The World of Freelancing

Let’s Talk about Freelance Cartooning

2005-03-27T23:12:00.000+08:00

Actually, I asked my friend Google to search for articles related to Freelance Artist. However, it seems that there is no article that pleased me. Anyway, Google repaid me by giving me a link to a very detail article regarding Freelance Cartooning. It really cheers me up as I think the information in there is very “juicy” because stuff like the tools of the trade as well as the payments are stated. So that’s how this article is started.

I do not plan to write a summary about this article because I think it’s nice to read it as it is. So I guess leaving the url here for you to enjoy the best choice. (Actually, I am lazy to write anything because I don’t know why nowadays headache keeps haunting me when I’m doing computer stuff). Sorry for not doing my job well.

Without further delay, here is the url : -
www.motherearthnews.com/library/1970_January_February/Freelance_Cartooning

Click on it and enjoy the lengthy article.

COMING SOON : - Freelancing In a Nutshell

The Life Of Freelance Game Designer

2005-03-27T16:51:00.000+08:00

During my research on freelancing, I found an interesting article entitled “The Freelancing Life” written by Matt Forbeck, a freelancer game designer. It is written for readers who are interested in knowing what freelance game designer is.

Since it’s a 3-pages PDF article and it’s flooded with words, I guess some of you might not want to read everything in it, so I decided to summarize it for you and I’ll add the url link right after the summary. Hopefully my summary is short but informative.

Summary:-

The Basics
A Freelance game designer is someone who designs adventure games under contract to a publisher. Unlike other conventional game designers, freelance game designers have to design according to the publisher’s or developer’s specification unless they have an better idea that manage to convince the publisher to bring it to market.

Breaking In
To break into the industry, you should first earn yourself a name by writing some magazines articles or maybe a book. However, this is not easy as there are many competitors out there. So, you can either self-publish your work or get someone in the industry to help you.

Tools of the Trade
1. Computer with an internet connection
Most publishers like to deal with designers that submit their work electronically.

2. E-mail
It’s the publishers’ choice of communication tool.

3. Word Processing Program
A must-have program that enables you to write your articles or documents.

4. Spellchecker
This can help you in checking grammatical errors.

5. Dictionary / Thesaurus
This is a good friend that serves as a reference for writing.

6. Printer
To print out your materials to ease your eyes while checking for errors

The Work
Working as a freelance game designer is not easy. However, if you love the job, work seriously and submit your assignment before the deadline, you will find it enjoying.

This is the link to the article -> www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/freelancinglife.pdf

COMING SOOM: - Let’s Talk about Freelance Cartoonist

Some Tips for Freelancers

2005-03-26T23:42:00.000+08:00

Today, I have prepared some useful tips in which I have divided them into two categories. The first one is on how the company access you, and the second is on how to compete with other competitors.

How The Company Access You
So how does the company determine the best candidate for the job?

The lowest bid doesn't necessarily get the job. The company only partly bases their decision on the bid. They especially want to know whether or not you are qualified for the job.

Your qualifications are determined by your resume, or portfolio. Keep in mind that many companies hire for services on a continual basis, therefore your skills and experience level should accurately represent your abilities in order to secure future projects with the company.

Is there a catch, you ask?

There is no real catch. What you will notice are the dynamics of a marketplace with supply and demand features. That is, lower skilled projects tend to be more competitive, as do specialized projects where the market is flooded with experts.

How to compete with other competitors
Be the best competitor on the block, that's how. Get additional training if you need to upgrade your skills, or take an internship to enhance your experience level.

Actually, you want to be the best competitor on several blocks. Bid as many projects as you reasonably can within your area of expertise. Never lay dormant - search for projects and bid, search and bid, search and bid...

To beat other competitors, you need to be good in self-marketing as well. A portfolio of past work, case studies and testimonials is an excellent marketing tool - and later branded stationery or at least a business card adds to your professionalism when meeting prospective clients.

However you choose to work, your clients will judge you by your ability to deliver quality work to deadlines - so your professional reputation depends on this.

COMING SOON:- The Life Of Freelance Game Designer

The Steps Towards Freelancing

2005-03-26T17:07:00.000+08:00

After a long rest, I’m finally back to bring more information regarding freelancing today.

Starting from this article onwards, I’ll share with you how to start your freelancing career step-by-step. I assume that you have possessed the right personalities, abilities and tools that you need in your business (If you dunno what I am talking about, you can refer back to the previous articles). So, are you ready?

Step 1: - Search For Sites that List Projects
Browse through the internet and search for sites that list projects for freelancers. To ease your pain, I have done some homework for you. Check out the sites below:-

Guru.com :- http://www.guru.com/
FreelanceWorkExchange :- http://www.freelanceworkexchange.com/
AllFreelanceWork :- http://www.allfreelancework.com/
BidThisProject :- http://www.bidthisproject.com/
DirectFreelance :- http://www.directfreelance.com/
Elance : - http://www.elance.com/

This is a local freelancing-related site.
http://www.twogateways.com.my/sb_learnmore.aspx

This sites is for freelance game developer
http://www.projectspring.com/cgi-bin/pshome.cgi?show=gdev

Step 2: - Register Yourself
Register yourself at the sites as a member. It's free to register in most cases and makes you a member of the site. Register at several sites to increase your chances of getting projects. Many freelancers work several projects at the same time. Just be careful not to take on more than you can handle.

Step 3: - Market Yourself
Now, this is a large step.

After you have registered, you must submit your skill set at the project site. Your resume must be in tip-top shape. It must be current and an accurate representation of your experience and skills. This is important as your clients will need this to determine the right person for their project.

If you're not comfortable writing a resume you should consider hiring a professional to do it for you. You don't get a second chance to make a great first impression.

To go a step further, set up your website or portfolio as a showcase of your talents. Direct prospective clients to your site and give them a tour of the *benefits* only you can give them. Further extend your reach into the worldwide community by advertising your services both offline and online. Go global!

Here are some examples of resume and portfolio. These should give you a clear picture of how you can market yourself:-

http://www.freelancers.net/jeremy/
http://www.stridepool.com/public/flr-portfolio.html
http://www.6869.com/resume/freelance.htm
http://www.butlerwebs.com/dianejorstad/about.htm
http://www.dottoandlolly.com/rjs_3.html
http://www.holisticforgeworks.com/resume/

Step 4:- Find and Bid On The Project
Now just search the listings for projects you feel qualified for. When you find one... bid on it! When you bid on a project, your full contact information is revealed to the employer.

Step 5: - Wait
You might probably ask: “Are You Kidding?”

Bear in mind that there might be many other freelancers bidding on the same project, so it takes time for the employer to view all “candidates” online profiles and choose the right person.

Step 6: - Start and Finish the Project
If the employer thinks you are who he wants, you are in, and it’s time to work on the project. Make sure you complete the project on time, or else you will be in big trouble.

Step 7: - Ask For Payment
When you have finished the project deliverables, uploaded them to the sites. Using the billing service available at the sites, you generate an invoice to notify the employer about the payment.

Step 8: - Receive Payment
The employer statisfied with your product and pays your invoice.

Step 9: - Provide Feedback
You and the employer provide feedback on each other.

COMING SOON: - Some Tips For Freelancers.

Call It A Day. Let's play game, flash game!!!

2005-03-06T00:31:00.000+08:00

Well, after having a wonderful empty-wallet-but-worthwhile gaming experience in Sungai Wang, I was tired, and "koyak" of course.

Reaching MMU, followed by Hb2A 5004 (the highest floor), "letih" is the only word in my English dictionary. I lied on my bed for minutes, looking at the dusty ceiling, planning on the things to be done later. Despite being "letih", my plan A was still studying maths for exam, preparing for upcoming programming labtest and badminton skill test, and scripting flash programming assignment. But my mind couldn't stand it, keep suggesting an alternative plan B that sounds : "Let's call it a day!".

Guess what i chose?
Plan A? .. NO...... Plan B? ..Yes......

So I end up saying : "Call it a day!!! Let's play some games" (despite tired playing the arcades in Sungai Wang).

I was searching for flash games on the internet since flash game is short and "completable" in a short time and my laptop won't hate it as much as other "heavier" games, and eventually I found out a fighting game, which happened to have the same name as the flash game that Chuen Chieh and I will be creating for the assignment. It's call Battle Arena.

Basically you are controlling a ninja-like sword fighter, and fighting enemies one by one (total = 25). You can learn many skills, upgrade weapons, change weapon, save/load game and choose difficulties.

My comment about this game???
IT'S THE COOLEST FLASH GAME I EVER PLAYED. (note: so far i only tried a few flash games).

My last word regarding the game???
Try it! Or You will Regret Forever!!! (talk off only).

Then why are we waiting for ?? Give us the website already!!!
Oops, sorry. Talking to much. Here's the link.

http://www.2flashgames.com/f/f-262.htm

Well, you guys sure notice that I'm not writing some freelancing stuff here. The reason is simple,
because I call it a day. I might post it later.

So that's all I think. I hereby annouce that this advertisement ends here.

The Tools of The Trade

2005-03-05T00:22:00.000+08:00

If you are taking the path of freelancing, these are the tools that you will need in brief.

a) ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
1) Computer
This is the most important tool of all, and it applies to freelancers of any field.
Some freelance job might require you to have a laptop instead of a pc.

2) Printer
This tool applies more on freelance writer. Sometimes you might want to print out the materials which is easier to read and eyes-friendly.

3) Scanner
The friend of freelancers of art field like freelancer artist and freelance graphic designer. These freelancers use this to “digitize” their artwork.

b) SOFTWARE
1) Compiler / IDE
You got it right! It’s for freelance programmers and game programmer, and it helps them to create programs.

2) 2D / 3D Software
Very essential to freelance artist, graphic designers, 2D and 3D animators, character animators…… These are the recommended softwares in the current industry: -

2D Software
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, Flash, Firewall……

3D Software
3Ds Max, Maya, Lightwave, SoftImage……

3) Office Tools
Every freelancer needs it in some way. Doing stuffs like writing letters, creating list.
Note: - The designer of Sim City (I forgot his name, cos I got this info from a library book weeks ago) uses Microsoft Excel to help him in his design.

c) COMMUNICATION TOOLS
1) Telephone
A telephone for home business purpose is essential.

2) E-mail
The cheapest communication tool. Since almost every employer handles much of the communications with e-mail, you might as well have one.

d) MISCELLANEOUS
1) Dictionary / Thesaurus
If you are into freelance game writer, you might need this as your guidance.

4) Spellchecker
Humans are humans, so we do make mistakes in life. Having a spellchecker will help us to check for grammatical mistakes in our resume or even e-mails.

COMING SOON : - The Steps Towards Freelancing.

Are You a Freelancer Material (final) – Self Evaluation

2005-03-04T15:00:00.000+08:00

Well, I have shared the personalities and abilities required to become a freelancer, so it all depends on you to decide.

However, I guess some of you might have difficulties in making decision, so I have prepared something to help you out – a self evaluation test. This is a test that I found on the internet. It helps people to evaluate themselves whether they are “qualified” to be a freelancer. It’s just a simple test, and it won’t take much time. So, for those who are interested, you can give it a try.

Test Yourself.

Here’s the url -> http://www.allfreelance.com/articlegs1obj.html

Before I end this article, I would like to repeat what has been written in the last paragraph of the site above:

“Don't let the "test" dictate how you are going to run your life. If your passion to succeed is strong enough you will learn to compensate for your weaknesses with your strengths. For example, If you are lazy… overcome your laziness with drive and ambition. If you remember that you can overcome almost any situation with ambition and perseverance you can and will succeed!”

That’s all for this section. I hope you guys get the picture on what it takes to be a freelancer. For more info in freelancer material, visit the following website. http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/98/44/index4a.html?tw=jobs

COMING SOON: - The Tools of the Trade

Are You A Freelancer Material (Part 2)

2005-03-02T21:40:00.000+08:00

Besides having the personalities mentioned in the previous article, freelancers must also possess some abilities that are essential for them. In this article, I’ll stress on these abilities, so please enjoy reading (Well, actually I don’t think this is enjoying, do you?).

ABILITY

A Freelancer Is Able To: -

a) Handle Stress Well
Sometime you might encounter time and money pressure and have to deal with them. If you cannot handle them well, you will be having tension and end up giving up in the middle way of the freelancing path.

b) Be a Good Team Player
Even though for the most part a freelancer works alone, you will need to deal well with others and be a good team player.

c) Multi-task
Being the sole employee of your company, you need to have the ability to handle several projects at a time to keep yourself survive. Handling only one project at a time, especially when the project requires few months time to finish will cause you trouble in earning for a living.

d) Plug & Play
Sometimes you might get a job in which you leap into things mid-flow.
You need to be flexible enough to work well in a wide variety of companies,
situations and people without the benefit of context.

e) Communicate Well
Having good communication skill makes you a good team player.

COMING SOON: - Are You a Freelancer Material (final) – Self Evaluation

Are you a Freelancer material? (part 1)

2005-03-02T21:34:00.000+08:00

“Everyone can choose to be a freelancer, but not everyone can be a freelancer”

Many people fantasize that the freelance existence is a life of luxury, one where you can set your own hours and take time off whenever you feel like it. In reality, however, it's difficult to enjoy the feast when you should be planning for famine. The perfect vacation is one where you totally and utterly forget about work. But when there's no job to forget and no definite work to come back to, you can never completely relax.

Before breaking yourself into the freelancing world, you need to be very sure that you have what it takes to be a freelancer, a successful freelancer.

Starting from this article onwards, I will be sharing with you the materials that you need to possess as a freelancer. As for today’s article, I’ll focus on the required personalities being a freelancer because I personally think that personality is the most important factor of all and it determines how far you can survive in the freelancing world.

PERSONALITY
A Freelancer Is :-

a) Self – Confident
When certain decisions have been made, there’s no turning back. Freelancer needs to be confident of their decisions. Moreover, a freelancer without self – confidence will end up zero success. Just imagine how would employers have confidence in you when you do not have the confidence in you!

b) Self - Motivated
I would say this is a must for all freelancers or freelancer wannabes. No motivation means no persistency. You will not get your job done if you are not motivated to do so.

c) Innovative
This is quite important for freelancers of the art field, be it freelance artist, freelance graphic designer. Being a freelancer that is able to produce new and original products will please your employer well.

d) Competitive
Always bear in mind that there are many, many competitors out there. Freelancers who are lack of competitiveness will end up jobless.

e) Ambitious & Creative
I guess the words explain it all.

After looking at the must-have personalities, it’s time to look at the must-not-have personalities as well.

A Freelancer Is NOT / Does NOT: -
a) Lazy
Now this is dangerous! Very dangerous! There is no one in this world can help you except you. In fact, you can achieve nothing if you are lazy.

b) Money – minded
If you’re the kind of person who spends whatever you have or more, then the freelance lifestyle may get you into all kinds of trouble. Not only do you need to save for the lean times, you also have to plan ahead for the dreaded days.

c) Hate To Learn New Things

I guess that’s it for the information regarding the personalities of freelancer. In the next article, I will be sharing the abilities required to becoming a freelancer.

COMING SOON: - ARE YOU A FREELANCER MATERIAL (PART 2).

The Demand And Money Matters

2005-02-20T11:37:00.000+08:00

Today, I’ll like to share a little info about the demand and money matters of freelancer. So, if you are interested in knowing the pay of freelancer categorized by field, and how freelancers make money, you are at the right site.

The Demand for Freelancer

Freelancers are high in demand, very high indeed. You will find thousands of jobs available on the web with just a few clicks. What? Unbelievable? Believe it.

A good example will be this -> http://www.guru.com/
You will find tonnes of projects available there categorized by the area of expertise.

(I found this site -> http://nextlevel.com.my/freelancer.php which illustrates the freelancer jobs and freelancer in Malaysia & Singapore. Try to compare these two sites)

Generally, freelancers are in high demand by employers for many reasons -when a project deadline must be met, when the company lacks adequate expertise or experiences sudden and explosive growth, and so on. Many times an employer simply cannot justify the additional expense associated with hiring another employee.

Freelancer Money Matters
1) How Freelancer make money.

You will only make money as a freelancer if you charge more that it costs you to do the work in terms of your time, expenses and materials. Factor in a profit component to every job you quote for and make sure that that profit component is in addition to an allowance for your time.
Some freelancers charge by the hour and others by the project. In reality, you will probably use a combination of both methods depending on the nature of the job and the client.

2) How the pay is rated?

Hourly. Daily. Or By Project.
Here, I only have a list of hourly pay rates categorized by field here. These are the pay rates for freelancers in San Francisco, so bear in mind that these pay rates is not applicable to all other places.

Writer (Technical) - US$35 to $100

Writer (Non-Tech) - $300 to $1,000 per piece

(or $.30 to $1 per word)

Editor - $35 to $75

Copy editor - $25 to $50

Producer - $50 to $125

Information Designer - $50 to $100

Interface Designer - $30 to $75

Graphic Designer - $50 to $150

Animator - $50 to $150

Straight HTML Coder - $10 to $30

Advanced HTML Coder - $20 to $50

(CSS, dHTML, etc.)

Programming - $100 to $300

(everything from Javascript

to backend)

COMING SOON: - Are you a freelancer material? (Part1)

Being Freelancer: The Pros & Cons

2005-02-19T11:56:00.000+08:00

Being the fan of freelancing, knowing the pros and cons is a must. In this article, I’ll share with you the benefits and drawbacks of freelancing compare to “employee-ing”.

The Pros:-

1) You Are Your Own Boss.

This means that you bask in freedom that comes from being in business for yourself.
You have the choice in when to work, where to work, for as much or little time you want. Moreover, the amount of money you make is directly related to the quantity and quality of your work. This is not necessarily the case for employees. freelancers don't have to ask their bosses for a raise -- if they want to earn more, they just have to go out and find more work. And, because freelancers are not dependent upon a single company for their livelihood, the hiring or firing decisions of any one company don't impact freelancers as they do employees.

2) You May Earn More Than Employees.

You can often earn more as a freelancer than as an employee in someone else's business. According to The Wall Street Journal, freelancers are usually paid at least 20% to 40% more per hour than employees performing the same work. Hiring firms can afford to pay freelancers more because they don't have to pay Social Security taxes or unemployment compensation taxes, provide workers' compensation coverage, or provide employee benefits like health insurance and sick leave. Of course, how much you're paid is a matter for negotiation between you and your clients. Freelancers whose skills are in great demand may receive far more than employees doing similar work.

3) You’ll probably pay lower income taxes

Being a freelancer also provides you with many tax benefits that are not available to employees. For example, no federal or state taxes are withheld from your paychecks, as they must be for employees. You can also take advantage of many business-related tax deductions that are not available to employees. When you're a freelancer, you can deduct from your taxable income any necessary expenses related to your business, as long as they are reasonable in amount and ordinarily incurred by businesses of your type. This may include office expenses (including costs associated with a home office), travel expenses, entertainment and meal expenses, equipment and insurance costs, and much more.

The Cons:-
1) No Job Security

When you're an employee, you must be paid as long as you have your job, even if your employer's business is slow. This is not the case when you're a freelancer. If you don't have business, you don't make any money.

2) No Employer-Provided Benefits

Many employers provide their employees with health insurance, paid vacations, and paid sick leave. More generous employers may also provide retirement benefits, bonuses, and even employee profit sharing.

But when you're freelancer, you get no such benefits. You must pay everything yourself. Time lost due to vacations and illness comes directly out of your bottom line. And you must fund your own retirement. If you don't earn enough money as a freelancer to purchase these items yourself, you will have to do without.

3) No unemployment insurance benefit

Hiring firms do not pay unemployment compensation taxes for freelancers, and freelancers can't collect unemployment when their work for a client ends.

4) No Employer-Provided Workers' Compensation.

Hiring firms do not provide workers' compensation coverage for freelancers. If a work-related injury is a freelancer’s fault, he or she has no recourse against the hiring firm.

5) Risk of Not Being Paid

Some freelancers have great difficulty getting their clients to pay on time or at all. When you're a freelancer, you bear the risk of loss from deadbeat clients.

COMING SOON:- The Demand and Money Matters.

This is Freelancer

2005-02-18T11:53:00.000+08:00

Starting from today’s article, I’ll introduce freelancer – the basics, the pros and cons etc.

As for today’s article, it gives you a very basic and general idea on what freelancer is, and it’s written for readers who have no idea what freelancer is at all. So, if you are not a complete newbie to this, you might skip this article.

Enjoy!

Q: So What’s Freelancer In The First Place?

A: Someone who runs his or her own business without depending upon

a employer to earn a living. Freelancer typically works for a number

of different clients, tackling particular jobs or projects that require

special expertise. These projects have deadline and freelancer

have to complete the assignments given in time, or else, big trouble.

(In English, they work when they feel they like it, they go solo, they

work at home, and they are self-employed).

As a freelancer you are acting as a specialist, or expert, in your field.

This is not to say you need dozens of awards hanging on your wall,

you just need to be proficient and knowledgeable in the duties you

perform. In short, to be a freelancer, you need to be really good at

what you are in.

Q: What Type of Project Available for Freelancers?

A: The type of projects available for freelancers include accounting,

translation services, language consulting, creative writing, art and

web designing, programming, technical and business writing, data

entry, Internet and off-line research, and everything in between.

Believe me, there are all kinds of projects out there (including some

really extravagant and offbeat stuff).

If you are wondering whether there is freelance game designer, yes,

there is. In fact, I’ll post up one article focusing on the life of freelance

game designer in the future.

Q: Who Hires Freelance?

A: Those who hire freelancers are as diverse as freelancers themselves. In some cases, companies will hire freelancers to complete a short-term project as an alternative to hiring a new employee. This is often the case where the work in question is spasmodic or ad hoc and the company cannot justify hiring an employee for such work. Companies also hire freelancers to help smooth out the peaks and troughs of workload. Again, where there is a temporary oversupply of work, the company will hire the freelancer on a short-term basis to help cope with the backlog.

In other cases, companies hire freelancers for their special expertise in a certain area. A company may want to create a new website, for example. Hiring a freelance website designer for such a project makes more sense than hiring a website designer as an employee since once the website is complete, the function will no longer be required.Magazine and newspaper editors also hire freelancers or, more precisely, buy rights to freelancers' work. A freelancer in this type of situation may write a piece and submit it to a number of different editors in the hope that his or her work will be "picked up" by that editor and published, in return for which the freelancer receives payment.

By its nature, such an approach is speculative since the freelancer can't be sure that anyone will actually buy the work. Of course, once the freelancer has been published, it is relatively easier to get the editor to buy the freelancer's work in the future and, as the freelancer's reputation grows, so too do the opportunities forfuture business.

Well, I think that’s all for a very brief intro. Any question, any doubt, please click on the comment button.

(sorry for this messy article. i have tried to fix it but it didnt publish as it suppose to be)

COMING SOON: - Being Freelancer: The Pros & Cons

My Foreword

2005-02-17T11:01:00.000+08:00

Freelancer.

The first time I saw this word was the time I played a game named “Freelancer”. I played the role of a freelance spaceship pilot traveling the whole universe, accomplishing missions by missions to earn money for survival. I had the freedom of choosing when to work, where to work, and what type of mission (assassination, trading blablabla). Back then, I thought I like it and my mind was set that the real-world freelancer would be something like this.

Back in Cyberjaya, in Games Foundation class, I was assigned to research on freelancing. After browsing on the net for some time, I realize that freelancer in the real world isn’t exactly what I thought. There are many things to consider before wearing the “freelancer” name tag. And that is why I made this blog – to share, to show, and to “demystify” the knowledge and info regarding freelancing. (and of course for the sake of assignment :) )

I will post up articles regarding freelancing from time to time. I’ll try to make them as “reader-friendly” as possible. Hopefully these articles are beneficial and informative enough to you guys. Any comments, feel free to drop them here.

And that’s all for the blog intro.

COMING SOON: - This Is Freelancer.