This evening I got a chance to hear Chris Lyons speak at RAFConnect's monthly '20 minutes and a Beer' series. He's been a freelance illustrator for the last 8 years, and shared some excellent advice on what makes a successful freelance career in the design industry.

There's much more here than can be covered in 20 minutes, but I thought Chris did a great job of hitting some important points. Here's what I took away:

First of all, there is a high probability that you, as a design professional, will be faced with the Freelance Question at some point in your career. Whether by circumstances beyond your control, or by your own doing, it is a question of 'when' rather than 'if'. Before you get to that crossroads, here are some things to consider:

Get a (personal) business plan

As much as creatives dislike overhead and paperwork, you won't survive without adequate discipline in this area. Your process will likely evolve to meet your needs, but having something planned out ahead of time will let you focus on your core business. This includes:

• how you will estimate/quote work
• how you will schedule your time
• how you will invoice and collect payment
• how you keep records of your work
• what equipment and software you will need
• what services you will need from others to support your work

Think of it before you get a job, so you are not scrambling to make it up as you go along.

Chris showed us his project tracking sheet.. it is a single page text document- a simple list of work to do, awaiting payment, and payment received. Don't make things more complicated than they need to be.

Work the Professional Support System

Make the connections you need to keep you focused and working. Three important roles are:

• Lawyer
  What will you do if someone steals your work? What if you experience a breach of contract? What if you'd like to file a DBA or LLC? Having a good lawyer who is familiar with the creative industry will help you immensely.
• Accountant
  Having a good accountant who is familiar with freelance creative work is equally helpful. Spend tax season working on billable work instead of pulling your hair out over tax codes.
• IT/equipment support.
  What would you do if your computer started smoking? Or you dropped your camera in the lake? Have a contingency plan, have a professional who can advise you.

Shameless Promotion

Be relentless in promoting yourself and getting the word out regarding your work. Some ways to do this are:

• get a rep. (can be expensive ~5K/year, but worth it for top-notch clients.)
• do work that gets you in the news (local events, charities, newsworthy activities)
• submit to award books like Communication Arts
• establish a web presence across multiple sites
• illoz.com
• coroflot.com
• AIGA.com
• workbook.com
• get your work featured in an instructional manual
• personalized email newsletters
• go after high visibility clients
• say no to spec work and crowdsourcing
• submit work for competitions and recognition
• don't restrict yourself to the local market- establish a national presence.

That's as much as I can remember. Let me know if I left something out. Thanks again to Chris for sharing his thoughts, and the RAF for hosting.