WORKING IN THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: IS FREELANCING THE ROAD TO SUCCESS?

WHAT IS A FREELANCER?

A freelancer is a self-employed professional who offers their services to one or many companies by means of pitching their work online or advertising their skills via online job listings and services. A freelancer is not usually committed to one company or employer long term.

KEY SKILLS

In order to be a freelancer, you will need a standard set of skills regardless of your specific field in the creative industry. To be a good freelance worker, clients will require that you have a good work ethic. You should be professional and motivated with workable hours and excellent time management. This is vital as a freelancer due to the fact that you are your own boss. Your clients will need you to be organised and ready to take on the tasks they may give you.

PROMOTING YOURSELF AS A FREELANCER

As a freelancer, you will need to promote yourself in order to find clients. A good way of doing this is creating a diverse portfolio for yourself, featuring some of your past work. It may also be a good idea to share some of your previous clients' positive testimonials and reviews. There are many websites freelancers tend to use that are specifically designed for clients to find freelancers for their many projects. Some of these websites include Fiverr, People Per Hour and UpWork.

It is crucial for a freelancer who is advertising themselves to potential clients always to conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner. New employers will be more likely to approach freelancers with work if they appear hardworking and effective with previous clients. It is also more probable that an earlier client may return to you with more work or even recommend you to someone they know who is looking for similar work.

BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS

There are a few benefits to freelancing that might make it more appealing to professionals in the creative industry. One of the benefits of freelancing is that it is a flexible career path in which you are in control of managing your own workload. Another benefit is that you are your own boss, meaning you can take time off when you need to. However, there are a few drawbacks when it comes to freelancing. For example, freelancing full time means you are not committed to a creative company, meaning your workload could sometimes be unreliable, which could potentially affect your income. It also means that you are relying on yourself to find your own work, which can sometimes be more complicated than working for a larger scale company.

IS FREELANCING APPEALING?

For me, freelancing feels like an appealing career path. It is a flexible employment path in which you can be your own boss and can personally manage your work which I feel would fit me quite well personally as I have excellent personal management skills and a good work ethic. I also like the idea of promoting yourself via your portfolio and testimonials.

HOW TO START FREELANCING

For me personally, I decided to create mock-ups of work that I could use to display my skills and capabilities to any potential client. These are some of the images I have been using to display my poster making skills. Another benefit of this is being able to practice your skills and improve them.