Engaging Assistance

Early on in starting out on your  own,  you’ll want to make  alliances and  choose suppliers for those services or products that  you don’t offer yourself.

A word from the wise: be very careful when choosing a supplier. Using a third-party product or service for a client project is akin  to offering a raving endorsement about them, so it’s important to consider your  options before  making your  decision.

As your  freelance business grows,  you will  find  yourself using a multitude of sup­ pliers. You’ll find  that  whole areas  of your  business rely on them, and  they  in turn will  benefit from the business that  you bring  them.

You’ll need a domain name registrar, a hosting company, an office stationery sup­ plier, a printer for business cards or other printed matter, and possibly an accountant or lawyer—or both. There will no doubt be other suppliers along the way. And then, of course, there’s the large question of outsourcing—as we’ll see, it’s a false economy to spend time struggling to fulfil the complex requirements of thorough bookkeeping, to use a common example. There are experts to do it quickly and  easily while you devote your  time  to the work  at which you excel  and  that  makes you money.

Spend any amount of time  on web-based forums frequented by freelancers and you’ll inevitably find discussion threads regarding freelance tales of woe—freelancers losing all of their data  as a result of using the cheapest hosting company they  could find,  or having suppliers directly contact all of their clients, offering to undercut their best deals.

Lessons Learned
Don’t leave  backups to your  hosting provider. Regularly back up client sites, just in case—this may  save you in the future!
If you’re going to resell third-party services or products, ensure that  you have  a written contract stating what is acceptable and what isn’t. The last thing you want is for your  hosting company to go directly to your  client base and  offer them a great deal  to cut you out of the picture.

Do some  online research, and  read  up on the experiences other freelancers have had  with the suppliers you have under consideration. Forums such as Web Hosting Talk5 (see the Reseller Forum) and  the SitePoint Forums6 (see the Web Hosting Forums) have  plenty of posts pertaining to which hosting companies treat  their re- sellers well,  and  which don’t.

The same approach applies to most suppliers you’ll require—there are domain name registrar reviews, printing company reviews, and  plenty of other sites  and  forums to be found.

Once  you have  chosen a supplier, I encourage you to build a real  rapport with them—a great relationship with a supplier can be worth a fortune in a time of crisis, or when you need something done absolutely drop-everything now.



Asking for Advice

One of the disadvantages of a freelance life is working in isolation. You won’t have a team  around you,  and  at times you may  feel as though you’re the last  person on earth.


This  is even  more  obvious when you realize you probably don’t have  someone to give advice. Sure,  your  partner or family can help to a degree, but they  can’t answer questions about your  chosen profession in any great detail, unless web expertise runs in the family.

Look through your  contacts, and  see if you know someone who  would be able or willing to play an informal mentoring role. You may be surprised as you look through your  contacts on social networking sites  or in your  address book as to who  could give you a hand; it’s often even more surprising how willing people are to be helpful.


Look for freelance or web industry groups that have meet-ups. There are groups like Refresh,7 Port80,8 BarCamp,9 web design meetups,10 and  more,  where you can mingle with like-minded freelancers to share stories and  ask for advice.

If there are no obvious candidates among your  contacts and  no local  groups, make contacts through discussion forums and  your  extended networks, or even  consider starting your  own  group. A buddy system between other freelancers, or with a mentor who’s been  doing the freelance or small business gig for a couple of years, can  provide an invaluable sounding board and  information source.

Remember to Have Fun!
There may  be times ahead that  will  make  you feel overwhelmed by the mission that  you’ve chosen to undertake—juggling money, being  a salesperson, working late at night, and  seemingly never stopping or being free of responsibility for your business.
However, make  sure  you take time  to look at your  achievements, the hurdles you’ve crossed, and the exciting road still in front of you. Freelancing is a reward­ ing career choice, and  allows a level  of flexibility that  you’ve no doubt dreamed of.
Take time  to have  fun, pat yourself on the back regularly, and  know that  the start­ up phase is the hardest part—it will  become easier and  more  enjoyable as you travel along  this  path.

The Pick-me-up List
Keep a list of recent goals you’ve achieved on a sheet of paper stuck up near  your desk.  On those dark  days  when you feel like nothing is working, read  the list and reaffirm your  progress so far.


1 http://www.webhostingtalk.com/
2 http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/
3 http://refreshingcities.org/
4 http://www.port-80.net/
5 http://barcamp.org/
6  http://webdesign.meetup.com/