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It’s great being self-employed or a freelancer, but it’s not always easy. Every designer, developer and photographer comes across difficult times at least several times in their career. There might be a dry spell where there’s simply no work, or maybe you’re just not having any luck and losing out on opportunities. There are such things as ‘freelance websites’, with thousands of jobs entered day-in, day-out. Sounds excellent, huh? But believe me, it’s not. Read on to find out why…
So you’re low on money, you have bills to pay and your actually considering working ten-thirty long hours on a logo design for $30.
This is why you shouldn’t:
1. You’ll Lose Confidence
You need to be confident if you’re self-employed, you need to have the courage and self-respect to keep on fighting if times get tough and never stop. Working long hours for such little money most definitely isn’t going to boost your confidence or self-respect, and in the long run could make matters a hell of a lot worse.
2. You’ll Get Messed About
If a ‘company’ can’t pay you a good rate for a design then you may as well stay well away from them. I recently saw a nightclub post a listing on a freelance website wanting a two-sided, four-color CMYK postcard/flyer design for a New Years party they’re holding. With a night like this, the club is most-likely going to turn around thousands of dollars, yet they can only pay the designer…wait for it… $20! To top this all off, they want five ‘mock-ups’ and unlimited revisions.
In more simple words, they expect you to design five flyers. Then they expect you to completely redesign them when they say I don’t like that, can you add this and can you change that. All for free? I don’t think so!
3. You’ll Probably Lose Money
Freelancers and self-employed individuals need to pay bills. On a day-to-day basis, when working from the office you need to pay plenty of bills to even make working a possibility:
- Electricity: Computers, Printers, Telephones, Refrigerators.
- Heating and Air-Conditioning Bills.
- Living Costs: Drink (how often do you boil the kettle?), Food (How much does your lunch cost?).
- Work Requirements: Updated Software, Broadband Internet Connection, Telephone/Mobile Bills, Business Bank Costs, Printer Inks, Batteries for Wireless Objects (Computer Mice, Keyboards).
How much this works out to cost on a day-to-day basis is almost impossible to work out, but I can assure you it doesn’t cost any less than working all day for a $20 design. So basically we’d be working all day long to just about cover the costs of what it costs to sit there working all day. Sounds pointless, huh? It is. At the end of the day we wouldn’t have actually made a profit to buy our dinner, pay any other household bills or even pay for gas/petrol to go and pick up our lunch for the next workday. Oh, and did I mention you’ll lose a percentage of that when they pay you via PayPal, so in matter of fact you’ll probably only be getting about $17-18!
4. They Don’t Know What They’re Talking About
People that think they can get away with paying such a little amount of money for a design clearly don’t understand the amount of work that is put into it. They seem to think you can jump on the computer and have it completed within 30 minutes. There is a lot more to it than that as I’m sure every one of you knows: researching, planning, sketching, designing digital mock-ups, sending, a revision or two, preparing for print-ready PDF, converting to PDF, printing a proof, and finally resending.
Believe it or not, a lot of people actually ask professional designers if they can design a leaflet or flyer in Microsoft Office! Never, EVER should you stoop so low to design a ‘professional’ leaflet in Microsoft Word!
Take a look at this video from YouTube, it really gets the point across! Please excuse the rude language!
5. It’s A Complete Waste Of Time!
Why waste so many hours on a project (if you’re allowed to call it that) that isn’t worthwhile? You’re low on cash and you need earn some money… There are loads of other things you can be doing instead of being ripped off!
What to do instead of working for ridiculous amounts of money:
A – Start A Blog
You’re right, it’s not a get rich quick scheme. It’s going to take a while to earn money from a blog. But speaking from experience, it’s fun, it opens up so many windows (since blogging, I’ve been offered jobs, been featured on websites, been invited to write for some of the best design blogs about and have been asked permission whether a tutorial of mine can be featured in a real magazine!), and in the long run, yes, it can earn you money.
B – Already Got A Blog? Work On It!
So you’ve already got a blog but it doesn’t seem to be doing what I mentioned above? Well, you’re going through an unlucky spell so why not do something about it and work on it! Write some great articles, some good tutorials and so on and try to boost your traffic. Schedule articles for the future when you know you won’t be able to work on your blog. If you write some tutorials, submit them to Good-Tutorials and be sure to add a Google AdSense advertisement (or two) within the post. You’ll probably earn more from the clicks on the advertisements than you would working all day long for an amateur businessman!
C – Write For Other Blogs
Put your time to use and write an article or tutorial for some big design blogs. They pay well, pay quickly and you’re bound to get some traffic in return, possibly even some new clients!
D – Review Design-Related Books
Every designer has at least a couple of design books in their bookcases. Review them! Write a detailed review on why people should buy the book, what you learnt from it and include a few affiliate links within the review. If someone buys the book, you’ll get paid! If you don’t have a blog, you could write the review and post it on DooYoo or CIAO, both of which are review sites. They may only pay $1.00 for a review, but for every person that reads it you could get another $0.03. If it’s a good review thousands of people could read it. Lets say, 10,000. That would leave you with a total of $301!
E – Design Promotional Stuff
Sure, this is guaranteed money, but spend the time you have on your hands promoting yourself. Submit the work to showcases and portfolios such as Behance, DeviantART and Flickr. If people like your work you’ll get loads of views, and if you’re lucky one or two of them might like it enough to hire you.
F – Design T-Shirts
Design T-Shirt and other apparel graphics. Submit them to T-Shirt Design Sites and promote your designs. If it’s liked, it could get chosen and ultimately leave you with big cash prizes – not forgetting people could be walking around the streets wearing YOUR design!
Conclusion:
Hopefully this article has made you realize just how bad these freelancing websites can be. They’re not worth it, they won’t actually earn you money and they will decrease the confidence and self-respect you have in yourself. So instead, spend the time promoting yourself and helping other designs by following some of the points in green! You’ll be much better off!
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Waheed Akhtar : Visit Waheed Akhtar's website & twitter
Posted at 9:18 on 17/12/09
nice article buddy.
Manu : Visit Manu's website & twitter
Posted at 9:19 on 17/12/09
It’s never wasted time to read your posts…
Ben : Visit Ben's website
Posted at 10:06 on 17/12/09
nice article Callum – I have wodered wether these sites actually offer any decent work – it seems work comes all at once an theres none – Im glad to see you doing well for yourself , you seem to be in a similar position to me with a blog from the uk etc
stay in contact if you want
peace
Callum Chapman : Visit Callum Chapman's website & twitter
Posted at 10:42 on 17/12/09
Waheed + Manu, Thanks guys!
Ben, They seem to actually have some interesting projects that even I would like to do, such as the nightclub one mentioned in the post sounds like a lot of fun, but how they expect me to do it for such a low wage is a joke! I’m doing pretty well for myself now but it was hard work getting to this point!
Yousuf : Visit Yousuf's twitter
Posted at 10:57 on 17/12/09
Great article!
Kim : Visit Kim's website & twitter
Posted at 12:26 on 17/12/09
Really great article. I fully agree with what you are saying.
most of these “freelancing” sites are a waste of time and sometimes money, anyway here in France. you have to pay to reach most of the adds.
keep on writing good articles like these. Also your snow flakes pictures selection for Web Designer Depot was fantastic.
Eli : Visit Eli's twitter
Posted at 13:35 on 17/12/09
As some people need to work at McDonalds for minimum wage (or less) as do some people need to work these evil freelancing jobs for a short time.
It’s always cheap employers though (those that don’t want to spend a whole lot on a design) and the result they get is just that as well – cheap.
Matt Ward : Visit Matt Ward's website & twitter
Posted at 17:34 on 17/12/09
Great article Callum. It’s important for designers – especially freelancers – not to undervalue themselves and to work in exchange for fair compensation.
I was working on this just last night, though fortunately I was working with a great client who wanted to be sure that he was paying me for what my time was worth. We discussed the project in detail and set a tentative rate, with the possibility of further compensation if the project takes longer than anticipated.
Unfortunately, not all clients are like this. There are people out there who will suck out every ounce of creative juice out of you for virtually nothing!
The one area of the article that I find a bit off is the term “freelance websites”. When I hear that term I tend to think of Freelance Switch or Freelance Folder, and I was somewhat alarmed to read the title and wondered why any Freelancer would want to stay away from such awesome resources.
Needless to say, I was glad to see that you were actually talking about what I normally think of as Job Boards – though these boards can actually yield good contracts, if you can weed through the crap.
Laura | Creative Individual : Visit Laura | Creative Individual's website & twitter
Posted at 20:14 on 17/12/09
Wow nice read. Thanks for putting the time in and making some really interesting points.
I’m just starting freelancing though working full-time during the transition. I’d heard about these freelancing websites and I agree with you, they do nothing for your credit as a designer. If they get away with paying you $20 for a poster once, they’ll expect it every time, which is a complete joke! Truth be told, I’d rather do it for free – it’s not a slap in the face that way!
You’ve given some really good ideas of how to earn cash during a dry-spell – but hopefully haven’t created too much competition for yourself!
Again thanks, I like the blog redesign btw.
Vikas ghodke : Visit Vikas ghodke's website & twitter
Posted at 20:32 on 17/12/09
Great article callum.. and the video is fantastic. last month i faced the same problem as shown in video
DinD : Visit DinD's website & twitter
Posted at 8:34 on 18/12/09
Nice article! You not only give the cons of working on this (almost) zero budget stuff, but you also give pointers to improve your income as a designer.
I can’t remember which author said this: it’s not the 30 min you spend on designing the flyer, but the many years of education and professional experience!
Callum Chapman : Visit Callum Chapman's website & twitter
Posted at 9:16 on 18/12/09
Thanks everyone for your comments and feedback! More articles like this to come so be sure to keep checking
Jonath Lee : Visit Jonath Lee's website & twitter
Posted at 9:39 on 18/12/09
Great article in the right time for me. I’ve been reading so many articles related to start freelancing in website design. I found this article really brought out a lot of questions that we never really prepared for.
@MadKeet : Visit @MadKeet's website & twitter
Posted at 11:03 on 18/12/09
yo mutha, you got da vibe dude hi 5 big ups an all dat.
sorry really good post man thx. wordpress here i come yeeeeeha x
Dan : Visit Dan's website
Posted at 11:26 on 18/12/09
Couldn’t agree more. There are to many tight fisted companies out there wanting something for nothing!
Ted Rex : Visit Ted Rex's website & twitter
Posted at 15:14 on 18/12/09
What an empowering article to turn to when desperation runs deep. I made this one of my three links today on my “Design Thought for the Day” blog:
http://designthoughtfortheday.blogspot.com/2009/12/12-18-dont-do-website-smm-ruining.html
All the best, Ted
Jason : Visit Jason's website & twitter
Posted at 17:04 on 18/12/09
Hey Callum, how do freelancers feel about sites like Envato Marketplaces and do you feel it cheapens the industry like the freelance sites you mentioned do?
Liam Maskell : Visit Liam Maskell's website & twitter
Posted at 17:17 on 18/12/09
Great Article Callum and I have found this post extremely helpful and clears up a few questions that I have.
I am currently looking for some new freelance jobs as the current ones I have on at the moment are due to finish in the first/second week on January. So the article it self couldn’t have came at a better time! Brilliant Timing lol.
I have been and reader and admirer of your blog and work for some time now, I found you via Chris Spooner about 6 months ago now when I was stuck in a rut and not knowing what to do with my future, but seeing his blog and work made me decide that Graphic Design is the life for me! You have also allowed me to come to this decision too!
I currently hope to see myself in a position that you are in at the moment!
I hope to get my website and blog done over the christmas period and launch it next year too!
Please feel free to contact me via email or send me a tweet.
Rock on!
- Liam
Callum Chapman : Visit Callum Chapman's website & twitter
Posted at 18:09 on 18/12/09
Jason, I’d say the marketplaces are a good thing. It allows us to make some extra money, but doesn’t lose us work because usually people who want a unique design will save the cash and hire one of us!
Liam, Thanks for your feedback and supporting me all this time! I haven’t been doing this too long myself (probably started about 7 months ago) and have learnt so much during that time. I’m looking for some writers for Circlebox at the moment, so if you want a headstart into the blogging world feel free to shoot me a message.
paul : Visit paul's website & twitter
Posted at 23:41 on 18/12/09
the case you mention is extreme, and of course no one in their right mind will take on such a project.
I currently do a lot of Wordpress work on oDesk, which is one of those freelance sites, I just started this a few months ago. My goal is to earn enough to live off in 6 months or so.
There are people willing to pay a decent rate on these sites, and it allows me to find jobs that I wouldn’t find where I live (a small town in north east Brazil). I’m not brazilian, just living the beach bum life at the moment. Of course my situation is maybe a bit special.
So I dn’t think it’s all evil.
Jenna Molby : Visit Jenna Molby's website & twitter
Posted at 0:27 on 19/12/09
Great article, thank you!
Raj Rathore : Visit Raj Rathore's twitter
Posted at 6:55 on 19/12/09
Hello..Callum
as you tell us to use Dooyoo i tried to use and as well create an account on it But
then found It’s only for UK residents.
I’m from India
Can you tell me some authentic sources that I can use.
Thanks..
I’ll visit you soon for your reply..
Callum Chapman : Visit Callum Chapman's website & twitter
Posted at 8:21 on 19/12/09
Raj, have you tried Ciao? I’m not sure how they pay others in other countries but I’m sure they do?
Tom Twose : Visit Tom Twose's twitter
Posted at 2:45 on 20/12/09
“freelance” aint the problem; been around since the dawn of time. Some business/marketing/networking stuff is needed here.
“Its not what biz you do its who you do biz with”.
If they’re cheaping out like that then offer some incentive for now or later, for the money you charge. If they dont accept, dont take the gig. Spend the marketing energy somewhere more feasible.
Raj Rathore : Visit Raj Rathore's twitter
Posted at 4:50 on 21/12/09
CIAO says
3. You can become a member if you are an UK-resident and have a bank account in the UK.
http://www.ciao.co.uk/popup_conditions.php
Chotrul Freelance Design and SEO : Visit Chotrul Freelance Design and SEO's website
Posted at 21:02 on 22/12/09
I’m not sure the problem is always the sites, so much as whether you decide to take up such low paid web design work or not.
However, should you be considering doing so, yeah, I’d absolutely say do something instead which in the long run will feed your career, rather than something that won’t even feed your stomach.
Pusparaj : Visit Pusparaj's website & twitter
Posted at 19:25 on 24/12/09
Thanks Callum.
ostrov_sokr : Visit ostrov_sokr's twitter
Posted at 20:53 on 6/1/10
Magnificent article! You have opened my eyes on Freelancing!
Thanks, Callum!
Jay Kaushal : Visit Jay Kaushal's twitter
Posted at 4:46 on 9/2/10
Very thoughtful article Callum. I started working from site named freelancer.com and have done around 350 small and big jobs there. Earlier I just grabbed any job without calculating time and money just to establish myself. But after spending three years now I am established. Now I never go for ridiculous jobs like 30 bucks things unless I know I have to spend only 20 mins on it. Clients are in direct contact with me so I do almost all jobs directly leaving back that freelancing site. You are very right and in my earlier days I too felt I am loosing my self esteem when I worked for eight hours for just 50 bucks. But that period is over now. Now I call the shots and when somebody offers such jobs now I humbly refuse and redirect them towards freelancing sites from where I started
Callum Chapman : Visit Callum Chapman's website & twitter
Posted at 8:42 on 9/2/10
Thanks everyone for all your comments! I’m glad you’re in a position where you can turn down such jobs now Jay, I don’t actually do too many client jobs myself because I’m writing for so many blogs now, but if I do I always make sure I’m calling the shots and don’t feel as if I have to accept such poor offers like I was a year or two ago!
Oridusartic : Visit Oridusartic's website & twitter
Posted at 9:20 on 9/2/10
I agree with you, Callum.
Previously, I’ve ever caught in this kind of freelancing website trap. I worked on a logo for so many hours but in the end it was just rejected and I didn’t get any payment. I lost self-confidence and didn’t feel any excitement during the working on the project.
Building a good image and self-branding sound way more perfect than lurking around those freelancing websites.
george
Posted at 15:33 on 13/2/10
Now days I use to earn a lot with 3G’s. They are nothing but
http://www.rentacoder.com
http://www.greatlance.com
http://www.Odesk.com
This 3 master’s are great at there way.
rentacoder will show you specific small and number of jobs.
Greatlance.com is the most trusted website in the freelancing industries
Odesk is for big players with big projects.
John : Visit John's website
Posted at 22:45 on 20/2/10
Callum, great post, thanks.
A related trap is “cloud designing” where many designers submit their designs and one is used for a pittance. I read that Twitter got one of their desings for $25 that way.
I follow the lead of a friend who was told, “I’d like to offer you more but that’s all I can afford”.
Her reply was, “I won’t take up your offer until you can afford what I deserve.”
Corey Johnson | Success 4 Designers : Visit Corey Johnson | Success 4 Designers's website & twitter
Posted at 0:28 on 15/3/10
This was a great article on freelance work. This is exactly what currently promoting on my site. I’m helping freelancers gain the knowledge and tactics they need to know to stand out. That was a great list.
Nick - Freelance Designer Sydney : Visit Nick - Freelance Designer Sydney's website & twitter
Posted at 0:29 on 17/6/10
I find during my down times I am either writing for other blogs to build my brand or working on designs for zazzle. Let’s face it, zazzle will never give me enough money to retire from working, but each month a couple of extra bucks doesn’t hurt.
It is good in that you don’t have to promote it in any way after you have loaded the artwork up. True you are better off promoting it for better sales, but I am finding it useful as a creative outlet to help build my portfolio with new styles of design and the extra income is pretty nice.
The more designs you add, the more potential you have to earn from the site. The best part is, a lot of the competing products are terrible looking so a decent designer can really blow everyone else out of the water.
Just my 2 cents.