What does freelancing mean to you?

With the economy on a rollercoaster and people losing jobs by the minute, freelancing has become the new thing to do. In between furthering their education or hunting for the new job (wherever they are), designers are going off on their own. Some are lucky and have clients they pulled from their contacts, but some are just starting out and have no clue where to begin.

Freelancing means different things to everyone. For some it’s a way of making some additional income, and for others it’s their full-time job. Clients can consider freelancers as the perfect opportunity to receive great customer service, or they can see a freelancer as inexperienced and use and abuse them. Regardless, freelancing can only mean one thing…it is what you make of it.

I’ve been a freelancer for about five years now. I started right before college and I’ll continue doing so until the benefits of set hours overweighs the opportunity to go cycling whenever the weather’s nice (or till I go stir-crazy during the month of rain we get in June). I’ve had great experiences, and some pretty bad ones, but overall it’s what I love to do, and I couldn’t imagine another career.

Freelancing to me means:

• Staying up late to get a design finished and shipped to the client.
• Getting up early to finish a design and ship it off to a client.
• Generally getting sleep at awkward times.
• Being able to schedule appointments in the middle of the day so I don’t fight the ‘rush’ of those poor 9-5ers.
• Deciding that PJ’s are the day’s dress code.
• Being bossed around by the cat.

There's a million and one reasons to be, or not to be, a freelancer. So what does freelancing mean to you?