Lets say that they sell 10,000 tickets and each ticket averages $100. That’s $1,000,000 from just the ticket sales. But where the real money (in my opinion) comes in is the Fight Club memberships. If 10,000 tickets sold out in 30 minutes because all of the fight club members bought them, we’re going to have to estimate that 10,000 people are a part of the Fight Club.

So, by taking those 10,000 members and multiplying that by the $74.99 per year fee, the Zuffa company is making $749,900 in just the memberships. So, for this event, they’ve essentially made $1,749,900 from the sale of the tickets without even selling to the public. Pretty impressive right?

The big takeaway, in my opinion, here is that the UFC cornered it’s market and it’s essentially impossible for anyone to buy a ticket to the fights unless they’re a member of the Fight Club, thus driving sales up of the Fight Club and also driving up the anticipation for the minute that tickets go on sale, because nobody wants to miss their chance to get a ticket (or two).

Why the UFC Fight Club memberships are so valuable to the members

It’s simple actually; they get access to the tickets before anyone else. The people who buy the memberships are the people who buy the tickets (generally), so they’re already sold on the idea ahead of time, which is a good business move for Zuffa (the company who own’s the UFC). The membership to the fight club ensures that these ticket buyers are first in line to buy their tickets before the general public can get their hands on them so it gives them the feeling of being a part of something special – because they are special. So, by doing this, they’re more likely to buy the tickets, spread the word about the UFC and get their friends to buy the Fight Club memberships.

Do we know for sure there are 10,000 members in the Fight Club?

Nope. My estimation is that there are probably more than 10,000. The ticket buyers are from all around the world and buy the tickets when the UFC comes to their town, or country, so you’ve got to guess that there are more than 10,000 people signed up to the fight club. What does this mean for Fight Club sales? It means that the money the UFC is making off of the Fight Club memberships probably exceeds the million dollar mark yearly.

How can you apply this to your business?

With your business, do you have a list yet? Do you have a membership based business? If not, you could consider building a membership based business on top of the business you already run. For instance, if you’re into selling premium design products like Media Loot, you should have a membership and not just one-off sales like iStockphoto has. With Media Loot, they’re able to bring users in, and through releasing killer resources, keep their users for months, which turns into a passive income stream.

You do need to ensure that your membership is worth it before you launch it though. For instance, with Giant Themes, I currently only have two themes available. Nothing to really jump up and down about if you’re buying a membership. So, I don’t currently offer membership’s, but as I build more themes I will put a membership into place. A good number (in my opinion) for me to hit before the membership’s are rolled out is 10 commercial WordPress themes.

This may take some time, but by building the marketing around my company and by releasing high quality themes, by the time the membership base is rolled out, there will (hopefully) be many people lined up and excited about the membership launch, which in turn means more revenue for me right from the jump.

What are your thoughts?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject. I am only one person with one view, so I’d love to get everyone elses opinion on the membership model that the UFC has built up and any ways you could see it being better in the future. Also, if you run a membership based business, I’d love to get your thoughts on the subject as well.

How cornering your market can get you $1,000,000 in 30 minutes is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

You can download the PDF below. It’s 22 pages long. I’d love if you tweeted the hell out of this post, shared the PDF on your site and spread the word.

Also, keep an eye out because I’m in the process of working on a full 200+ page book written specifically for release here on Guerrilla Freelancing, outlining how to start a profitable freelance business, from the ground up. It will be released in ebook format and I am also looking into what it would take to get it released as a hard copy. I’ll keep you all informed on it as the time goes by. I’m aiming to have it released some time in May.

The title is (as of this particular moment) From The Trenches: a definitive guide to starting a profitable freelance business

Anyways, below is a download link to the Guide To Guerrilla Freelancing ebook – enjoy!

DOWNLOAD VIA OUR SITE or DOWNLOAD VIA RAPIDSHARE

Download the Guide to Guerrilla Freelancing ebook for free! is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

The iSocialize theme is a wordpress theme that is perfect for personal blogs. At a normal rate of $50, today’s contest has a value of $500 total. Here are some samples of the theme styles that come with the iSocialize theme.

You can check out more of the information about the theme by clicking here.

So, how do you enter?

The process of entering to win a copy of iSocialize is simple: Tweet the text below.

Contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who participated. The winners are:

• @adversarian
• @axeny
• @UNderstandD33
• @meldunford
• @mattmilam
• @wiehanne
• @samarowais
• @lorenzopena
• @MilesOfAbbie
• @Akshay_Sawant

Yes, it’s that simple. You can comment here if you’d like to – maybe it’ll earn you some extra brownie points (just kidding). The winners will be chosen after Midnight, eastern standard time. Good luck!

10 copies of iSocialize from Giant Themes are up for grabs today is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Both of these books are must haves for any freelancer and are definitely worth you taking a second to enter the contest to win a free copy.

Rockable Press also has a killer Affiliate Program, so if you know of anyone who would benefit from these books (or if you have a website that you can showcase their banners on), you should definitely check it out, as they offer up 30% of every sale).

While you’re checking out Rockable Press and entering the contest, head over and get on their Rockin’ List and get a free copy of their Rockstar Personal Branding minibook. It’s definitely worth signing up for – I’ve read it a few times already and have learned a lot from it.

This contest will have four winners – two for The Freelance Statistics Report ebook and two for How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer ebook. They’ll be drawn at random, so there’s no need to specify which ebook you’d like in your tweet. Which brings me to how you can enter to win.

So, how do you enter?

The process of entering to win one of the ebooks is simple: Tweet the text below.

Contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who participated. The winners are:

The Freelance Statistics Report

• @vectormg
• @missgraham

How to be a Rockstar Freelancer

• @vladrys
• @creativeofblog

Yes, it’s that simple. You can comment here if you’d like to – maybe it’ll earn you some extra brownie points (just kidding). The winners will be chosen after Midnight, eastern standard time. Good luck!

Enter to win ebooks from Rockable Press is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

With Paymo Biz, you’re able to set up invoices based on the time you’ve tracked for a specific project or set them up yourself, which works well for freelancers like myself who doesn’t charge per hour. For those of us who charge per project, you can still utilize the time tracker (which is awesome looking if I do say so myself) to see how much time you’re spending on specific tasks.

So, how do you enter?

The process of entering to win one of the five accounts to Paymo Biz is simple: Tweet the text below.

Contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who participated. The winners are:

• @teeplates
• @LeaTerry
• @hecty_
• @julio_menendez
• @ddanier

Yes, it’s that simple. You can comment here if you’d like to – maybe it’ll earn you some extra brownie points (just kidding). The winners will be chosen after Midnight, eastern standard time. Good luck!

Enter to win a Paymo Biz time tracking and invoicing account is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Media Loot is a premium graphic design resource website that releases quality design resource files on a monthly basis. No more pay-as-you-download, because with Media Loot, you’re able to download all of the resources for $14 per month. A sample of some of their premium files can be seen below.

So, how do you enter?

The process of entering to win one of the free one-year subscriptions to Media Loot is simple: Tweet the text below.

Contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who participated. The winners are:

• @thomascraig
• @thedesigner4you
• @davidkuhta

Yes, it’s that simple. You can comment here if you’d like to – maybe it’ll earn you some extra brownie points (just kidding). The winners will be chosen after Midnight, eastern standard time. Good luck!

Enter to win a one year subscription to Media Loot is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

If you’d like to know ahead of time what we’re giving away this week, keep reading

Monday – Media Loot is giving three people a one year subscription to their resource site.
Tuesday – Paymo Biz is giving five people an unlimited time tracking and invoicing account.
Wednesday – Rockable Press is giving away 2 ebook copies of “How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer” and 2 ebook copies of our “Freelance Statistics Report“.
Thursday – Giant Themes is giving away 5 free copies of the iSocialize wordpress theme.
Friday – Guerrilla Freelancing is giving away a free ebook titled “Guide to Guerrilla Freelancing” which will showcase some of the best notes from this site as well as new and informative topics for every freelancer who’s in the trenches!

Sound good?

I hope you’ll all keep an eye out for the posts this week and enter every day for each of the contests! You can keep track of the posts by subscribing to our rss feed. And again, if I haven’t said it enough, I truly appreciate your support throughout the past year. I’ve got big things coming this year and hope you’re all a part of it!

We’re turning one year old! This entire week will be full of awesome giveaways is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

• The 10 biggest mistakes people make on Stumbleupon
• The 10 biggest mistakes people make on Twitter

Updating your profile once a month

One of the first mistakes I see (and have fallen to myself in the past) is setting up a facebook profile because everyone else has one and then never updating it. It’s fine to not have a social profile everywhere – stick to the ones you use most, and if you are going to set up a profile on facebook, use it.

Mass adding without any type of connection

My main rule of thumb here is to not randomly add anyone unless the facebook recommendations show 10 or more common friends between myself and the other person. This way, I know they’re a part of the circle I talk to in one way or another and I know that their input on things will be valuable. Plus, it doesn’t look so spammy compared to when you’re adding people who have zero common friends.

Not setting up a fan page for your site

If you run a website of any kind, setting up a facebook fan page, in my opinion, is a must. It not only allows you to promote your site throughout facebook, but it’s also a way to get your visitors interacting with you, signed up to a specific place where you can send out notices (similar to a newsletter) about your site, contests and freebies that people can’t get elsewhere.

Only sharing your own content

I’ve mentioned this before in our other posts about stumble upon and twitter, but it crosses over into facebook as well. I see people who sent out status updates with links to their sites, but never mention anything about any other sites they’ve visited. I assure you that your friends will enjoy reading content if it applies to them, so by sharing articles on facebook that relate to your website topic, they’ll gain more value from your updates and feel more comfortable clicking your links (including the ones to your site).

Updating your status 50+ times a day

Twitter is a place to update 50-100 times a day. Facebook isn’t. Facebook should be used as a place to hold longer conversations than 140 characters and not just a place to broadcast link after link (after link). Try your best to utilize facebook for what it should be used for – connecting with friends, discussing things and sharing what is up with you.

Forgetting that potential clients will be seeing your profile

Some people use facebook and forget that their potential clients can, or will, see what they’re posting on their walls and in their pictures. Yes, you should be yourself as much as possible, but if being yourself means losing clients because you’ve got half naked pictures on your facebook, you may want to rethink the business you’re in Also, if you’re designing websites for churches, you may want to tone down your atheist views – I don’t think it would be good for business. So remember, keep things light, but not bright

Running your blog posts through facebook’s notes

This is one that I don’t see many people talk about, but it’s a definite dead end when it comes to utilizing facebook for traffic and comments on your blog. What a lot of people do is run their RSS feeds through facebook notes and give everyone the ability to read their entire post right there on facebook. When they’re done reading, they move on and don’t visit your site. You’d be better off just sending out a wall update letting people know about the new post so the traffic goes to your site instead of your notes section.

Posting self-glorifying messages on your friends walls

This is one I’ve had to deal with numerous times recently. “Friends” who are utilizing facebook as a place where they can post a comment on your wall, discussing their site. News flash, that’s what your wall is for. If you write on someones wall, mention how much you liked THEIR article, not link to your own stuff. It’s unprofessional, rude and a bit annoying.

Sending advertisements to your friends through facebook messages

Another one that I’ve seen happen more lately is the unsolicited advertisement messages you receive on facebook. Something along the lines of “I just seen this and knew you’d like it” although, your name isn’t mentioned in the message and the topic is something you’re definitely NOT interested. Don’t do it anymore if you’re one of the ones doing it – people hate it.

We’re not facebook friends yet

So, in keeping up with how I’ve done the twitter and stumbleupon mistakes articles here, I thought I should mention this one here as well. I’m on facebook (click here to be friends) and I also have a facebook fan page for my start up, Giant Themes. Would you like to see a fan page for Guerrilla Freelancing? I think I need to set one up, especially after writing #3 above

The 10 biggest mistakes people make on Facebook is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

There are a few reasons why blogging is good for your business, but there are even more reasons (if we dig deep enough) that shows why better blogging equals better business for freelancers. I want to look over a few of those reasons in today’s article. Feel free to leave your thoughts at the end of the article – I’d love to get your input on the topic at hand.

Open discussions with potential clients

If your freelance business is design related, by running a design blog that runs articles on the importance of great designs or articles that allow your readers to ask questions and ignite conversation, you’re instantly building a bridge between you and an entire world of potential clients.

Instead of having to send cold-emails to countless numbers of people, you’re able to reach hundreds, if not thousands, of people who just might be looking for the services that you offer. If your blog is receiving a lot of traffic from the design community and not a lot of potential clients, don’t worry, because those freelancers who are always reading your blog just may need to outsource their work and if they’re seeing you answer questions and engage with them on a regular basis, who do you think will come to mind first?

Increase traffic and search engine rankings

By being a better blogger, you’ll gain more traffic through social media outlets where people share your articles and you’ll also see an increase in search engine traffic from the people who link to your articles from their blogs. There’s a reason that people like Chris Brogan, Gary Vaynerchuk and Seth Godin receive countless links, tweets, wall posts and emails promoting their articles – they’re all amazing bloggers.

Build your readers trust in you

One of the benefits of running a better blog is that you will build the trust between you and your readers. This can benefit you in a lot of ways. One way being, you will find it much easier to link out to affiliate products you believe in, which in turn will be clicked and purchased by more of your readers because they trust your judgment.

Another reason why building the trust of your readers up is something you should be doing is because at some point, you may have an offer of your own that you want to promote, or a site you want to launch – by being a better blogger and building your readers trust, you’re able to promote your product/service/website without fear that you won’t get a healthy return from the promotion.

Showcase your knowledge to potential clients

This is one that I’ve personally seen be a powerful reason to become a better blogger. For those who don’t know, I’m a regular writer on Spyre Studios – a design blog run by Jon Phillips (we interviewed him here a while back). By blogging on his website, I’ve actually had people visit my site and hire me because of the articles I’ve written there.

Not just because they seen my post, but because they found value in the articles I wrote and because they realized that I knew what I was talking about. So, build a blog that will showcase your knowledge of a specific subject – maybe write articles debunking topics that your client base generally isn’t too knowledgeable about. They’ll thank you for it.

Showcase your talents to potential clients

So, you’re a copywriter? What better way to give out a resume of what you can do and what you’ve previously done than by running a well written blog? The same goes for designers. Be a better blogger and build up a solid reader base that you discuss design topics with, but also make sure that you’re showcasing your own talent in the blog – design your blog better than you’ve ever done any other website before, make a weekly round up of cool designs and include yours, showcase a case study of a design you’ve done from start to finish like PSD Fan does.

Shamelessly self promoting will turn off your readers, so make sure you’re adding value to what you’re saying and you’re not just using your blog as a bright and flashy billboard for you and you alone.

Showcase your generosity – give selflessly

The other day, I read an article by Chris Brogan where he talked about how much he charges for a day of his time and then seen a follow up article where he talks about the negative comments from his previous post. I didn’t understand why someone who gives away free content on his blog every day, releases free ebooks and has many other low cost items you can buy would get grief about a price he charges for a day of his time.

Regardless of how this made Chris feel, he’s still pumping out amazing content and giving it away for free. He’s generous. He’s not in it just for the money. The articles he writes are published because he loves blogging. It just so happens that by giving selflessly, he’s able to charge $22,000 for a day of his time, release best seller books and run a successful company.

How to Run a Profitable Freelance Business Through Your Blog

Skellie, from Skelliewag and Tutsplus+ fame has recently released an ebook on how to run a profitable freelance business through your blog (affiliate link). It’s an ebook with amazing value and it will definitely help you better your blogging efforts and turn your time into money.

Coming from someone who turned her blogging into a machine that launched her into being the manager of the tutsplus+ network from Envato, I’d say that she definitely has some authority on the subject of turning your blogging into a business. I linked to the affiliate url above for her ebook, but you can also follow straight to the article here (no affiliate link).

A few words about me, you and this blog

I don’t want anyone here thinking that I’m trying to make money off of you by including an affiliate link or two in my posts (I’ll always include the non affiliate link as well), it’s not what I’m here for. I write Guerrilla Freelancing to share my knowledge, help out the freelancers who are still in the trenches like I am and also leave a trail of breadcrumbs along the way so that one day, I can look back and remember where I came from.

Hopefully you’ll all be there with me at the end of that road and hopefully you’ve found value in this article and the future articles I write. I try to ensure that there’s value in anything I write – and if I don’t have anything valuable to say, I won’t write anything. You deserve better than a bunch of bullshit thrown together in order to keep up a blogs post count.

Why Better blogging equals better business for freelancers is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)

Jon Phillips

Twitter | Website
When I got started I used to do everything myself, it worked for a while till I realized that I could outsource a lot of the thing I didn’t enjoy doing and then spend time on stuff I enjoy. I wish I had known that when I started out, it would’ve saved me a lot of time and probably some headaches, too

Andy Sowards

Twitter | Website

• There are only 24 hours in a day. And you are most likely going to need sleep.
• Taxes Suck.
• Personal Project time suffers.
• No income is Guaranteed.
• When you have a big project to work on, your internet gives you issues.
• Having said all of that, I still love freelancing

Steven Snell

Twitter | Website
I wish I would have known that clients tend to not take a project very seriously if they are paying low rates. When I started out I knew that learning and getting experience was more important than making money at that stage, so I did some very cheap projects. I worked with several people who wanted a website, but it seemed that since they were investing very little into it financially, they just didn’t take it seriously and put in the effort on their end that is needed to have a successful web presence. Not only did that make it more difficult for me to do a good job, but it really did a dis-service to their business because their websites weren’t as effective as they could have been. I’m not sure exactly what I would have done differently because my services weren’t worth a whole lot at that point, but I wish I would have at least understood that people tend to not value or prioritize things that are cheap. I should have done a better job communicated with those clients that if their website is to be successful and useful for their customers/visitors, they must be involved throughout the process.

Sean Baker

Twitter | Website
Things I wish I knew before starting out as a freelancer

Tax Write-Offs
You’d be amazed at the amount of things you can write-off on your taxes being an independent designer. Aside from business expenses like hardware, programs and everyday tools like fonts, there’s a whole world of things that may qualify as “research” to your business. For example, your music/MP3, movie, magazine and coffee purchases are creative outlets that may be considered for exemption if they pertain to your business or a particular project. No kidding. I was always skeptical and afraid of potential audits when I did my own taxes, so I sought a local CPA to assist me in the handling of receipts. For a CPA in your neighborhood, check out http://www.accountantsworld.com/. Save all your receipts and don’t be afraid to ask questions come tax season — you may be pleasantly surprised at how much you can claim!

Strategizing Your Time
You’re closing up your meeting with a potential client. Everything went smoothly and you think you’re about to land the job. Said client asks for your hourly rate, in which you give and explain. Unless you’re underselling your talents greatly, their next question will almost always be: “Great, and how long will it take you?” Suddenly you’re in a corner… and you’re panicked. You don’t want to scare them away, so you feel implied to answer immediately, usually shorting yourself on time simply to appease. Congratulations, you’ve just pigeonholed this project. From here you’ll either be doing some free work or you’ll run the client off once they see a higher rate than you originally gave.

It’s critical to never give a time estimate without digesting and sleeping on the specs of the project. You need time to unwind and assess the details on your own. If a client asks for a final gauge in your FIRST meeting, cordially advise them that you need time to review in order to give a fair evaluation. Tell them you don’t want to jump to conclusions and “over-shoot”. They’ll respect the fact that you’re trying to keep money in their pockets, even if all you’re really doing is watching out for yourself. From here, follow up within a few days with a “thank you” and a working estimate/contract.

Amber Weinberg

Twitter | Website
When I first started freelancing, I wish I would have known that it wasn’t as insurmountable as everyone makes self-employment out to be. I spent a lot of time at a job I hated to save up enough money for “just-in-case” and once I went out on my own, I spent a lot of sleepless nights the first month and a half, freaking out because I had zero work. After that, it’s been a lot of hard work, but it hasn’t been nearly as scary as they want you to think.

Brian Yerkes

Twitter | Website
I wish I would have known (and been prepared for the fact that) not every client is going to like your designs / concepts / ideas. I’ve been freelancing for over 4 years now, and I still struggle with hearing “We don’t like it.”.

The problem is that when it comes to being a freelancer, you tend to put a serious amount of effort and personal pride into your work, and every time you complete a concept or idea for a client, you are confident that it is the the correct one. When a client says that they don’t like it, you have to understand a few things.

1. That the client is not always right. Seriously. They just aren’t. If I was having a house built I might ask my builder to use Play-Doh. Obviously, this would not be a good idea, and as the customer, I would be terribly wrong! The builder needs to step in and tell me what correct option is. That’s why the builder is a builder and I’m not. He/She is the expert at what they do. So, sometimes when the client says that they don’t like your work, you may want to consider having the cojones to discuss the reasons why they are wrong. Often, a professional client will appreciate your confidence and your dedication to the success of their project, but unfortunately there are times when a client will just get even more upset with you and continue to tell you that you are wrong. It just takes some good judgment on what way to respond to each situation.

2. Sometimes your work just doesn’t hit the mark for what the client is looking for and what is needed for the project. This can happen for many reasons, but the important thing is to recognize it, understand the value of it, and move forward to developing better concepts. Decent clients are able to tell you why your concept doesn’t work, and why they don’t like, and this may give you an even clearer brief from which you can work from for the next concept. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and clients need to understand this.

and finally

3. You have to ensure that you don’t take it personally, ever. This is the biggest thing that I personally struggle with. When a client emails to tell me that they aren’t happy with a design, it puts me in a bad mood for a few hours. It’s the number one thing that I try to deal with better every time it happens. Fortunately, 99% of the time, my clients are happy with my work, but you can never win them all.

So, to sum up, I wish I would have known that not every client is going to love your work. If I had known that, it would be a lot easier to deal with it internally when it happens!

Chris Spooner

Twitter | Website
I wish I had known how to put across my ‘professional’ opinion as a designer. In my early days if a client wanted a change or didn’t like a particular element. I’d simply cave in and agree, then I’d not feel as happy with the final design. Nowadays I don’t think twice about offering my opinion in return, and explaining how I think my solution would work better. Often a client will agree once they hear the underlying reasons behind a particular element. At the end of the day the client has a better end product and I’m happy and satisfied with the outcome.

Brian Hoff

Twitter | Website
Having started freelancing I wish I would have known and planned out better organization and maintaining a structured work flow. Its something that I still struggle with from time to time being a one-man-show. Often when you start freelancing you only thing of how to organize your actual design work that comes through, not details such as a better system for replying and saving emails, making it easier and more efficient to get contracts/proposals out the door, saving client information that show interest in your work, as opposed to those you only work with, in additional to other areas such as schedule time to market online using Twitter, Facebook, commenting on blogs, starting a blog or writing guest articles, etc — the aspects that you overlook many of times when it comes to online marketing, but can go a long way. I actually detailed a full article on some of the ways I organize my business that has helped in recent years, titled How to effectively organize, manage and maintain your freelance design business.

Sneh Roy

Twitter | Website
Things I wish I knew when I started freelancing.

1. Thou shall always create a logo in vector format
2. Thou shall not jump through hoops for a client.
3. Thou shall not be afraid to say “No”.
4. Thou shall not crumble, falter and surrender to your client’s whims and fancies.
5. Thou shall set a wide, comfortable time line for project completion.
6. Thou shall not have a life, or evening off, or proper eating hours in the first few months.
7. Thou shall never let someone else present your work.
8. Thou shall never bow down to corporate red tape.
9. Thou shall not be afraid to increase your hourly rates.
10. Thou shall not succumb to “Just make this one change, I promise that is the last one!”

Rob E. Bowen

Twitter | Website
I wish I had known before I started freelancing that there was such a rich and active community that existed online waiting to be engaged. A community ready to help with learning and invaluable advice. Collaborations and varying degrees of other opportunities woven within this expansive base of people all a part of a larger whole. It was really cool, and a little unexpected. The community made the entire undertaking more approachable and not as maddening as I had anticipated.

The community has played a large part in my freelancing growth and success, and I think that the trepidation that slowed my entrance into this forum would have been eased considerably had I known how inviting and welcoming the waters were. So much so, that the community actually altered my initial mission that I entered with. I initially got into freelancing for the opportunity to work for myself, and I found instead, that I am working for the community. Now what I mean by that is, that I found a purpose that fit and served me better. Not that it was like the community demanded it.

So I began to focus more on working to give back to that community, and along the way, ventured in directions that I thought followed in suit with those desires, but that actually were only in that vein on the surface. So I would have to re-adjust my course from time to time, always trying to be aware of what could best serve and give back to this amazing online collective. And allowing myself to evolve and be as fluid and dynamic as the community itself. This is something I never thought would happen before I started freelancing.

I never saw this job, evolving and changing me in ways. Becoming a career of communal collaboration and inspiration. And that inspiration reaching beyond the ‘job’ part and into my creative personal work and life as well. I never knew that freelancing was more of a way of life than simply another job where the boss wasn’t as much of an asshole as I was accustomed to.

Kostandinos

Twitter | Website
I don’t take on many “freelance” projects, but I wish I would’ve known that even with a signed contract, you still have to go through the court system and pay all kinds of fees to get the ball rolling if something terrible happens… like say a client cancels a check. After $160 in court/paper costs or so and no response from a loser client, I also wish I would’ve trusted my instincts. Which leads me to this: Don’t be afraid to say “no” to a project. If I could only pass along one small piece of advice to kids starting out, and even to those who’ve been at it for a while, that’s it. Sometimes it’s really not worth it… in more ways than one. Have a bad feeling about a client? Trust your gut and walk away.

One more thing: Sometimes the most important and best projects are the ones you do for yourself, including working on your portfolio and re-branding yourself. The devil is in the details… get out your pitchforks.

What do you wish you would have known?

Let us know in the comments if there’s things you’ve learned along the way that you can pass along to the first time freelancers who may be reading this post. I know we can always learn something new – new freelancer or old, knowledge never stops.

Additional Reading: Computer Arts has an awesome article, asking 11 freelancers (freaky, huh?) what their freelance secrets are. It’s really in depth and worth checking out. Read it here

I wish I would have known: Answers from 11 top freelancers is a post from Guerrilla Freelancing For our regular subscribers, we've got a relaunch in order in the next week or two. Keep your eyes peeled :)