Common Craft is fast becoming one of my favorite blog subscriptions. Their blog is full of entertaining how-to-do-its and just good, common sense advice on a variety of topics. Today’s blog was called Classic Lesson Being Small and Happy. I was surprised to see they used a fishing story to bring their point home.

My last blog post used a fishing story as an example of measuring success, that you don’t need a big system to be successful at freelance. Of course it’s normal to want your freelance business to grow, but how big do you have to be before you feel successful? The Common Craft blog post gives us all a reminder to keep our idea of success in line with our happiness.

I believe that one of the most important roads to success in freelance is defining your business model and staying true to it. “Plan your work and work your plan”. Don’t be manipulated into going into deeper waters until you’re ready and sure you can navigate through the currents and waves. And be sure you don’t go so deep that you can’t get back to solid ground when you need to.

Anyway, the story at Common Craft does a far better job of making the point than I can. Click the link above and enjoy.

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A thread on The Blog Experiment and member Vertexity’s avatar got me thinking… what is success?

If you look at the stick figures, at first glance it appears that Lefty was more successful than the fellow on the right. But, what if I told you that Lefty caught his fish after a long day of fishing in a new boat using a depth finder and a full tacklebox and the other fellow caught his fish in ten minutes with just some strong line, a hook, and a worm?

Lefty certainly caught the bigger fish, but the other guy knew his business and captured quick results.

What does this have to do with freelance?

Line, bait,hook?—sound fishy?  

What’s Your Line?

Fishing line is strong and transparent. In freelance, your line is your business model.

Keep your line strong.

Focus your services on the areas of your expertise. Don’t over extend your business into those areas where you won’t shine. Gather a good list of trustworthy service providers in other areas and use it as a resource for outsourcing or referrals.

Be transparent.

Write a proposal that puts you and your client on the same page. Tell your prospective clients exactly what you’ll do, how long it will take, and how much it will cost.

In my proposals, I have a section that I call “determination of responsibility”. I use it to tell clients what I’ll do and what I need from them (e.g. content information, logos, photos, etc.) to complete the project. The section could also be used to let the client know about peripheral services that you don’t provide. For instance, if you don’t offer hosting but have agreed to find a web host for them, you might use that section to detail what you’ll do and what they’ll need to do to get the service started.

The bait

A worm on a hook wriggles as if to say, “look at me”. It’s an active invitation for the fish to bite. In business, the bait might be called “promotion”. It’s what draws attention to your business and gets you noticed. Flyers, your website or blog, business cards, press releases, advertisements are all bait.

However, the best and least expensive way to promote your freelance business is to show your niche market your expertise through activity in the niche, whether it’s joining an on-line forum or an off-line group. The keyword here, is “active”. Become an active, indispensable member of whatever groups you join and you’ll get noticed for what you can do.

The hook

Fish hooks are those shiny bits that attract and snag fish. The hook is the one thing that makes your freelance business shine and often the decisive element that persuades a prospect to become your client. It’s what puts you ahead of your competition. Some call it “your unique selling proposition”. Some new freelancers think that price is their only hook, but your resourcefulness, dedication, experience, and expertise are all attractive aspects of business, and in my opinion, better long-term hooks than price.

You don’t need a big system to get results. Although you might be “the other guy”, if you know your business, you can fish with the best of the pros. However, don’t be afraid to start small. Capitalize on what you do well. Find your niche and put your line in the water. Small fish often school together. If you use the right hook, line, and bait you have all you need to catch your limit.

Editiorial note: Thanks to a comment from Dave McNally (Vertexity), I reversed the sections “The Bait” and “The Hook”. I hope my meaning is clearer now!

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One question that plagues many new freelancers is, “How much should I charge?”

Some freelance copywriters price by the word, but I’ve found that when doing so, your coverage of your clients’ topics can be limited by word count. Additionally, when you’re paid by the word, who pays for the research you do on each topic?

The best way I have found to calculate my prices is using an hourly model. An hourly model gives you the freedom you need to research and write the most compelling copy you can deliver. You also eliminate price haggling when you deliver 510 or 550 words of content instead of the ordered 500.

While the obvious answer is to charge what your market will bear, when you’re new to freelancing, it’s hard to know what that number is. Two resources I’ve found helpful in determining my prices are the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) and Neil Tortorella’s simple spreadsheet rate calculator (just $2.50 USD).

Use the OES link to learn what others in your field earn. The OES search options include national, state and metropolitan estimates as well as industry-specific wage estimates. Use the mean figure for your area of expertise as a starting point in determining your prices. In my opinion, the median is a good place to begin since it puts you in the middle of your market instead of either the bottom or the top.

Then download Tortorella’s rate calculator to determine whether that hourly wage is one you can bear! This nifty spreadsheet has all the bases covered. Start by multiplying your proposed hourly rate by the number of hours you intend to work each week. Then, all you need do is fill in the blanks with your estimated expenses, days off (sick days and holidays), and the profit percentage you’d like to see at the end of the year. The spreadsheet does the rest and shows you how many billable hours you’ll need to chalk up each week to meet your business goals. You’ll not only know how many hours you’ll need to work to earn your desired wage, but you’ll also have written a draft of a budget for your business.

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One of the questions new freelancers often ask is, “Who owns the copyright when the work is done?”

Keeping in mind that I am not a lawyer, here is my view on copyright ownership and transfers.

With a few exceptions, any intellectual property that can be put into a tangible form is copyrighted from the time of its completion, with or without notice, by its author or creator.

A common copyright misunderstanding is that when you contract to write or design for a client, it’s a work-for-hire and your client automatically owns the copyright. In most case, that simply isn’t true. According to the US Copyright Office ‘work for hire’ applies to independent contractors (such as freelancers) only “if the parties expressly agree in a written instrument signed by them that the work shall be considered a work made for hire.”

Yet, when clients commission and pay for work, they expect to own the rights to the work when it’s completed. Commonly the freelancer transfers his copyright to his client. The transfer of all rights to a work is “exclusive copyright”, but keep this in mind: Copyright isn’t just one thing. It’s a set of intellectual property rights that can be transferred in whole by tendering exclusive copyright or transferred in part with specific licenses and permissions.

Some issues you should consider and address before you transfer your copyright include:

• Will the rights be transferred for both electronic and print publication?
• Will I retain the right to show the work in my portfolio?
• Will my client receive the right to resell the work?
• Will my client receive the right to alter the work?

The transfer should also contain warrants of originality and a disclaimer that protects both parties in the transaction.

For instance here is an example similar to the warrants I use in transferring copyright.

(Your Client) warrants that all material furnished to (Your Name) for the completion of (the described work) is the sole intellectual property of (Your Client) and does not infringe on any copyright, violate any property rights or contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter.

(Your Name) warrants that the completed Work is original and that to the best of (his/her) knowledge, the Work does not infringe on any copyright, violate any property rights, or contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter. As such, (Your Name) additionally warrants that (she/he) has complete authority to transfer any and all intellectual property rights associated with this Work to (Your Client).

Again, please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and the validity of the paragraphs above has not been tested in a court of law (thankfully!) However, a contract written on a napkin may be considered valid by a court, as long as you and your client both agree to the terms. The hard part of do-it-yourself contracts of any kind is making sure your agreement has all the bases covered and that both parties have a mutual understanding of the terms.

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Start right and you won’t need to worry about competition… they’ll be worrying about you!

1. Find something you do well that you enjoy doing.
2. Research ways to make money from that ’something’.
3. Plan your work and work your plan

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

That’s a sentence that bears repeating. The best advice I ever received, this advice is never more relevant than for those who freelance and/or work from home.

You may need to schedule free time, but you’ll find that it gives you something to work towards and additionally helps you to be sure to not fritter away your free hours… instead you’ll find that you are doing the things that add true enjoyment to your life. In fact, I think you could substitute the first occurrence of “work” with “life”.

Yet, the definitive word here is ‘work’. Working online is no different than working offline. There are no magic get rich quick schemes here, whether full-time or part-time, just as there is no magic to making money in the brick and mortar world.

What is your experience in sales or establishing a business?

E-Commerce is very competitive. Instead of a few home-town players, you will join a global community of retailers and marketing professionals. If that is your intent, then research your options well and be prepared to spend a substantial sum of money before you make any.

Define Your Target Market

If you do a search for just about any job, you’re going to find millions of results. How can you compete with them all? You can’t and the good news is that you don’t have to!

Your competitor is anyone who bids on the same project as you. Narrow down your competition by narrowing down your target market. Are you bidding to Fortune 500 companies or just Mom & Pop Shops?

Determine who your competition is by defining your target market and zeroing in on your market niche.

A big element of any successful business is its “unique selling proposition”.

• What can you offer your potential clients that other businesses can’t?
• What can you do better than other providers they may contact?

Define your market niche.

• Wholesalers only? Retailers? Service businesses or product businesses? Those who need e-commerce sites or those who just need some static web content and a contact page?
• Define the geographical area your business will serve. What distance from your office are you willing to travel to a meeting?
• Define the range of services you provide. Put together a strategic business plan so that you know where your business is going and what steps you need to take to get there.

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