Personal Freelance Experience
The Good
I finally took advice from some of the many freelancing books I read, and crafted an email to a local website, Boise Trails. Boise Trails is a site that started in spring 2018 to share more about the running, biking and hiking trails system in the Boise foothills. The site has user-updated trail reports, comprehensive maps of the trails, a blog, and a significant social media presence. Because of Boise Trails’ emphasis on user input, I thought maybe they’d let me write a guest blog post. I pitched several story ideas to them, and hoped I’d hear back. In the email I included links to my portfolio site, and more information about myself to give the reader an idea of my writing style.
I was delighted to receive a very positive email back from Kirk, one of the cofounders of the Boise Trails site. He was complementary of my writing style and article ideas, and immediately asked what would make writing an article worth my while. Time to negotiate. I’m thankful that my boss at my current day job spent years as a successful freelancer. (This is where that "having and using a network or supportive folks" thing is so key.) Upon receiving the affirming email from Boise Trails, I immediately sent Kelci a chat message requesting negotiating help. She gave me wonderful advice: Spell out all the steps and time required for writing the article (interview, write and edit, photograph, etc) and what you would be delivering (article, photos, etc) when you make the ask. The worst that can happen is they say you’re too expensive and then you can change your rate or change what you're offering to find a good fit.
In his response, Kirk said that the cost for the interview-style articles I'd pitched was fair, but that he couldn’t afford it, so he asked me to write one of the articles I'd pitched that didn’t involve an interview and see how it was received by the Boise Trails readers.
Communicating with Kirk was best-case scenario. He was respectful and kind. His honesty about the site's finances also gave me the opportunity to think outside the box. Since I had quoted my top rate for the interview-centered profile articles, I then proposed a Q&A interview format for a lower rate (since a Q&A doesn't require nearly as much writing time to craft a full profile), and proposed that the questions used in the Q&A format could be recycled for future profiles--I now have a lineup of "10 Questions with Boise Trails" profiles for the site in the works.
I feel fortunate that my negotiations went so well, and I’m pleased that I’m able to stay involved with the Boise Trails site. It was the perfect melding of my interests and a writing opportunity. I’m also glad to have folks in my network to consult about things like negotiation, and new published writing samples to add to my portfolio site! See my work for Boise Trails (so far) here: A Beginner’s Guide to Not Crashing your Mountain Bike in 10 Easy Steps and 10 Questions with Carlos Matutes
The Bad
A friend works for a cancer doctor whose department participates in a fundraising event. Each year the doctor is responsible for creating the t-shirt design (or working with a friend to create the t-shirt design). She had heard that I do some graphic design for my work, and asked me if I’d be interested in designing the shirt this year. At the time, I thought it would be a nice thing to do for my portfolio, and I had some ideas immediately after hearing about the year’s theme. I didn’t think it would take much time, and since it was for charity I wasn’t too worried about getting compensation beyond goodwill.
Well, I learned some good lessons for future freelancing efforts. My spring semester turned out to be a lot of work and I didn't have as much free time as I expected to have. Lesson one: know your capacity. Although I had almost six months to complete the design, I found myself putting it off, as homework and regular work kept me busy. Finally, over the course of a weekend I cracked out a design that I felt satisfied with and sent it over with the caveat that I was happy to make minor changes, but if they wanted to go a completely different direction they would have to ask someone else. They loved the design--great! I felt like I dodged a bullet, learned a lesson about overscheduling myself, and figured I'd get a t-shirt out of the deal. All’s well that ends well--or so I thought.
It turned out, the group’s liaison for the t-shirt printing thought the design could use some changes. They took my original idea and recreated it using clip art with extra elements (my original design was all created by hand as vector shapes). If they had come up with a better-looking design, or vast improvements on the original, I wouldn't be too proud to tip my hat and give them a virtual high five. But it didn't look great, and the group didn't like it, but to preserve the relationship with the (re)designer, they ended up printing the newer version. Lesson two: spell out your rights in the beginning.
Not only was I out all the time and stress I spent on creating the original, but my idea was copied AND I didn’t have a piece for my portfolio. There may not have been much I could do to prevent this situation since the project was off-the-cuff and there was no formal arrangement. However, had the group paid for my original design they might not have been so fast in letting it get completely reworked by someone else. Lesson three: value your work. Having a formal arrangement may not have made a difference in this case, but for me, lesson learned. If I agree to do comp work for a friend of a friend again, I’ll likely include a note about how my work is an original design and it can't be reproduced or repurposed in any way. And I’ll seriously consider charging something, even if it’s a nominal fee, because that would hopefully convey value.