I think this is going to be a really rad discussion. This one really hits home for me, seeing that in two days I will be officially unemployed and ready to take on a full-time freelance career. Can't wait.

Here are my notes for the Going Freelance Meeting yesterday.

After introductions, Mike G. of http://lovemikeg.com outlined the agenda for the day:

Issues to cover
Time Management Techniques
Sources of Inspiration
Insurance issues
Tax Issues
Continuing Education
Pricing
What is a bad Client?
and Finding Work

We talked about a few ideas on keeping on track, such as forgoing that beer ;> or dvd, but we finally settled on the fact that properly over estimating and padding the time it takes for a job was the most effective way to stay on time. We also covered the 80/20 rule (AKA Pareto Principle). 80% of the job is done in 20% of the time.

We lightly covered sources of inspiration and agreed that meeting like these help inspiration as well as reading, surfing and a pert time job. CE can be gotten in many places but technical forums are a great free source of education that could help you out of a bind.

We found out from Kat that insurance is not as expensive as we think it is. She got a great deal from Humana. By great deal I mean $150 per month great.

Awww Taxes, yes Taxes. We covered the choice of business structure, (Sole-P, Partnership, and Corporation). We discussed the LLC, or mongrel Corporation, and where, why, and when to incorporate.
Where - Florida, Delaware, Nevada
Why - Personal Liability Protection
When - After you have earned enough to need protection, or you have made a page that has lots of liability.

Don't undercharge, you not only hurt yourself you hurt the industry. I told them my secret (GAG). Get your minds out of the gutter, it means Graphic Artist Guild and the publish a "Ethical Pricing Guide" that has great pricing structure and some contracts. http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/0932102131/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-9581103-7044611?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191189773&sr=8-1
On the same vein Mike G. pointed out a great package although pricey from http://www.sitepoint.com/kits/freelance2/

Now the issue we spent most time on, what is a bad client? Lots of horror stories later, we decided that talking down to us is definitely a sign of a bad client. Additionally, we agreed that we should deal directly with the stakeholder and decision maker for the project in order to avoid the pitfalls that were illustrated by the forum. Use contracts that specifically list what you will do and what you expect in return. In this contract make sure you include an arbitration clause, and a clause that states you hold the copyright for the project until final payment is received. You can file a copyright at USPTO.gov for around $45, money well invested. Then transfer the Copyright when the payment is received. We also found out that an email with the acceptance of a proposal could be considered a signed contract, but I would still try to get it in writing.

And finally we talked about how to drum up business.
Lots of great ideas and sites were mentioned, here are a few of them:
Here in Orlando the wednesday newspaper features new businesses opening this week. If you send them a postcard or give them a call this could be successful.
http://www.authenticjobs.com
http://www.freelanceswitch.com
http://ifreelance.com
and last resort http://elance.com


some other sites mentioned in the meeting
http://discuss.cfphp.org
http://lovemikeg.com
http://corpoprate.com
http://barcamporlando.org/
http://blogorlando.com/
http://www.humana-one.com/

I hope this helps those who could not attend.
I also hope to see you at the next meeting.

Mario M
Sorry for the delay posting these notes

I'd also suggest http://www.sunbiz.org/ for florida incorporation. I was able to incorporate for $70 online.

I saw this on some Google ad...

http://www.hitfreelance.com

Thoughts?

Yeah. I just looked it over myself. Doesn’t sound very appealing to me. I probably wouldn’t consider it unless I was really hurting.

I noticed that they also were looking for PHP developers. Since you took a look at the designer application I thought I would check out the PHP application....

Well, I must agree with you. They do not seem like very competent people. Their PHP application form does not work, their contact link is "mailto", and they claim to be the 2nd ranked provider of IT Services in the country.

Something just doesn't seem right. I emailed them my "test" with a few comments about their site. I will let you all know what they have to offer...if they get back to me.

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