Being Freelance

How do you go from being a locksmith to being the voice of BBC Radio 1? From house entries to House heroes? From working on people's doors to knocking on doors that opened up a world working with his dance music heroes. As a voiceover and in demand audio imaging producer to the world's biggest DJs, Stevie's business took off but he had to figure out how to run that business too. And...

Passionate about video production, at the start of the millenium Neil soon grew from being a freelancer to being a company owner. But when the recession hit he realised being good wasn't enough. He needed to be marketing his business. Having laid everyone off he set about growing again, but this time with lessons learned... Neil's is a great story of the buzzes and challenges of growing...

Danny Margulies quit his job. Next he wrote 'how to make money writing' into Google. Two days later he had his first client on freelance marketplace Elance. It's become his sole place for finding work. Fair to say, he's making more than enough money writing now. He's since started a course teaching the techniques he's picked up to win at freelancing online. You can ge...

Freelancer Ebonie Allard went from TV to a successful Virtual Assistant business... until she broke under the strain. Hear how she went from breakdown to breakthrough and retrained as a coach to other self employed 'misfits'. She shares lots of great lessons her and her clients have learned along the way and includes great insight into building a business via social media/blogging/email...

Olly Newport's a 20 year old camera op/video editor who has never been anything but freelance. Faced with a future of high univeristy fees he chose to take his film making passion into a freelancing career instead. Steve Folland discovers the challenges he's faced with a steep learning curve in business. Don't forget to subscribe via iTunes and the Podcast app for iPhone etc and als...

Fraser Davidson is a BAFTA award winning director, animator and designer. You'll find some crafty and candid tips in here whatever field you work in. He's been staff, he's been freelance and now he's a year into co-founding a company. He chats about developing side projects to get dream projects, finding his niche, how nice guys get paid last and what's it been like starti...

Photographer Casey Gutteridge doesn't just take pictures, he takes every opportunity to build his connections and that builds his business. This time, Steve Folland discovers how a local newspaper snapper ends up with leading entreprenneurs and even royalty in the frame. Plus, how Casey always goes the extra mile to keep the customer satisfied and is using social media to help build buzz for...

Steve Folland finds out what it’s like being freelance for US born and now Manchester based blogger Kimberly Duran. How she balanced a successful blog with a full time job until the time was right to start officially being freelance. With great advice on blogging, diversifying your income, selling yourself and making and keeping an eye on your goals. Don't forget to subscribe via iTunes and t...

Steve Folland chats to Art Director Sam Clark-Hall. Due to the nature of the TV/film industry, Sam's never had a 'proper job', so with over 15 years of freelancing under her belt has plenty to share on staying afloat financially. Plus in recent years she's been balancing ambition with starting a family and doing something you love around those that you love. Don't forget t...

Steve Folland chats to Front End Web Developer Barry McGee on stepping out from the BBC and being freelance. Barry's experiment with paying for 'promoted tweets' to find himself work is a fascinating new technique to land his CVs on the desks of decision makers. But did it work? Don't forget to subscribe via iTunes and the Podcast app for iPhone etc and also via Stitcher who ha...

Steve Folland chats to Brand and Web Designer Liz Elcoate. How she went from pension advisor to banking on a freelance career for her future. It's not enough to be a passionate freelancer, you need to be a business person and this episode includes cracking thoughts on: payments, contracts, commanding respect and finding a niche. This conversation also touches upon mental health issues: if thi...

Steve Folland chats to Motion Designer & Creative Editor Stu Denbigh on taking a step back to move forward early on his career, continually improving and learning, how finding two mentors made him stronger creatively and how he deals with the dreaded cash-flow - all part of being freelance for the past 10 years. Don't forget to subscribe via iTunes and the Podcast app for iPhone etc and a...

Steve Folland discovers how CSS Wizardry's Harry Roberts went from secure staff job to in-demand consultant and international speaker. Harry now advises and runs workshops for the like of Google, BBC and NHS. But as a consultant, beware: if you're good at your job, you'll never get hired twice. You'll hear that there's a lot behind a Front-end Architect, as Harry shares gr...

This time, Steve finds out what it's like being freelance for presenter Gema Enseñat: how she went from secondary school teacher to TV host and announcer, then self-styled her own direction as a craft blogger. Includes: finding your specialism and not letting finances run the show. Oh, and her dog. Don't forget to subscribe via iTunes and the Podcast app for iPhone etc and also via Stitc...

This time, what it’s like being freelance for Musician and Producer Chris Hollis How Chris switched from being a freelance journalist for radio stations to creating a business supplying them with jingles. His strategy of building up an 800 strong mailing list to launch his products, whilst forming personal relationships has been huge. Here’s some of the key takeaway points: You'll know when i...

This time, what it’s like being freelance for Cardiff based illustrator Jessica Morgan. How she dipped her toe, or pencil, in the freelance waters while employed full time and grew her reputation and her business to become a limited company. She may be freelance but she still has her 9-5. And her dog. Don't forget to subscribe via iTunes and the Podcast app for iPhone etc and also via Stitche...

This week, what it’s like being freelance for London based photographer Tom Miles. With over 20 years working self employed in the industry: has he finally nailed pricing? How does he drop clients whose work he doesn’t enjoy? How does he evolve his portfolio to get the work he wants rather than what he’s offered? Here’s some of the key takeaway points: Connections matter; stay in touch It’s a free...