14 Rockin' Comments

• MattT
  December 19th, 2007 at 3:59 pm

  I knew I was glad to be a freelancer the first time I had to take my daughter to the doctor during the day and didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission to leave work.

• Shawn
  December 19th, 2007 at 4:01 pm

  Ok. here’s mine. I won an award for a logo design. Wooohoooo. It might not be the most prestigious award and many others are recipients of it, but it brightened my day!

• Jon
  December 19th, 2007 at 4:02 pm

  Thanks for leaving a comment, I sent the ebook to the e-mail address you entered.

  Matt, I agree that is a huge plus, you can do stuff in the day you couldn’t do working a 9-5 job.

  Shawn, what award did you win? Just curious :)

  Thanks folks, still got 1 copy left :)

• Megan Fister
  December 19th, 2007 at 4:03 pm

  Hey, would you be willing to donate a copy for the Central Penn Adobe User Group to review? I wasn’t sure how to contact FS about it.

• Mandy
  December 19th, 2007 at 5:12 pm

  I love freelancing because I get to stay home with my 18 month old son. Last week, I was beavering away in my office and the door inadvertently closed. 15 mins later, my young son knocked at my door, so I obligingly got up from my work and headed out. Was I greeted by mischief? You bet! He’d climbed up, turned the kitchen tap on and had basically flooded the apartment.

  Still, I love him to bits and am so glad I can have him with me while I can work in the exact field I always wanted to.

• John
  December 19th, 2007 at 5:45 pm

  I say “that’s why I freelance” almost everyday. The idea of being able to work till 4 in the morning (my most productive time)and then not having to get up to go to an office is priceless. I can then spend time during the day to go to the park and play with my little boy Johnny (18 months old). How about being busy enough (luckily) that I can be more selective on what projects I work on. I’m not saying it will always be that way, but for now…that certainly makes me say “that’s why I freelance”.
  A few other random reasons would be:
  1) my car has 15,000 miles on it and it’s three years old. 2) I wear shorts to “work” (my office down the hall).
  3) I can eat and sleep whenever I want and grooming is an option (although my wife would prefer otherwise).
  4) I can go to the gym when there are not 3 people waiting for every machine.

  There are even more reasons, but these are a few of my favorites.

• Mark Wells
  December 19th, 2007 at 6:00 pm

  I love being a freelancer and entrepreneur… its total freedom and great to do what you love and choose what and who to work with. One of my favorite examples of this was a few months back, some friends of ours called on a thursday night and offered us their condo in Florida that very next week… I moved some things around, grabbed any files i needed, and worked from the beach as little as I could that next week. It was a great spontaneous vacation for our family!

• Mrs. Micah
  December 19th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

  And darnit, I missed.

  But I still have a fun story.

  Today I found out that a friend lives just down the street from the Library of Congress. I said “I can’t go there because…wait…I don’t work 9-5 anymore. Awesome!” That’s why I freelance. :) (Some reading rooms are open later, but not all and that’s annoying).

  Another reason I’m glad I freelance, I saw a site today that my husband suggested and thought “Nope, I’m not what they need.” Then I suddenly figured out a way to sell myself to fill another need that this one-person business may not have filled yet. I’m learning to sell my services–albeit more slowly than I’d like. Which is why I’d like to learn to be a freelance rock star.

• Ryan Imel
  December 20th, 2007 at 1:06 am

  I have a unique perspective, since I just recently (very recently) made the switch from freelance _to_ a full time position. Yeah.

  Freelancing over the past year or so is what gave me the opportunity to catch this job (which is a great one, one I’m excited about). Freelancing gave me the opportunity to meet many great people, whether it was in WordPress design work (Cory Miller, Brian Gardner, Nathan Rice) or having some of the best clients I could ask for. I think I remember the people more than I remember the work, actually.

  I also appreciate being able to focus myself in a professional manner, outside of the influences of “the accepted workplace”. I shrugged the mold and questioned different things; some worked out, others didn’t. But in the end I realized that I now have a much better understanding of what sort of a working environment I want to be a part of. What I want to create.

  My job now is actually what I consider a mix between a “real job” and freelancing. I’m working remotely for a very cool web group located in another state. It’s what I want to do (right now) and the experience will be a great one. Like I said, the time I’ve spent freelancing is what made it possible for me to find a great “real job” that I can enjoy. Backwards, aye?

• Shawn
  December 20th, 2007 at 8:22 am

  @Jon - it was for designfirms.org. (http://designfirms.org/awards/) Its the “Effective Images” logo under graphic award winners.

  Thanks again!
  Shawn

• Jon
  December 20th, 2007 at 6:29 pm

  Hello, I sent the ebook to the first 3 people that left a comment and shared a story, thanks a lot everyone for sharing, quite interesting! :)

  I’m really sorry if you didn’t get a copy, unfortunately I cannot send more than 3, but if you were on the FSw mailing list you can get a $10 off if you act fast :)

• Dovy
  January 2nd, 2008 at 5:47 pm

  I have recently been working for a company at a nominal rate. I saved the company’s web design by making it profitable. Recently they handed me a non-compete that restricts me from doing any web design w/o their consent for 2 years after i leave the company and while I am at the company. They told me verbally “we have no intent to carry out the contract, but it has to be that strong to be of any use.

  After speaking with my lawyer and looking around for work I decided to double my hourly rate and quit their company.

  I quit and 1 hour later got an email from them: “When you leave can we contract you?”

  So basically, I now make a little over 2x my day job and have more time to spend with my family.

  That is why I freelance. So I don’t have to lose my rights to the Man.

  Do I get a free copy? I could use it!

• Derick Lim
  March 12th, 2008 at 11:19 am

  Hello,
  I am a DTP artist who previously work in a publishing company specialised in Educational Reference books. My main task was to layout the book from the beginning of the chapter till the end part.
  Due to hectic work lifestyle, I suffered a stroke 6 years ago. Due to my partial dissability (I was wheel-chaired before, but now I can slowly regain my steps thanks to my physiotherapist); I am out of job.

  Hence, I decided to do freelance with my years of experience in educational book’s publishing. Being a freelancer enable me to aet aside the morning session to brisk walking. Workout exercise is important for dissability people to regain stamina and muscle strength. And I can gain all that by being a freelancer in Dtp design. It’s definately feel much more relaxed walking into the park surrounded with the sound of chirping birds while enjoying the green view; as versus to trap inside a concrete jungle with polluted machineries on the road.
  And that’s the reason for me choose to be a freelancer.

  regards
  Derick

• Tony
  June 28th, 2008 at 12:07 am

  I had been freelancing for a while and found a full time job working for the USDA Forest Service . One day they sent me out into the forest with a driver. I was freaked out the whole time due to the narrowness of the dirt roads leading through the forests. When we got to a point in the road where there was a ditch due to rain the driver went on through causing me to Jar my back, by the time I got back to headquarters and got my stuff and headed to my car my back suddenly had the worst pain ever, and thats when i said now I know why I was a freelancer.