Judith Alexander

Freelancing

Judith used to work in art and design, selling her work in galleries. She is now running the Zone career centre, where they offer advice to entrepreneurs about running businesses.

Judith talked us through the pros and cons of freelancing:

She also raised the point that freelancing can be quite isolating, which was partly the reason why she started working at the careers centre.

15% of people in Wales are self-employed.

20% of private sector jobs come from a business employing less than 5 people.

Freelancing trends for 2014;

Freelancers will gain greater recognition. In the past 10 years freelancing has increased by 45%in the EU. 2014 will see a shift away from rigid full time roles to hiring for dynamic projects. Freedom and flexibility are bigger motivations for people today than there have ever been.

She referenced the website www.freelancingmatters.com

Freelancers tend to charge for their work in the following ways;

Charge per hour. Charge per word/drawing/item.

At a fixed fee.

You should check out how work tends to be priced in your industry, and be careful as some companies may try to take advantage and under-price your work. Under-pricing your work can also undervalue your field and therefore gain you a bad reputation among other artists.

Terms and Conditions;

If you’re a freelancer, one of the most important things you should do is work out what your terms and conditions are.

This is useful to both parties and forms your contract. It is worth getting a solicitor to check your terms and conditions, as it is a legal contract. Terms and conditions help cover you- for example, if you do the work but it does not get

published, what fee will you then get? This is particularly important with commissioned work, as it is done for a specific purpose it can be hard to resell to another client. Are you transferring copyright or not etc.

Be careful with freelancing websites as you may have to agree to their terms and conditions. Look at what the copywright rules.

She then gave us a list of art societies and associations that may be useful to us:

She told us it was beneficial to look through these to see which ones suited us and our field of work best, some also have benefits such as student discounts. These associations would be useful as it is always good to have someone looking out for your best interests and helping you with legislation and such.

Insurances

You should consider which insurances you need to get

Public liability Contract dispute insurance. General commercial cover (for business equipment such as laptops and phones.) Cover for finished pieces of work Car (additional business insurance) Good in transit insurance (transporting your work)

Read up on legislation rules and about copyright.

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How to find work:

Networking is essential. Hold exhibitions. Submit work to online galleries. Set up a shop in an online market place (e.g. Etsy) Submit articles to websites. List your services on open studio trails. Deliver seminars and workshops. List on specialist websites- e.g. www.portraitartist.co.uk

Working with design agencies

Design, advertising and marketing agencies subcontract work to freelance graphic designers. Always have a written agreement before you begin work with an agency.

She gave us a definition of networking: the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.

We then watched a video which summarised the 9 most important points to networking;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkqd6T399tQ

Focus on what you can give them rather than what they can do for you Be present- give someone your full attention when you are talking to each other. Listen more than talk Think long term rather than short term, take your time when talking to someone rather than

trying to sell them something straight away. Remember you don’t have to commit to anything or feel guilty about not staying in touch with

people. Be honest, don’t make false promises. Take action straight away rather than putting it off for later. Go to events that interest you- your number one goal is to make connections and not pick up a

contract. (There are over ten networking events per month in Wrexham, there is a huge range, some are free, some are not)

When talking to people it is important to remember that although they may not be a potential client, they can recommend you to someone, which is very valuable

Steps to Networking

YOU are important- PEOPLE are important Having a conversation- master the art Get over your shyness- practice, hand out those business cards. Create new networking opportunities- push yourself to join new groups, attend conferences etc. Systemise- drop a new contact a newsletter every quarter. Keep track of your contacts. Ask people questions.

She showed us a poster by the chamber of commerce which has a good offer on at the moment for students. They throw networking events and offer lots of opportunities.

Out of all the online networking groups she recommends Linkedin as it is the most professional, they have over 250 million members, and you can join discussion groups that are appropriate to your career. If nobody has discussed anything in that group for the past two months perhaps don’t bother posting there. She also recommends Pinterest Facebook Twitter and Instagram

Zone talk series events, these are workshops to help with skills. Open to graduates and students.

Social media, 12th March room K120 Project management, 19th March room K214

Businessline is another free service in Wrexham which can offer information about freelancing, they can print things out for you related to your business and help you construct a business plan. You can also contact them by email or phone.

HM Revenue and Customs; you need to register as self-employed if you are freelancing. HRMC provide free webinars on topics including:

Self-employment Business expenses Self-assessment online VAT Becoming an employer

There are also pdfs and videos on the Moodle website in the student support zone section. This has lots of information about HMRC.

The business enterprise network is coming to Wrexham very soon, holding a Wrexham Dragons Den event. This is an opportunity to talk to local entrepreneurs and about your career and get advice.

Judith then showed us the top 25 most useful apps for freelancers;

Trending apps for Freelancers

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Wales freelancing academy- This unique package of support will help you focus your business idea and plan for success when starting out as a freelancer. The benefits include;

Free training course for graduates living in Wales- worth up to 2000

You will receive an institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) qualification in ‘Starting your Enterprise’

Academy course tutors are experienced freelancers ready to help you learn from their experiences.

You need to apply to join, and you need to have graduated or be in the final year of university.

Graduate employment schemes are more and more looking for creative graduates, DHL and Enterprise were a couple of examples she showed us.

You can do both employment and freelance, it is quite common, though this is not a good idea if you are on a graduate scheme because they tend to be very intense

Big ideas Wales is one of the banners that she works under, they support those under 24. They have business bootcamps where they take you off for the weekend to meet business entrepreneurs and will give you monthly support through meetings to help you develop your ideas and move forward.

She told us we could drop in into the zone at any time, but we can also ring or contact her online.