5 ms·

Am i the only one who thinks making $30k as a graphic designer freelancing in California for 6 months is incredibly low? In fact less than making at $42k annual

• jdminhbg 13y ago
  He went from fired to $30k in six months. I had a plan, quit my job with a runway, and still didn't make that much in my first six months as a freelance developer. Finding leads, selling, delivering, and billing take time. I'm averaging a lot more than that now; hopefully he will too.
  • vacri 13y ago
    A good point - billing takes time. Usually it's a minimum of one week, often two, and usually it's a month (depending on industry). So even if he had been working for six months solid, he would only have effectively had five months 'worth' of billing land. As an aside, my mum used to run a bookstore, and I think it was Penguin books who used to prevent overdue accounts this way: If you're not paid up by the 25th of the month, your orders are halted. Only really works if you've got a decent amount of traction, but you can guarantee that the one distributor that got paid on time every month was Penguin.
• jmduke 13y ago
  I am confident the number of people who wish they could quit their jobs and then make 60K a year freelancing is quite high -- especially in the competitive design industry. People very rarely choose freelancing for the money. If I was told I could quit my job and freelance for two thirds of what I was making, I'd probably take it.
  • d23 13y ago
    Really? To me, the extra stress of dealing with clients and wondering about each paycheck would mean I'd have to earn more, not less. I'm happy to take a guaranteed 100k vs 100k with a potential 50k swing and dealing with clients who might not pay me.
    • jmduke 13y ago
      I think that's completely valid, but also an issue of differing personalities. I know I get a lot of satisfaction from client facetime and that the uncertainty acts as a huge motivation; plus, flexible hours, WFH, and the sense of independence as a freelancer all seem incredibly attractive.
    • Chanel_Bunnell 13y ago
      Nothing personal, but that simply tells me that you're not an entrepreneur.
      • Retric 13y ago
        No, adding risk without a built in upside is a gambler not an entrepreneur. Unlike starting a software company as a freelancer you only get paid while your actually working so unless your billable rate is much higher your gaining risk without an upside.
      • jjkmk 13y ago
        Being a freelancer does not necessarily equate to being an entrepreneur.
    • kintamanimatt 13y ago
      You're responsible for your credit control and you're not really under any obligation to run anything other than a zero receivables business. It's oft repeated, but the Fuck You Pay Me video[1] is pretty much essential viewing for anybody that has to deal with collecting payments from customers. [1] http://vimeo.com/22053820 http://vimeo.com/22053820
• graeme 13y ago
  You're right, if he were to continue earning only that amount, while working just as much. We'd need to know the context to judge: 1. He might be earning the 30K while working less than at his old job (or more, to be fair). --- 2. This is his first six months. There's nothing stopping him from earning more. Salaried employees face much bigger barriers to increasing their earnings, unless they switch jobs. Most freelancers are not profitable right out of the gate.
• alex_doom 13y ago
  It's San Diego, shit is much cheap there than LA/SF.
• anip 13y ago
  The actual amount he has made is not impressive, but starting from nothing is impressive. Through word of mouth, and repeat business he will be able reduce the time required to acquire more work. He can use the skills he has acquired to be more productive and valuable to future customers. New clients and repeat clients will also be willing to pay-up since he is now a trusted resource, with less risk.
• Glyptodon 13y ago
  Hacker news seems filled with people who have no perspective on salary. Take a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Distribution_of_Annual_Household_Income_in_the_United_States.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Distribution_of_Annual_Hou... Yes, CA has higher costs of living, particularly in the Bay Area. But 60k a year isn't bad by nearly any source you can find: http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Graphic-Designer-l-California.html http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Graphic-Designer-l-California... http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes271024.htm http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes271024.htm http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-graphic-designer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,13_IM759_KO14,30.htm http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-graphic-desi...
• paulsutter 13y ago
  This was his _first six months_ as a freelancer. Making the switch isn't easy. Clearly he's a smart and determined fellow who has a mindset for optimizing his business. Based on this, I expect to see his income grow substantially quarter over quarter. It's pretty easy to find a token side point in any post and make a dismissive comment, as you have done. On the other hand, his central point was a useful revelation to me, despite my 20+ years of startup business experience. His post is excellent, and exactly what HN is about.
  • petercooper 13y ago
    Totally. I didn't even make $30k a year for the first few years of being a freelancer, although it was just after the dot com boom. Thankfully those days are over and lessons learnt, etc.. :)
• homosaur 13y ago
  I don't think you're being a jerk, you just don't understand pricing differences in areas. If I wanted to commute 60 miles every day or remote, I could buy a house for 55k with land. A nice one. Also, I like how you say "qualify for the HN front page" like it's some sort of accomplishment.
• ww520 13y ago
  Actually it's really impressive he can hit the ground running and made $30k from scratch. Just like the first sales, the first batch of clients is the toughest to get. Once he got it going, he will get more. Kudos to him.