Freelancer Focus 28th September 2007
Written by Tara: Freelance Designer on Friday, 28 of September , 2007 at 9:33 am
I am looking for more people who would be interested in taking part in Freelancer Focus please see this post for details if you are interested. I am also interested in design case studies too.
Freelancer Focus is a regular feature, where freelance designers are invited to answer a series of questions about themselves and freelancing. This week Amanda Vlahakis (pictured left) is the freelance designer in question. If you would like to take part please read my previous post. Any designer or illustrator can also take part in Design Case Studies.
1. Your name?
Amanda Vlahakis
2. Where are you are based (Country/Area)?
Birmingham, England
3. What type of work do you do? (design for print, web, multimedia etc)
Logo design, front end web design, print design and illustration.
4. How many years had you been working in the design industry before you went freelance?
I’ve never worked in industry, I decided to teach myself graphic design and then went straight into freelance. Please don’t stop reading, I’m a professional designer I promise! ha ha…
5. How long have you been freelancing?
Over 5 years, close to 6 now I think.
6. Why did you decide to go freelance?
I needed a job I could do at home so that I could look after my children myself rather than send them to nursery whilst I worked. I didn’t need a job for financial reasons, rather that I wanted to have a career because I enjoy having a career, and quickly realised that this where my talents lay.
7. How did you market yourself (find design work/new clients) in the beginning - (online portfolio/brochure/direct mail/email/phone etc)?
In the beginning I mainly acquired clients through a mix of online business networking (so basically word of mouth) and search engine optimisation to drive visitors to my website and then convert them into sales. I still use these very effective methods amongst other marketing activity and the website is geared to convert customers by being very informative and featuring comprehensive portfolio pages.
8. How do you market yourself (find design work) now?
Using the same methods in the beginning because they are very effective, but also in addition I carry out article marketing (which is really just more search engine optimisation) and addition this year incorporating a blog feature to promote customer confidence and interractivity and also again, one more, for seo reasons!
9. How did you decide what to charge? What was the process?
Charging has usually been decided based on my hourly rate (decided based on my standard of design) x time taken to complete average tasks - I charge ‘per project’ rather than on an hourly rate.
I then take those fees and compare them to competitors charging structures to ensure they are competitive on a like for like basis and that includes taking into consideration factors such as; standard of portfolio/design, range of services available in ‘in one shop’, standard of customer service, speed, and professionalism, experience, reputation, customer support and backup.
10. Do you work from home/have an office/work inhouse at design agencies?
I only ever work from home and always have done. I have a large self contained office in the top floor (loft/attic) of our home.
11. How do you organise your workload, do you work long hours?
I work very flexible hours rather than the standard 9-5 and that’s because I work around my children, who are still very young (3 and 6). I don’t work long hours each week, definitely no more than 45 hours a week on the whole unless going through a very busy period. I have worked around my children since my first was born - indeed they were the reason I started a business from home in the first place.
I typically start work at 10am (do the school run first!) and then I often don’t stop working until 9-10pm at night on a weekday. This doesn’t mean that I work a 10hour day in the weekdays - instead large chunks of my day are spent with my children and so I actually only work a standard 35-40hours each week. On the weekends I usually work a few hours of each day also, especially if very busy.
So my hours are very flexibly spread over the day to suit the needs of my family, and it’s very common for my children to be playing in the office with me during the day when I work because one of them isn’t at school or nursery yet …the office is very large and there are plenty of toys to occupy them! My children respect my desire to work and happily play whilst I put my head down and do a bit of work.
I feel I’m teaching them a good work ethic whilst encouraging them to also respect other peoples needs and desires at the same time.
12. How much holiday do you give yourself?
In the first 1-2yrs of starting the business the answer was barely any because really you do have to seriously invest some time in the beginning to get your business of the ground and I was dealing with that at the same time as looking after a baby, but now I’m established I take a good 3-4 weeks a year, and whilst I sometimes take my laptop, there is no working other than to maybe clear my spam emails so it’s not such a horror task at the end of the holiday, or to sometimes write a blog.
I never go away for more than a week at a time though, firstly I worry that my clients ‘need me’ and also I start to get bored and miss my work anyway after a week 
13. How do you keep up to date with what is happening in the industry?
Visiting blogs like yours, visiting different websites, and just looking at the world of design around me….design is literally everywhere.
14. What blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Non, I’m afraid with two young children that my husband and I care for ourselves, and a full time business, there is very little time left for regular reading of blogs or podcasts. If I spent time on these, I’d never have any time for the business, so I only usually visit these for research purposes.
15. How do you generate ideas/what techniques do you use to stimulate creativity?
Hmmm, difficult one…errr I guess the ideas just seem to come to me from somewhere, I don’t really have a method…I tend to read my design brief and then sit and think and look at my blank screen until ideas come to me and then I test them out until I arrive at the right concept. Visual stimulation is all around us I feel and everything around me tends to give me ideas that I use in my work; fashion, interior design, advertising, tv and movie media and more.
16. What about the business side of things, accounting, invoicing, bookkeeping, how do you manage it?
I’m naturally very very organised so this side of things has been easy. I tend to have a specific method for every single bit of administration I have…everything has a method, a timescale and so on. This means projects are always delivered swiftly and nothing gets forgotten or overlooked. Organisation is just as important as good design.
17. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone starting out freelancing?
Just one piece? Hmmm that’s very hard! Can I give a few?
- Do lots of marketing and don’t neglect your marketing when you are busy with design work.
- Paid advertising rarely works as well as methods such as networking and search engine optimisation, in fact I’d go so far as to say don’t bother with paying for adverts, especially in directories.
- Be very very organised…deliver your projects on time.
- Don’t underestimate the importance of customer communications; be very clear in what you offer, ensure that a written acceptance of your ‘terms’ is in force and that the customer fully understands what exactly and specifically is on offer for what price, don’t forget to specify what happens for changes and revisions. Ensure that you take a deposit for every project before you start work, and that your attention to detail about your terms is also applied to your design brief information gathering; good design starts with good communication and research; listen to your client properly.
In fact that last one - all of that is probably the most important advice actually.
18. Would you ever go back to fulltime work?
Never never never, I love freelance.
19. Any thing else you would like to add?
Errr, I’ve talked your head off, so nothing
20. Where can we see some of your work (URL)?
www.trulyace.com - lots to see and read!
Category: Freelancing, General Graphic Design
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Stumble it! -
- Digg
Comment by Toon
Made Friday, 28 of September , 2007 at 8:56 pm
I must say Amanda entered a logo in a contest that ran last December and it was of great quality and I’m a big fan of her illustration work also.
Comment by LaurenMarie - Creative Curio
Made Monday, 1 of October , 2007 at 6:23 pm
Amanda, thank you so much for sharing! I’m hoping to be able to freelance more full time once little ones come around and your story makes me think it is possible (many people are telling me I’ll just be too tired taking care of the kids to bother with work, especially such demanding creative jobs).
Love your portfolio, too. I like the logos, especially the little blue birdy for the bead company. So cute! You have a cartoon style, but it’s also professional. I like the colors you use often, too - the blue, pink green and brown. Great palette!
Thanks for the “newbie” advice. I’m collecting all the things people are sharing. I hope to learn well, before I make the mistakes everyone warns against.
Comment by Brett White
Made Tuesday, 2 of October , 2007 at 9:16 am
Fancy seeing you here Amanda!!
Good read as always from you
We must catch up somewhen.
Brett
Comment by Maria Tacuyan
Made Friday, 5 of October , 2007 at 12:44 am
Hi Amanda,
I’m a freelance graphic designer in Los Angeles. I usually don’t have the extra time on my hands to surf online, but I needed design inspiration/motivation and found this site. I have 2 kids as well (2 and 7), and find myself frantic and tired all the time from juggling one thing after another. I find myself making ridiculous mistakes because of it. I was excited to see your story, read the similarities, and see how positive and energetic you are towards your business. I am now motivated to get organized and out of this slump I am in. THANKS!
Comment by Amanda Vlahakis
Made Tuesday, 9 of October , 2007 at 12:03 am
Hi Brett!
I’m so pleased to hear I’ve motivated a parent and a ‘will be’ parent, it really is down to just being extremely organised.
Have a method and system for absolutely everything you do and don’t be afraid to work with your children in the room with you. Just make sure it’s totally clear of any dangers, fill it with toys, and let them go crazy whilst you work.
The more you do it the easier it will become because they will learn what they can and cannot touch, and you will learn how to combine the two activities.
My children never touch my work and didn’t from about 10mths old following the initial ‘arguments’ over the hard drive button, my keyboard, and my mouse. My boy was the worst, switched of my hard drive about 20 times he did…I never would notice until my screen went dead, ha ha.
That’s how I manage to get my work done, I would say that at least 2 hours of my day is spent with my children in the room at the same time.
They so understand ‘the precious work’ that I can easily leave them alone in the room with my desk 100% secure in the knowledge that wouldn’t dream of touching anything on my desk.
I do feel tired at the end of a day with children, but I just want my career so much I am willing to work even when tired because I don’t like the thought of the alternative of not having my career.
Inability to work due to tiredness is often heavily influenced by psychological issues rather than purely a physical inability to work effectively I find.
A couple of times I’ve been there at 2am in the morning, really really tired but with work backed up and having to design something and thinking “There is no way I have the energy or concentration to be creative” and then have designed something really great. You can do whatever you want to do I find, if you want it enough.
Listen to this though, I thought my 3yr old boy was about to go to nursery every morning and make my life much easier from now onwards and I was so excited about getting more working time….
…but no he doesn’t want to go, is showing signs of ‘not being ready’ to go quite yet, and so I’m stuck with him all day still!!!
Argghhh…I’m hoping after Christmas when he’s a bit older still he’ll be more interested/ready to go. If not, I’ll just have to metal on for another year, I’m sure he’ll be ready by 4. I hope!
Amanda