Freelancers -- where do you find most of your work?
Jun 14, 2012
I know that question is sort of like where's your favorite fishing hole. Hi, all -- I've been a freelancer for about a year and a half now, and for the first time, things are slow. I guess I'm on the famine side of the feast-famine freelancer cycle. Two questions:
1. Are there e-learning groups (besides Articulate of course) that have helped you generate leads/work?
2. How much of your work comes through cold calling? (I have an aversion to cold calling, but will pull up the big boy panties if need be.)
I'm guessing that your work comes from a little bit of everywhere (traffic to your site, repeat business and referrals from clients, cold calling, etc), but I don't really know that till I ask.
Thank you in advance for your time and input. --Daniel
213 Replies
Has anybody started without a project?
As @Lisa, I've been preparing myself to be a freelance and would like it to happen... right now!
But I only have a project that is for free (I collaborate in a training website).
I have my profile in Elance and oDesk as it was mentioned before in this thread but...
The real question is whether:
Thank you for keeping this interesting thread alive!
Belén
Belen,
You need a lot more than one client, OR you need one client that has employed you for a long fixed-term.
Remember - there will be weeks when the one client is away, reviewing, doing "important things" or whatever.
One of the perennial problems with freelancing is that as the end of the project-term approaches, you need to find that next client, so you need your time back!
That's why I do the type of freelancing that I do, where I work on a project basis, not a time/40-hours a week for x weeks basis.
I had nothing when I started, but the timing was good to me and I got some work very quickly.
As that all came to an end, I had nothing, and was then very lucky to pick up a "per hours" contract that I have now been working for on and off (mostly on...) for almost 3 years. I have then picked up other clients along the way via a number of routes.
Personally - I would want to have an evening/weekend client-base before starting, but that's just me and the circumstances I have been part of.
Being successful at gambling all depends on whether you can afford to lose the money or not
Bruce
Hey all,
Just read an article titled "A Comprehensive Guide to Starting your Freelance Career" on the blog Freelance Switch and thought it answered a lot of question that came up in this thread. Hope it helps you.
Thanks Joe,
That's a great article
Bruce
I was trying to remember where one article was that I found useful - when the particular site came though on my feed this morning with a list of 50 of them:
"50 of the best design business posts you may have missed at GraphicDesignBlender.com" http://goo.gl/XIw9n
And even though it refers to a freelance graphic design business, they are just as relevant to e-learning... in fact alot of the material has already been discussed in this awesome thread!
Thanks for the responses everyone. They lead to another question....If you charge the client per project how do you collect the revenue? Are you taking a percentage up front then collecting rest at end? I'm interested in getting some feedback on these questions.
Variety of ways.
Monthly, Milestones, all up front all used by me.
Bruce
Welcome back folks to the thread that just would not go away
Just to let you know that I was asked if I would replicate my thoughts on this thread over as a guest blog for Opensesame.com.
As there were about 7 pages in total - I decided to reproduce it in Pecha Kucha format, (20 slides each of 20 seconds = 6 minutes 40 seconds maximum).
It's pronounced like this....
While building the course, (and it should be around in about 2 weeks or so...), it occurred to me that this could be a BRILLIANT format to offer your clients - it REALLY pushes the boundaries in terms of condensing SME knowledge, and is nice and quick for learners. It takes some hard editing and very focused voiceoveringness (sp?), but great fun to create.
Anyway - hopefully you will enjoy it when it comes along...
Bruce
Lynda:
Thank you for that angle. I know Holly does something similiar, and whenever two or more people tell you something, it's time to listen.
Welcome, Lisa:
I think you get clients by giving valuable assets away, either here or on your website (or some other "hub" as Bruce calls it). Assets might be techniques or advice related to elearning. Posting your elearning portfolio is also giving something away, too: people will invariably "borrow" your good ideas. Right now, I'm working on a mini-course, whose working title is "Writing tips for elearning pros." If I build it well, they will come. Congratulations on making the leap. --Daniel
Hi, Lisa:
Regarding getting paid, I usually construct the contract around three or so installments--1/3 at the beginning, middle, and end. Of course, if they are selling the training, you might choose to work for a percentage of sales, too. Not a bad way to go, if you are confident they can sell it.
I think the hardest thing is bidding the project, as many times your clients have no idea what they really want. Of course, that's part of our job. And when you are helping them determine what kind of training they want, you are also shaping their expectations, which is huge. When bidding, I usually have three or so in-depth calls about what I think they want. I'll then send them examples of courses that I think accord with what I think they want (you could always use the Articulate Showcase for this). I also find it helpful to talk to the client about lesson length--e.g., three lessons of 30-45 minutes, etc.
Once I have a decent idea of what they want, I can bid it. It's sort of like building a house in that way. Hope some of this helps. --Daniel
Hi,
Really a very good thread, I found many ideas here.
I have a good experience of coding but I am new freelancer, I am just starting.
I understand that I have to create my portfolio to get some work and I want to create one. But I am not good in graphic design / instructional design, I am purely a programmer, so my question are -
1. How can I create a e-learning portfolio without graphic design and instructional design?
2. How can I show my skills to a client without a portfolio?
Thanks
buck
Buck,
What, exactly (as you are a freelancer...) are you "selling"?
What is your "product"?
If I had $5000 to spend on your services, what would you be doing for me?
Bruce
In addition to Bruce's feedback (that needs to be clear), you can write case studies if you are not able to share visuals to describe your work:
Holly
Hi Bruce,
I want to sell my coding skills - Action Script 3.0 / Javascript / HTML5 / CSS / SCORM and AICC coding / Making courses 508 compliance/ Articulate custom templates etc.
I don't have any "product", I just have my coding skills.
I can create a custom course player for you in HTML5 / Flash AS3.0, or any thing you want which can be made in these scripts.
buck
Buck - let me try and be a bit clearer - but it may not be very "motivational" I'm afraid.
I have looked over your posts so far, and tried to gauge your skills and motivations.
You have a skillset which I certainly do not have HOWEVER... your skillset does not seem (from my perspective...) to make you a "client-facing" instructional designer.
You are a programmer of eLearning - by the looks of it. Instructional designers will give you requirements, and you code them.
Unless you get some skills, (probably a few years...) in front of customers, you will probably not be dealing with customers - you need to rely on someone else, with the "sales" and "instructional design" skills to bring you your work.
What you should have realised by now is that many/most(?) of the people on this forum using Articulate products do so because - with the greatest of respect - we do not need "coding" skills per se, (at least - that is the impression I get). I can produce in 2 hours what it would have taken a week or so to do 3 years ago, and it would have required help from coders.
I have only ever needed to subcontract work to a Flash coder once in the last 3-400 courses I have built, and that was for a 10-second portion.
Put bluntly...if You do not "have" instructional design, and you do not "have" graphic design - then you either need to put your freelance career on hold until you DO have these, or get into working relationships with people who will use these talents and pass work to you to code, already designed to a customer specification.
It may be that this forum is not the right place to look for work - there may be other places to look that will be more fruitful.
Sorry if I have got this wrong, however, this just seems like the correct advice to give given the knowledge of you that I have, the skills that you say you possess, and the posts that you have made so far which tend towards the "technical" rather than the "instructional designer" mindset.
Bruce
PS - your coding skills ARE your "product". You need to find someone to sell them to - either directly (perhaps not...), or indirectly (more likely...). If you are not confident enough to understand this basic sales concept then perhaps you are not yet ready to enter the freelancing world - which is a sales-led one.
Thanks Bruce,
Now I realize that there is not much work for me in tool based e-learning courses, I will try to learn some graphic design skill and instructional design so that I can get some work here. I will try to use my 6 years industry experience to learn these skills quick.
I am just thinking that the tools like Articulate are getting more powerful, what is the future of a programmer in e-learning?
buck
That Buck is a very fair question.....and the heart (I suspect) of why most of us are here and making a living doing what we do.
Personally, I hope and believe that products such as Articulate Storyline democratize eLearning, taking away from the "hands of the techies", and making it so that the focus goes back to learning, and people skills. THAT is what training is all about, not programming and coding (in the vast majority of cases). If I want something that is 508-compliant, I do it through Storyline - not a coder. I have worked in eLearning for over 12 years, and never once needed to understand SCORM.
I do not want to - I am an Instructional Designer, I design powerful and effective learning.
Good luck in your endeavours - I hope you find what you are looking for.
Bruce
There will always be a place for tools that fill a need. Folks without the time or capacity to produce those tools will rely on those that do. That's one potential market segment. What can you provide that makes process more seamless? What can you build that saves time or increases accuracy and / or convenience?
The world needs good tools. The world needs better tools. The greatest tools are simple, flexible, and future proof. Find those natural things that make people go "wow, I can't believe I ever lived without that" and you'll have found your product
Agree with Steve (in fact, I think I always agree with Steve!)
I think that tools like Articulate have opened up an interesting ecosystem of related/supporting products services.
One of the things to think about is: service based freelancing, which is what the original thread was about or product development. They are two different paths and I would suggest that you need to do one or the other.
In terms of services, you could provide services to instructional designers, and they call you for projects that need something customized. And you market yourself as the preferred coder for instructional designers who might want to kick things up a notch on a particular project. Those are your clients (people like Daniel, Bruce, Kevin, etc)
Or, you take a product approach like James Kingsley http://frameentered.com/ or Bryan at elearning Art http://www.elearningart.com/ have done. Build a product that would make lives easier for articulate storyline users, bits of code that would speed things up, different skins, etc.
Either way, you should look through the forums and figure out: "is there something that people ask for commonly that I could easily offer" and explore those. Maybe you can re-focus what you are good at already rather than switching completely.
Hope that helps,
Holly
Thanks Steve and Holly,
I will definitely try to find some way to speed up the work you people doing, Thanks for the links these are really motivational for me and giving me a lot of hope.
can you people help me to provide some links to threads where people asked for some custom requirements.
Sorry I am asking for too much help which is not related to the main topic of this thread, but it will help some of the programmers like me.
Thanks
Buck
Please do not get me wrong - I completely accept the need for tools and the need for people with those skills.
Steve, for example, has an extraordinary technical understanding (IMHO) of areas such as TinCan and integration, and brings these skills to conversations on these boards.
All I am saying is that this forum is not a place where people come to advertise their services - we come here to discuss and push the limits of Articulate products within a greater eLearning and educational infrastructure. I've never got any work on the Heroes board, but I have got work because of it.
Bruce
Hi all,
Happy that this thread is alive.
Well, I think that there're several facts that influence the eventual success of any freelancer, and not all are in our control.
There're some things that I've encountered which may have been mentioned here but not studied deeply:
I've got a different image about e-learning since I read these forums and tutorials. In Spain at least, the market is mostly concentrated in big companies with lots of designers, IT guys and script writers, and the voice over is always contracted outside. Are these my competitors? Well, maybe this is only a thought, I'm interested in your point of view about the industry, local markets and perceived quality.
Thanks!
Belén
Hi Belen
The market, IMHO, is rapidly opening up to become a Global one.
My marketplace has been about 50:50 Europe/US.
I think there is a huge "mindset game" here - some people just feel intimidated by the thought of working for people who they will never meet from a country they will never visit. Perdonally - I've been doing that virtually all my working life, so it does not phase me.
I think you are correct to try and find international opportunities bearing in mind the "weirdness" in Europe at the moment - I'm just not sure of the best way to do it...Aligning with local HR organisations/conferences etc. may be the way to for yoou, as previously mentioned.
"Quality" can mean many things, however, you need to define your own niche, and then prove that you offer quality through demonstrable examples of your work, and credible references.
Bruce
Bruce is right here - this isn't a job board, it is a community of users for a product.
@Buck, if this is your potential market (i.e. we are your customers), then you need to do the hard work of listening to the market. I can't do that for you. If you look at the two examples I gave you, they contribute on the forum when they have something to add to the conversation, not to simply sell their product/service. Honestly I think James and Bryan are good examples (others out there too).
@Belen - you are so right, what a good observation - maybe once a freelancer has defined what they think their target market is and matches up their skills they should consider doing a SWOT analysis and then a TOWS to follow it: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_89.htm - sometimes you can be great at something and the world economy tanks. Build yourself some scenarios around "what ifs".
Hope this helps,
Holly