Develop the Habit: Add Future Value to Your Freelancing Business
SkellieBecoming a better freelancer is a little like learning to play the guitar. There may be certain songs you know and love to play, but if they don’t present a challenge or teach you something new, you won’t progress as a guitarist. Venturing out of your comfort zone is the only way to improve.
And so it is with freelancing. Your skills progress to a certain point that you can complete certain types of jobs quickly and easily — possibly even building on work you’ve already done before. The pressure of having to complete jobs that pay dollars and cents can make it easy to forget the importance of adding future value to your freelancing business — the importance of building new skills and venturing out of your comfort zone.
Learning a new skill or refining an existing one might not always be something you can do while working for a client. An excuse I hear a lot is: “I don’t have the time to learn how to do X” — usually because the freelancer making the excuse is filling their work-day entirely with tasks that yield short-term rewards. These tasks are vitally important for the success of your business, but a secondary focus on long-term gains should also be a priority.
Here’s a suggestion: try setting aside one hour each work day to focus on a task that adds future value to your freelancing business, for the following reasons;
1. Adding new skills will allow you to choose from a wider pool of jobs.
2. Taking the time to master existing skills will allow you to take on more complicated (and thus usually higher paying) work.
3. Adding new skills will help keep your work fresh and interesting.
One hour per working day is an arbitrary number — it could be more or less, depending on your schedule and the kind of task you’ve decided to do. Just make sure to be consistent: set aside a period beginning at the same time each day. If you don’t, it will be too easy to put off ‘future value time’ in favor of short-term benefits.
If you use the time effectively, it will pay for itself many times over.
Finding real value
New skills won’t help your freelance business much if there’s no demand for them. In the time you set aside, it’s essential that you focus on skills that will allow you to a) charge more for the kind of work you’re already doing, or b) tap into new kinds of work. If you’re learning a skill with no practical application during work time, you’re leeching value rather than adding it.
Here are some starter suggestions for how different kinds of freelancers can use ‘future value time’:
Web designers
1. Take the time to master that difficult code element you rarely use.
2. Read a design trade mag (even if it’s not about web design). These will give you an idea of the current cutting-edge effects, fonts and color combinations.
3. Practice new software effects and read advanced tutorials for your image editor of choice.
4. Learn a new code language you can use to make your websites better.
5. Learn Flash or Silverlight. If you already know it, master it.
Writers
1. Read books on your field of writing.
2. Read and study great examples of work in your field.
3. Practice a different style of writing than the one you most commonly use.
4. Take a course in Professional Writing, Journalism or Fiction writing.
Photographers
1. Take the time to learn more about your equipment and it’s full capabilities.
2. Experiment with new effects and lighting techniques.
3. Learn to master your image editing software of choice.
4. Take an advanced photography course.
Illustrators
1. Experiment with a new visual medium.
2. Take a life-drawing course.
3. Experiment with a new illustration style.
4. Create a graphic novel, comic or children’s book.
When to stop
Until you’ve mastered all aspects of your freelancing business, there’s always more to learn. In the mean time, you’ll have added new skills to your repertoire and fine-tuned existing abilities. Doing so will allow you to charge higher rates and take on a greater breadth of work. Even better, it will ensure that you’re never bored with what you do. When it comes to quality of work and life, that’s invaluable.
Digital Revolutions
February 8th, 2008
Another great article adding to an already almost oppressively amazing collection at FS. Wonderful tips, I like how you gave separate tips for each profession, it really ads a nice feel to the article. Great pic as always
Tag1
February 8th, 2008
Totally agree with the article… My business - after 4 years - has totally morphed from what I thought it would be. It has been within the last year that I have developed into a web model that has given me true freedom to design, as a one man web and print shop, as opposed to constantly code. That came from 3 parts pushing to explore new things and 1 part luck - a client that asked if I’d be willing to build their site as a CMS.
Regarding print - bigger jobs go to the printer. Small ones are done 100% online - saves valuable time and money. Course - I had to teach myself print as I came up through TV and web.
Push - push - push yourself and take calculated risks. And have patience.
Mandy
February 8th, 2008
Thanks for the post, Skellie. I must say, it holds a little comfort for me: I’ve just pushed myself on a job, feeling way out of my comfort zone. The worst is over now, and I’m looking at what I’ve done with a little pride, and I do see that I’m building my tool kit. It’s nice to hear from someone else that stretching myself is ultimately good: you don’t really have colleagues to pat you on the back as a freelancer, so cheers
John
February 8th, 2008
“‘I don’t have the time to learn how to do X’ — usually because the freelancer making the excuse is filling their work-day entirely with tasks that yield short-term rewards.”
I see how that can hold many freelancers back. But getting paid for a project, or even just a small piece of a project, that requires learning a new skill is the best. In web design / development especially, if you stop learning, you’re toast.
Chad | ProFreelancing
February 8th, 2008
Great article. If you’re not moving forward then you’re moving backwards…because other people will quickly pass you by.
Nazreen Essack Photography
February 8th, 2008
Great article! I agree that you should never stop learning.
A few photographers and myself get together for informal outings and Q&A sessions. It’s worked a charm, as we’ve all had something different to bring to the session. The other advantage aside from adding value to our knowledge, has been being able to pass work between each other.
Andy
February 8th, 2008
All good suggestions, but all of the suggestions were to add technical skills.
If you REALLY want to bring value to your freelance business, put lots of effort into learning the “soft” skills:
Learn more about your ideal client so you can market to them
Learn how to craft your message so that it appeals to clients
Learn how to manage the cash flow of your business
Learn how to invest in your business in a way that creates a strategic advantage over your competition.
The freelancers I know who are making the most money are the ones who have the best business and marketing skills. They aren’t necessarily the most technically proficient. Being technically excellent is a good place to be, but the greatest value creator for your business will come from learning the soft skills.
Tsatkin
February 8th, 2008
I would like to add one more tip to learning new skills and pushing yourself. If a client asks you can you do XYZ say yes if you can’t. This will offer a great opportunity to push yourself and learn a new skill set. The best part is that you can charge some of your training directly to the client. The other advantage is when you back yourself into a corner like that you do not have a choice but to learn the skill to get the job done.
Lexi
February 9th, 2008
what a great idea! being a wahm, i have limited time to work as it is, but making time to continue learning is definitely worth it. thanks for the reminder!
oh and i agree with andy that we should also develop our “soft” skills. in my case, that would be the business side of things because i’ve worked only in non-profits for the past 19 years.
Skellie
February 9th, 2008
Thanks for the feedback everyone — glad you found the article helpful.
@ Andy: Great suggestions, and you make a very good point. Cheers!
Tuan Nguyen
February 9th, 2008
I am on it, always.
jeff zbar
February 9th, 2008
Skellie, I gotta tell ya, the best way to add value is to bring stuff the others don’t - or don’t want to - or would rather stay hidden behind the curtain. No duh, you say? Well, it’s stratospheric to most of the competition - and because of that, they leave a gaping hole in the realm of ‘available services rendered’ to prospective clients. What do I mean? I went looking for a webmaster recently. The guy I went with spent significant time helping me map my path - before I engaged him (he continues to today). There’s real value. On my end, a recent prospect needed corporate copywriting, as well as some PR-style writing, but they had a PR firm. They were lamenting the vermin who had signed them to a six-month PR contract, but two months in had yet to deliver squat. So as a journalist / corporate writer versed in PR best practices, I spent an hour helping them navigate their relationship. I wasn’t angling for the gig; I don’t do ‘PR’ per se. I write, but don’t pitch. Nonetheless, they were enthused, realized they had to extricate themselves somehow from the relationship, and find another vendor (a process which I offered to help with also). Not surprisingly, the offered me a retainer gig to help get themselves off the ground, with some extra added in for the ‘value add’ I bring related to the newsworthiness of their business, the scouting I can help them do with future potential vendors, and just general insights. Net-net: Don’t underestimate the value of what you know - and what other people need to know. Just tapping 20 years of knowledge - stuff that’s not necessarily billable or something I can put on a page for them, but can bring up in a conversation to help guide them on their way - brings real value. I guess that makes me a consultant, and they - and any client, probably - are willing to pay for that…
Terry
February 10th, 2008
Having been an in-house designer for the past several years, I’ve always been a big believer in continued self-learning. Due to their closed-off nature, in-house environments are where you can really stagnate, if you’re not proactive about keeping your skills current, staying up on the trends, etc.
Especially in this technology-driven industry, if you take a job doing the same thing, day-in-day-out for just a couple of years, you’re suddenly way behind the curve! That’s why it’s important for in-housers to maintain connections to the ‘outside world’ AND to stay curious about what’s going on outside the safe confines of their cubicles…
Sean
February 12th, 2008
I’ve been freelancing for a short while, and I learn something new about the trade every week. It’s enjoyable, and with the constantly updating world of technology, its essential. I’d feel safe to say that almost every week, I could create a web-site better than I could last week.
Ashley Burr
February 13th, 2008
There are so many opportunities to freelance that actually allow you to do research on how to be a better freelancer; I am doing it right now-think about that one. But I agree with everything you said. There is such wealth of opportunity, don’t force yourself to be particular because you are unwilling to expand your skill set.