How to Freelance in Advertising

A practical guide to getting started and not being

homeless, by someone who’s been doing it a while.

ZAC MARTIN

HOW TO

FREELANCE IN

ADVERTISING

TOOLS AND TRUTHS FOR

TAKING THE LEAP

#1 HELLO 3

#2 SHOULD I FREELANCE? 5

- Why you should freelance

- Why you shouldn’t freelance

#3 TAKING THE LEAP 11

- Getting the timing right

- Setting up shop

- Landing the ﬁrst gig

#4 LET’S TALK CASH 15

- How much to charge

- Getting paid

- Invoicing

- Paying taxes

- Managing your ﬁnances

#5 IN THE THICK OF IT 29

- Finding work

- Choosing the right gigs

- Being good at freelancing

- Other things I wish I knew before I started

#6 LIFE AFTER FREELANCING 39

#7 FURTHER READING 41

#8 GO GET ‘EM TIGER 42

Published February 2019 / Revised August 2019

CHAPTER 1

HELLO

NEW PHONE, WHO DIS?

I got married in early 2017. On our honeymoon I decided it might be time for a new

job. I was ﬁve years into my current role, my second gig in advertising. I’d had a

good run and put plenty of wins on the board. But half a decade in any agency might

be too long. It was time for something diﬀerent.

The problem, I didn’t know where I wanted to go. And the bigger problem, I didn’t

know what I wanted to do. I was a digital strategy director who liked writing

creative briefs more than digital strategy.

So I took a leap, and started freelancing. My mission would be to spend at least one

year working out what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to end up.

18 months later I’m not homeless, and in fact doing pretty well. I’ve worked with

big agencies, small agencies and clients direct. 26 sources of income in total. I’ve

taken contracts as long as three months, and did one project for $30.

I’ve slowly started ﬁnding the places I like working, and what I like doing, but more

on that later.

Since taking the leap, I’m often asked about freelancing, usually by people thinking

about doing it themselves. The questions are always the same, so this is my

collection of answers.

If you’re considering, or have already jumped, this is a practical guide to freelancing

in advertising.

These are my tools, truths and battle stories.

A SAMPLE OF ONE

I can’t stress enough, the words in this guide (I can’t bring myself to say “book”)

are based almost entirely on my personal experience to date. Yours might be better,

or worse. Advice from other freelancers will probably contradict mine. Some of what

I’ve recommended might not even be legal – I’m no accountant or lawyer.

Instead I’ll share how I do things and what I’ve learned. I’ve rounded my opinion

out a little with some advice from others. But take everything with a handful of salt.

You do you.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS?

I work in advertising. As a strategist. Mostly for agencies. Which are creative

agencies. In Australia.

You probably don’t tick the same boxes. If that’s the case you’ll still ﬁnd most or

some of this useful. Pick and choose what works for you.

For our friends outside of Australia, the tax and ﬁnance details will be redundant

but the principles should still apply. When I refer to super or superannuation, it’s a

401k or pension plan. Dollar references are in AUD (also known as dollarydoos).

CHAPTER 2

SHOULD I FREELANCE?

Taking the leap can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Worst case scenario, you lose

some income and end up back with a real job. Best case scenario, well, there’s

plenty of upshot. But in all decisions there’s good, bad and ugly.

WHY YOU SHOULD FREELANCE

THE COIN IS GOOD IF YOU KNOW HOW TO EARN IT

The money is good, even great. In my ﬁrst year I increased my income 36%. And

that’s working fewer days, although not always by choice. It will take time to learn

what you’re worth, and even longer to become conﬁdent enough to ask for it. I

cover more on how you do this in Chapter 4. But if you’re even remotely busy, you

can make good bank.

CHOOSING YOUR OWN HOURS IS A SUPERPOWER

The ability to choose your hours, in terms of when and how many, does incredible

things to your happiness. Early on I decided to work no more than four days a week

in big agencies. This creates time to work on other projects (paid and unpaid),

chase new ones or just enjoy a sleep in on a Friday.

It gifts you more time during the week, which is good for adulting and giving you

back some freedom on weekends. It was only by freelancing that I was able to run a

half marathon in 2018, because when working from home I could drop everything

when I wanted to go for a jog.

If you’re ﬁnancially comfortable, you can take more time oﬀ. In the past year I’ve

taken trips to South Korea, the US and Tanzania. Good luck ﬁtting that into your

four weeks annual leave (or two weeks in some countries).

Or do other things which are important to you. 19 years after its release I ﬁnally

ﬁnished Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

However your down time isn’t always in your control. Sometimes the stars align.

But in others you’re deep in a drought, then moments later a ﬂood. I’m doing more

weekend work now than in my permanent life (although former colleagues would

probably tell you that wasn’t much). When the work’s there you tend to take it,

even if it means getting home from one job to start another or giving up a Sunday.

YOU GET TO BE A FIREFIGHTER

Everybody loves a superhero – someone who turns up and saves the day. As a

freelancer, you have to like putting out ﬁres, and be good at it.

A nice side eﬀect of this is people love it when you’re helpful. Everyone likes the

guy or girl who rescues the kitten. They got you in because they need help, and if

you can be even a little bit useful, people are exceptionally grateful. You don’t even

have to be brilliant, just nudge things in the right direction, and be pleasant to work

with.

YOU SKILL UP FAST

The changing nature of work exposures you to more problems, more people, more

clients and more processes. You see diﬀerent ways of working. And you ﬁgure out

who you could learn more from, and who are the dickheads.

You get to steal the best bits of everything and leave the rest.

In my ﬁrst year of freelancing I grew more professionally than in previous years

combined. For example, before taking the leap I’d never run my own research

groups. But in one of my ﬁrst freelancing jobs I was invited along to watch a few.

And then on my next contract I knew what needed to be done, and ended up

running six of them.

If you’re hungry, you’ll learn real fast.

THERE’S VARIETY IF YOU WANT IT

There’s work of all shapes and sizes if you want it. Which is particularly helpful if

you’re seeking answers on what to do with your career. If you want to play wide,

you can - ﬂirt around with diﬀerent types of agencies and diﬀerent types of projects.

Over time you work out what you like and what you don’t, as you get closer to

bullseye.

I also enjoy working at diﬀerent speeds. Some projects last weeks or months.

Others need something done in hours (when you work with small clients that’s

often all they need). Freelancing gives you a good range of big-and-chunky long

work through to small-but-done-and-onto-the-next short work.

YOU GET TO BE A BOSS BITCH

Freelancing is always short term. Which can seem counterintuitive if you’re a

strategist who should be accountable long term.

But when you walk into a contract, there’s no client baggage and you’re not there

long enough to worry about politics. Because you’re not around forever, it gives you

a sense of freedom – a permission to be bold and say it like it is. Or put forward a

stronger recommendation. I’ve deﬁnitely been in situations where I’ve said: “I’m

not around tomorrow, so I don’t care what you do, but if you want to win then this

is the right answer.” It’s empowering.

EVERY CONTRACT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REINVENT YOURSELF

I feel like when you start a job, you’re that person until you leave. Even if you grow

or change over years, you’ll still be seen as the same person who walked in on Day

Freelancing allows you to reinvent yourself, and redeﬁne who you are with each gig.

You can make big jumps in experience, seniority and conﬁdence every few weeks if

you want to.

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T FREELANCE

EVERYTHING ABOVE MIGHT BE A CON, NOT A PRO

Starting from scratch or ﬁghting ﬁres may be your idea of a nightmare, not a dream.

Taking control is a responsibility as much as a power and it’s fatiguing always being

in the deep end.

The great things about freelancing

can quickly become its challenges,

especially after the novelty wears oﬀ.

YOU NEED TO BE OKAY WITH SOME UNCERTAINTY

Get used to being okay with having nothing lined up. At the end of last year I was

ﬁnishing a contract and everyone asked where I would be after Christmas. I had no

idea. And I told people I had no idea. You need to be okay with that – ﬁnancially and

mentally.

Not having a regular income is part of it, but so is the bit in your head which starts

to worry when you’re a few weeks without anything substantial lined up.

You do get better at this over time. I’m much more comfortable now with the

unknown but it takes some getting used to.

DOWNTIME CAN SUCK

You also need to be okay in the downtime. I was told you gotta make the most of

these opportunities - head down to your beach house whenever you have a day oﬀ.

Which would be nice if I had a beach house.

I stand more in the camp that unplanned downtime should be utilised if possible.

Hustle or create or write. Or do things to free up the weekend. My ﬁrst day without

a gig I donated blood.

Or just take the moment to catch your breath. As a freelancer you’re not just

working, you’re also looking for work. You’re making more decisions and with that

comes more stress. It can take its toll, and the extra down time is good to recover.

But prepare yourself for quiet days at home where you feel a little useless. Which

you might ﬁnd particularly challenging if you live with a partner who’s working

their ass oﬀ.

If you’re introverted there’s an appeal to spending more time with yourself. But it

can be lonely and you’ll need to manage it.

YOU WON’T HAVE A CREW

Easily the thing I miss most from my old life is not having a crew. People you work

with long enough to call friends. After work beers and daily banter are harder to

come by when you’re running solo. It takes a while to get used to not being part of a

family.

You miss culture. You miss working in teams. You miss celebrations in the good

times, and commiserations in the bad.

If you’re lucky you land in a nice agency with nice folks who take you under their

wing. But building a rapport takes time, and is always ﬂeeting.

NOT BUILDING YOUR FOLIO

When you’re freelancing there are fewer milestone moments. While I’ve learned

more since taking the leap, I wouldn’t say I’ve contributed much outstanding work

to my folio.

That’s not to say you only work on the shit briefs. I expected this going in,

assuming agencies would favour the permanent staﬀ with the good stuﬀ. But more

often than not you’re covering for someone who’s on leave or has resigned. You pick

up where they left oﬀ.

Yet the work which would be good enough for case studies doesn’t materialise too

often. This may be speciﬁc to strategists, but most of my better opportunities in the

past came through hard work in setting them up. Rarely does a good brief or project

just accidentally land on your desk.

So there’s fewer things to put on your resume. Depending on your role, career stage

and what you might want to do next, a folio ﬁlled with work collecting dust might

be problematic.

You’ll also ﬁnd your name rarely appears on the credits of campaigns, usually

because you’re long gone. This might be important to you.

YOU DON’T GET TO SEE STUFF THROUGH

Freelancers come in for a very speciﬁc role on a very speciﬁc project. You’re often

not around for the start, and rarely around for the end.

Once you’ve played your part, you’re outta there. No opportunity to clarify, or

nurture projects through. It might come oﬀ the rails, or not happen at all, and you

won’t know why.

I’ve written strategies, only months later to see the ad on TV and realise it was a bit

shit. You gotta be okay with that. (And those are the ones where the agency will

include your name on the credits!)

WORKING FROM HOME MOSTLY SUCKS

It’s fun for a few days, then argh. Especially in winter. It’s impossible to be

productive for long hours, and you’ll feel guilty when you’re not.

YOU’RE IN THE WORK, NOT ON THE WORK

Before quitting I managed a small team. I was good at it (I’m also very modest) and

I miss it greatly. Freelancing means I no longer get to discover and mentor young

talent, or watch them grow into rock stars. You’re not paid to think about the

business and how to improve it, something I also enjoyed. “Proactive” isn’t a word

that comes up often.

Freelancers put out ﬁres, they don’t prevent them from happening or nurture future

ﬁreﬁghters. If you like leadership and management, you probably won’t ﬁnd it.

HOME GROUND ADVANTAGE

If you’re not a resident, visas and/or sponsorship as a freelancer can be harder to

obtain. Sometimes impossible. (On the ﬂip side if you’re a local, this means reduced

competition. I don’t have to go up against all those amazing English planners!)

NO HOUSE FOR YOU

If you’re considering buying property, freelancing makes it harder to get a loan,

particularly within the ﬁrst two years. Some lenders will make exceptions, usually if

you’re staying on the same career path. But your borrowing power is lowered and

you’ll have fewer options resulting in a higher interest rate.

- - -

Wow, okay, that gets a bit negative when you write it out like that. But don’t be

deterred, only aware of what you’re getting yourself into.

For most, the good far outweighs the bad.!

CHAPTER 3

TAKING THE LEAP

If you’re on the edge, here’s how you launch oﬀ and get started.

GETTING THE TIMING RIGHT

Jokes - there is no good time. You can wait around forever but you’ll never know for

sure if you’re ready or not. The only way to ﬁnd out is to jump.

If I was to set arbitrary requirements, I’d say there are two:

- Be at least four years into your career

- Have worked in at least two agencies

Some proper experience under your belt is a must. Working with at least two

agencies gives you exposure beyond a sample of one. And you’ll have a larger

network to draw on, which is where most new opportunities will come from in the

early days.

If you tick both those boxes then it comes down to scientiﬁc thing called ‘a feeling

in your gut’. It might be from dissatisfaction in where you are now, or a yearning to

do something a bit crazy. In which case, keep reading.

SETTING UP SHOP

Before Day 1, here’s some things you should do.

To invoice clients, you’ll need to register an Australian Business Number (ABN).

You’ll set it up in your own name as a Sole Trader. It’s free.

If you intend to earn more than $70,000 in a year through your ABN, you’ll need to

tick the box registering for Goods & Services Tax (GST). Ticking the box creates

about 10 minutes of work every three months, more about this on Page 24.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT A TRUST

You may be advised against registering as a sole trader, instead to create a trust. The

trust then earns the income instead of you, while you take a salary from the trust.

At the end of the year you can distribute the remaining money to other people, such

as your partner or children.

This is a tax minimisation strategy. Because the trust pays only 30% tax, if the

people you distribute to don’t earn enough to reach this threshold your household

ends up ﬁnancially better oﬀ.

Long term freelancers swear by this, but I found it complicated and wasn’t sure how

long I would be doing it. My wife also earns more than me.

I was quoted $2,000 to setup the trust, and it adds complexity to your annual tax

return so your ongoing accountant costs will be higher.

Don’t worry about it, at least not in your ﬁrst year.

INSURANCE

The ﬁrst contract I signed said I agreed to have my own professional indemnity

insurance. I shrugged my shoulders, assuming it was a standard cost of freelancing

and got 12 months of cover for $700.

When I started asking around, 9 in 10 freelancers told me they didn’t bother. Even

those who had signed the same contract didn’t have it.

In my second year I decided not to renew. Your call on this one, both the risk of not

having it and signing contracts saying you do.

I haven’t seen that requirement in any contracts since.

GOOGLE DRIVE & GMAIL

I pretty much run my whole business through Gmail and Google Drive. It’s where I

manage my documents and store my ﬁnancial records.

Instead of using a generic email (like [email protected]), you can setup a custom

domain (like zac@pigsdontﬂy.com) for $8.40 per month with Gmail. If you don’t

have a domain, you can buy one for $10 a year.

This also gives you plenty of cloud storage, easy collaboration on documents, and

the ability to send large ﬁles to clients.

A MONTH OF CASH

The last piece of prep is having a month of cash. Not because it might take that long

to ﬁnd work, but because invoices take forever to get paid (more on this in Chapter

4).

LANDING THE FIRST GIG

Finding your ﬁrst paid gig is a big deal. Here’s how to make it happen.

DEFINE YOUR OFFER

“Know what your oﬀer is. You have to operate a self-contained service. Just saying

what you do isn’t enough. You have to have some kind of angle or edge. Or

something you feel people need. Then make sure it gets out there somehow, even if

it’s just six coﬀees a week for the ﬁrst few months.” – Camilla Grey Petty, freelance

strategist.

You can’t just be a designer. Or a project manager. Give people a reason to choose

you. Write it in a sentence. Articulate what you’re good at, what you like doing and

what will make money. If they make a Venn diagram, you’ve nailed it.

If you’re not sure what your thing is or what you want to do, that’s okay. Write that

into your sentence, that you’re on a path of discovery and going to ﬂirt around.

Also make a list of work you don’t want to do, even if it makes you money. Some of

my early projects were buying Facebook ads. I’m both not good at it, and it bores

me to death. In hindsight I should have passed on this work.

START BEFORE YOU LEAP

Start to hustle some work long before you freelance. Find a small business or

agency who sometimes needs a hand on small projects, and do them on the side.

Look for ad hoc work that’s ﬂexible enough to do on evenings and weekends. (Some

full time contracts prohibit you working elsewhere… so don’t tell anyone.)

Scott Pape, author of The Barefoot Investor, calls this the ‘Trapeze Strategy’, where

you don’t have to let go of the bar (your secure pay cheque) until you’re safely

holding onto the next (the beginnings of your freelance career).

This will get you comfortable, build your conﬁdence and might even turn into your

ﬁrst big paid opportunity once you let go of the bar. If not, the ongoing ad hoc small

projects are still there as a safety net.

But…

Don’t build too many safety nets.

You’ll stall forever, and never jump.

At some point you need to take a chance on yourself.

TELL THE WORLD

After you give notice, announce your availability to the world. Do it long before you

actually ﬁnish - start meeting people and lining things up.

Use LinkedIn and other social channels to tell people how you’ve always wanted to

go out on your own (or whatever works for you). Some people hesitate here

thinking it’s arrogant. But if you don’t make it known, people won’t know they can

hire you. Or more likely, they won’t know they can recommend you when they hear

about an opportunity.

Stanley Johnson, consultant creative director, says: “Don’t take your skill for

granted. Just because you know, doesn’t mean everyone else does.”

Work out what you’re good at, then wave that ﬂag loudly.

COMMIT

There’s no time like now. Quit already and make it happen. Don’t wait for a proper

gig to line up – it makes you hungry.

CHAPTER 4

LET’S TALK CASH

Money is the big one. It’s taboo to discuss, the biggest cause of stress, and most

people get it wrong. Let’s shed some light on it.

HOW MUCH TO CHARGE

Every single new freelancer undervalues themselves. Whatever you’re thinking of

charging is not enough!

You’ll feel like an imposter. You’ll feel awkward asking for so much. But freelancers

should be on good rates. If the number isn’t making you uncomfortable then you’re

doing it wrong.

At the most basic level, you need to factor in your future personal leave, annual

leave and public holidays, all of which are now unpaid. I just had my wisdom teeth

out and didn’t earn a cent last week. You’re also covering your own training,

expenses and some expected down time.

But it’s much more than that – your premium rate covers the fact that you are

available right now. And that they need your help right now. And the anxiety which

comes with uncertainty. And contracts which allow the employer to cancel with one

day’s notice. There are many reasons you must charge more.

I know some freelancers on $2,500 a day. I’ve heard rumours of one American big

dog on $25,000 a day. Now I’m a bloody long way from both of those, but you’re

worth more than you realise. Make sure you charge accordingly.

Janet Kinghorn, freelance brand consultant, says: “Have a ﬁgure in your head that

you are comfortable with then double it. People undervalue themselves, and you can

always negotiate backwards.”

HOW I DID IT

Some people work out how much they want to earn, what their expenses are for the

year and determine how many days they wish to work. From this, you get your rate.

The challenge with this approach is it assumes you know those answers, and that

you’ll be busy as often as you want to be (which I’ve found to be too hot or too cold,

but rarely just right).

Another approach is to ask around for some averages, and align yourself to the

market. But reliable numbers are hard to ﬁnd, and who wants to be average?

Here’s how I did it.

Start by working out your current full-time day rate. Take your annual salary,

inclusive of tax and super. Divide it by 250, the rough number of working days in

the year.

Then double it. This is your new day rate. At a minimum.

It might look like a lot, but if it doesn’t make you feel a bit squeamish then you

haven’t gone high enough.

Initially the 100% increase between my full time and freelance rate felt crazy high.

But after my ﬁrst 12 months of freelancing I was busy only 68% of the year. The rest

was unpaid.

I ﬁnished the year with revenue up 36% compared to the previous period.

Obviously, I was stoked, but at the same time I was probably due a pay rise so that

needs to be factored in. And as I head toward the end of my second year, my income

this time could be down as much as 15%. Suddenly doubling your rate doesn’t seem

too crazy.

IT’S OKAY TO BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE OVER TIME

You don’t have to come out of the gates swinging. I encourage you to push the rate

as high as you feel comfortable asking, then add more. But in the real world it’s

okay to build your conﬁdence over time and assure yourself that you’re not going to

end up homeless. Then slowly raise it.

A good tip - if your proposed rate is accepted without negotiation, it probably

means you went too low. Use that knowledge next time.

NEGOTIATION IS A MUSCLE

You will suck at your ﬁrst negotiation.

Imagine you have a meeting with someone, and let’s say it goes really well. They

have a problem, and you’re the person to solve it. And you’re available. Then they

ask you what your rate is.

You have to be able to look them in the eye

and say a number. It’s hard. And sweaty.

Even to this day I have to be careful not to negotiate myself down - “Well, I would

usually do this project for $5,000 but I’m open to negotiation. Let’s say $4,000?”

Like a muscle, the more you work it the stronger you’ll get. You’ll build your

conﬁdence, and ﬁnd the strategy that’s right for you. You’ll also get better at reading

the situation, getting a feel for if and how they’ll negotiate. You’ll learn to go a little

higher if needed to give yourself some room to come back.

Most importantly, you’ll get comfortable with a number, saying it and not getting in

the way of yourself. Let them bring you down, you shouldn’t do it to yourself.

With some practice, you’ll start ﬁnding the right numbers pretty quickly. You want

something where you don’t feel completely fraudulent (although it’s always higher

than you think, you’ll need to get over your imposter syndrome!). But not so low it

makes you resentful while doing the work.

Heather LeFevre, freelance strategist, recommends learning industry averages where

you can, then if you’re oﬀered a low rate to counter with: “Don’t you think I’m at

least average?”. You’re better than the bottom!

A MOVING TARGET

You won’t have a one rate for everyone. I have a consistent starting point and

negotiation strategy, but some people will push you harder. Others are more

desperate. And sometimes you’ll have a bad day. In my ﬁrst year, I was all over the

place with variances as much as $200 per day.

But now I’ve built some conﬁdence, I’m a bit more consistent and also have

established relationships with some of my preferred agencies and clients. It’s nice

not negotiating on every job.

GOING HIGH ON WORK YOU DON’T WANT

A project may not appeal to you. Or an agency. Sometimes you’ll be able to turn this

down, other times you might just want the cash. If it’s the latter, try bumping up

your rate to see what happens. Add at least 20%. If they decline then no worries,

and if they accept at least you’re on good money. But don’t do this for anything

longer than a week or two - it will crush you.

(It’s also a good exercise for your conﬁdence – sometimes you throw a number out

there you think would be impossible but they accept without negotiating.)

WORKING FOR FREE

Never work for free. Deﬁnitely never work for “exposure”.

The one exception may be for charity. Even then:

- Only work on causes you have a passion for. There’s heaps of non-proﬁts out

there, pick something you give a shit about.

- Remember your skillset is how you make a living. Every freebie has an

opportunity cost where you could be earning money or doing something that

leads to your next paid job.

- Ask the people you’re working for if they’re taking a salary.

- Always be clear up front on how many hours you’re willing to give. Don’t

leave it open ended - it’s like donating a blank cheque.

- Make sure you’re doing something you love or learning something new.

MATES RATES

I don’t believe in discounting just because you’re in love with an agency, client or

project. But there are times you may want lower your rate.

I work with a lot of friends and family. Or former colleagues who now run agencies.

I’m sometimes compelled to give discounts (‘mates rates’ in Australia). But only if

they’re small and independent. And only if I believe the discount will be

appreciated.

I have a base rate I won’t go below, which is what I’ll oﬀer friends. It’s about 8%

cheaper than my big agency rate.

But remember pricing is a signal. People (and organisations) often value something

by how much is costs. When you discount your rate, you discount your contribution

and output.

(I appreciate the irony of giving away this guide for free. Because you’re not paying,

you’re more likely to download but less likely to actually read. If you’ve made it this

far, that’s awesome!)

You also might be asked for a discount on longer contracts. Less money, in exchange

for guaranteed work. I’m not against this, but don’t drop your rate by more than

15%. And don’t be fooled, two weeks is not a “long contract” no matter what the

agency tells you.

If you do this, have a contingency in place. I had an agreement for a month of work,

which was cancelled three days in. They honoured my original rate for those three

days, but in hindsight I should have had that in writing. (Also, not all agencies are

jerks!)

Alan Weiss, author of The Consulting Bible, advocates giving clients a 10% discount

for upfront payment. It helps with cash ﬂow, you don’t have to chase invoices, and

the commitment means fewer clients will change their mind. It wouldn’t work if

you’re freelancing with agencies, but could be worth trying on a client project.

Although you have to decide if peace of mind is worth 10% of your revenue.

ALWAYS TAKE THE MONEY (AND RUN)

You might be oﬀered payment in other forms. Don’t take it.

I did one project for some cryptocurrency. Mostly I wanted to learn about the

technology. I should have sold it immediately but was interested to see where it

went. It’s currently down 90%. No wait, 92%.

A few times I’ve been approached by smaller agencies to work on a new business

pitch. To minimise their risk, we struck a deal where I would take 50% oﬀ my day

rate, but if they won the pitch I’d add 50% back on top. It’s never worked out for

me (although I have helped other agencies win pitches!). This remuneration model

can create some tension – what happens if they win work from the client but

technically it’s not the pitch project? Best to avoid messy situations like this one.

Working for ‘sweat equity’ is a little more complicated than a blanket “no”. The

likelihood it pays oﬀ is small. So if you do say “yes”, you need to believe it’s going

to pay a 10x return. And you have to really like the people and the business, and be

willing to be involved long term (which might be the opposite reason you started

freelancing). I’ve found the businesses I want equity in aren’t giving it away, and

those who are, aren’t the ones I want to work with. At least not for free.

INCREASING YOUR RATE OVER TIME

Once you build a relationship with a client or agency, it can be diﬃcult increasing

your rate between contracts. But don’t be afraid to try.

Wait at least 12 months since your ﬁrst engagement. And align it with a new year or

ﬁnancial year. I’ve had success with language like “I’m revisiting my rates for 2019,

and looking to bring you in line with what I charge my other clients.”

HOW TO CHARGE

Once you’ve worked out your rate, on some projects you’ll need to work out how

much time to allocate.

For clients, they often want a project fee. They’re less concerned with hours and

more focused on outcomes. This is good if you can do the project quickly, or create

some replicable solutions for eﬃciency. But it can also bite you if the hours start to

blow out.

To determine a project fee, I estimate how many days I think I’ll need and multiply

it by my day rate. Not rocket surgery. And you’ll get better at estimating over time.

Often with clients I’ll start on a project fee, then move onto a retainer for ongoing

work, charging by the day/hour.

For agencies, they almost always work on a day rate. For partial days you charge

accordingly. I work on the standard ‘there are eight hours in a work day’ rule to

determine my hourly rate.

Be aware a day rate is left open-ended regarding how many hours you’re expected to

work in a given day. I’ve been lucky and haven’t been exploited on this. Like any

agency job, occasionally you’re expected to pull some late nights and there’s no such

thing as overtime. But I know people who have been bled.

To manage this consider building a clause into your contract. I know a freelance

designer who negotiates his day to oﬃcially end no later than 6.30pm. After then

his hourly rate kicks in. In some cases, this rate is higher than usual, and higher

again if he’s asked to work weekends.

(I’ve not heard of strategists being able to do this, so it may be role dependant, but

no harm in asking.)

ALL INCLUSIVE

Don’t forget, your rate includes tax and super. They aren’t added on top. The only

thing it doesn’t include is GST. Keep reading for more on this.

GETTING PAID

There’s four ways you can be paid as a freelancer.

#1 CASH IN HAND

If you can, avoid this. You’re an adult and shouldn’t be taking money without a

paper trail. You could end up paying unnecessary tax if you report it as income

(which you should). If you have to, write up a fake invoice and treat it as you would

other payments.

#2 INVOICES

This is how most agencies and clients will work, where you send an invoice for

payment. In this case you are responsible for your tax, GST and usually your

superannuation. There’s heaps more information about this below.

#3 PAYROLL

If you take a longish contract, some agencies like to put you ‘on the books’. I’ve

found about one in ﬁve big agencies are working like this. When this happens,

you’re treated like an employee where you’re automatically paid each fortnight or

month and you won’t have to submit any paperwork (although yes, you’ll still have

to do timesheets). The employer looks after your tax and your super.

This might be preferable if you’re not good at managing money, but personally I

prefer to keep control of everything by invoicing. It means you can earn interest on

your tax before paying it. You probably won’t have a choice, but ask.

#4 RECRUITER LOOKS AFTER IT

If you take work through a recruiter, they’ll often look after everything for you.

Unless they’re just doing the introduction (in which case you’ll be paid in one of

the methods above), you essentially become an employee of theirs, on the

recruiter’s payroll.

INVOICING

For most of the work you take, you’ll invoice your client or agency at the end of

each project (or every fortnight/month – whatever you agree on).

YOU PROBABLY DON’T NEED A PAYMENT SYSTEM

Some people swear by ﬁnance software to send invoices and track payments. In

Australia, Xero (big) and Rounded (startup) come highly recommended. Depending

on how many invoices you plan to send, subscriptions start around $25 a month.

But I’d suggest most people can manage this themselves. Unless you work on heaps

of small projects, it’s rare to send more than a handful of invoices a month, and

with the tools below it’s pretty easy to look after yourself.

GOODS & SERVICES TAX (GST)

If you’ve registered your ABN for GST (which you should have done if you’re

planning to earn over $70,000), you add GST to every invoice.

This means 10% is added on top of your fee. A $100 invoice becomes $110. In this

case you’ll pay the additional $10 as tax at the end of each quarter (more about this

on Page 24).

If your ABN is not registered for GST, you don’t need to add anything, and on the

bottom of each invoice you should write “Not registered for GST”.

It’s well accepted that GST is added on top of your rate, rather than included. If you

negotiate $800 per day, it’s universal that this means $800 per day plus GST.

INVOICE TEMPLATE

If you’re not sure where to start, steal my Invoice Template. It sits on Google Drive,

and if you click the button below it will create a copy of the template for you.

STEAL MY INVOICE TEMPLATE

INVOICE NUMBER

Every invoice needs a number. This is your reference. I started at #1001 (because I

didn’t want to start at #1) and add one each time. Good employers will reference

this in the transaction when they process your payment so it’s easy to track who has

and hasn’t paid.

PURCHASE ORDER NUMBER

Sometimes you’ll be asked by the employer to add a purchase order number to your

invoice. This is their reference, and they’ll provide you with the number before hand.

I’ve only had two agencies ask for this.

PAYMENT TERMS

If you have a contract it will outline how often to invoice them. For agencies it’s

generally every two weeks. For clients I’ll usually wait for the project to conclude, or

invoice once a month, whichever comes sooner.

The payment terms should also outline how long it will take to process your invoice

and put the money in your account. If there’s nothing speciﬁed I use a default of

two weeks from the date the invoice is sent, which is highlighted on the invoice.

SUPERANNUATION

In rare cases, some agencies will take super out for you, even if you invoice. This

becomes one less thing for you to worry about, but if they ask for your fund’s

details you know why.

LATE INVOICES

Never rely on an invoice to be paid on time. It’s sad but true.

Most invoices are late.

I’ve had to chase people plenty of times, and usually it’s the big agencies who are

problematic. My record is eight weeks late.

Don’t be afraid to annoy people once the invoice is past due – it’s a shit thing for

employers to not pay on time. Language can get more aggressive as needed, and

don’t be afraid to lay on some guilt.

Also, make sure you’re not part of the problem. If you’re outsourcing work and

receive an invoice, be a legend and pay it on the same day if you can.

NON-PAYMENTS

I’ve been fortunate and haven’t had anyone bail on an invoice – but I know others

who have.

It’s easy to say “work with people you trust”, but it’s not always possible to vet

them. You might ﬁnd it hard to get any money up front for a project, but if it’s early

in a relationship don’t be afraid to increase the frequency of payment - agree to a

few smaller invoices with smaller milestones, rather than waiting until the end of

the project.

If you’ve exhausted all options and it’s clear you’re not getting paid, the government

has some resources on how to take legal action. Although it might be more trouble

than it’s worth.

If you really want to push it, I’ve seen freelancers call out employers in public

(tagging the brand’s Twitter account seems to be eﬀective), or holding client

websites/social media channels hostage if you have access. This is extreme, and you

risk burning future opportunities. But each to their own.

PAYING TAXES

Freelancing means you’re responsible for paying your own taxes.

GOODS & SERVICES TAX (GST)

Each quarter you need to submit a Business Activity Statement (BAS), which

includes paying your GST (if you’ve registered your ABN for GST). Lots of

initialisms coming at you now!

You’ll hand over all the GST you’ve been paid for the quarter, less any GST you’ve

paid on your expenses.

For example, if you earned $5,000 on invoices for the quarter, you’ll have collected

$500 in GST on top of that. But let’s say you bought an iPhone for $1,000 which

you’re claiming as a business expense. Of this, $90.91 was GST.

For that quarter you’d pay $500 - $90.91 = $409.09 in GST.

If that sounds confusing, don’t sweat. If you keep good records, you’ll be ﬁne. The

interface to submit your BAS is surprisingly good, managed through MyGov which

is very user-friendly.

Trust me, you’ll be ﬁne to do this yourself. But if you’re really not comfortable talk

to your accountant. I’ve been quoted $165 per quarter for submitting your BAS.

INCOME TAX"

In your ﬁrst year, you won’t pay any tax until you process your tax return. This can

grow to a signiﬁcant amount (tens of thousands) and is potentially a risk, so be sure

to set this aside.

In your second year, after submitting a tax return where freelancing is your primary

income, you’ll move onto quarterly payments. This is called Pay As You Go (PAYG)

and you process this with your BAS.

At this point your income tax for the quarter is estimated based on your previous

year earnings. This can be wildly inaccurate if you had a really good or bad period,

or didn’t earn anything while on a big holiday. You can have this adjusted if needed.

You can also put in a special request not to pay instalments if you have a good

reason (for example, if a client was going to pay you in full at the end of a six month

project - you’d be crazy to do this but it’s the only example I have).

Again, I manage these PAYG quarterly payments myself.

However I do use an accountant once a year to process my annual tax return. You

might be capable of doing it yourself, but I outsourced this even prior to freelancing.

I ﬁnd they easily earn their fee with advice on expenses and other savings. This cost

is also tax deductible. My accountant charges me $280 for my annual tax return.

MANAGING YOUR FINANCES

SUPERANNUATION

More often than not, employers won’t automatically take out your super. And

legally you’re not required to contribute anything yourself.

But you should make your own contributions. At least 9.5% from every payment.

Don’t shoot your future self in the foot. The extra cash might be good now, but

you’ll regret it when you’re old and grey.

I ﬁnd it easiest to make one lump sum payment into my fund before the end of the

ﬁnancial year. You’ll need to notify them in writing that you intend to claim it as a

tax deduction – your accountant will give you advice on this.

KEEP IT OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

I learned early that your tax, super and GST, all of which you don’t want to be

tempted into spending, is best kept in a separate account.

Set up a high interest online account, ideally with a separate bank so you can’t see it

when you log in to your daily account. Then when every payment comes in, transfer

50% immediately (which is roughly 30% for tax, 10% for super and 10% for GST).

Out of sight, out of mind. You won’t be caught with a tax bill you can’t pay.

KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR INCOME

Keep track of everything you earn. It’s good data to analyse how your decision to

freelance is aﬀecting your ﬁnances, but is also useful to mark oﬀ when a client has

paid (and who you need to chase!). It also makes your quarterly and annual tax

much faster to process.

I update my Income Tracker each time I land a job, and review at the end of each

month which is when I sent out most of my invoices. Feel free to steal my mine and

make it your own.

STEAL MY INCOME TRACKER

KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR EXPENSES

You should also track your expenses as they come in. It helps with decisions (you

might be surprised how much you’re spending) but also makes your quarterly and

annual tax a walk in the park.

I keep all my receipts in a folder in Gmail (including photos of paper ones I email

myself) and then update my Expense Tracker each time one comes in. Steal my

template.

FREELANCERS CAN CLAIM MORE

As a freelancer you may be able to claim more in expenses.

Working from home and meeting clients become costs which are tax deductible.

This will vary depending on how much you do of each, but to give you an idea I

claim:

- 90% of my phone bill

- 66% of my public transport

- 40% of my home internet

- 100% of meeting coﬀees and food (clients or new business)

- 7% of my home water bill

- 33% of my home electricity bill

- 100% of new technology like iPhones and MacBooks

- 100% of stationary and business cards

- 100% of business books (fancily referred to as “reference materials”)

- 100% of client and referral gifts

- 100% of website, email and cloud costs

STEAL MY EXPENSE TRACKER

CASH FLOW

Be aware of cash ﬂow. Direct debits or automated mortgage repayments can catch

you if people don’t pay your invoices on time (which they won’t).

Always leave a buﬀer and don’t over extend yourself. If you’re outsourcing anything,

you don’t want to delay their payment if yours is.

A bit extra in your account is one less thing to stress about.

CHAPTER 5

IN THE THICK OF IT

The hardest part is leaping, but once you’re up and ﬂying there’s always the next

source of income to be thinking about.

FINDING WORK

Freelancing means you’re constantly feeding the beast. You might be deep into a

project, but still need to hustle for the next. It’s a juggling act, and balls end up on

the ﬂoor. This is how I try not to drop them.

THERE’S PROS AND CONS TO RECRUITERS

I’ve been fortunate and not needed to use a recruiter to ﬁnd freelance work. So I’m a

little biased on this one.

The few times I have spoken with them, they’ve told me it wouldn’t be possible to

get the day rate I want. I tend to believe this is because their fee comes out of yours.

One recruiter I’ve since spoken to countered this argument saying their fee was

charged on top, but I still feel this hurts your leverage in a negotiation.

The same recruiter suggested their fee can be anything from 15% to 40% of your

day rate, which starts to add up.

In their defence one might argue that, yes, you could lose out on say $100 a day, but

is that better than losing a whole day of work if you can’t ﬁnd anything on your

own?

Your need for recruiters may vary by what you do. Roles like producers and

designers seem to use them more often, with agencies relying on them to ﬁnd

people rather than hunting themselves.

If you like hustling, and are good at it, then you may not need one. But this means

you’ll also have to write and chase invoices, instead of going onto a recruiter’s

payroll (some of whom pay weekly which is nice). If you’re early in your career or

new to a market, they’ll also help cover the gaps in your network

Of course, some recruiters are good and some are shit.

You may ﬁnd it easier to outsource this part of freelancing, but personally I’d prefer

to keep the earnings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

KEEP TOP OF MIND

When someone has a problem, you want them to think of you ﬁrst.

Being proliﬁc online helps with this. It’s a ﬁne line between turning into a LinkedIn

Inﬂuencer/Wanker, but channels like these can be very eﬀective to occasionally

appear in someone’s newsfeed and remind them you exist.

It doesn’t have to be frequent, go for quality over quantity. Write a really great

thought leadership piece. Or create something people will share.

The key is distribution. Your blog or Twitter account probably doesn’t have much

reach. Yet you’ll ﬁnd 100s of websites or publishers out there who are dying for free

content, especially if it’s good. Some of them have decent audiences.

Don’t be afraid to approach your local trade press and ask if they’ll syndicate a piece

you’ve written. I blog something half decent every second month, and get ten times

more views when it’s published onto local marketing rag Mumbrella. More

importantly, this is what agency people read and it does good things for me when

they see my name on the front page.

I set a mission early that I wanted to work with some craft breweries. So I started

writing about marketing for craft beer, and approached local beer website

BrewsNews who now regularly publish my pieces. It’s directly led to two new

clients.

On rare occasions some websites will even pay you for your articles. Not much, but

hey, more beer money!

COFFEES

You’ll do a lot of coﬀees. Too many.

Learn to love decaf.

Sometimes they’re a complete waste of time, you can usually tell within 5 minutes.

And people are often late, or don’t turn up at all. But it’s part of the game.

Finding time for these can be a challenging, and is another reason to only take work

four days a week.

Early on I scheduled more beers than coﬀees, but now I’m ﬁnding it’s more

productive to have meetings in the morning and keep your evenings to yourself.

NETWORKING

The more you network, the more opportunities you’ll ﬁnd. Attending events and

meeting people are also good ways to keep you stimulated, something you tend to

lose a bit of when you leave an interested agency.

If the thought of networking makes you a bit queasy, I love this advice from Leanne

Ledger, freelance strategist: “I’m terrible at standard networking, so instead I

volunteer at events. You have much more organic conversations, and with the right

event, attendees are potential users of your service.”

BRIBES… I MEAN CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Every year I give my agencies and clients a custom beer for Christmas. Mostly

because I hate Christmas cards, but also because a thanks goes a long way. No harm

in reminding them how awesome you are, right?

REFERRAL THANK YOUS

Most of the time people will refer you work without any expectations in return. I

like to send them a six pack, or on a big contract, a bottle of something nice. It’s tax

deductible and doesn’t hurt to be nice human.

MANAGING THE PIPELINE

I can’t recommend enough working four days a week, if only to help you manage

the pipeline of work. The ﬁfth day is good for coﬀees, or creating content to get

your name out. It also helps when two projects cross over, giving you time in the

week to work on both, rather than having to turn one down because you’re fully

booked.

It’s challenging managing the pipeline too far in advance. I’ve had work booked six

weeks away, only for them to bail the day before the contract started. Likewise

things can fall apart once you’ve already begun. This is frustrating when you’ve just

turned down work.

You can minimise this by asking the employer if they have sign oﬀ from decision

makers and ﬁnance departments, but nothing is concrete.

Expect some instability.

It’s another reason to increase your day rate.

DON’T STRESS TOO MUCH

Slowly I’ve learned there’s always work around the corner. I’m sitting here writing

this a few weeks into the new year, and have billed only a few days. This time last

year I would have been getting anxious and starting to ask myself questions. But

you learn to be okay with it.

(About four hours after I wrote the above I got a call for three days of work next

week. Don’t stress!)

CHOOSING THE RIGHT GIGS

A popular freelancer has the luxury of choice. These are some things I’ve been

thinking about as I get better at ﬁltering the projects I want to work on.

MOST BIG AGENCIES ARE THE SAME, SOME HAVE BETTER CULTURE

You might be surprised to ﬁnd most big agencies look and smell the same. The

people who work there are kinda the same too. They tend to dislike their clients,

work longer-than-healthy hours and think the chaos is unique to their agency. But

they are good people who come to work every day wanting to do good work.

Culture is distinctive though. You notice it particularly as a freelancer where you see

lots of it fast. It’s most evident in how much an agency encourages you to get

among it or put your head down and work. It’s like gravity - you can feel it

immediately but it’s harder to identify the cause. Sometimes you can tell in the ﬁrst

ten minutes, usually when someone in IT tells you they don’t allow freelancers on

the WiFi.

I also didn’t realise how spoiled I was in my permanent life after leaning most

agencies don’t have coﬀee machines. (Seriously agencies, sort this shit out!)

If you’re leaving a big agency expecting something drastically diﬀerent, don’t be

surprised to ﬁnd more of the same. The grass is brown.

FLIRT AROUND A LITTLE, AND STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Use the opportunity to check out diﬀerent types of agencies or clients. If you’ve only

worked in a creative agency, see what happens if you go into a design ﬁrm. Or a

startup.

My mission this year is to spend time in a consultancy (which seem to be all the

rage at the moment). I’d also like to check out a client-side in-house agency (also

trending).

But more than the types of clients, be open to diﬀerent types of work. Maybe it

pushes your skillset, or is a job that’s entirely remote. Or maybe it’s much bigger or

smaller than you’re used to. You don’t grow when you’re comfortable.

One of my favourite adventures last year was writing a marketing strategy to launch

a gluten-free brewery. Not quite my heartland of creative strategy, but it’s a category

close to my stomach. It was a rewarding project which turned into ongoing

consulting. And soon we’ll be making some ads.

Also be cautious of getting stuck somewhere. It’s an easy trap to fall into. A friend

of mine took the leap three years ago. He started a job and has been freelancing

there ever since, on rolling six month contracts. They money is good, but you need

to remember why you started in the ﬁrst place. (To be fair he did just have a kid and

was happy to prioritise his family. And I’m pleased to say since writing the above

he’s decided to try his hand elsewhere.)

As a personal rule I won’t accept a contract for more than three months at a time,

just to keep me on my toes.

BUT DON’T TAKE EVERYTHING

Freelancing gives you the power of “no”. It’s hard turning down paid work,

especially early on and even more so when you’re not ﬂat chat.

But just because someone’s throwing money at you doesn’t mean you need to

accept. I had a very grownup moment about 12 months in, when I was oﬀered a

pretty lucrative contract but for work I wasn’t into. Although I had nothing else

lined up, I turned it down. (And something else did turn up.)

Small projects are another one to consider carefully. You can eat up the same

amount of time working on proposals and managing the relationship. These are

overheads you can’t charge for.

As you get more senior you may ﬁnd it’s harder to justify your rate on smaller

projects. Can you really make a diﬀerence in one or two days and charge that much?

Some freelancers won’t take anything less than a week.

I tend to think I’m not that senior, and often work with smaller clients where you

can make an impact in a few days, or even a few hours. I wrote one pitch strategy

for an agency in three hours because they were desperate. It wasn’t my best work,

but ‘good enough’ was better than nothing.

OUTSOURCING WORK

Once you’re settled, you may wish to consider sub-contracting work out.

I haven’t yet outsourced strategy, but I have landed projects where I needed creative

love to bring my strategies to life. Sometimes I white label them under Pigs Don’t

Fly (my sort of agency-ish entity when I need one) and others I just introduce them

directly to the client.

Be aware this is a whole diﬀerent skillset to ﬁnd and manage resources. If they don’t

deliver, the buck stops with you. And you need the cash ﬂow to pay their invoices

potentially before you’ve been paid yours.

BEING GOOD AT FREELANCING

Some people are better at freelancing than others. This is how not to suck.

SWIM FAST AND PUT A WIN ON THE BOARD EARLY

You’re constantly thrown straight in the deep end and you need to swim real fast.

You gotta hit the ground running, and the sooner you can be impressive the better.

Even a small win early gives everyone some reassurance you’ve got this.

And don’t expect to have a desk waiting for you, or a MacBook. Bring your own

technology just in case. Sometimes you’re not even introduced around or shown

where the toilets are, so be proactive. Receptionists are great best friends.

WORK YOUR OWN WAY, BUT ADAPT AS NEEDED

Daniel-Jacob Santhou, freelance strategist, says: “It’s the same shit done in diﬀerent

ways. Stick with what has always worked for you – you can always ‘super’ it on

after.”

You often don’t have a lot of time, so stick with what you know. Don’t be afraid to

challenge the process or the thinking - in fact it might be exactly what’s needed.

But. Don’t be precious about it. Most big agencies have their methodologies and

frameworks, ﬁnd ways to make it ﬁt in. Use their logos and their templates – don’t

be a pain in the arse.

BE A GOOD HUMAN

Be nice. And helpful. It goes so much further than you think. I’m surprised by how

many freelance dickheads I’ve worked with. Then they’re surprised when they don’t

get invited back.

Smile. Be positive. And turn up to meetings on time.

“When you’re friendly, people call you in again. Or bring you along to their next

job.” - Mario Djuhadi, freelance designer.

Being a good human might actually be more important than being good at your job.

OTHER THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED

This is the section for stuﬀ I think is useful to know, but doesn’t ﬁt anywhere else.

DON’T FORGET YOUR SIDE PROJECTS"

When quitting my real job I told everyone how awesome it was going to be to work

on side projects. It was also the reason I told myself why I should only work four

days a week.

Despite being the master of my own calendar, my grand plans to work on side

projects failed miserably. It’s rather easy to take on more paid work or look for paid

work or just procrastinate while passion projects collect dust."

If making things is important to you, be disciplined about it when you leap. Make

time and set deadlines. Find ways to keep yourself accountable.

Projects on the side are also a good opportunity to see work through from start to

end, something you often lose as a freelancer.

EXPECT JANUARY TO BE QUIET

Everyone will tell you to expect January to be quiet, and often December too.

This is a good time to ship something into the world. My project this Christmas was

the thing you’re reading right now.

CONTRACTS ARE RARE, BUT ALWAYS GET SOMETHING IN WRITING

Big agencies and some big clients will make you sign a you contract. But you won’t

get them with small agencies or when you’re working with medium to small clients.

Those you do sign, will always favour the employer. The notice period for which

they can cancel a contract is usually only a day. I’ve had jobs cancelled the night

before. That’s freelancing. But it’s also another reason to increase your day rate.

I’ve had some cheeky tactics used where you don’t sign the contract until well into

your ﬁrst or second day. I don’t mind this, but I do when they try to slip something

by you like a reduced day rate. Don’t let this shit ﬂy.

On projects without a contract, I’m a pretty trusting human being. With that said I

do like to have something in writing, even an email, outlining a scope and a rate. On

bigger projects I’ll write up a one or two page proposal with a bit more detail,

including assumptions and payment terms.

Make sure you agree on your rate up front. Negotiating after is a losing position.

KEEP STIMULATED

I like big agencies because they are stimulating environments. Interesting people

coming in to present, creatives being weird, sales people giving you tools and things

to make you look smart. Even the all-staﬀ emails with inspiration most people

cringe at.

When you’re on your own you’ll need to ﬁnd this by yourself. Niche Facebook

groups, Slack channels and podcasts are great. Add a few more interesting people on

Twitter. Invest in yourself to attend events or training (which costs both time and

money, but are good for your advertising brain).

BUILDING A BRAND

Most of the work I do as Zac Martin, rather than Pigs Don’t Fly (my pseudo agency/

entity/thing). It depends on your audience. Clients might like you to pretend to be a

bit bigger than you are, while agencies want you not your brand.

If you’re selling wares in your name, some freelancers prefer to avoid the word

“freelancer”. I’m told there can be perception issues where it’s not taken seriously

or senior-ly. They choose “consultant” instead or don’t advertise it at all. Personally

I’m okay with “freelancer”, and believe using the word make me easier to ﬁnd.

If you do go down the path of building a brand, don’t waste time on logos and

Powerpoint templates and business cards. Make them as you need them, don’t

worry about doing any of it up front.

GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, AND KEEP IN SHAPE

If you’re working from home for an extended period, consider getting a co-working

space. It’s healthy to get out of the house (and out of your trackies). It will make

you more productive, more social and creates serendipity.

If you don’t want the expense, ask a small agency if they’ve got a spare desk.

Sometimes they won’t mind giving up for free – they might be looking for the same

things you are.

If you are working from home, this might sound obvious, but make sure you get out

of the house at least once a day. I force myself to go to the gym or for a run. And

make sure you speak to at least one human face-to-face. If you live near a café, make

friends with the barista.

AGENCIES USING YOUR IMAGE

I’ve been asked a few times by agencies to use my credentials – either in a pitch

deck or on their website as a talent roster. I said yes, but nothing came of it.

Since then I’ve decided to no longer give permission to use my image for free. They

get something out of it, but you don’t. You’re told you’ll work on the pitch or the

business if they win it – but that’s a gamble, and it’s more than likely you’ll be

booked on something else. I freelanced not to have commitments.

MARKETPLACES ARE A RACE TO THE BOTTOM"

There’s a number of market places out there, where buyers pitch projects and sellers

pitch their skills. Avoid them. They’re entirely driven by price. It’s an unsustainable

game you can’t win, and not one you want to play. Plus the good stuﬀ never

happens on marketplaces.

“In a race to the bottom,

the winner generally loses.”

– Seth Godin, marketing author

CHAPTER 6

LIFE AFTER FREELANCING

I’m a pretty practical planner, so I wrote this as a practical guide.

But at some point into your freelancing career (for me it’s about 18 months in), you

might start asking yourself some bigger questions.

Like, can you freelance forever?

Being promiscuous and ﬂirting around is fun. But at some point, do you need a

stable relationship?

As you can see, I have more questions than answers.

Freelancing doesn’t fulﬁl you long term. The novelty rusts, faster for some than

others. And then you’re left with lots of short deadlines and small wins. There

aren’t many big hairy audacious goals. And increasingly you ﬁnd yourself asking

what are you working toward?

Mark Pollard, strategist, sums it up nicely: “Think about why and for how long

you’ll freelance and what your life’s work is. The zombie freelance life is limbo.”

Having a freelance deadline might not be a bad idea. If you set out to recalibrate

your career, you’ll need to come back down to earth at some point and implement

once you’ve found what you’re looking for.

I’ve been oﬀered full time jobs. Some of them were even tempting. One included

equity in the agency. At the time I felt I had more to learn, about advertising and

myself. But slowly into your freelancing career you might ﬁnd this attitude

changing. I think I’m starting to consider these conversations more seriously.

Especially if they let me do four days a week.

Perhaps the answer to this problem is starting your own shop.

I’ve played in this space a little, nothing too formalised. And I’m still interested in

exploring further – but you need the right people to do it with. And the hunger for

hard work. I’m not sure I want that right now, which even writing makes me feel a

bit guilty because I’m probably too young to be saying that.

I’m still working on this one. Come back some time and maybe I’ll have an update.

THE UPDATE (AUGUST 2019)

Well, it happened. A few months after publishing this, I took a permanent role.

I’m back in a big agency, working on big brands with big budgets. And it’s four days

a week.

The process of writing this, particularly the previous page, got my head turning on

what I was doing and where I was at in my career. I became more open to

conversations about permanent roles, and after freelancing at Ogilvy Melbourne for

a few months the stars aligned and I jumped at them.

That’s the great thing about freelancing - whether you’re two weeks in, or two

years, you can decide to hang up the boots and get a real job at any time. Just

another reason to give it a shot.

Since publishing the response has been incredible. It’s been downloaded more than

5,000 times from 65 countries. People from all over the world have reached out

saying it helped them take the leap, sort their ﬁnances, or ask for more money.

People really responded to how open and honest the guide has been. So here’s one

ﬁnal piece of transparency.

After two years of freelancing, the diﬀerence between my last permanent role and

my current one is an 80% increase in salary. An explosion in future earning

potential is just another reason to try your hand at freelancing.!

CHAPTER 7