Freelance Confidential - Amanda Hackwith [5]
Where did you receive your primary professional training?
The majority of freelancers have either received education at a university or consider themselves self-taught. North Americans and Europeans have slightly higher averages for university or college education, while South American and Asian freelancers heavily favor self-taught skills. Freelancers with college education were more likely to charge slightly lower hourly rates, though there was little difference in reported gross income.
Whatever the source, the most important goal is to have your skills up-to-date. Clients want to know that they're hiring someone who is experienced and more than competent with the tools. That said, I've never had a client ask to see my degree or grade-point average.
How many years did you work as a full-time employee?
Taken as a whole, respondents had a fairly wide spread of experiences as full-time employees. It is interesting to note that freelancers who have previously worked two years or more as an employee are more likely to:
Be satisfied or very satisfied with their income.
Report higher net income and have health insurance.
Be satisfied or very satisfied with their project opportunities.
So if you're currently still working for an employer while you build your business, you shouldn't consider it time wasted. It's possible that the experience you're gaining with an employer will grant valuable perspective and add value to your business.
TIP: SURVEY SAYS...
It is possible that working a minimum amount of time in a full-time setting is beneficial when you begin to freelance. Working for an employer may teach valuable skills you can apply to your own business, or just grant you perspective to appreciate the positives of freelancing more.
As long as you hone and learn the right skills, it doesn't matter much where you get it. Self-taught freelancers report just as much success as university- or college-educated freelancers.
Client Work
Clients are, of course, the lifeblood of your business. But business experts can propose very different ways of attracting, keeping, and earning an income off of regular clients. Our respondents described their clients, with clear indications of where you can expect your work to come from and possible opportunities for growth.
Where do you find work?
There's no denying it: you're going to find most of your work from happy clients referring your services to others. Nothing is going to carry more credibility than the recommendation of someone you trust, so these leads are the most likely to lead to paying gigs. Your online presence on social networking, job boards, and your personal portfolio were also clear runners-up to referrals.
For more tips on how to effectively reach out to your clients via social media, check out the Grow Your Marketing chapter.
What percentage of clients are in a different country than you?
Despite the popularity of online job boards and sites like Elance, the majority of freelancers continue to work with mostly local clients. Proximity to your client can make working easier, and frequently clients will feel more secure working with a freelancer from their own city, state, or country.
That doesn't mean, however, that there aren't many opportunities to be had reaching out to clients not in your area, or even your country. Working with clients in different countries takes strong communication and organization skills because you'll frequently be working on different time schedules and hours of operation. Working with foreign clients can be rewarding, however, when your work is seen in a totally different context and with a different reach than you would have ever found with local clients.
On average, what percent of your hours worked do you bill your clients a week?
A surprising amount of respondents reported only billing 10% or less of their time worked to their clients. If we consider only full-time freelancers, that number improves