Como ser un freelancer

Elevate Press
A division of Eden Creative Communities Sydney, Australia eden.cc © Collis Ta’eed and Cyan Ta’eed, 2007 Copyright Registered with the Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the publishers.

Foreword Getting Started
1-1. 1-2. 1-3. 1-4. 1-5. 1-6. 1-7. 1-8. Whatis Freelancing? Your Job and Freelancing on the Side Part-time Work While Freelancing Full-time Freelancing Quitting Your Job Your Financial Situation Business, Accounting and Legal Requirements Having a Business Plan 9 10 14 16 18 19 20 24

Your Brand
2-1. 2-2. 2-3. 2-4. 2-5. 2-6. 2-7. What is Branding for a Freelancer? What Can Branding Do For You? You as a Brand Naming Your Business YourLogo, Business Cards and Materials Your Website Building Your Reputation 28 29 30 32 35 38 41

The Working Day
3-1. 3-2. 3-3. 3-4. 3-5. 3-6. 3-7. 3-8. Home or Office or... A Happy Workplace Equipment Avoiding Repetitive Strain Injury An Environmentally Friendly Workplace Being Productive Staying on Top of Your Game Freelancing Loneliness 46 51 54 58 61 62 66 68

Getting Your First Projects4-1. 4-2. 4-3. 4-4. 4-5. 4-6. 4-7. Your Portfolio Your First Leads Referrals Meeting Your Leads Free Pitching Steady Income Sources Pacing Yourself 72 76 78 82 84 85 86

Project Scope and Timing
5-1. 5-2. 5-3. 5-4. Taking a Brief Documenting a Brief Estimating Timeframes Large Projects 90 91 93 95

Pricing Yourself
6-1. 6-2. 6-3. 6-4. 6-5. 6-6. 6-8. Your Costs and Your Break-Even RateCalculating Your Hourly Rate Changing Your Price over Time Charging for a Job, not by the Hour Delivering Your Price Contracts and Terms & Conditions Too Cheap, Too Expensive 99 102 106 107 110 113 115

Doing the Project
7-1. 7-2. 7-3. 7-5. 7-6. 7-7. Setting Expectations Tracking Your Hours Communication Revisions Handling Budget and Timeline Blowouts Over-delivering 121 124 126 128 129 131

Clients8-1. 8-2. 8-3. 8-4. 8-5 8-6. 8-7. 8-8. 8-9. Leads and Clients Essential Client Skills Relationships Educating Clients Availability Managing Clients, their Jobs and their Assets Providing Good Service Dealing with Disagreement Identifying and Dealing with Problem Clients 135 136 140 142 144 145 151 154 156

Getting Paid
9-1. 9-2. 9-3. 9-4. 9-5. Invoicing Cash Flow Bookkeeping and AccountsTaking Payment Getting Clients to Pay 160 164 168 170 174

Marketing Yourself
10-1. 10-2. 10-3. 10-6. Positioning Yourself Marketing Cycles Marketing Yourself in Person The Idea Bank 180 183 185 187

Expansion
11-1. 11-2. 11-3. 11-4. 11-5. 11-6. Subcontracting Partnerships Hiring Staff Building a Business Freelancing as a Springboard Further Reading 198 204 206 209 210 211

ConclusionForeword
Although freelancers today are usually designers, writers, programmers, photographers, or illustrators; a few centuries ago the word freelance had a whole other meaning. Back then mercenary knights or ‘free lances’ were soldiers for hire, named for the long poles they carried and the freedom they had in whom they fought for. Though a lance is no longer required, today’s freelancer does shareone thing in common with those knights: the freedom to choose. It is this freedom to be your own boss, to select your projects and clients, and to have a different lifestyle. This is what draws so many people to a career in freelancing. Although people freelance in many different professions, countries and clients, still we all share much in common. This book will show you the ins and outs offreelancing, dealing with subjects like how to get your first projects, what to do when a client won’t pay and how to handle tricky clients. It is written as a general guide that will benefit contractors of all professions. Cyan and I have worked for many years as freelancers, and have had experience hiring freelancers also. Today we write about the subject on FreelanceSwitch.com. As one freelancer to...