Introduction
Freelancing is both exciting and daunting because, on the one hand, you can find projects you’re interested in working on and gain financial reward from a job well done. On the other hand, freelancing can be very up-and-down, and you are never sure there will be enough clients.
Reasons to freelance
Relatively low-cost
If you don’t choose to spend money on advertising, being a freelancer can be low-cost and something you can do while currently employed. You can work on projects in your spare time, and if things are going well and you’re getting lots of work and enjoying it, you can look to transition to a full-time freelancer.
Location
Depending on your location, you might find it difficult to get into a big city to work in a company, , making freelancing an especially attractive option.
You can work from anywhere, making your life much more flexible.
Effort-reward
If you are self-motivated, freelancing might suit you well as you can directly see the benefits of your efforts,
Build a portfolio of work
As you come out of your studies, freelancing is an excellent way of building a portfolio of real-world clients and gaining experience as a front-end developer. It’s essential to set the expectations of your clients and what you can do, and where you’re at in your career.
Opportunities might come through friends and family connections. Be careful not to hurt any relationships with these projects, but they can be a good way to get you started as a freelancer.
Setting boundaries
When you only have a few clients, it’s easy to say yes to projects and try and take on as much as you can, but do be careful to set boundaries for yourself and manage your time. That can mean not working after a specific time or making sure you have breaks between projects. Freelancing comes in waves; sometimes, you will be very busy, while you won’t be at other times. It’s good to make sure you are looking after yourself and are financially covered for lean periods when you don’t have as many clients.
Lesson task
Goal
To analyse your networks and find potential freelance clients.
Level 1
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Think about your personal network and whether there are people you know who have businesses that might have websites made or updated.
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Consider businesses that you interact with regularly and whether you might be able to do something for them. You can email them to find out if they need some work done. It’s especially useful if you can say something like, “I saw your website isn’t mobile responsive. I could update that for you.”