Freelance WordPress Rockstar
Adriaan Pienaar knows how to get the job done. He’s a blogger, freelance web designer, strategist and a self-described WordPress rock star. He took on all those titles in the past nine months (along with the title of fiancé) and he does it all while working on his honours degree in Strategic Business Management at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
He’s also quite a fan of passive income, taking in multiple income streams from ads on his blog and selling pre-made web templates and WordPress themes.
In this interview, we discuss time management, business diversification and the importance of having a blog.
Robert Janelle: I understand you started freelancing at the beginning of this year. What brought you to take on the freelance life?
Adriaan Pienaar: Yes that is right. I started blogging at the beginning of February and did my first freelance job towards the end of that month.
I actually stumbled into freelancing since I’d never considered myself a graphic or web designer due to my complete lack of formal training! But at the beginning of the year I needed cash to fund my honours studies and I set my sights on freelance web designing, since I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with website-related things. So the main reason that I freelance is to pay the bills and build up some kind of savings, which I can use when needed in future (e.g. like when I need to buy a car next year).
RJ: What have you learned over a year of freelancing?
AP: This might be a peculiar answer, but I learned more about myself than I did about freelancing or web designing. Working as a freelancer for 9 months now has showed me that I can indeed put in 20 hour days for a two-week stretch if need be – I’ve been totally amazed at the way that it has continuously shifted my previous personal limits to accommodate the growth I’ve experienced.
I’ve also learned what true self-discipline and time management is – when my friends go out for a few beers, I have to work (which means I only join them after their third round…). I also believe that freelancing is very similar to owning your own company – in the end, it’s your reputation on the line and only you will be held accountable for the positives / negatives emanating from your business. Freelancing is tough and it’s a massive learning curve, but at the same time, internet technologies make it so easy to get into it and it’s a great experience.
RJ: I also understand you’re doing this while in school, how do you manage your time?
AP: Yes, I’m still a full-time student, doing my honors in Strategic Business Management at Stellenbosch University – I’ll be graduating a bit later this year.
Freelancing is great in the sense that you can be flexible and it enables the individual to decide when there’s time to work. My studies were my first priority during the year, but I always made sure that I had enough time to devote to custom client work and blogging. Every night before I go to bed, I make a small, scribbled “To Do” list for the following day, which includes study-related tasks and freelance work, which means that I spend on average 50% of my time on each (in exam times, I’d spend 80% of my time studying, but then I’d make up the freelance work in the university holidays for example).
I’ve found that it all comes down to planning properly and then staying committed to the task at hand. And I believe that the more one sticks to one’s planning, the easier it is to accomplish all of one’s tasks!
RJ: On top of web design and consulting, you’re also a blogger. How important do you think blogs are as a promotional tool?
AP: My blog is my main source of generating new client leads, so effectively my whole freelance business has been built on top of my blog. Even when considering the amount of great bloggers out there in my niche, I’ve found that one can easily build a loyal following of readers and establish oneself as an expert in one’s field through blogging (that’s if you produce quality content). I’ve worked hard to establish myself as a top WordPress designer and now 99% of my commissioned work is done for WordPress.
So overall, my blog is super-important to me and integral to my freelancing business. I always make sure that I’ve got 30 minutes a day to blog – even if I’m totally swamped with freelance work, because it is such an important part of my business!
RJ: Between selling templates, WordPress themes and ads on your blog, you’ve got quite the passive income model going, how has that been working out for you?
AP: I’ve been trying to combine a variety of revenue models, to make sure that I’m earning at full capacity. Even though custom, commissioned work still makes up about 70 per cent of my monthly earnings, the passive income streams are growing by the day and in the end they allow me to splash on the “luxury” items that I would not splash on otherwise.
Diversification is a well-known concept in business and I’ve definitely been able to apply it to the benefit of my own freelance business. I don’t think I’ve found the optimal combination yet, but I’m getting there!
RJ: What advice would you give to other freelancers?
AP: Work hard, be loyal to your clients and stay true to yourself. If you deliver service of superior quality, you will build a reputation for yourself and you will be in-demand – the biggest challenge with freelancing success comes from being able to juggle various projects and still making time for your personal and social life. Also, I can’t over-emphasize the importance of having a proper blog, which you update regularly. See your blog as your prospective clients’ point of reference, when they need to decide whether to use you or not!
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Cool interview. I don’t know if you’d like to add this in, but I wrote a free review of Adii’s Premium News Theme today, if you’re interested.
Keep up the good work, Adii.
Interesting interview, i started freelancing during my first year of studying Interactive Multimedia Design at university so i know it can be tough to juggle studies and developing a business along with client work. Although it taught me the importance of staying organized and priortising which has stood me in good stead.
This also re-inforces the need for a blog with quality content, something i am in the middle of designing and building!
Great article on Adii. I can relate – I am Freelancing all the while with a full-time job, a 14 month old daughter, 2 dogs and my lovely recently-pregnant wife. It can definitely be hard to juggle them all at once – but those who are determined will find a way!
nice article. was wowed at the number of things he is juggling. talked about maximising passive income.:)
I’m in the same boat. I’ll be getting my bachelors this spring and I just go married! Luckily, my wife has made a deal with me: I study now while freelancing and she’ll study once I’m done. Hopefully when I graduate, I’ll have a piece of software finished and ready for marketing.
Nice templates. This really shows how important finding a niche and specializing in it is!
Thanks Cyan, Robert and the rest of the FSw team!
This is an amazing opportunity and one I’m honoured to be part off – this interview is to some extent a reward for all of my hard work during the last couple of months!
@ Armen – that review is insanely cool! Thanks so much!
@ Grace – yeah, this year has definitely been tough at times, but luckily I finish my finals tomorrow and then I’m free to chill and just work hard on the fun stuff. And you should definitely get your blog online soon – pop me an e-mail when you do!
@ Henry – yeah, it’s all about “the” passive income!
How many authors has had bestselling books on this topic!?
@ Am – that’s a pretty nice deal and you should be really thankful to your wife for allowing you that freedom! I know that the finances gets tough when one gets engaged / moves in together / gets married, so she is really doing you a huge favour! She must be one special lady!!!
Wow guys, very nice interview
Who does this Adii think he is popping up everywhere…?! I like this guy, being a fellow South African I am quite proud to see someone carry the flag high. Keep it going Adii and you too Freelance Switch.
Thanks for a great site!
Andre
interview that gives wings
Adii has been surprising me since the day I encountered him online. He’s an exceptional character
Excellent interview.
@Adii – I now know the saying “You are your worst client” – only too well! I started designing a blog now i am re-designing my entire site! Will definitely give you a shout when its ready!
Wow this guy makes me feel lazy! I’ve been doing this for the same amount of time and haven’t had nearly the success he has! Thumbs up.
I wish my students read your article. They complaint that we give them too much work to do!!!
Back in my home country (Argentina), I had a full time job as programmer and was studying at Uni at the same time. Now I teach full time and freelance (I started recently). Like you say, it is all about self discipline and planning.
PS: I want another Springboks vs. Pumas!
Great interview. He has been creating a lot of buzz in the blogging world. I have seen him and his blog designs mentioned on that many websites and I think that is because his designs are the best -well they are from what I have seen.
Good article and I have been kinder following the rise of his success in his and others blogs (no names mentioned –
)
I like probably the best his venture in editing the WordPress admin section
I am really impressed with that
@ Chris Cragle – your situation’s almost exactly the same as mine except my boy’s only 6 months old (with another on the way).
@John – Holy smokes. I don’t know how my wife and I are going to handle two under 2, best of luck to you. We are the ones that do all our work from 8-11pm every night.
Its tough, but someone has to do it…
Intresting article! Once again we hear how important it is to have a proper blog!
Foxinni is the man with the mad skills. Go go ADii!!!!
Adii is a great talent and very hard worked, great interview… He deserves it
Inspiring thank you
Nice article. I always wondered if it would be acceptable to use WordPress professionally, and sell it in your work. I love and use WordPress because I’m a noob at PHP. Do you think that I should “sell” WP to my clients (it seems to become more and more popular to do that, not in France though, where I live) ?
very inspiring.
Thankyou
Very good read! I am also dumbfounded by the fact that all of your work for cleints is done in wordpresss, am I correct?
As bbx metioned I would never imagine usig WordPress professionally. There must be a niche for it! I’m pretty good at WordPress and splicing up designs in a few nights, its easy doing WordPress themes and I would imagine designing for a client would invovle a lot more. This has inspired me to work hard now!
Great article, very useful !
The only thing I figured out, is that you will have a headache after reading this unreal stuff. Nothing interesting!
Adi, you are great. Thanks for the tips!
Very interesting article. Ive been into SEO and freelancing for about six months now and am addicted. Looks like you’re def onto something here my friend. If you have any advice on my page feel free to shoot me an email! Im all ears!
http://www.rockstarautoglass.com
Cheers!
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what a great article and very interesting, thank you for sharing your story
Thanks for the nice blog it really help to find out useful tips….
Nice Article..