The Holy Trinity of Freelancing

Being a freelancer is often seen as a dream job. We set our own hours, we manage our own projects, we charge what we like, etc. But like all dream jobs, it starts to look a lot less pretty when you inject a dose of reality into it.

Competition is as strong in the freelance industry of any design as it is for other industries. Every time you turn around, there is a new batch of hopeful young designers who look at the demanding lifestyle in an agency and decide that life as a freelancer would be much more lucrative. They are willing to work long hours to meet the impossible deadlines, to get that client into their portfolio.

Then there is the ever-popular “kid-with-photoshop” stereotype. These individuals may not always possess proper design education, but are capable enough around the software and are willing to patch together something resembling a design, in exchange for extra pocket money. And let’s face it, we ALL know a client who’s done this with their nephew/neighbor/in-law’s younger brother.

And finally, there are the more experienced members of the industry who, for whatever reason, leave their agencies and bring their experience and knowledge with them into their own personal brand. These people are well-versed in the ways of their craft, and are able to spot a typography misalignment from a mile away.

So what does this mean for you?

It means that everywhere you look, there is most likely someone better than you, or faster than you, or cheaper than you.

It truly is a gloomy outlook, isn’t it? The ability to balance speed, cost, and quality is the holy grail for freelancers, and also for the clients who seek them. Most freelancers are able to achieve two of these factors to varying degrees of success, but few can claim a hat-trick.

And the sad fact is that clients will usually approach a project demanding excellence on all three fronts. They want the best designs, with the fastest turnaround times, at the lowest cost. If you prioritize speed and cost, the design’s quality suffers, and the client is unhappy. If you prioritize speed and quality instead, the cost increases, and the client throws a hissy fit. And if you focus on cost and quality, you risk taking too long on the project and not meeting the deadline.

What possible solutions are there to this dilemma?

One option is to outsource. Outsourcing makes a fairly strong argument for itself. If you have the resources, you can find another freelancer to share the load with, thus double your time factor, allowing you to focus on the quality of the project. If executed well, outsourcing can increase your efficiency, and that in turn will give a better impression of your abilities to your clients.

But it’s not a perfect solution. You’ll have to pay the freelancer that you outsource your work to, naturally, and that means dividing the profits. Now, usually for bigger projects, you can allocate a portion of your profits to outsourcing and not worry about your own income. But for smaller projects (which make up the bread and butter of most freelancers), it may not be worth it to hand a significant portion of your profits to another person.

Also, you have to take into consideration that the other freelancer is a human being too. He or she may not work like you do. For example, if this is a design project, he or she may have a radically different style compared to yours, resulting in a bizarrely executed project. A programming project may end up breaking down because the two different styles of writing code may not work together as seamlessly as hoped. Even worse, the outsourced freelancer may completely misunderstand the brief and may cause even more delay in the project. Also, if he or she has poor time management and cannot finish the work on time, your reputation and credibility will be dragged down with it.

Preston Lee from Graphic Design Blog offers another alternative, in the form of letting the client choose set the priorities for these three factors. Impress upon your client that it is not realistic to expect great designs in a short time at a low cost. Once your client sees the reality of this, he or she will be more likely to arrange the three factors.

Another trend I’ve seen recently is to market yourself with a preset order of priorities. For example, a freelancer who markets himself to high-profile, upscale clients (usually large companies), saying that he or she can produce great work in lightning fast speeds, but will not hesitate to charge for it. This kind of tactic works if you have the track record to back it up, of course. And the impression that it leaves is also somewhat permanent, so make sure that you know what you’re doing before you do this.

It also helps to market yourself to a specific type of client when doing this approach. Apart from the previous high profile clients, you will find clients that have stable businesses and a long-term marketing plan intact, and are bringing you onboard because you do great work at low cost. They don’t really need the work done quickly, as they have already factored in the production time in their plans.

Also, and this is sad but true, you’ll find a slew of clients who “just need something done quick”. I may be inviting the firing squad with this part, but the truth is that sometimes freelancers just need to make ends meet, and sacrificing your work integrity and quality to get paid is sometimes the only option. Be extremely careful about this path, however. Like I said before, the impression of you (not just to the client, but also whomever he/she recommends you to, and maybe even a few other people) is somewhat permanent, and being known as the cheap-n-quick freelancer who produces sub-par work is like being known as “that college girl who gets around”. You’ll probably never be short of clients, but you’re also likely to never see any project bigger than “my grandma’s bunch of friends are baking cookies this evening and need something pretty to put on the box”.

What about you? Do you know of other problems that come up in this balancing act? And for non-freelancers, how does this affect you in your work and your life? How do you approach it? Let me know in the comments!