Freelancing in College
The goods, bads, and in betweens of living the professional life as a student, and how to not lose your shit on the daily.
We’ve all been there. You’re working your retail job, while your classmate works on design work for real people, businesses, and events. Wondering how they managed to begin is one thing, but continuing without dropping out of college is another. I’m going to tell you the few things I’ve picked up while doing this juggling act, and I hope that you find some helpful tips to get your business started (or keep you sane enough to continue).
Baby’s First Clients: The one question I’ve gotten asked more times than I can count, where do you find your clients? My answer has always been the same: luck. Up until recently, I believed that to be true; however, I’ve come to the unsettling realization my clients didn’t appear by luck, but rather due to actions I wasn’t aware I was performing. By not starting with intention, I acquired difficult clients in the beginning who caused a lot grief because I didn’t know how to properly run a business (*note to self* still don’t really know), or how to build a clientele.
Here are my tips regarding finding clients:
- Network, Network, Network
- BE KIND + RESPECTFUL
Networking, and why it works. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I try to get exposed to as many faces as I can. The events don’t have to be design related: entrepreneur meetups, hard cider making classes, farmers markets. If you’re out, representing who you are, the likelihood of striking up conversation with someone who could be a potential future client, or lead you to one, is uncanny.
Try not to be an awful person. Now, let’s say you’ve stepped out of that comfort zone and began speaking to someone (this is honestly the hardest part). It’s easy to forget how to communicate with people we don’t personally know with the advances in technology. Being respectful and kind to people is key to getting anywhere in life, especially while building a small business. I’m not telling you to be a pool noodle when it comes to your beliefs, but I am telling you to remember everyone is worthy of kindness until they prove to you otherwise.
Look at Me. You’re the Professional Now: Once you’ve got that small base to begin your journey on, you’ve got to remember to keep your image consistent and professional. If you’re an amateur in the eyes of a client, good luck getting paid. The biggest lesson I’ve learned in this category is time management and the huge role it plays in trying to lining your pockets.
Put yourself in the shoes of a client, if your designer you hire is still in college, is that going to encourage you to pay them on time? No. They think you’re going to be easy to get 500 revisions out of for no extra charge, and there won’t be an attorney after them if they don’t pay your invoice. Now, let’s say you’re given a specific number of hours, at a predetermined rate, before doing any work. It’s going to put the idea in their head that you, the designer, indeed do know what you’re doing and when you’re going to do it (even if you really don’t).
Separation of Church and State: Didn’t we learn about this in high school civics class? I know, ew politics, but bare with me. The same concept there applies to our work: you can’t mix your school and freelance work (or you’ll look like this, and Sarah can’t help you this time). Maybe you’ve heard of people having success, but I do not recommend trying to be Hannah Montana. You need your work in college to be about YOU, and designing for yourself is the only way to learn about your own personal style.
Just because you have freelance jobs does not make you any better of a designer as your fellow classmates. I’ve seen this time and time again, where one student thinks they’re above another just because they’re getting paid to make social media graphics for their mom’s MLM group instead of stocking shelves. Don’t be that person.
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Find a mentor (or fifty). Just because you’re out of college does not mean you’re ready to be mentor-less yet. As creatives, we work together to help one another through all stages of our careers, so I personally don’t believe any one of us ever enter a time in our creative lives where we don’t need a mentor. Here’s a tip, you can have more than one.
I hope you can pull a few ideas from this article and apply them to your student and professional career. Most of this is all stuff you’ve heard before from somewhere or someone, but if not, now you know. Sarah won’t be there to flip your canoe back over (if you would’ve clicked my links you’d understand this reference), but hopefully this keeps you floating.
