What is your major (if in college), college/university/school, city/state/country/etc, and what do you do in your freelancing?
I am a senior Marketing major in the Bryan School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I have been a freelance web designer/developer for approximately 3 years now. I took a year off of school in between my Sophomore and Junior years in order to handle the growth that my freelance business, 336 Creative (http://www.336creative.com). In that year, I grew from 5 clients to 19, and also spent a few months living in Honduras working at a medical missionary hospital by day and freelancing at night.
How long have you been freelancing and what made you start freelancing as a student?
I’ve been freelancing for close to 3 years now. I took my first web course in basic html in middle school, and after 2 weeks knew basic HTML better than my teacher. In high school, I made a website and online payment gateway for my neighborhood lawn care service clients to manage their accounts and schedule which services when. My dad’s company hired me after that to redo their website, and from then on I started receiving referrals after referrals, the backbone of my business.
What are some of the best parts about being a student freelancer?
The best parts of being a freelancer are handsdown the flexibility that it provides. I went and lived in Honduras for a few months, but still was able to keep my business running as smoothly as if I was home. All I need is an internet connection, and I can run my business from anywhere in the world. Not only is the location-flexibilty great, but also the time-flexibility. I’m not a morning person at all, so the year I spent interning at a large advertising agency was rough because I had to be in the office at 8:30 am. On top of a 30 minute commute, that made for an extremely early morning. Now, I head upstairs to my office usually around 11:00 in the morning, and work for 2-3 hours, head to a class or two, and then come home and eat dinner. I then do various evening activities with friends or family, and then head back from my night work session, from about 11:00-2:00am. This is my most productive work time as there are no distractions since the rest of the world seems to be asleep. I would never be able to do this in the corporate environment.
What are some of the challenges you have found being a student freelancer?
The biggest challenge to me is staying focused on my work. It’s extremely easy to get distracted and unfocused as a freelancer as you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder. You are your own boss. You’re required to keep your own self focused on your work, and you’re the one who takes the heat from the client if things aren’t delivered on time.
Another challenge to me is on the student side – after being in business for 3 years, there isn’t a lot that I haven’t come across at some point in time. So to sit in class day in and day out and being taught from a textbook how things are like in the real world is really frustrating because I’m one of those people that wants to raise my hand and say, “No, let me tell you how it really is.” So staying motivated in my classes is probably the hardest thing as sometimes it just seems like a waste of time and money.
Where do you hope your freelancing career will take you in the future?
Up until this year, I thought my freelancing business was just a means to making some money in college and something I could continue on the side after graduation. However, the last 18 months has been huge for my business. I’m now at a point where I can live off of it full-time. I’m using this last year in college to go after bigger and more involved projects that I previously would’ve shied away from because I’m at a point where I need to make the shift from multiple small projects to less projects, but ones that are bigger in scope and size.
Where can our readers see your work and read more about you?
I’m fairly active on Twitter (@themattbrown). I used to blog, but have found that I’m much more effective at microblogging. My portfolio can be seen at http://www.336creative.com. Unfortunately, since about 75% of my business is now through agency partnerships, I can’t include all of my work on my website. If you’re interested in seeing more of my portfolio, or hiring me for a project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. I really enjoy collaborating with other like-minded people, and hearing about everyone’s freelance process, your office, your technology, etc.
Want to be featured? If you want all the fame, please feel free to email us with the subject “I want to be interviewed!” We plan to feature one student freelancer a week.