This question gets asked a few times on LinkedIn, so I thought I would post it here. Of course, this is not an end-all-be-all list, but it is probably a good reference, based on my experience. I thought having this list out there, versus buried in a LinkedIn comment, and gated by the social media site would reach more people, and therefore help more people. As a graphic designer, or perhaps other creative freelance employee, transitioning to wanted to be an independent contractor, these are a quick list of things that may help you out.

• Make sure to have a good contract.
  • The AIGA has a great boilerplate contract. Outline that you are an independent contractor (set your own hours / work space), the drafts or versions quotas they might get, any hourly caps, hourly rates for extra work, payment terms, what happens when payments are not met, copyright licensing.
  • Bonus – My lawyer client suggested putting in a “max hours used” clause in contracts. Say you plan do spend 20 – 30 hours on a project, reasonably, but now you are clocking 50 hours actually worked. He says it was common in the IT contracts that he writes for a max-out time to be there too. I have not implemented this in a contract yet, but it sure does sound like a good idea.
• Make sure the client actually signs the contract. 
  • Don’t spend all that time and money making these contracts, just to skip that step. Even if your client pays your down-payment, yeah, take their money, but don’t start work until the contract is signed. You literally have all the leverage to not to the work until the contract is signed. Once you do work, without a signed contract, you are unlikely to back pedal on this. You might not run into a payment problem, but you can have problems enforces a fixed scope or copyrights issues.
• Make sure to get 33% or 50% upfront, all remaining funds before final artwork is released.).
  • Don’t make an exception on this. My two separate friends that I trusted to be good on their word, ended up not paying me. Once someone wants to buy services from you professionally, make sure you don’t offer them friend passes. Holding true to this boundary is much easier when the client is a stranger, or a business contact, as money will already be the basis of the relationship, not emotions. Once you start designing for free, the person will assume all your work is free and not value any of it. People will think a $30 steak is higher quality than a $0 steak.
• Be nice to your clients. You are creating their vision. They are going to you for help. “Nice” designers get repeat business.
  • There are some designers who work with a lot of ego. This is a slippery slope, especially if you are a lower level designer, working with more senior designers like this. You don’t have to be like them, and you should not. Some of the senior designers I worked with, it turns out were real jerks and the ego was seen everywhere. This might fly if you are part of a project team, and there is an account manager or project manager to buffer the designer to the client, but it does not fly when you are interfacing directly with the client. Empathize with your client. Don’t make them feel dumb. They are trying to express themselves, and they just might not have the same training and vocabulary and training as you; this is why they are asking for your help. The client probably knows their audience better than you. You might think something looks too big, or to obvious, but sometimes that is the design needed for the audience, You are not the the audience that supports the client’s sales.
  • I found that a lot of this ego, and belittling of untrained design was ingrained into me by my seniors. I had to go into my mind, and into my marketing materials to scrub it out; no one wants to work with an egotistical asshole, even if they are good. There are plenty of good designers out there, who are also kind.
• If a design project is not up your alley because of skills or even just for ethical conflicts, it is okay to turn it down. You don’t have to bid on all inquiries.
  • As a starving designer, you’ll probably want to bid on every project, but don’t. Not all of them are suited for you. You are most likely wasting your precious time bidding on things that you don’t have relevant experience too. Clients want a safe bet, unless they have an emotional connect with you. They will go for the designer who has the most relevant experience, most of the time. The exception may be when they go with the cheapest costs, in which case you also want to steer clear, because you are not a design whore. You’ll surely end up losing money on such jobs… the scope will creep, the time managing the project will be more than the project itself, the client will try to negotiate the price down after the project is signed. It is not worth it; just don’t do it.
  • If you are facing a a situation where you are being asked to design for a cause or business that you are not vibing with, don’t do it. You won’t help the client as your heart won’t be in it. You are not likely to be making any portfolio pieces with your heart is not in it. Some people go around saying design is just a job, and they do it regardless of inspiration or heart, but at that rate, why even design? There are plenty of higher paying jobs that don’t require heart. I truly do feel I channel from spirit when I design, and part of this is because my heart is in it to help my clients 100%.
  • Another reason to turn down work would be if you are too busy. You know your quality would be bad with everything you are juggling. You know there is not enough time to meet so many clients and fit in production design time. You could choose to hire an intern or partner to help with the design, but in cases like these, you’ll end up in a design management role, and your hands will start to distance from the true creative tasks, and for some people, be hands-on with the design is where they are happy.
• If someone tries negotiating down on rate, it probably won’t be a good fit. They will likely see this president set, and try again mid-way in.
  • I have had this happen. Someone asks for a discount upfront, and you think, ya okay, “I can shave some off the price.” Then, after signing the contract and starting work, they ask for another discount. You are not a charity. You are trying to make a profit to live off of. Being a graphic designer / web designer is kind of expensive. Some clients don’t understand the cost of software, plug-in licensing, business insurance, internet, phones, hosting, email, power… and the list goes on. If you have determined you need to make X amount to cover your costs and live off, don’t even dare going down on your cost. You literally will be choosing to run out of money and kill your business. You’ll end up having to get a job, to cover the costs of your business, and eventually burn out and just go out of business. Design is a luxury service. If they can’t afford it, then they can’t benefit from this luxury.
• Make sure that designing is easy and enjoyable. Have a good computer, plenty of screens, comfortable and good mouse/keyboard. Don’t let old equipment slow you down and frustrate you when there is an easy fix.
  • You are a business, so don’t go broke buying new monitors every few months, but yeah, every other year or few is reasonable, Having a comfy chair makes sense, as you are not likely making money unless your butt is in the chair. If the chair is not comfy, you are likely to get up. Always have a good mouse. I have a Corsair gaming quality mouse. The precision is really nice. When I have to use a cheapo mouse for someone else, it really slows me down and frustrates me; it distracts me from the creative challenges and pulls my out of the zone. In fact, I try to do as much work as I can on my own computer, as it is faster and more stable that another computer that I am sometimes required to use.
• Get QuickBooks or other book keeping software.
  • At first, you’ll probably be able to fly with an excel spreadsheet and making an invoice in Illustrator or Word, but if you are successful, that will be too complicated too fast. Let the software track when you billed someone, when it is due, when something is paid, and your expenses for the year. That is something you don’t want human error on, delegate that task to your bookkeeping software. It pains me so much to see my own mom do her bookkeeping for her hair styling in a real notepad, and then calculate all expenses at tax season. I do hope one day she can see how much time and energy she is spending on that task, so then she can start saving the time for more enjoyable things.
• Get all changes/approvals from clients in email/writing.
  • This is good for you and the client. Sometimes clients forget they approved something. Sometimes they forget they said to move something left a few inches. Sometimes YOU forget too! Getting things in writing keeps things honest and accurate. Even if the client does not initiate the writing or changes, I will type them all up and email them over for my benefit and the client’s benefit… after all, you are on the same team.

I am sure there is more advice to share, but alas, I must come back to it later. I have to stop not, and choose to prioritize a client task, as I do want to get paid.