We use the word ‘Freelancer’, but I’m a Surfer, Angler, and Gambler.

I have been working as a full-time freelance creative professional since the late 90s. Meaning, I run my own business and invoice everybody that hires me. I’ve worked long stretches and short stretches - on monthly retainers, by the day, hour, and by the project for a multitude of corporations, start-ups and agencies over the years. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time in boardroom meetings where I’m either being interviewed (I look at it more like speed dating because wanting to work together goes both ways), negotiating, or presenting.

One thing that remains constant when you work this way is the ups and downs. The peaks and valleys.

When you’re busy working creatively, you don’t have time to self promote and your funnel can easily empty. When you take on a 3 month long project or agency gig, you will finish with a much fatter bank account, yet might find yourself with nothing lined up to work on next. This is one of the reasons I seek out agencies and firms that can use my ongoing help, and why long-term client relationships are vital to the way I work.

A freelancer that tells you they are ALWAYS busy is either stretching the truth, quite new, or they don’t charge enough.

It’s a surfer telling you there’s never any flat (dead calm).

It’s an angler telling you the fish are always biting.

It’s a gambler telling you they are always winning.

SOMEWHERE along the way, they have encountered (or WILL encounter) a slow period. Somewhere along the way, they were probably worried about a lack of projects to ensure a successful month.

Going back to the title of this piece, as a free agent, I am constantly sitting on my surfboard, watching a bunch of rods, and playing in poker tournaments.

There are GREAT years. There are slower years. This is the way it is. There are years where you are making money hand over fist, the jobs are rolling in, and then, through absolutely no fault of your own, you lose 3 ongoing clients in the span of one single week. I could lie and tell you this has never happened to me, but that scenario is exactly what I encountered a few years ago (to the tune of over 90k in annual billings), and I haven’t stopped working to continuously rebuild.

There are plenty of ways that you can lose a client. When it came to my own experience, one sold the company (and the new owners had their own people), one put their marketing efforts on hold, and one retired and closed shop (this one was bittersweet but left me feeling content that I may have helped play even a tiny role in it).

If you work for agencies, sometimes they also have slow periods or they have JUST enough work to keep their in-house staff busy. If you are at a senior level and earning a decent wage, they may have no choice but to let you go. You can’t take any of it personally because, as they say, THAT’S business. You just have to start looking at your place in it through other mindsets.

We’re Surfers.

The project you were working on has finished, or, as an agency employee, you were just downsized. That wave just ended. Like a surfer sitting on your board in the flat, you’re now waiting for the next wave to come in that you can ride for a while. The question is, will you be riding the next one for a week or 5 years?

Understand that we are ALL crammed together in that water. There are a large number of other great surfers out there waiting to catch your wave. It might be a long stretch of time until you see a wave again, so you might want to explore other beaches or find some smaller waves (side clients) to ride until some big ones present themselves. I’ve had years where the small waves have been a lot more fun and much more financially rewarding than the big and long ones. Sometimes, while riding the small waves, a big one will come along (you win a sweet contract), or an agency offers you an in-house position (I was onsite on a monthly retainer for 7 months last year), but waves and rides WILL always end. Don’t just sit on your board and wait in one place. Look to other beaches. Look for waves, ANY waves, to keep you surfing until new (and hopefully bigger) ones appear.

We’re Anglers.

Looking for people to hire you is like fishing. The more people you meet and connect with, the more baited lines you have in the water. The more baited lines in the water, the more likely you are to hear a reel sing. Change fishing holes (see if other industries can use your services). Throw out constant bait. Improve your online portfolio and tell people about it. Go to networking events. Write an article about surfing, fishing and gambling...

Don’t be afraid to throw out multiple lines. Don’t be afraid to try new lures and bait. Don’t be afraid to raise anchor and switch spots. Always be experimenting. Always be exploring. Always look for new ways to get a fish on the line when they simply aren’t biting.

We’re Gamblers.

Being a freelancer is being an entrepreneur. You can’t be an entrepreneur without being a gambler. Don’t be scared to jump into some games or take some shots at a few bigger tournaments (RFPs). All you are investing is your time and if you’re slow, you have a lot of it. I won a nice-sized RFP with the Government last year and I never believed the odds were in my favour to even make the final table. Sometimes Lady Luck WILL attach herself to your arm.

Every job you apply for is a tournament (usually a huge one). Every single project where you throw your name in the hat for consideration is a game. Every salary or fee negotiation is a hand in play.

When it comes to gambling (and I truly believe that everything in life is a gamble) two of my favourite sayings ring true…“Fortune favours the bold” and “No guts, no glory”.

If you can afford to, find a start-up company that has the potential for success, doesn’t need a whole lot of your time, and work on points. Not for FREE…for a percentage. Be sure to get it in a written contract. You might even find yourself not needing to work that much longer. According to the grapevine, the graffiti artist who painted Facebook’s office took stock instead of payment and is now worth something like 200 million dollars. I’m invested in several different companies under this arrangement. Hopefully, at least one will pay off in spades, but the worst that happens is I have a much fatter annual portfolio to shop around, and the work helped keep my brain focused and sharp.

Don’t be afraid to take on some risk. No risk, no reward. Find different ways to play the game. And it IS a game. Small games lead to people telling you about bigger games. Winning in bigger games leads to a much more relaxed mind if you have a cool streak, even for several months.

I’m all of these, both professionally and recreationally, and have found that the key is to not separate the mindsets and applicable rules.

When I’m working 10 hours a week I’m looking to work 20. When I’m doing 20 I’m always looking to do 40. When I’m doing 40 I’m looking to do 80. And I love 80 hour work-weeks. Seriously, I LOVE them.

I live for the long and high waves. The days when the bite is ON. The wins and cashes. I’m happiest when I’m up on the board, when the reels are all singing, and when my chip stacks are growing.

When the wave finally crashes, the action stops, and the tournament is over, I try to get over it quickly knowing that it was to be expected and I should feel a strong sense of accomplishment.

Next wave. Next hole. Next game. Every new day brings it.

I simply get back out there.

There will always be haters.

It has been a VERY long time since I’ve written anything in this blog.

I haven’t really had a second.

2010 has been an incredibly busy (and successful year) for me but as you have hopefully learned from reading my posts, one should never let a series of successful months go to their head (as a freelancer) because it can all come to a screeching halt tomorrow.

To make a lot of hay when the sun has been shining, I’ve had to move sharing some words to the bottom of my priority list.

This is only one of the reasons I stopped writing.

Another is that sometimes, I simply don’t feel like it.

See, I never began writing for any of you, I have always written for me, and then made these words public.

With that said, because I make it public, a lot of great stuff happens.

I end up making top blog lists like this one.

My words end up in published books like this one or this one.

And this gets me a LOT of mail. Mostly great response and words of encouragement.

But every year there are always one or two emails that are completely negative.

Not just negative but downright nasty.

When I complain about the state of the industry, I get a hater screaming at me to stop whining.

When I write that I’m having a great time, or year, or success, I get a hater calling me a “smug bastard”.

As I did recently when I posted something I wrote titled “An ode to freelance”.

It was late at night, and I couldn’t believe how alive and free I felt to do this job for a living.

I figured many of you could relate. After all, there are MANY worse jobs than creating something in a design program late at night with a glass of spirits in hand.

I had no demanding boss breathing down my neck.

There was no dumb-ass co-worker asking me how to fix the fax machine that they jammed for the 3rd time.

I wasn’t watching the clock mid-afternoon to count down the minutes.

And I wasn’t stuck in a 2 hour traffic jam to get home.

If I sounded smug, it’s because when it comes to working from home, on my own, Sometimes I AM.

Freelancing rules. Everything (when it is going well) is amazing.

Right now, because times are good, I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet.

So I jotted down my thoughts at that moment.

There was no need (Mr. Hater) for your anonymous attack.

I write for me. I write what I’m feeling, when I’m feeling it.

Belittling me for that post was like slapping somebody for smiling to themselves because they are having a good day.

For those that enjoy my posts. I thank you for I am glad and honoured. You make my writing and sharing it worthwhile.

For all the haters to my thoughts and words, I have a very thick skin.

Call me whatever you want.

I’ve worked in one of the meanest industries for nearly 20 years.

One that chews people up and spits them out, sometimes as fast as they came.

On my own, playing by my own rules, for almost half of it.

Your words didn’t hurt (which I know was your goal).

You simply annoyed like a fly buzzing in one’s ear.

Sometimes, I whistle while I work.

If you don’t like listening to it, I have an easy solution.

All you have to do is click here.

Ode to Freelance

Dark room.

Silent house.

The only light illuminates off the monitor.

Sipping a glass of smoky, peaty, Islay single malt...on the rocks.

Cat contently purring in my lap.

Getting paid to play in Photoshop and InDesign for one of the world's largest brands.

Some people hate their jobs.

I pity them.

Lessons I have learned in 2009

Here we are at the end of another year.
What a year.
For the most part, it wasn’t exactly a great one (on so many levels).
The recession hit quite hard, many of my friends suffered (both in the industry and outside of it), some of my clients wouldn’t spend a dime on any form of marketing (even though they really should have), I lost a client (or two) to ridiculously cheap designers, and I had two close deaths in the family (one suddenly) including the loss of my beloved grandfather who was one of my biggest business mentors.
I can’t say I’m sad to see this year over.

At the end of 2007, after my first year of working on my own full-time, I wrote a blog post titled “The year in review and the lessons I learned”

All of these lessons still apply, and here are some more I learned during the great recession of 2009...

The client that says “thanks for the quote. We are getting a few more and will get back to you” will most likely never get back to you.

It seems that if you write a blog post praising somebody in this industry, people will start questioning if you are sleeping with them (I’m still laughing).

If hundreds of fishermen descend on your fishing hole, it’s time to either pack up, try a different bait, or find a new fishing hole.

When they create a movie based on the fact that people have left your industry in droves (see “Lemonade – The Movie"), that’s typically not a good sign.

With that said, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Corny and overused, but still rings true.

Twitter and Facebook are powerful as hell and can lead to amazing opportunities if used correctly.

Don’t worry about snarky, negative idiots on online forums. They are probably huge losers in real life.

A large client that nickels and dimes you (asks for a reduction) on a small invoice is one you should fire immediately.

Get a great paralegal/collection agent working for you. In Toronto, I recommend Jeff Greenberg. For outstanding invoices and the unresponsive deadbeats behind them.

I have said this a dozen times but here it is again… No matter which new client you will work for, get a retainer before you begin any work. If they are serious, they will oblige.

Never act completely taken aback when a woman tells you her age. Especially someone that has brought you in for an interview. Long story.

Know who your friends are. Know which co-workers are on your side. Make sure not to share too much information with those that can easily become your competitors. If they become your competitors, make sure you get them to forget this rule.

Find a great creative partner. Especially if working for ad agencies. I love mine to death (hi Linda) and I’m lucky to have her.

Shake all negative thoughts.

Stop putting up with, and dealing with bad clients and start focusing all your energy into finding some great ones.

Never stop moving forward.

Do not count on anyone that promises you “more work coming”. Sometimes, that could mean “many months from now”. (Go back one)

Stop contributing to design contests and crowdsourcing sites.

Don’t stop reading my rants about design contests and crowdsourcing sites. ☺

This industry (and life) is full of peaks and valleys. Not every year can be a great one. This year was bound to happen after so many great ones.

Life happens when you are making other plans.

Tough times don’t last. Tough people do. (This one’s a favourite to my father).

And (once again)…

Family comes first.
Always.
No matter what.

I think to end this year, I should tell my favourite lesson of 2009. An uplifting story about something I witnessed.

I was in Las Vegas for the 40th annual World Series of Poker (in June) and one night I played in a tournament at the famous Golden Nugget casino.
A player got knocked out (by my friend) in the bubble (the last finishing position before entering the payout structure). The poor guy lost miserably with the best hand. Anyone that plays the game knows the horrible feeling of being “the bubble” when you were just within reach of getting paid.
He shook hands with my friend and shuffled slowly out the door with his head down. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He looked so sad.
About 10 minutes later, he came running into the room jumping up and down and gave my buddy the biggest bear hug with the words “thank you for knocking me out of this tournament”.
When he left the room he sat down (to mope) in the first seat he could find outside the doors. It was the seat of a 5-cent slot machine. After a minute or two of shaking off the loss, and figuring he was already in front of the machine, he put in a dollar bill, took one pull, and won the $6,500 jackpot.

Moral of the story, for every yin, there really is a yang.
And just when you think you are in the worst spot (and your luck is horrible) something great may be waiting just beyond the next door.

Goodbye 2009. Bring on 2010.

Have a happy holiday season (whatever you celebrate), and may 2010 be a great year for you and yours.