a successful freelancer, you also need to get yourself known. Advertising may be free in some places, it may not be free in others. Places you can advertise on are web development forums and social networks. You may even advertise on Craigslist if you’re up to it. Winning on 99designs or getting your design or work submitted to a publication agency is also a form of advertising.
9. Portfolio or Website – A portfolio is very crucial to get any part of todays freelancing marketshare. Your portfolio may be anything from DeviantArt, 99Designs to Flickr, as long as it showcases your work. I recommend having a personal website on top of that because a website will get you established in your market, it will have your portfolio, and it will also have your resume of what you do which is especially great for clients because if you’re a designer and also a great coder, this solves quite a few problems on the clients part and may give you even more business.
10. Stay on Schedule – It may be tempting to lay off a project a day or two, but this is exactly what separates a successful freelance boss from an unsuccessful one. Staying on top of things will help you be organized, be prepared for the unexpected, ensure thoroughness of your work, and will open up time for other things you love doing!

I think that’s enough for now. I originally planned to write on 4 tips. Then I jumped to 7, but the ideas just kept coming and I kept writing, so at 10 tips I think its enough.

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