When I used to freelance, I found that the majority of my clients came through recommendations. All of which were the ‘Champagne taste, Beer money’ type. All small, 3-10 web-sites that seem easy to begin with, but then spiral out of control, resulting in a lot of hassle that you don’t envisage in the first place.

I think every client should be treated as an individual, like you said, the one size fits all approach just doesn’t always work.

How are things since this blog Matt, are you still in choppy waters with it all?

Ive only been freelancing (and designing) for a few months and already i’ve experienced a few of these clients.

The breeds of client link is a keeper!

Keep it up man, love your work.

I’ve struggled with this very situation more than a few times, and I’ve gone back and forth between working for myself, and working for “The Man”. Even today, I’m still struggling with where I ultimately want to be, but family, and how YOU want to live your life are very powerful things to consider in your choices.

If you really and truly WANT to be freelance, and run this way, stick to your guns. Running your own business is infinitely more difficult than working for someone else. It can also be infinitely more rewarding. I myself have to tend to agree with earlier comments about considering forming your own company, with a few people in it. Not only can you take on more work, but you can also use this pool of talent to pull you through the leaner times.

When you’re having to worry about a mortgage and children, not having a steady income is a very frightening thing. I can truly empathize with the panic attacks you’ve mentioned. I get them all the time, even when I do reside under a corporate umbrella. I choose not to believe the fallacy that working for someone else is a “guaranteed” paycheck. I’ve seen too many businesses fail, and I’ve been the victim myself of watching a company I worked for, literally disappear overnight, leaving me with wages owed, and no recourse. Myself, I just take things one day at a time when it gets tough. Sometimes you have to narrow your focus, just to keep from freaking out when you start looking too far down the road.

As soon as I can, I fully intend to secure one of your advertising spots to test out. I’m interested in seeing what the results will be. Since you and I have some history, albeit from a few years back now, I actually have a great degree of respect for you, which is why I’ve followed you over the years, just to see where you went. I do wish you luck continuing on, and just remember; failure is a natural part of business evolution. As long as you try to continue towards your ultimate goal, every step, good or bad, will only help to further you along the way.

There are two types of freelancers in the world: those who have experienced *exactly* what you’re going through, and those who will experience it.

There is a lot of good advice in the comments above. The only thing I’ll add is this: don’t quit. Lick your wounds, learn your lessons, and take heart from all the great people who obviously care about you.

I am sure you will begin landing some small clients that will give you the pick-me-up to get back on track.

I’ve pretty much given up on this whole Internet thing (getting a life and all of that) but I do still drop by here regularly.

I think Marco (above) has an excellent point: Products. I’m not really the great paying customer but I have subscribed to/bought some products that I couldn’t live without today. Marco used Mint as an example, I’ll go for Backpack.

If you would get together with Marco and get a better (and especially better supported) application up than 37signals did with Backpack, you’d have loads of customers floating your way. I’m taking Backpack as an example because it’s become really the only thing I use on a daily basis and it’s frustrating to see that with the cheaper plans deleted, all the people I suggest it to run over to subscribe (almost every person I show what I’ve done over there hits the 37signals page within a day) … only to be turned off by the larger group plans they have. If you could roll out a similar app geared towards families and small groups like that, you’d have a guaranteed winner. And that’s just one example out of the many thousands a bit of research would probably turn up as apps that could use some serious competition.

You could also just take up drumming again.

Cheers!

Volkher

P.S.: DO tell us when things pick up again so we don’t have to slash our wrists halfway ’round the globe worrying about you.