Advice on being a succesful freelancer.

[J.C]

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[imgumbydammit]

Well you could answer your phone with "Vandalay industries ....how may I direct your call" (if you've never watched seinfeld that joke may be lost on you )

 

IGD

[J.C]

1

[yobarman]

In regards to finding new clients, most new businesses forget one very important thing: marketing. This is especially true for design businesses which need far more marketing than other industries because you always want to have your company name in their head.

 

As for your phone problem, you can solve it in one of two ways. Just answer the phone "Thank you for calling JC Design, how can I help you?" or just get a second number. If you get a business line, then always answer the phone the way i previously stated.

 

If you have an abundance of stills, you can do a bunch to animate them. Yeah you can pan across, but you can also pan up and down, zoom in and out, fade in and out(including fading from a wireframe) etc... There are a number of things you can do to stills to give them more life, and i apologize for forgetting the technical term for it, but you should'n't have trouble with it.

[thinice]

It really depends on who your clients are.

 

If you want to stay a freelancer, I recommend that you get really up close and personal with your clients. The money you would spend on hiring a sexy secretary is better off used for a really nice vacation.

 

Once your clients knows you personally and appreciate yr work, it does not really matter that you work at home, as long as you keep your attitude professional.

 

On the other hand, if you want to service bigger institutions and companies, it is difficult to get personal - unless the CEO is your brother. In cases like this, proper office, secretary, nice marketing kit etc goes a long way. Just keep in mind that they are not cheap and will add tremendously to your overhead.

 

It all depends on how far you are willing to go investmentwise.

[J.C]

1