5 Tips for College Freelancers
I’ve attended quite a few high school graduation parties over the past couple of weeks. During all those parties, I’ve gotten pulled aside several times by soon-to-be college freshmen who want to know if they can freelance while attending college. Considering I did exactly that, I think freelancing while in college can be a good way to bring in some money, as long as you are prepared to handle both your commitments to your studies and your commitments to your clients. There are a few steps you can take to make the whole situation easier, as well.
1. Spend the summer laying groundwork
It’s rare that a freelancer starts out with even a few regular clients, let alone all the work you might want. The situation is made even more complex by the fact that most recent graduates don’t have a big portfolio of work to show off to potential clients. But summer is just starting, which means that you’ve got about three months to build up a portfolio. If you’re lucky, you may have nothing on your agenda during that time beyond hanging out with friends and relaxing. So take advantage of that time:
- Get a website built up
- Put together some great portfolio pieces — even if you have to volunteer to get them
- Learn about the business side of freelancing, like bookkeeping
- Work on marketing yourself to clients
- Line up gigs you can work on during the school year
2. Make your schedule a priority
No matter how you keep track of time spent on client projects, you need one calendar with both the important dates for your classes and your clients listed. When I was in college, I would sit down with the syllabus for each class and add it to the calendar where I kept track of client due dates. Having all that information in one place made it much easier to avoid scheduling a client’s project on top of the study time for a big exam. I also blacked out certain parts of the semester right off the bat — I never scheduled any thing for finals week, for instance. It’s also worth getting social events down on the same calendar.
3. Get your own equipment
More than a few college campuses talk up the technology they make available on-campus, like labs full of brand new Macs loaded with the latest version of Adobe Creative Suite. While that may sound like just the ticket for turning out great work for your clients, it’s important that you keep anything not school related off those computers. Most schools actually have policies in place stating that they get a cut of any paying work done on their system (or projects developed on their computers) and who wants to give up any of their income?
4. Focus on re-occurring gigs, if you can
If you’re going to school full-time, you’ve already made a huge time commitment. Freelancing is like taking on side projects while working full-time. That means that you’ll want to minimize the time you spend on anything besides actually working as much as possible. Considering that many freelancers spend a significant amount of time on locating new projects, focusing on finding a gig that will keep you working for months at a time — like writing for a blog or laying out a monthly newsletter — will make your life a lot easier.
5. Try to keep your student status out of it
When companies know that they’re dealing with freelancers who happen to be in college, they often expect lower prices, no matter the quality of that freelancer’s portfolio. Even worse, some companies will hesitate to hire a student because of concerns that he or she just isn’t qualified for the job. It’s generally not worth your while to mention that you’re a student — and try to avoid putting that fact on your website or any other promotional materials you hand out.
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Good post and good timing because this is me right now. I’m a soon to be sophomore in college and i’ve been working on branding materials for a freelance business. Business cards are almost done then i’ll be working on getting the business side figured out and putting up a website.
Thanks for the tips!
Great tips.
I am a student freelancer with more work than I can handle (school and freelance work, that is). I actually don’t hide the fact that I am a student. I am kind of proud of it. I am in a BFA program and my clients know it.
Sometimes a design project for a class will actually work for a client. I give this as an opportunity to do some really high end work for the client without charging for the time. They end up paying for all the materials (which otherwise might cost a couple hundred bucks).
As a student freelancer who is almost not a student anymore, I think it’s important to play to your strengths.
@Evan MacDonald
I agree with you, i don’t hide my status either. In addition i think it’s good that they know i’m a student, because then i can say that i have some homework or exam prep to do, and they will understand it, because the already knew that, at the time they hired me.
Wow, I actually just published a blog article about this subject yesterday (How Not To Waste Your Time in College).
I agree that it’s vital to spend the time planning, building up your supplies and building up your client list as much as possible…it’s what allowed me to make the jump from Missouri to Los Angeles and now from Los Angeles to the world.
You focused on getting your own equipment, which is great and something that I would highly recommend, as well. When someone would walk into my room in college, they would always be blown away by how ‘office-like’ it was; full of computers and big sketchpads. This was because I kept the equipment that I needed on hand, which allowed me to actually make money from what profession while still in school…which is not something that the ill-equipped will be able to easily do.
Great post. Now I’m even more sure that I’m on the right track!
Great post. I just linked to it over at my site: http://julietrieswriting.blogspot.com/2009/06/link-love-5-tips-for-college.html
As a freelancer who got her start while in college, I agree that making the most of your college years is key for building up your portfolio and gaining contacts.
For companies boot strapping themselfs into their first business, hiring a new designer who is looking to build their portfolio helps both parties. It allows the new freelancer to build out his portfolio with an actually logo, website, or trademarked design while the small business owner is not paying through the nose for a “professional” designer. This is what I am doing with one of my friends who is in design school right now. Letting her help me with a logo. While she will not take any money at the very least I will buy her a nice dinner. We both benefit!
Biggest agreement here is with buying your own equipment! This is very important to do because you can use the money while you still have some sort of meal plan and cheap living to purchase equipment to already have once you graduate and can immediately begin to make money off of them. Don’t skimp on good equipment.
Save save save save!
It is amazing how every post you put on your blog is so useful.
Big THANK you
Tante auguri
Pablo from Chile
Good Poste and Enjoy !
I mostly live off campus and besides, those ‘lab hours’ never work, it closes to early, its always full or its just not up to par. About the only thing I see using is large printers/ printing press.
thanks for the article, represent!
This post is surely going to help new and college freelancers to work. “Spend the summer laying groundwork” this is must for not only college freelancers but also new ones into freelancing.
I started my freelance career 5 years back when I was a student and it is paying off now. I believe it is the ideal time to start up a career cuz you are more spirited, ready to take on free assignments and projects, robust to explore and learn…Later on, down the road it all pays off really neat. You accumulate experience along with a market acumen.
One thing, that I lament is, going for my own website so late
..Wonder where would my teeny weeny blog site has been, had it been up since last 5 years 
Amy Dyslex
Great article. Im just at the start of my summer and am working on my site at the moment!
I agree fully. I started doing jobs for family members, their businesses and friends. I made a little extra cash, but mainly I was building skills and a portfolio. I had already explored the business side, efficiently kept track of time spent and sent simple, but professional invoices. I had my own equipment, but occasionally used the labs and especially the printers for mock ups.
This gave me enough side work/cash right after college to be able to job search and not have to go back to retail. It paid off. I had a job by July (2 1/2 months), when some friends still didn’t have jobs after 6 months (or at least in their field). I admit, I don’t think being a FT freelancer is for me right now. It would be nice to set my own hours, especially in the winter so I could snowboard more, but a big part of it is paying the bills right now. Maybe down the road I’ll hold a PT job and do freelance. I like having the steady paycheck and to be honest, I love working with others, and I feel I’m learning at a faster pace. I think it’s extremely important to have that real-world, interaction & experience. I’m in a marketing department and I do a lot of email design, so I’m learning more than I ever thought possible in such a short amount of time. The actual marketing and business side was totally new and interesting for me and I work in conjunction with IT as well. I’ve only been out of school 2 years, but when the time comes to make my move I think I’ll be well prepared because of how early I started.
I have a lot of goals in life. Making lists, prioritizing and focusing energy on an end result is key for anything. And the earlier you start, the better off you will be. Habits are not always bad.
A good read, thanks!
Oh, can schools really take some of your profits!?! Like we don’t pay them enough already.
Good post, I remember trying to get some freelance gigs in college and it was definitely not easy. Not only the lack of experience but always just finding a way to get your foot in the door and just waiting around for that opportunity.
The one thing I learned was to just keep pushing yourself no matter what, I spent countless hours just reading up on design related magazines and books to improve my skills and also I entered as many contest or free submissions that I could just to get my name out there a little bit and also see how well I placed among others. Even if you feel like you are not getting any freelance gigs in college just don’t get discouraged and keep pushing forward, it’s bound to pay off sooner or later.
Perfect read for me….
I am working as a freelancer from about 2 years while attending my college. It is hard to maintain the schedule of both college and freelancing but doing things on time is the perfect way of solving jumbled problems.
All the week my preference is for study but in the weekends I try to be a full time freelancer.
Great tips for the college freelancer, would have helped when I was in my BFA program. Like you said, dont overwork yourself make sure you have enough time for both school and work. Another tip is make use of your downtime. When I was in school I use to commute on the train 1hour30min there and the same back. I would take this time to work on mock-ups and proposals for clients, and if you dont have clients think of it as time to develop things for future clients. One Last piece of advice is take advantage of social networking, rather than just posting funny pictures or commenting on the latest youtube disaster, use it as time to professionally network, and you will start to build your web presence so that when a potential client searches you, they find the right information. I have written both posts on managing your down time, and social networking on my own website, take a peek if your interested
Freelancing is the only way to get through college. I did it all 4 years. It gets tough but you set your own schedule which is priceless.
When college students or recent grads approach me for sites or blogs, I always offer them a lower rate just because I remember being in their shoes. Great post!
Chris
Http://www.guerrillared.com
Temple University 07
Great article, though I don’t hide the fact that I’m a college student.
Nice article, it will sure help some college folk out there.
Also on point 3, Adobe and many other companies license’s have a clause stating that their Academic software cannot be used for commercial (i.e. freelance) work.
Another benefit to having your own equipment is you can choose what you want, and customize it as such as opposed to being forced to use what the college is..
Thanks,
Dan
Good Article I am kind of following few of the points. but I am bit juggled with my schedule.
I started freelancing when I was in college as well. I found that my internships helped me build contacts for freelancing, doing jobs for friends of friends. Because these clients trusted their friends to know that I was good at what I did, it didn’t matter that I didn’t have too much non-schoolwork projects in my portfolio. Even now I still get referrals from people I’d worked with during school.
And definitely take advantage of your student discount to buy all your design equipment! Most colleges have a computer store, but be weary– I bought my scanner and printer for less on Amazon than with the discount at my college’s store.
This is a awesome post, I will be going to college soon as a early graduate from high school, who is looking to make graphics and web design a big part of his life. This post shows the steps that need to be taken to achieve my goals of freelance web design. I would like to thank my mom and elvis for getting me this far. But I would also like to thank the writers of freelance switch, for the useful information they provide for my future.
I wouldnt hide that i was a college student, I would want the client to know that age dosent matter in this type of work, It is skill, maturity level and artistic ability that is important in this field of work.
I’ve found that in a few cases mentioning you were a college student actually helps. Clients that might be a little intimidated going to a large firm will sometimes be more comfortable with you because they feel like they don’t have to “impress” you. You can sometimes be more real with them. Sometimes they think you’re hipper as well, just because you’re young and in the know. If you’re confident in yourself and do good work you can still get paid a fair amount for your services despite the fact that you’re a student.
Hi, I was wondering about the legality of doing consulting/freelance work while going to graduate school full time on a fellowship that pays full tuition and a stipend.
I was told I cannot hold another job, but what about flexible freelance work or working as a consultant?
I have a lot of experience in a certain field and two potential offers.
In response to some of the comments on this post I’ve just written “Student Status – 12 Reasons Freelancers Should be Proud” at http://bryanconnor.com/2009/07/student-status-12-reasons-freelancers-should-be-proud/
Great article. I’ve just graduated but I wish I had read this earlier. I could have built up a huge portfolio just by doing a bit of freelancing while in college
This is a good article for those who are just getting into freelancing. The key is attracting clients who continuously provide recurring work so you don’t have cost of acquiring new clients… and they increasingly become dependent and see greater value, therefore giving you the ability to raise rates!