Lessons for freelancers

STAYING CREATIVE

My name is Eoghan McCabe

(@eoghanmccabe)

HI THERE

EOGHAN

Freelancing for 5 years

Founded Contrast in 2008

Lessons for freelancers

STAYING CREATIVE

EVERYTHINGright

Just do

“Overall advantage or disadvantage

results from all a company’s activities,

not only a few.”

— Michael E. Porter, What is Strategy?

These creative ideas are food for

thought for smart freelancers “a prince who is not himself wise

cannot be well advised”

— Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

@eoghanmccabe

Some thoughts on the economics of freelancing

CHEAP, EASY, D ISPOSABLE

THE ECONOMICS

is the key to success

understanding

Economics “represents

how [the world] does

actually work”

— Levitt & Dubner

in Freakonomics

(rather than how

we want it to work)

Freelancers are like foot

soldiers in drug gangs

Let’s explore some

uncomfortable truths...

WHY HIRE A FREELANCER?

Nopedesign skills? best

practice prowess?

NahChance to work with an

industry rock star

No

They’re low risk,

dependable?

So the answer is...

BECAUSE FREELANCERS ARE. . .

Cheap

Easy to manipulate

Easy to fuck over

Why?

BECAUSE FREELANCERS ARE. . .

but this is

great news

Naive about their

specific value

Very new to the real

world of business

Nice, unassuming people

THE ECONOMICS

You can become

very successful

You can stand out

from the masses

You can learn life-

lasting business lessons

sometimes, It's Not How Good You

Are, It's How Good You Want To Be

If you understand

.

Let’s talk about marketing

DECENT EXPOSURE

GREAT MARKET ING

When an Apple product speaks for itself,

they let it speak for itself

is all about exposing great products

EXPOSED, NAKED, NUDE

EXPOSE YOUR PRODUCT

Let your awesomeness shine

Be up-front about your priceBe transparent, approachable

2005 2010

#naive #harmless #angry #fucker

BE SOMEBODY

Be a genuine Purple Cow

Nobody wants Johnny Freelancer

(sorry, Johnny)

Be the web design guy

SEO, Social Media marketing...

it’s not your thing—leave it

to the other guys

.

And there’s a wrong way

THERE’S A R IGHT WAY

WORK PRACTICES

Freelancers are terrible at this

because it comes from experience

An easier life requires specific

aka, professionalism

There are some rules of

thumb that will help you

CL IENTS

Not all

are created equal

“The [project] in hand

is the opportunity”

— Paul Arden

...but “avoid clients whose ethos

is incompatible with yours”

— David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising

start small with all clients,

steer clear of big

commitments

“erosion of moral is expensive”

You are nobody’s bitch

FRIENDS

A friendship is a

relationship with no terms

Business relationships should

have very specific terms

Always set clear expectations

Always exactly meet

expectations

Let’s be

GROW UP

We are not

children in a

school yard

We write clearly,

concisely and

proper-like???!? LOL

We never get

personal in

disagreements

We always avoid

confrontations

and arguments

“Let the other person save face”

— Dale Carnegie, How to Win

Friends and Influence People

.

Some business lessons for freelancers

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

You are not going to sue anyone

Your clients aren’t going to

sue youWrite your own, short,

plain-speaking contracts

I ’M NOT A LAWYER BUT. . .

RATE AND HOURS

Work backwards

from cost

increase rate to

control demand

To grow your income, increase your

Let’s assume

people want to

work with you!

Practice Pricing

on Purpose

CREDIT

Who do you trust

enough to lend $1,000?

Always keep your

exposure low—be

consistent

Give me some

Encourage clients to

assume risk—discounts

for up-front payment

.

Some notes on being a great web designer

BEING AWESOME IS AWESOME

WHY SHOULD I BE AWESOME?

Stupid question, but...

You only get one shot at this life

—why do anything half-assed?

If you really suck,

nothing else matters

“There is no substitute for talent.

Industry and all its virtues are of

no avail.” — Aldous Huxley

BE AWESOME

So you want to

John Cleese said...

TORTOISE ENCLOSURE

You must create a

with boundaries of space and time

http://bit.ly/f8Tql

BE AWESOME

So you want to

John Cleese said...

kill interruptions

Actively produce new ideas—

there’s actually A Technique for

Producing Ideas

“Excellence is not an act but a habit” — Aristotle

You’re a shark—if you stop, you’ll die

Ignore trends

Study the Universal Principles

of Design

THE VALUE OF AWESOME

A quick note on

Most of it you do for you

Some of it you do for me

The rest you do for your clients

.

So what I was trying to say is...

IN CONCLUSION

@eoghanmccabe

THANKS!