By Emerson Williams
Perhaps you have an amazing knack for baby names, you’re a whiz at editing photos or you’re willing to join studies where you have to sleep soundly for prolonged periods of time. These are real ways people all over the world make money.
Business ventures like these are considered different ways of ‘Freelancing.’ According to the media financial advice resource Investopedia, “a freelancer is an independent contractor who earns wages on a per-job or per-task basis, typically for short-term work.”
This unique path has a hold on many Canadians, as nearly half a million have taken on a ‘freelancer’ label as of 2023, according to Statistics Canada.
Considering the opportunity for flexible hours and unique work opportunities, freelancing can be a dream for some students. However, without consistent schedules and stability of full-time work, freelancing holds some curveballs to prepare for.
The Eyeopener has you covered with a few tips for anyone looking to launch their freelance career.
Maintaining connections
Building and maintaining a professional network plays a vital role in finding new opportunities as a freelancer.
“Networking behaviours can be seen as a proactive way of creating access to career-related social resources,” according to a study by America’s National Library of Medicine. Networking is particularly important for freelancers as they often “cannot depend on an organizational career system supporting their further development.”
Finding a new opportunity may be as simple as staying connected with your current and past networks through check-ins and conversations. That’s how second-year animation student at OCAD and freelancer Mar Noble got her job as a media editor for her high school’s concert orchestra.
“I’ve played trombone since I was nine,” she said. “[When I started university], they reached out and asked if I could edit just one thing.” From there, Noble was able to leverage more opportunities and work consistently with the organization.
Noble said working within your network can be quite the balancing act. She didn’t anticipate her casual and friendly relationships with former mentors and acquaintances to become so rigid. She advises new freelancers to prepare for the same if they choose to work with peers.
“I’ve known them for years, so it’s not super polarizing,” she said. “A lot of what I’ve learned is the management side, how to market myself and how to [advocate] for my work.”
Setting your rate
With freelancing, setting an appropriate rate for the quantity and quality of the work you do is important. Finding a rate that covers your expenses, labour and end product—while still meeting your customers budget—is key to longevity in your respected field.
According to Creative Ladder, a nonprofit organization for diverse creatives, an effective method to set your rate is by using full-time salaries as a base and increasing from there. The organization recommends finding salaries of a full-time position and then multiplying the hourly rate by five or 10 times. Running your own business requires more tasks so as a freelancing creative, you can charge more per hour.
Noble wants every new freelancer to prioritize their earnings by being realistic with compensation.
“A lot of artists who are younger think that they can charge an hourly minimum wage and that just doesn’t make sense. Especially if you’re in school for any sort of art degree,” she said.
There are many factors that have to be considered as the proprietor when it comes to profit, according to Noble.
“People aren’t just paying for the product and your time,” she said. “They’re paying for your skills, they’re paying for your knowledge, they’re paying for not just the one [piece] they’re receiving but all of the practice done to get to that point.”
Organization is key!
Many creatives’ careers naturally find their ways to them. This is the case for stop-motion animator and illustrator Jus Soucy who has a dedicated fan base of over 26,000 YouTube subscribers.
Soucy also runs a steady commission-based business, which he said kicked off after he really started building community within his niche.
“I use a website that’s made for commissions called Ko-Fi. I have a form where people can send in direct requests of what they want,” he said.
However, with a large onset of online requests and cash flow comes a need for financial organization. According to freelance journalist and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) School of Journalism instructor Russ Martin, the organization of files and other general bookkeeping can be overwhelming—especially for tax season.
“When you become a freelancer, you also become a bookkeeper,” said Martin. “When you are starting out, it really behooves you to get someone who is a tax professional to give you good advice.”
Martin said that good bookkeeping and organizational skills can help you save money later.
“The worst thing you can do is get into a situation where you file your taxes, you discover how much you owe and you do not have that much money,” he said.
With many hats to wear, freelancing can be stressful for newcomers. Soucy’s biggest piece of advice for those intimidated? “Just do it”.
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