Freelancers -- where do you find most of your work?

Sporadically jumping in and out of this convo, although I am reading every post entry. Good stuff!

As probably the newest member of the full-time freelance community, I can't agree more with Bruce and Holly. Building elearning courses/modules is the easy part - just learned skills. The more you practice, the better you get. The "perishable" skill and one that's the hardest to learn effectively is relationship building and client management.

Once you "sell" your services you immediately have to put on two hats: 1) Designer/Developer hat, and 2) Partnership hat. AND you have to continue to prove and earn those throughout the project. Completing milestones, meeting deadlines, staying at or under budget, etc., etc. is all project management stuff and goes without saying you need to be on top of your game. Overcoming obstacles, conflict resolution, influencing direction or perceptions, etc., etc. is...well, let's just say those situations will test your intestinal fortitude.

As for a contract template, I'll echo Bruce here that most clients either have an NDA or a template of their own. What I do is write a proposal document that outlines the scope, requirements, deliverables, fees, and any technical considerations. We volley that back and forth until we both agree. Then usually, that becomes the SOW (Statement of Work) that's tacked onto their org's standard contract.

One thing I've done recently is hire a contract lawyer. 1) To review any documents, NDA's I get that I'm not perfectly clear on before signing, 2) drafting RFP bids for larger clients, and 3) general legal biz documents I need created and/or reviewed. Like Bruce, I do a LOT of communicating via email, but that's mostly in regard to project decisions. I don't trust email when it comes to forming an agreement - that's going in writing and signed with a real ink pen. :)