Freelance Contracts

Graphic designer David Airey shares his contract research and how he chose to approach legal documents with clients. More important than putting things in writing, Airey says, is getting half of the money before you do much work. Not getting paid can be a real hassle, no matter whether the law is in your favor.

Ugh. Taxes!

Web Worker Daily shares six things to know about taxes for the self employed. The real gems to consider are estimated taxes and deductible business expenses. You can limit your estimated taxes by deducting things like a portion of your rent or mortgage. Just don’t overdo it: Google may be able to deduct a swimming pool, but that’d be a stretch for your one person shop.

Upset Clients

No matter how nice you are, at some point you’ll have to deal with upset clients. Wake Up Later has some good tips for keeping your cool and making the client happy. The advice works as well in tense, non-client communications: take a breath and see if from the others’ perspective.

Enjoy Freelancing

If you aren’t enjoying your work, there’s no sense in doing it. Web Worker Daily has several tips to enjoy freelancing. The one that seems to most resonate with commenters: take a vacation. Lack of paid time off can be difficult for new freelancers, who learn the hard way that they have to plan for it.

What have we missed? If you’re a freelancer, how do you survive? If you aren’t working on your own, why not?

[Picture by Jason Cartwright]

See also:

• Freelancers Offer Advice to Newbies

A Reddit user about to forge his own path asked for advice. The answers touch on many of the things it is easy for first time freelancers to forget.

A few highlights:

• Taxes: get ready to pay a lot more of them.
• Estimating your time: add 50% more, double it, or multiply by pi. Your actual estimate will almost always be too low.
• Setting your rate: there is disagreement in the comments on charging by the hour or project. Most agree, charge more to account for taxes, other costs, and the time you spend looking for more work.
• Getting paid: ask for some percentage up front, offer discounts for paying ahead of time.

Read all the answers at Reddit.

See also:

• Interview with Jackson West of Web Worker Daily