What really impresses me most about what Robert's done is that he's realized that by selling the outcome that most clients want to hear (higher conversion rates, more leads) instead of what designers tend to emphasize (clean design, HTML5 compliance, etc.) he's pitching himself as an investment, not an expense.
"Clean design" doesn't mean "I'll make more money in the long run than I'm spending on this engagement." Sure, better design can lead to that, but it's a proxy.
Many designers and developers can learn a lot from what he's done. Focus on those outcomes that position ourselves as investment vessels, not expenses. This means realizing that — no matter how passionate we are about our hard-earned skills — it usually means diddly squat to our clients. They just want a positive ROI at the end of the day.
So don't think of proposing to a potential client that you'll write "Ruby code." Rather, figure out how writing Ruby code can get your client more customers, more profit, decreased overhead, whatever and sell THAT.
This boils down to the very old sales axiom, "sell benefits, not features". It would stand to reason that the more successful designers are good salespeople too.
This is not only "sell benefits, not features" thing. There are tons of designers out there who doesn't know what "conversion" means. Hence they don't or care about the conversion.
Why would you get your website designed by someone like that, unless you know conversion very well and design and micro manage the design process?
Are you making the claim, then, that there's absolutely no overlap between the fields of marketing and design, that conversion is solely the responsibility of marketing, that conversion is completely uninfluenced by design, and that being able to fill multiple roles is a waste of time for everyone involved? Otherwise I'm having difficulty following your train of thought here.
Exactly. I don't do twitter, dribble or other distraction. My site isn't a portfolio, just a quick pitch that I can do the work that you need and that'll you be excited about. If you need samples I'll send something over. It's worked out well for me. But like all styles, it's not for everyone, you have to find what works best.
Agreed, and it goes beyond just clients. This is great advice for life: Know your audience, know what's important to them, and use that to guide your discussion with them.
Reminds me of the book How To Win Friends And Influence People. All the way back in 1936, Dale Carnegie was trying to teach people that explaining why they should want something gets far, far better results than explaining what you would like about it.
Ignoring the "delete your portfolio" and "making $30k is great" parts (which I don't really agree with), for me the big takeaway here is having a more active approach to finding work.
If you're struggling to find work as a freelance designer, you should definitely be doing more to contact clients and meet their needs instead of simply showing them pretty pictures.
Then again, if you're Kerem Suer (http://kerem.co/) you don't need to do any of that because you've already established your reputation, and you can show up at any startup and they'll hire you on the spot.
Disclaimer: I'm the guy behind Folyo (http://folyo.me), the design job board mentioned in the article.
Am i the only one who thinks making $30k as a graphic designer freelancing in California for 6 months is incredibly low? In fact less than making at $42k annually as a salaried employee once you count in health care and self employment taxes?
Since when did a blog post about being a barely surviving freelancer qualify for the HN front page?
Sorry for being a bit of a jerk on this, but i don't get it. Maybe he got clients by being good at gaming HN?
This was his _first six months_ as a freelancer. Making the switch isn't easy. Clearly he's a smart and determined fellow who has a mindset for optimizing his business. Based on this, I expect to see his income grow substantially quarter over quarter.
It's pretty easy to find a token side point in any post and make a dismissive comment, as you have done. On the other hand, his central point was a useful revelation to me, despite my 20+ years of startup business experience.
His post is excellent, and exactly what HN is about.
Totally. I didn't even make $30k a year for the first few years of being a freelancer, although it was just after the dot com boom. Thankfully those days are over and lessons learnt, etc.. :)
I am confident the number of people who wish they could quit their jobs and then make 60K a year freelancing is quite high -- especially in the competitive design industry.
People very rarely choose freelancing for the money. If I was told I could quit my job and freelance for two thirds of what I was making, I'd probably take it.
Really? To me, the extra stress of dealing with clients and wondering about each paycheck would mean I'd have to earn more, not less. I'm happy to take a guaranteed 100k vs 100k with a potential 50k swing and dealing with clients who might not pay me.
You're responsible for your credit control and you're not really under any obligation to run anything other than a zero receivables business. It's oft repeated, but the Fuck You Pay Me video[1] is pretty much essential viewing for anybody that has to deal with collecting payments from customers.
I think that's completely valid, but also an issue of differing personalities. I know I get a lot of satisfaction from client facetime and that the uncertainty acts as a huge motivation; plus, flexible hours, WFH, and the sense of independence as a freelancer all seem incredibly attractive.
No, adding risk without a built in upside is a gambler not an entrepreneur. Unlike starting a software company as a freelancer you only get paid while your actually working so unless your billable rate is much higher your gaining risk without an upside.
He went from fired to $30k in six months. I had a plan, quit my job with a runway, and still didn't make that much in my first six months as a freelance developer. Finding leads, selling, delivering, and billing take time. I'm averaging a lot more than that now; hopefully he will too.
A good point - billing takes time. Usually it's a minimum of one week, often two, and usually it's a month (depending on industry). So even if he had been working for six months solid, he would only have effectively had five months 'worth' of billing land.
As an aside, my mum used to run a bookstore, and I think it was Penguin books who used to prevent overdue accounts this way: If you're not paid up by the 25th of the month, your orders are halted. Only really works if you've got a decent amount of traction, but you can guarantee that the one distributor that got paid on time every month was Penguin.
I don't think you're being a jerk, you just don't understand pricing differences in areas. If I wanted to commute 60 miles every day or remote, I could buy a house for 55k with land. A nice one.
Also, I like how you say "qualify for the HN front page" like it's some sort of accomplishment.
Actually it's really impressive he can hit the ground running and made $30k from scratch. Just like the first sales, the first batch of clients is the toughest to get. Once he got it going, he will get more. Kudos to him.
You're right, if he were to continue earning only that amount, while working just as much. We'd need to know the context to judge:
1. He might be earning the 30K while working less than at his old job (or more, to be fair).
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2. This is his first six months. There's nothing stopping him from earning more. Salaried employees face much bigger barriers to increasing their earnings, unless they switch jobs.
Most freelancers are not profitable right out of the gate.
The actual amount he has made is not impressive, but starting from nothing is impressive.
Through word of mouth, and repeat business he will be able reduce the time required to acquire more work. He can use the skills he has acquired to be more productive and valuable to future customers. New clients and repeat clients will also be willing to pay-up since he is now a trusted resource, with less risk.
The best lesson to take away here is not to delete your portfolio, but to delete all the things you do that aren't moving the needle in a meaningful way towards whatever goal you have, monetary or otherwise.
I know this was comedic, but I honestly think commenting (and reading) on HN has improved my employability more than anything besides actual employment. It's open my eyes to technologies I'd never learn about otherwise, it's gotten me contacts, and -- most importantly -- commenting is an exercise of writing, and clear communication is arguably the most important skill one can have regardless of discipline.
A lot of scorn can be placed on HN for its echo-chamber qualities -- most of it fair -- but at the end of the day, arguing too much about JS frameworks is still a better use of one's time than animated cat pictures.
I know this was comedic, but I honestly think commenting (and reading) on HN has improved my employability more than anything besides actual employment. It's open my eyes to technologies I'd never learn about otherwise, it's gotten me contacts, and -- most importantly -- commenting is an exercise of writing, and clear communication is arguably the most important skill one can have regardless of discipline.
Yeah, I kid, of course. I do learn a lot from my time on HN, both from reading the articles and from the ensuing discussions. I have days when I spend too much time on here though. Sometimes it doesn't matter, because I'm stuck on a client site for my $DAYJOB and they don't have anything for me to do, and there's little I could be doing to advance my goals while sitting there, so I wind up goofing around on HN.
Other days, I spend time where when I should be working (like right now!) but nobody can just work, work, work all the time, so I don't mind the occasional "goof off on HN" day here and there. And, like you said, the discourse here is writing practice, and learning to write well is always a good investment.
but at the end of the day, arguing too much about JS frameworks is still a better use of one's time than animated cat pictures.
All jokes aside I'll ask 5 or 6 why's so I can get to the core motivations, but I wont go deeper than the 3rd or 4th why in my marketing otherwise you'll risk making your prospect sceptical and weary of your motivations.
"Lets bullet-proof your project in 7 days or less. Get started for free right now."
"Lets" should be "Let's" (it's a contraction).
I find that really off putting. I guess I shouldn't, but I do.
Super-impressed that it's been fixed so fast. I hate it when people nitpick, but occasionally I feel like it's relevant/worth it. That said, I still feel a bit dirty now.
That is not a nitpick, as it's a fundamental part of visual design. If your promotional material is filled with Greengrocer's Apostrophes, that reflects badly on you, not your designer.
I hate it when I see professional signwriters duly painting an incorrect apostrophe - if you're being paid for the job, you should know what to write, and if you don't, look it up. Likewise, I'll forgive a restaurant using one in a homemade menu, but a menu that's been touched by a designer? Loses any class that was applied by having a designer in the first place.
It is depressing that 'the solution' to finding clients was basically to send spam (highly targeted spam, but nevertheless it was commercial e-mail sent to large numbers of people without prior consent of the recipient - where I live, that would be illegal, and I understand it is also illegal in California where the author of the article is based).
The other options for finding freelancing clients are not very good - I've tried advertising on Google, and found that I pay a high CPC, get a low click-through rate, and despite my ad being clearly worded about providing services, most of the people come through on searches looking for jobs themselves, so it hasn't proved profitable (i.e. my cost to acquire a customer seems to be extremely high through that method).
I have had success with ODesk but it is hard to get clients without spending a lot of time first, even with the highest possible rating, and so effective rates there are very low, and ODesk demands a 10% cut, with contractual terms that mean that you can't do any work for the client without going through ODesk unless you wait two years without doing any work.
It is unfortunate that it is so hard for non-spammy consultants to get in touch with potential clients.
Perhaps cold calling companies might prove to be a more cost effective strategy to acquire customers.
I just read all the comments on Designer News. All I can say is "wow". Did all those commenters even read the article? For those who didn't read it, the overall point was simply focus (don't get distracted with efforts that aren't directly contributing to your bottom line and measure your results so you can make informed decisions, honing in on what factually works for you).
Sure, Robert may have put a particular website in a bad light, isn't earning $1M, and maybe tried to find some value in some lessons from online courses (omg), but the point was clear: the competition was homogenous and he wanted to stand out (good). The best marketing strategy is to speak to your audience's needs, not necessarily your industry's ideals. I'm making a broad assumption here, but I feel like most business clients (those likely to hire an agency or a freelance designer) are more concerned with making themselves more money (through effective design) than "looking pretty". I think Robert was accurate in that observation.
Robert had some experience, found some stuff that worked for him, and is trying to share it with the community to help others learn where he maybe didn't have access to learn. I think that's admirable. I don't know why people on Designer News are shitting all over on him. Geez.
WTF... why? for sharing my story? how is this blog post in anyway a "thin veil for a get-rich-quick scheme"? I'm not selling anything, I'm simply talking about what my experience was, and that I decided to focus on other things instead of a portfolio...
I agree, but what I find odd is how a submitter of a story can also be implicated (ignoring the point the submitter is actually the author in this case, I think?)
Why would anyone want to submit stuff to a site if there's a risk they could get banned if people on the site don't like the item? That's what voting and/or flagging are for. Banning should be for abusive behavior, not poor submissions.
How did you reach that conclusion? Did you start from the idea that the course is nothing but a get-rich-quick scheme and therefor no one could benefit from it and the blog post must be a sham?
Do you think that he didn't do what he said or that he is maybe getting some consideration from Ramith Sethi or something?
To my naive eye they guy seems to have written a post about a course of action that he is happy with and has given him some success. Is that so hard to believe? It doesn't that deleting your portfolio is the best course of action, it's just what he did.
Or is it the emphasis on revenue that rubs you the wrong way?
I'm asking all these questions because I just can't wrap my head around the negative reaction.
It confuses me too. If there was an affiliate link to Earn1k and he spent the whole post talking about it then I can see it being considered spammy.
I wonder if the DN mods would be so quick to ban the post if he had mentioned the name of a book he found useful, rather than the name of an online course.
Perhaps it is because he has the audacity to be motivated by money, rather than a pure love for design, and this upsets the DN team?
I'm just here to say that Ramit, the author of the course he mentioned is legitimate.
His New York Times best selling book "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" is one of the best personal finance books I've read. It is especially useful for young people with a high income potential like many of us on Hacker News.
Wow. If that's what you took away from the author's post, I seriously question DN's capacity to moderate. This, on top of the FlatUI fiasco, leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. My interest in DN is less and less each day.
Hellbanned? Why? I'm a freaking designer and as one I can tell you I found the article rather interesting. Deleting your portfolio and making money? That's something you don't hear everyday. The fear of freelancing is not finding any clients. He found a way and shared his story, good for him. I found it irritating he didn't link to this Earn1K course. Had to google it and of course there are multiple hits. How do I know I've got the right one? I'd apologise if I was Designer News. Making money is not 'evil'.
Hmm it has to be a really thin veil because I read it like any other post to get the author's point of view then checked out the comments. I'm sure marketers are trying to innovate like everyone else but in this case I would have to say it didn't work because I still haven't gotten to the get rich quick e/book that it is supposed to promote (it wasn't in my face).
The comments sure are interesting but the only thing I checked out from reading it was the designer's site that got dissed.
Note: The post could have been edited by the time I read it.
"They all had very minimal copy, and usually a short designery phrase like, ”Pixel perfection,” or whatever. You know, you’ve seen them. Basically, sites like this: http://kerem.co/ "
Kerem is an amazing designer and in very high demand-I would know.
He probably makes 2-3X more than this guy. So not sure why he is dissing him.
To be honest 30K in six months is not that great. I'm guessing ultimately he wants to make big money like Kerem one day.
I didn't interpret this as dissing him, but just an example of a typical approach to a designer's website. He just wanted to try to do something different. 30K in six months long term would not be that great, but this is his first six months, which includes figuring out how to operate his business - so it sounds pretty good to me.
Looking at that website, what's not run-of-the-mill about it? He may do great work for clients, but that particular website is yawnfully boring, and has employed that terrible current trend of low-contrast text on grey background.
There are trends and a lot of designers follow them, because that's what's currently in demand. It doesn't mean they aren't creative or execute poorly, which would've been indeed an insult.
Honestly, this is not just something that works with design. Do you know how many programming jobs you can get just by talking to people? One-person design projects are like small, one-off web applications. You don't need a firm to attract business if the jobs end up being done by single individuals anyway.
On the other hand there are good reasons to be a part of a company. The reason I work for a company that gets contracted for web application projects is because I don't like thinking about business, and I'm not good at selling. If you have a head for those things, that's awesome for you - I wish I did. But not having to think about those things too much lets me focus on what I can do and still get a decent salary and benefits.
Did anyone kind of feel bad that this guy is happy making $30k in 6 months? I think I'm excellent at what I do and think I deserve every dollar I make. However, I can't help but feel bad for people that are making so much less than me just because I might have been a bit luckier in my career path.
Honestly, 60K is actually pretty good money I think. I make just about the same. Before my current job I made around the same. All my friends who are the same age as me make roughly the same. Last time I was doing interviewing, I tried asking for 80K, but not a single company pretty much told me I wouldn't be getting that.
He went from getting fired to making $30k freelancing in 6 months. I would imagine his annual income is trending up significantly and will end up being much more than $60k the first year of his freelancing "career".
Thank you, this reading was really very much inspirational.
Anyone in the UK tried that in a similar situation? I feel like it is very rare occasion when people consciously jump from freelance pathway to corp full-time perm path and vice versa.
"Clean design" doesn't mean "I'll make more money in the long run than I'm spending on this engagement." Sure, better design can lead to that, but it's a proxy.
Many designers and developers can learn a lot from what he's done. Focus on those outcomes that position ourselves as investment vessels, not expenses. This means realizing that — no matter how passionate we are about our hard-earned skills — it usually means diddly squat to our clients. They just want a positive ROI at the end of the day.
So don't think of proposing to a potential client that you'll write "Ruby code." Rather, figure out how writing Ruby code can get your client more customers, more profit, decreased overhead, whatever and sell THAT.