Freelance, Professionalism and Knowing When You’re Ready to Have Clients

Freelancing is only suited to seasoned professionals. Pursuing a freelance career as your first step in the profession is almost always a foolish move. Professionalism is maintained by habit. If your first step is a misstep, you’ve set a poor tone for the work ahead. Unless you immediately correct your mistakes, the habits you’ll develop will be clumsy and unprofessional.

…The design professional’s job is to show confidence when dealing with clients. No one else can communicate your value or win trust for you. The reason clients distrust those who do not communicate with confidence is because this trait signals other incompetencies. 

Rutledge is all up in my business, tapping me on the shoulder and reading my mail. This is an excellent article, full of advice I wish someone would have told me when I was 3 years into being a designer and I thought I knew everything. I’m going on 7 years now, and I realize how little I know. Go get some wisdom.