Photo by striatic.

I’ve written numerous times about remote working, including how remote working works for freelancers and how freelancers can overcome the daily challenges of working remotely. In this post, I’ll be talking about how I’ve launched a web design studio remotely.

Why do it?

Us freelancers love working for ourselves. We like the thrills of deadlines and chasing work. A common problem we face is that our services are not always scalable, as many of us are billing by the hour and we can only ‘get out’ what we put in. By establishing a business, I can take on a managerial position and spend more time making important decisions than sweating hours–but only if that’s what I want.

There’s a nice balance here, as I can still do as much work as I like but I never feel I have to. It’s still a freelance arrangement, as all clients are remote and the business is a collection of freelance and part-time staff, but is managed in such a way that it provides 24 x 7 service. That’s the first lesson: you can continue to enjoy everything you love about freelancing if you establish your business with a freelance business model.

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Photo by ktylerconk.

After nearly five months, I’m now convinced: remote working is the best working arrangement I’ve ever had.

Living in different cities, finding inspiration in a constantly changing environment and always meeting new people sure is sweet. It’s not without challenges though, and my Remote Working Works for Freelancers post lead to some interesting questions.

How do you find accommodation? How do you manage client demands? How do you find work? I’ve taken the time to answer these questions–plus a few others–to help other aspiring freelancers make remote working a success.

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As a creative professional, constant inspiration is vital to career success. Sure, home and agency studios can be stimulating, but regardless of how cool the fitout is, it’s still the same environment.

It gets boring.

You’ll need a change, and relocating to a park or co-working space for a fresh outlook is a great idea. Checking out art galleries and city architecture during a lunch break is even better.

Traveling and working from the road? It’s the best of all. After remote working for three months, here’s the story so far — from the coast of Costa Rica. Continue Reading

Image by ^Riza^.

I spent last week freelancing for a client of mine, but for a change, I didn’t work remotely. Nor did I work from the client’s office. Instead, I invited my client to spent the week working from my apartment near the beach in Sydney, Australia.

Despite the fact that my apartment is far from equipped as a home office, the week was a roaring success and concluded with a message from the client the following weekend saying how enjoyable the week was, and that it was “probably the most fun and best quality work” he’d been exposed to.

Like any professional relationship, relationships between freelancers and clients are built on trust. Even more trust exists between a freelancer and their friends. How much time do you spend working on those small, unpaid ‘favors’ for your friends? Probably more than you should. But they’re your friends, and you want to get it right. Imagine a friend who also paid you well — you treat every project like it’s your own and obsess over the smallest of details to make sure it’s perfect, then get paid what you deserve. It’s a best-case scenario for everyone. Continue Reading

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Creating an efficient project management process, such as Leo’s Guide to Simple Project Management, provides the framework for freelance designers to deliver on time and make a profit. However, the biggest challenge for a designer is efficiently managing client feedback and communication. Profit margins are quickly eroded when clients drip-feed design feedback intermittently or request monster changes towards the completion of a project.

Without a very trusting working relationship these issues are difficult to manage once they occur. The best solution? Avoid them in the first place.

Rewrite the Brief

When clients are involved from the beginning of the design process changes will be minimized later. Client involvement requires more than communicating acceptance of a brief and providing regular status updates. The client needs to provide input into the design. The challenge for a designer is to maintain the position of the design director without becoming a design monkey following instruction, and this challenge is best overcome by restating the brief on your own terms. Continue Reading