Valhalla Island

I really don’t mean to pick on Andy Budd, his article 7 Habits of a Highly Successful Freelance Web Designer just happens to be the latest of this type I’ve come across. This type are those that offer “<n> habits of the successful <professional>” that are usually widely linked and dugg but are all filled with the same generic, obvious advice like “manage your time”.

So here’s my 7 Habits of a Highly Successful Freelance Web Designer.

1. Breathe oxygen. It may seem obvious but when I first started out I kept forgetting to breathe and I was passing out all over the place. Of course, you can’t get any work done while you’re unconscious so breathing is important.
2. Use a computer. Implementing code written in a notebook can be difficult, very difficult. So can slicing up a water color painting in a skectch pad, a real knife doesn’t really do the same job as the slice tool in Fireworks. Computers can be useful.
3. Get the internet. Absolutely essential for any web developer.
4. Don’t use MS Paint. While it might be tempting to use MS Paint for everything, the reality is there’s better tools for the job. Microsoft’s Word and Powerpoint were practically made for web design, don’t let any other amateur tell you differently.
5. Charge clients. This is a huge mistake many first timers make. You need to actually bill your clients for the work you do. This can be a bit difficult to get your head around at first but until you read up on your economics, trust me, billing clients works.
6. Work. This mightn’t be obvious to a lot of people but work doesn’t get done if you don’t do it. It’s assumed freelancing is much like a diving into a pot of gold, don’t get me wrong, this is very much the case, it just requires a little work.
7. Write lists like this. They’ll propel you to internet stardom!

These are the rules I work by every day and they work wonders. I hope they do as much for you as they have for me.