Following on from the Downside of Freelancing post, for every downside there is an upside, the flipside of the coin As you would expect the upside of freelancing out weighs the negative aspects, or you would hope so.
That said sometimes the benefits that I’ve outlining below will appear to be mostly on the positive side, but not to put a negative spin on them, some can have a few little traps if you don’t watch out for them.
This can put a dampener on your freelancing lifestyle. But as with anything this does depend on your personality and expectations.
Over the years I have been freelancing in the web industry it has been peppered with it’s good and bad times, when you look back on these times you can see a distinct pattern of things that are good and bad aspects of the freelance lifestyle. Okay this is not going to have every solution to freelancing, but at least you get another view point and a few ideas. Now I’m not discouraging people from taking up freelancing, far from it. It]s just a very good idea if you are considering getting into freelancing that you understand the full implications of what you are taking on. This is the first of a two part article.
Been doing an intense amount of hi-fi site design of late. Nothing wrong with that, I enjoy the creativity.
Being challenged to find the design, to produce a professional product within the bounds of the clients specifications. However moving through the process rapidly does allow you to focus on how you achieve your final outcome.
One thing I have learn over the years is to never jump right into photoshop. Regardless as to whether you have used mood boards or not, generally I don’t start the design process in photoshop or the like. I take it back old school, get out the sketch pad and paper. Walk away from the workstation, often outside and go design the site with pencils and paper.
During last week I trotted off to give a talk on career directions in the local web industry to a group of high school students.
This got me thinking about the best fit for career directions in the web industry. Seems I’m not alone, Alex Graham also has the same concerns.
It basically comes down to:
- Study at University or TAFE and then trying to get a job with limited experience.
- Doing an apprenticeship, studying part time while getting real hands on experience.
- Doing an internship in your final year.
- Setting up your own business.
