5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Freelancing

I recently had a chat with a couple of freelancing friends about mistakes we made when we were just starting out and it got me thinking - what tips would I give if I could go back in time and have a word with my younger self? Other than ‘drop the skinny jeans, you’ll be way more comfy’?

This is what I came up with - I’m sure there are lots more, and I’d love to hear if you have anything to add in the comments!

1. Don’t Undercharge

And never ever work for free.

I put this first because I think it’s probably the most important.

When I started freelancing I had no idea what to charge and had very low confidence. So I chose to charge my first professional client (a sizeable games studio) £100 a day and I felt very guilty about even asking for that. Looking back now I can’t believe it - it’s so low, they must have thought they’d hit the jackpot!

It can be really tempting, especially when you’re starting out, to charge very low rates or even work for free to feel sure you’ll get work, or are at least getting experience. BUT! When you do that, you undervalue yourself, your skills and experience, and every other artist in the business. If one person is charging $5 a day, that becomes the expectation and then no one can afford their groceries. You are a skilled professional and you deserve to be paid like one!

Also, in my experience the lowest paying clients tend to be the most difficult to deal with. Their reluctance to pay a fair rate often indicates a lack of respect for you and your profession, or just a dodgy vibe (or why not both!). It’s a bad feeling to be working on a project knowing you’re being underpaid for the effort you’re putting in, and an even worse feeling when your client is also really tricky.

You need to work out a sensible rate that both reflects your skills and time, but also as a freelancer you need to cover your own sick days, holiday, pension payments and your own equipment. Also, there will be times when you are between clients and you need to cater for those too, because (I’m assuming) you need to eat and pay rent all year round.

There are lots of guides and calculators out there to help you work out how to set your rate - Anoosha Syed’s one was the first guide I found that really helped me when I was starting out!

Additionally, a note on working for free - unless it’s something you really, really, really want to work on and enjoy doing, you’re almost always better off working on your own portfolio projects as they’ll be more in line with the direction you want to go in.

2. Taxes Aren’t That Difficult

Oh hey, it’s about money again!

A disclaimer this is based on my experience as a sole trader in the UK. I don’t run a physical shop, I just work digitally for clients so I don’t have to worry about any physical goods or buying lots of materials/stock.

Taxes were a big worry of mine. Going from your employer dealing with it all to having to do your own tax and interact with the government sounds super scary. But actually it’s been pretty simple. Don’t forget it’s a system used by (and supposedly designed for) millions of people who are also self-employed. If they can do it, so can you!

Two things I do highly recommend: have a separate bank account exclusively for work so you can track your income and outgoings (for those sweet expense claims!). And if you can afford it, something like Monzo Business Pro or Coconut (mentioning these two as I’ve used them, but lots of others are available) can be really useful to save you time adding everything up for your tax return. They also make invoicing really easy (and your invoices look nice and professional too!).

3. Know Your Rights

Did you know when you create art, even if it’s commissioned (paid for) by someone else, you still own the copyright? I feel like this is something that I learnt when I went freelance. As an employee usually the company you work for owns whatever you create during company time (and sometimes even outside of company time, check your contract!). But as a self employed artist, you own the copyright of your own work and you should be careful about ensuring that is both clear and respected.

In my private commissions I use a contract that specifies that my client is receiving a license to use the artwork for a specified purpose that we have agreed upon. That means I retain the copyright to also use it however I want. Sometimes a client (especially bigger companies) might want to buy the copyright from you (often called work for hire) - this means that they would own the art you have created and can do anything to it without your permission. Including adapt it, modify it and sell it on. As such, I’d recommend being really careful about giving your copyright away and if you do - make sure you charge extra for it.

4. You Can Build a Network

It’s true that it’s really important as a freelancer to know people. A lot of jobs come from word of mouth and personal introductions and recommendations are so valuable.

That said, I didn’t have much of a network when I started freelancing. I’d worked in the games industry for nearly 10 years, but only at 2 companies that were mostly made up of the same people anyway. I got my first two freelance jobs from people who I had worked with at those companies, who had then moved on to other things. From those jobs, I started to build up more of a network and it expanded exponentially from there.

I think you can build a network so much more easily as a freelancer than as a full time employee. You meet other freelancers who naturally move around a lot, and you make connections through the different jobs you do too (as long as you are nice, reliable and professional). Before you know it, you know lots of different people who all have connections in lots of different companies!

5. You Are Good Enough. (And a bit of Fake It ‘Til You Make It)

When I decided to go freelance I told a colleague at work about my plan. He laughed at me and said ‘You’re not ready’. Big confidence boost!

At the time, I’ll admit I kind of agreed with him though. My image of a freelance artist in games was a 40+ year old man who was highly established, experienced, slick and mainly worked on hard surface sci-fi cool games. I’m sure you know the stereotype.

But when I went freelance suddenly a whole new world opened up to me. There were all sorts of diverse artists freelancing successfully. There are so many people out there making so many different games (or books, or magazines, or board games, or any other thing that needs art) that you can (and should) be yourself and own your personality and skills. Someone will love it.

On a related note, I was not at all confident of myself or my skills when I started. But you don’t tell people that.

It’s an uncomfortable truth that as a freelancer if you don’t put yourself out there, you won’t get work. As an introverted person that can feel very difficult but you really do just have to fake it ‘til you make it. I felt awful sending my first email to a company asking if they needed any artwork, but over time some of those emails worked and got me jobs. Nowadays I don’t even think twice about reaching out to people.

Throw yourself out there, no matter how much your tummy hurts, and do the best job you can - that’s all anyone can ask of you. Everyone’s making it up as they go along anyway!

I hope these tips helped or inspired you! I’d love to hear about your experiences or if you have any other tips for freelancers - feel free to leave a comment below!