Students That Freelance

What is your major (if in college) and what do you do in your freelancing?

A month ago I just completed my Bachelor of Business, with majors in marketing and management. In my freelancing I’m doing web design/development, application development and some internet marketing as well, pretty much in that order.

How long have you been freelancing and what made you start freelancing as a student?

I started freelancing in early-mid 2007. At the time I was living off winnings from playing poker online, and I wanted a bit of side income for some stability. In freelancing, it’s normal to have slow months and good months, but in poker, it’s normal to have the occasional month where you actually lose money. When I started freelancing, I was in a losing streak at poker, and knew I needed a better way to make money. The fact that I was a student didn’t really weigh into my decision too much, except that I had plenty of spare time.

What are some of the best parts about being a student freelancer?

The best thing about being a student freelancer for me was being able to do something useful. Some people get a job in a supermarket and do mindless work, whereas being a freelancer allows you to be much more fulfilled in the work you do.

The other great part about being a student freelancer is that the pressure isn’t on to bring in money all the time. Starting a freelance business as a student is always going to take time because you don’t have many contacts, and while you may be good at what you do, you don’t have any real world experience in it. Building up repute and business skills takes time, and it’s great to do that so that when you finish uni, you’re business has been built to a point where you’re making enough money.

Another great part of being a student freelancer is the flexibility. Got exams? No worries – just schedule work later.

What are some of the challenges you have found being a student freelancer?

To be honest the hardest part for me was finding the time and willingness to do assignments and study. I was much more freelancer than student, that’s for sure. And my grades did suffer as a result. But that’s the beauty of being a freelancer – literally nobody but your mother cares about your grades.

Another challenge being a student freelancer is just the general inexperience that you have. When I was first asked about things like “vendor support agreements” and “Service level agreements” and stuff like that, I really had no idea at all what I was supposed to do. I’ve made plenty of expensive mistakes that I’m sure I wouldn’t have made if I was more experienced in business/life.

Where do you hope your freelancing career will take you in the future?

Eventually I’d like to be selling products rather than a service. I’ve teamed up with a couple of other freelancers to build some products and hopefully in time, sales from those products will mean that I don’t have to do as much freelancing work. At the moment I’m still learning and growing rapidly, so there’s still a lot of fun in just freelancing. One of my goals for this year is to minimise the time I spend on projects by outsourcing work, so I can focus on making more sales at higher prices.

Where can our readers see your work and read more about you?

I’ve recently started a blog on freelancing at www.6figurefreelancing.com. One of the products I mentioned earlier is a sales/project/invoice management application for freelancers called Freelance Total, which I use for my own business. And finally my freelancing business website is http://www.vdpwebsites.com.au.

What would you tell a fellow student who wanted to start freelancing? What piece(s) of advice would you give them?

My piece of advice would be to figure out what your goals are. If you want to keep freelancing after you’ve graduated, maybe it’s worth trying to build a client base, make filling your schedule a priority over getting higher rates, build up recurring business, and start exploring partnerships with other freelancers. Focus on building up testimonials and helping businesses.

If freelancing is just something to pay some bills, stick to your rates, and focus on building a portfolio that shows off your skills. Try to get some work with some agencies that you may want to work with later. Build up passive income by making themes or other things that can be sold without support.

Basically, try to figure out some goals as early as possible, and work towards them.

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.