The G+ post should be embedded below, but I don’t think that’s working (goes off and investigates).*

Anyway, please head on over to G+ and share your thoughts.

Joel

(*Hmmm…it’s not embedding I think because  tbo on G+ is a community page. Perhaps embedding those is not currently supported)

This week I thought I’d give you an insight into the tools I use to run my business and to keep things on track. A brief re-cap about how I run my show, I’m more of a micro-agency or virtual agency in that I work with freelancers to deliver the sharp end of my projects. Plus points of this approach are that you are able to scale up (and down) resource to match current project work load (i.e. not so easy with full time staff). On the down side the freelancers tend to work remote; that’s not particularly a down side per se but it does add to the organisation and communication burden. I do long for the day when, in my relaunched mini-agency (Hinkford), I can wander across the office and share ideas with developers/designers – anyway, more of that to come.

For now let’s take a look at some of the tools I use today:

1. Red Booth

Red Booth handles multiple projects well and the task lists are a breeze. My remote freelancers are invited in to relevant projects, assigned tasks, chat goes back and forth on points etc. Red Booth is my central point for staying on top of projects from a day to day basis. It has time tracking, group chat etc – not that I’ve played with those yet much.

2. Harvest

I’m getting tougher on recording where time is getting spent and Harvest really helps with this. It helps with staying on top of projects and how much time freelancers have used. And it also helps with me staying on top of my time and keeping an eye on where it goes.

3. Quote Roller

I think this package has a few warts but it is useful. It helps manage the process of producing quotes. You edit your ‘estimate’ in multiple sections online, enter your products/prices (which can be stored in a library) and, at the end, it’ll produce a nicely formatted PDF. At some point I’ll probably just set up a nice InDesign template for myself but, until that day, this is useful.

4. FreeAgent

No surprises here. A rock solid, web based accounting app. Apart from the expected stuff of invoicing etc, I like that way it has the concept of ‘projects‘ which means I have at-a-glance view of what I’ve billed for a project, how much remains etc.

5. Google Docs

A pretty obvious one which I’m guessing a lot of us use. One thing I use a lot are the spreadsheets for my ‘lightweight sales tracking approach‘. Very useful, very shareable and getting more powerful & reliable all the time.

So, those are some of the tools which I find useful, how about you?

Joel

p.s. it goes without saying that ‘Dropbox‘ is being used :)

p.p.s I’m always on the look out for talented freelancers to collaborate with.

p.p.s thanks to Chris for doing some cosmetic work on this blog; bringing it a little more in line with the 2014 conference website.

So, this morning, (in light of the romantic time of year), I thought it was time to show your business some love. Here’s a couple of points:

1) It IS a business!

Ok, this may sound dense but I clearly remember sat at my new desk (at home*) not having a clue what to do next. It seemed bizarre to me that I could escape the shackles of working for someone else, equally bizarre that I do work that I liked, that I was in control of my own destiny. These plus points can easily hoodwink you into thinking that you’ve got some sort of hobby rather than a proper job; because a job should be painful yes?

But no, it IS a business. And it deserves to be treated with the attention & respect that a business deserves.

(*Another post coming on working at home; the plusses & the minuses)

2) You are a salesperson

Whilst we’re on the topic of admitting we’re running a business, let’s re-cap another old chestnut. You need to send yourself some love for all the other qualities you bring to your business. It’s easy to pigeon hole ourselves (“Oh, I write the front end code…“, “I get the backend to work…“) but, for a freelancers & small business owners, this belies the myriad of other skills you are bringing to the table.

A key one is sales. Many of us have that mental image of that saleperson; that pushy oik who you’d rather hit with a cricket bat than talk to. And, perhaps due to our long ingrained perception that such people are shysters existing simply to rip decent folks off, we do not want to be associated with them. Fair enough, but…

For many freelancers they are the only person involved with acquiring new business; following up on leads, sending proposals, pitching. Guess what this is? Yep, it’s a sales process. And guess what that makes you? Yep, a salesperson. Are you trying to rip people off? No. You’re simply trying to offer folks your excellent service; and being an open, honest, friendly, helpful, straightforward salesperson is part & parcel of that. Repeat after me “I AM a salesperson…“.

3) Ignore the Competition

Don’t worry about how X business is doing, what client’s they’ve won, what awards they are up for etc. Just concentrate on what you can control and what you can do. You are in charge of shaping the direction your business grows. Want to stay on your own as a freelancer? Fine. Want to collaborate more with other freelancers? Fine. Want to employ folks? Fine. There’s not set answer.

Concentrate on the positive things you can control rather all those things you can’t. Oh, and bear in mind that the market for our services is growing all the time; and the average freelancer only needs an infinitesimally small slice of that pie to carve out a very healthy living.

4) Where do you want to be in five years time?

When you first start out this question can seem like a luxury. But, at some stage you should get to the point where the bills are getting paid, you are bringing good work in and things are going ok. That would be a good time to start planning. I’m sure it is better to plan from day one but, based on my experience, all your energy is used up fire fighting & bringing work in and, until that is under control, you can’t lift your head up to take a long look at where you want your business to go.

I won’t pretend answering this question is easy; and it may involve some serious soul searching. It doesn’t have to be a contract, written in stone, your goals & objectives can change. This is something I’ve been mulling a lot recently and I think I’ll share you what I’m thinking for my business in a separate post.

5) Watch this Video

I get lots of emails telling me about other resources which are of use to freelancers online and this one I’d like to share with you now:

I know for a fact that I was clueless about 90% of what this video talks about for, possibly, the first 5 years of my business. I just bumbled along, making it up as I go. The concepts presented in the video can, at first, seem like something which relates to other, more grown up, real businesses. But, even if your procedures aren’t formulated, then they must still exist in some shape or form (otherwise you wouldn’t be in business). Realising that such a process exists and that any process (or part of) can therefore be improved is an important step to realising that your business is more than just designing & coding.

Happy Valentines Day.

Joel

x

Let’s take a look at what people had to say (oh, and any comments I’m adding are just general advice; I’m not saying that it is right for that particular person etc).

Cole Henley:

I earned more money but struggled with the regularity of cash flow. Periods of feast and famine were tough with a small family to support and never took as much time off from work as I would have liked.

I also ultimately struggled managing my time and my expectations (of myself).

I found it difficult working in isolation so opted as soon as possible into a co-working space.

Well, Cole kicks off here with some real classics. Sure you can earn more money but you’re more than aware that work can dry up at any time; and the weight of a young family (and our own punishing self expectations) can bear down heavily.

Dan’s experiences also bear this out:

Feast and famine – A glut of work followed by a fallow period of ‘not much on’.

Having money in the bank, before the get go, certainly can help give your freelance career more runway. And you do need runway; if you’ve not got a lucrative contract from day 1 then you need time to find your feet, time to find your rhythm, time to find decent clients – but time costs money.

Matt Saunders:

I found that working alone at home was a lot more lonely than I expected it to be.

If you’re used to working in a vibrant agency office then you do need to prepare for this. As Cole says, co-working spaces can help. There are also places like Regus. Or set up an office together like Shane & Ben did.

Dan Davies

The hours were longer. The money (IF I got paid) was alright to begin with and the projects were usually amends to existing WordPress sites. When I did get to work in Starbucks, the place was too noisy and I couldn’t concentrate. When I finally got to work on the train, I never got a table.

I now work better hours but, hell, it has taken years to get to this point. In truth, I think you probably have to go through the furnace of working stupid hours for the wrong clients. Nothing teaches like experience.

As far as the working in Starbucks goes… ah yes! That catalogue perception of the carefree life; free wheeeling between web design, sipping mochiatos and attending Tai Chi classes. Whilst that may be a mirage, as you can see from Dan’s experience below; things can get better.

To be fair, I worked on some great projects near the end of my freelance time and I really enjoyed the 6 months in Manchester. Did a lot of growing up that year.

Rick Hurst

while I was a permie, I would be aware of what was being charged by my employers for the work I was producing, so my thinking was “I can just build one intranet a year, over the course of a few months, and then won’t need to work for the rest of the year – if I build two, i’ll be rich!”

I found myself working all the time, because I overcommitted to work and tried (and failed) to juggle on-site freelancing with direct client project work. In the first year I just got away with it and actually made decent money, but then lost any of the surplus money that theoretically would buy me some time off during my second year, due to a few mistakes – bad projects, sub-contracting work to inexperienced people then having to do it all again myself etc. By year three I had regained control financially but I was still working non-stop. The idea of “being my own boss” was laughable, as I found I had about 20 bosses, all more important than each other. I found that while I believe i’m capable of managing projects and writing code, I can’t do both at once, and I certainly struggle with managing multiple projects at once.

Managing client expectations is critical. Don’t pull an all nighter or work all weekend if it’s not actually necessary. My old mate Luc (who’s now had the good sense to move to Melbourne) once worked in a place where he figured out the priority scheme was CODE RED, CODE RED ULTRA & CODE RED TRIPLE ULTRA*. Basically there is no priority level: everything (according to the client) is high priority. Everything is urgent! It’s hard to work in an agency like that. It’s impossible to freelance like that. That’s a one way ticket to the funny farm.

Nowadays I always dig into why clients have the deadlines they have; remember they are their deadlines – not yours. If their deadlines are not achievable then say so. Save your midnight oil for when it is needed.

Matt Saunders

I’m not that good at touting for business or, to be brutally honest, marketing or promoting previous work. I found I was relying on word of mouth and existing clients to keep the work coming in. This meant that I didn’t really give myself the opportunity to push for the kind of work I actually wanted to do.

I enjoyed being in control of my own time but felt more pressured to deliver as everything was on my own head.

Brutal honesty. I have to say there is nothing like setting up your own business for bringing on a bout of brutal honesty. To most people, sitting in their shiny, new freelance business, “marketing” and “sales” are alien artefacts; complex foreign objects eluding the comprehension of us mere mortals.

This is further echoed by a touching, anonymous comment:

Probably my fault, I’m not much of a salesman, I just want to make cool things.

No, it’s not your fault. People don’t just erupt from their mother’s equipped with all the business skills of P.T.Barnum, they are learnt. In some shape or form, we have to market ourselves – and when we are dealing with potential clients, we are selling. So, like it or not, we have to make our peace with the demons of sales & marketing. And making your peace doesn’t mean you’ve got to turn into Gordon Gecko.

Matt Hill

Love Matt’s comments; so typical and so eloquently written:

I thought it would certainly be easier than it turned out to be! I had no idea it would be basically three full time jobs in one.

Perhaps the biggest shock was being completely unprepared for the amount of sales work I’d need to do. I was doing both full web design & build for small business sites, and also doing front-end work for agencies. While I got some lucky breaks through word of mouth, I still had to promote myself every where I could think of and that rarely yielded the quality jobs that I was looking for.

The day to day running of the business was something I hadn’t really considered in great detail. Managing cashflow, tracking time, doing tax returns: all the paperwork was quite onerous and not something I particularly enjoyed. I eventually got some decent systems in place, but it took me far too long and I made a lot of mistakes along the way.

I was also very naive about being able to take flexible days. There *were* times I could do so, but on the whole I’ve never worked so hard, often late into the night. The reality for me was that I had to work considerably harder to make ends meet, although I later realised this was partly due to me undercharging for my work.

Many points to be made here but allow me to focus on this: the biggest thing which people fail to prepare for is the fact that we are not productive and billable 40 hours per week. Hell, anyone who has worked anywhere already (secretly) knows this: come in with a hangover, mess around on a bored afternoon and you’re productivity is already down to 75%.  And that’s with you NOT having to worry about running a company!

Now factor in these ‘running the company‘ tasks; perhaps do a time & motion study on yourself. Find out how many hours you can realistically bill per week; and let that dictate your per hour cost (rather than an idealistic world where you are billable 100% of the time). Oh, and with time take a look at tasks which you can outsource; as you get busier you may as well pay someone to do that bookkeeping when you could be billing your hours (at a higher rate), investing in learning (which makes you more billable) or playing with your children.

Benjy Stanton

I thought I would be able to pick and choose some ‘cool’ projects like designing posters for bands. I also thought it would be easy to sell stuff like t-shirts and icons to generate passive income.

Profitable work doesn’t always come from the places you expect.

I thought finding clients would be the hardest part of freelancing, I don’t particularly like selling myself.

The concern about selling shines through again here; we really don’t like having to put ourselves out there do we! However, the point I want to talk about here is this “Profitable work doesn’t always come from the places you expect.“; aint this the truth. As true as bad clients lead to bad clients, a truth I’ve found is that good clients recommend you to other people who also turn out to be good clients. Don’t treat that website you are working on simply as a widget traversing your web design factory conveyor belt; it’s part of your oeuvre – be proud of it; tell Twitter about it, blog about it. Let the work become part of your marketing. Don’t by shy now.

Andy Davies

I had a runway of savings and picked up my first client just before I actually made the jump so I had cashflow very early on, this client also produced a lot of repeat business.

After a while clients came in through recommendations and reputation so attracting clients eventually became much easier.

Balancing client work against research and speaking was harder as essentially the latter are non-paid activities (they could be counted as promotion but…) and client work seemed to be most busiest when I had speaking engagements due.

I’ve found “word of mouth” (WOM) to be crucial, even in this world of social media (social media just puts WOM on rails). Reputation takes time to build so, again, you need plenty of runway to allow for this. Also, being backwards in coming forwards when telling others about our good work will not make ourselves easily discoverable; don’t make it hard for people to pay for your services.

Closing Thoughts

Thanks to everyone for their honest thoughts about their experiences and I hope this helps if you are also experiencing some of the scenarios described above.

If you too have something to share, I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below.

Oh, and don’t forget we’ve got a conference coming up in July next year in Cardiff which is just about the business side of web design. Perhaps follow on Twitter or sign up to the monthly newsletter to make sure you stay informed.

Joel

*Luc has mentioned that codes actually continued: CODE RED MAGMA, CODE MAGMA MEGA CATASTROPHE, THE END OF THINGS, and finally BORIS JOHNSON

Doing anything but paid work can be seen like an extravagant luxury; but it is not. Bear in mind that when you’ve got your head down, at the coal face of building or designing websites etc that your business is actually heading a direction. And unless you take time to step away from that coal face that you are not focussing on that direction. But a direction it is heading whether you like it or not.

Ways to step away:

1. Conferences

Why not spend a day away from the office learning about new techniques and meeting up with peers? I find that conferences are a great time for me put my mind in a different zone; to allow it to focus on a broader horizon than just getting the current projects out the door.

Conferences are also good for me as I work with lots of freelancers; the ability to meet and mingle with new folks who can help my clients is fantastic (and ultimately good for my business).

(Note: I do have a sore head from Handheld’s after show party last night mind).

2. A Business Day Out

This can be very useful. Take a day/morning off and (importantly) go somewhere where you do not normally work. Turn your email off. Stay off Twitter. And take time to really think about your business. Perhaps get your scrappy business plan out and see how that’s going. Perhaps read a business book or some business articles that you’ve been meaning to cast your eye over. Perhaps think about how you want your business to look in a year’s time; or 5 years time*.

(*Yes it can feel like a luxury to do this when you’re fire fighting projects but think about this: if you don’t know where you are heading; how are you going to get there?)

3. Re-charging the batteries

You can’t just work harder and harder; we are not machines. If you pull an all nighter to get a project done; exactly how productive are you the next day? Not very I bet.

Working too hard over a long period of time is not good for you. Its not good for your physical & mental health; not good for your relationships and it’s not good for your clients. It dampens your enthusiasm for the work you love; and that’s not good.

Perhaps once a month schedule in some personal time when you do something just for yourself; visit an art gallery; take your camera out (which has been sat on the shelf for too long); go for a stroll across a blustery beach. Let your mind free wheel. Whatever works for you.

Unless you spend time re-charging your batteries then your work and your clients will suffer.

4. Books & Online learning

5 Simple Steps offer a great selection of industry focussed books. You need to invest in the time to read and learn as this is actually the resource which you are offering clients; your knowledge (websites are just an output).

Treehouse offers online learning opportunities and many conferences have workshops (on a side note I’d like to see more practical workshops; I love hands on learning).

There’s an infinite buffet of topics to choose from; but don’t be swamped by that. We can’t know everything about every subject – embrace your constraints. Don’t push yourself to learn topics which just aren’t you but, at the same time, allow yourself the scope to learn about topics which are at edge of what you currently do. Ultimately, have fun with it. And treat your learning as a core part of your business (which it is).

5. Mentor

Seek advice from a business person you trust; they may or may not be in the same sector as you. It’s very useful to be able to talk openly & candidly to someone about your business; sometimes we are just too close to it to see the blindingly obvious solutions. Put the feelers out for someone you can talk to; don’t be afraid to ask.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and don’t work too hard.

Joel

1) Contracts

I have to say that I’m not a fan of those contracts written in impenetrable legalese – those just look plain scary and I’ve found them to spook reasonable clients. On the other hand, some contracts are nice plain English – I much prefer that approach. And why not have a clause in your contract which details your ‘payment schedule‘ for the project; this lays out, in no uncertain terms, when you expect to be paid, how much, what happens if you are not etc. Don’t leave these crucial details up to an unspoken gentlemen’s agreement because, if you do, at some point it will turn around and bite you on the arse. Hard.

2) Deposit

Before a project begins, it is important that the client has parted with some money. If it is a new client then this is really, really important – talking about websites is one thing; putting your hand in your pocket to kick off a paid project is another.

How much a deposit to ask for? Well, like everything in life, that depends. Some people say 50%. Personally I typically aim for around 25% as I like to smooth the money over the life of the project (my projects are around 6-20 weeks elapsed time). By all means request a larger deposit for a new client if you are worried about getting your fingers burnt.

If they don’t want to pay the deposit (and can come up with no reasonable reason why not) then you need to walk away. Shaggy dog stories of when money may turn up should really set your alarm bells ringing. The only occasion I’ve been flexible here is when I’m dealing with very large companies such as multi-nationals who may have procurements systems which are set in stone; in those instances you just need to use your best judgement.

3) Regularity of Payments

A project typically has a set of phases; discovery, planning, design, build, testing etc. I tend to make the end of each of these phases a billable checkpoint where the client agrees to sign off what has gone before; this then triggers an agreed part payment of the overall project cost.

Note:  I have to hold my hands up here; sometimes projects drag on longer than they should (not normally my fault I hasten to add!) – and on these occasions I’m reminded that I really should set firmer deadlines for when stuff should happen so that, even if something hasn’t been signed off, ‘x’ money could be released. My staff need to be paid each month; so I need to make sure that money comes in. I’d be interested in what time related clauses you ladies & gentlemen use.

4) Final Payment

I normally state that the final payment is required as and when the website is ready to go live; i.e. the project is fully paid up before we press the big, red button. This has another benefit in that the conversation is then about support post launch; instead of being caught up in an endless cycle of changes which has somehow been lumped in as part of the original project (we’ll be delving into this nest of vipers in a future article).

5) Late Payment Fees

Put these in your terms and conditions. The GOV.UK website has some excellent information on this. Basically you can charge a set fee for debt recovery and interest on the outstanding debt. The debt recovery fee is handy to compensate you for the mucking around you have to do chasing people (remember, that is time which could have been spent working on billable projects or playing with your kids).

Again, some larger orgs seems to have insanely long payment terms and they aint gonna change them for you. The important thing here is to find out what their payment terms are first, find out what is negotiable and then see if it’ll work for you (and, in these circumstances, what we cover in point 8 might be useful).

6) Cancelled Projects

If a client cancels a project part way through, you should make sure that your terms and conditions cover your ass. You might think “but it’s ok, they’ve paid for the work done to date” but you’re missing the point: you’ve budgeted your company resources (even if that’s just you) on delivering that project; perhaps you’ve even turned work away because your pipeline is now full. Why should you now be penalised because a client has created a large hole in your workflow?

Obviously it pays to always try to be reasonable and fair with clients but reasonableness & fairness only go so far. If your terms & conditions state that if a client cancels a project, the total cost of the project is due or the total cost of the current stage is due (irrespective of how much work has been done) then you have more options if things get hairy.

7) Refuses to Pay

Luckily I’ve never encountered this (although I’ve hit pretty much every other issue!) and the circumstances where I normally hear about this happening typically involve a lack of contract, terms & conditions, clear specification etc; you really want all your legal boxes ticked in case push ever comes to shove.

An easy option is to get a legal looking letter sent to offending client; that’s often a quick & cheerful way to shake things up a little. One such company who offers this service (and more) is Thomas Higgins.

Seeking firmer legal advice is your next recourse. You may end up going to the small claims court. Don’t expect this to be an easy process though and, if that debt isn’t huge, you may well be tempted to write it off as a bad experience and think hard about your process so that you don’t make the same mistakes again.

8) Factoring

Factoring is where you get paid (regularly) by a third party based on the invoices you raise; if the client doesn’t pay, then this isn’t your problem and it’s all handled by the factoring company. The factoring company take their cut; but that’s the price you pay for the added security.

I’ve not used factoring but, thinking about it, it could be an option for the larger clients who pay on on long terms (e.g. 90 days);

Here’s a link to a factoring company I’ve found online but I’ve not used them so please don’t take that as a recommendation.

Parting Shots

Please shout out if you have anything to add to the above or with any comments you’d like to make.

Joel

I first went freelancing/contracting in 1998, when I was working on OS/390 IBM Mainframe kit (old skool!), plugging holes in the Y2K bug. I loved contracting; the money was better for starters. But, more than that,  I’d always hated working for other people…and that seems to be a common thread.

Some people fell into freelancing though, redundancy or a simple lack of full time positions:

“Thrown into it when was I made redundant from my agency job in 2011.” – Cole Henley

“The company I was working for went pop” – Darren Beale

“the decision for me going freelance was not made by me but the company where I worked. – Dan Davies

“Freedom. Fed up working for others.” – David Goodwin

“It just sort of happened” – Dan Dineen

“I would say I fell into freelancing.” – Victoria Jones

“I was very unhappy where I was” – Matt Saunders

And I can certainly sympathise with the anonymous soul who simply said:

“Hated my job.”

In the early 2000’s I was contracting and working at places that I really, really disliked. The travel was a grind and the work was soulless; so I know how the above person was feeling. There is only so long you can put up with the pain of hating your job, at some point something has to give; you are in charge of your career – take the necessary steps to get to where you want to go.

“I imagined that with the ludicrously high rates I could earn freelancing that I only needed to work for a few months a year to match the salary I was on as a permie.” – Rick Hurst

Ah yes! The lure of money! What does Del Boy always say? “By this time next year Rodders my old son, we’ll be milllllionaires!“. I’m pretty sure that it was money which first lured me into contracting in the late 90’s; I’d hear the hourly rate some hired hand was on and think “but, I’m better than you and earning a lot less?!“. But it’s never that simple of course; a full time role has other perks (aside from your monthly wage). And being a freelance/contractor also means you have to make hay when the sunshines – you don’t know where your next project may be coming from.

“It turned out that I loved being my own boss and the new found sense of control and freedom that came with it. What had been a stop gap became a full-time freelancing career for the next 6 years.” – Matt Hill

The above echoes a common theme of stumbling in to freelancing; perhaps that’s the nature of the beast but part of me wishes/hopes that people can increasingly take a long hard look at what they want out of their careers and plan a path which suits them; and not simply get dragged along in wake of circumstance.

“Freedom to work on more interesting / different projects.” – Joshua Marshall

Freedom to work on more interesting projects is a cracking reason to freelance but, for the majority of people, you have to put in the hard yards before you get to the stage of being picky with your clients/projects. If you’re smart, you’ll have a few clients ready & warmed up when you do decide to go solo (as Benjy below did); I did not – I had to create a parachute after I’d jumped out of the plane – not always the best plan (but sometimes the only option).

“I worked for a small web design agency, but one of the directors was leaving, so I decided to make the leap into freelancing. I was able to take all of our design-work clients with me.” – Benjy Stanton

“I didn’t plan on doing full-time client work but also wanted time to do research and talk about performance at conferences, I also wanted to be able to take the school holidays off and spend time with the kids.” – Andy Davies

Ah! The dream of the freelance life! Sipping a cool margarita on an exotic beach, the kids playing in the surf, whilst running your business via a shiny new Macbook Air! For most people, the initial reality of freelancing is a blind panic to get in as much work in as possible; hanging over you, the shadow of next month’s mortgage and a fear of letting yourself and your family down (why don’t I get a proper job?!). Andy is spot on here with his aims for freelancing; be warned though – it can take a while before you get the work/life balance that freelancing and running your own show can offer.

Closing Remarks

A lot of folks seemed to stumble into freelancing, as I’ve mentioned above, that concerns me a little. Hell, if I could speak to my 25 year old self again I’d give him a stern talking to – try to plan it out a bit more. What’s that saying? The longest journey begins with a single step…

Many thanks to everyone who generously shared their experience in the creation of this article (and the series to come).

Next time we’ll explore the answers to the following question:

“What did you think freelancing would be like?”

Joel

p.s. don’t forget we’ve got a conference coming in Cardiff next year (18th of July) which is solely about the business of freelancing and running your micro-agency.