[flashwiz]

It has been my experience that designers turn to freelancing for one of two reasons:

Either for fun or out of fear. You need to decide which "F" word is motivating you. It it more often than not the fear factor that drives designers into freelancing. Employed at a small interactive firm that lays you off due to an economic down turn. You try to find a full-time position that pays as well as your last one, but your unable to find a job in the weeks that follow. For fear of loosing say your house, car or even the shirt of your back, you have to find paying freelance clients and fast. Fortunately, when this happened to me i had been freelancing on the side part-time for several years and was able to convert some of my part-time clients into full-time streams of revenue.

For any Web designer wishing to freelance in the future, this is what I recommend without doubt. If you are working full-time right now, either inside the interactive field or in another discipline completely, I highly recommend you start to build up a small base of freelance clients. This makes jumping into full-time freelance less difficult and not as overwhelming. That way you can be as motivated by the fun factor as you are by the fear factor. The problem with starting freelance full-time is that you more often than not do not have enough clients or businees to sustain even a modest income for yourself. There is nothing more stressful than trying to find new clients simply because you have too many bills to pay. Its much better both for your mental health and your bank account if you can build up a small base of clients first.

By acquiring a list of clients and potential clients before you go freelance full-time, you can hopefully with a little determination and talent achieve the following:

Build your project management and creative management skills.
Give yourself the confidence and experience necessary to be successful.
Build a network of client connections.
Decide if you can handle the headaches of freelancing full-time.
Learn how to better manage your finances.

By doing a little freelance on the side you can learn a lot about what working as a full-time freelancer is really like. I think its crazy and a real problem when I read get-rich-quick advertisements claiming to give people everything they need to open their own profitable business in thirty days or less. It’s never that easy. Being self-employed is not for everyone. If you can not manage your own time or your part-time freelance clientele, or you have trouble with self-motivation, then starting a freelance Web design business may not be for you.

Hope this helps!!