Trying my Hand at Freelancing
Wow. I haven't posted in a long time. There has been some crazy stuff going on in my life lately, and as much as I love sharing my creations with you, I just haven't had the time or energy! I will try to get back up to date with some of my more notable projects...
I recently left my full-time job of 12 years, and I'm having a wee bit of trouble transitioning into the freedom and flexibility of managing my own schedule. Ha ha. There are just so many things I COULD be doing, but prioritizing what I SHOULD be doing has taken a bit more effort than I expected.
Task #1: Make Money
I'm working ever so slowly to open my own business (which I'm sure you'll hear all about when I get to the point of launching!), but in the mean time I need to make at least a little bit of income to help pay the bills and whatnot. Adulting blows.
I had heard about upwork.com on a Podcast, so I figured I'd give it a try. Upwork is basically an online marketplace where people seeking creative design or proofreading services can connect with freelancers with the skills to do so. I decided to give it a try and signed up.
Ok, so the Podcast I was listening to gave Upwork rave reviews from the hiring person's viewpoint. As a designer, however, I'm a little disappointed. First off, you need to purchase "connects" to apply for jobs, some of which take up to 6 or 8 connects to apply to. While the connects are pretty cheap (about 15 cents each), and you do get a handful when you sign up, it took me nearly 10 "applications" to finally land a job. I'm guessing that once you have a larger portfolio of completed jobs, this will get easier, but it's definitely hard to break in.
The next issue I have is the HUGE cut that Upwork takes from your fees. Granted, you can set your hourly pay requirements in the system to counter-balance the 20% they take, but the higher you charge and quote projects, the less likely you are to get jobs. Several jobs are also priced at set values, which are generally non-negotiable.
While I do appreciate the services Upwork provides in assisting freelancers find work, and they do make sure that everyone is who they say they are- I was required to do a video chat with their staff to confirm my "liveliness"- I'm not sure the hassle is really worth it. I've gotten one job so far...
My Upwork Experience
I was pretty pumped when I saw this one come across my suggested jobs feed. Someone in Rhode Island was looking for two custom-made ambulance dog costumes to arrive before Christmas (the listing went up on December 15, a Sunday). Now that's my kind of job! Weird, out there, involving dogs... yup! I'm probably the only one crazy enough to have applied, but the $400 fixed price seemed totally worth it, so I jumped. The premise behind this silly gift was based on this viral video.
By Monday morning I had everything drawn up and planned and headed to the hardware store to pick up my supplies. I think I spent around $60 on the first trip, and I was happy with that, considering I thought that's all I would need to construct these things.
Side note- it's difficult to create a costume for a dog that's 1200 miles away, and whom I've never met nor seen. Photos don't help much in regard to scale, but fortunately I have a good selection of friends' dogs to eye up for size. I ended up planning these to be 14" tall, 14" wide, and 22" long.
Everything came together great from the start. The material I chose to construct the boxes out of was easy to work with- I could cut it with a scissors and bend it to form with a heat gun. It's some sort of plastic bathroom wall panel from Menard's that's 100% water and mildew resistant, and easy-clean (which caused an issue when it came to putting art on these things). I was able to construct the boxes in one fold-up piece with four simple tabs, which thankfully adhered well with Gorilla Glue 5-Minute Epoxy. I also added PVC cross-supports with padding to sit on the dogs' backs and to help it retain the square shape while remaining as light as possible.
No ambulance is complete without a flashing beacon! I ordered two of these battery-operated, magnetic bottom LED lights on Amazon (another $30), and Gorilla-glued a steel plate (i.e. electrical junction box cover) on the inside of each ambulance. This way, the beacons could be popped on or removed as needed.
I brought a sample of the plastic material to my local DigiCopy to get some graphics printed, and literally NOTHING they had would stick to it. The consensus was that I should have brought the raw material in to have the art printed directly onto it on the flatbed printer... I guess next time I need dog ambulance costumes I'll know. I ended up spending another $90 on digitally printed vinyl banner material and using contact cement to stick the decals onto the boxes. These side panels are based on an actual ambulance fleet; the costumes were commissioned for a pair of labradoodles who are apparently this company's mascots.
I had purchased a bunch of little reflective doo-dads on my first trip to the hardware store and stuck them to the boxes to look like lights. They turned out so cute! I also layered some aluminum tape and pieces of reflective material onto the side decals before applying them.
Of course, these needed to be functional and stay in place. I don't actually know what the ambulance company plans to use these for, but I imagine them in parades or at events. I constructed a harness system out of poly straps, anchoring the adjustable front straps to the front ends of the ambulance boxes. A metal ring attached the front straps to the center strap, and a long strap with a buckle was fed through loops in the box corners and through the center strap. All of the straps are adjustable and have plenty of extra slack just in case.
While I've created a few articles of dog apparel in the past, I have never put a canine in a rigid box that is expected to stay upright on a moving creature. I tried one of the ambulances on my dad's golden retriever Willie (my Howie is too short), and while he wasn't super thrilled to be a guinea pig, I could tell right away that my original cross-members needed to have more of a curve to them to hug the dog's shape a little better. Another trip to Menard's for PVC and $20 later, the new padded curves were installed.
By this point, it was Thursday and I really needed to get these in the mail if they had any hope of arriving by Christmas. The final shock of this project was how darn expensive it was going to be to ship these!
Now, if you've been doing the math, I've spent around $200 on materials to make these dog costumes high-quality, durable and (hopefully) functional. The project pays $400, but since Upwork takes 20%, I was really working with $320. I did some calculations on the UPS website, and it appeared as if I'd be able to ship these for about $80. OK, whatever. I'll recoup my costs and make a tiny bit for my time.
But nope. I got to the UPS store, and it actually cost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS to ship these to Rhode Island, and there wasn't even a guarantee that they'd be there on time, nor that a fragile sticker would prevent them from getting damaged, as they are "handled by conveyor belts". I was tempted to hop in the car and drive the darn things to the East Coast myself... but I sucked it up and paid the grumpy man to box and ship my hard work.
They arrived the Monday before Christmas Eve in perfect condition. Whew!
To top things off, I still haven't received the second half of my payment from the customer. While he did send me an $80 bonus to make up for the 20% that Upwork takes (on which they, again, took 20%), I'm not entirely sure how to go about getting paid aside from continuing to message him on Upwork, or getting Upwork involved (which I really don't want to do). I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that the holidays have been busy, and hopefully I'll see that money come through eventually.
Task #1: FAILED
In the end, I really did enjoy making these! I love a good challenge, and I'm very happy with how they turned out. I'm chalking it up as a learning experience. I know I have a tendency to over-deliver and make everything way more extravagant than I need to, but that doesn't always work out when I'm trying to make money.
I recently left my full-time job of 12 years, and I'm having a wee bit of trouble transitioning into the freedom and flexibility of managing my own schedule. Ha ha. There are just so many things I COULD be doing, but prioritizing what I SHOULD be doing has taken a bit more effort than I expected.
Task #1: Make Money
I'm working ever so slowly to open my own business (which I'm sure you'll hear all about when I get to the point of launching!), but in the mean time I need to make at least a little bit of income to help pay the bills and whatnot. Adulting blows.
I had heard about upwork.com on a Podcast, so I figured I'd give it a try. Upwork is basically an online marketplace where people seeking creative design or proofreading services can connect with freelancers with the skills to do so. I decided to give it a try and signed up.
Ok, so the Podcast I was listening to gave Upwork rave reviews from the hiring person's viewpoint. As a designer, however, I'm a little disappointed. First off, you need to purchase "connects" to apply for jobs, some of which take up to 6 or 8 connects to apply to. While the connects are pretty cheap (about 15 cents each), and you do get a handful when you sign up, it took me nearly 10 "applications" to finally land a job. I'm guessing that once you have a larger portfolio of completed jobs, this will get easier, but it's definitely hard to break in.
The next issue I have is the HUGE cut that Upwork takes from your fees. Granted, you can set your hourly pay requirements in the system to counter-balance the 20% they take, but the higher you charge and quote projects, the less likely you are to get jobs. Several jobs are also priced at set values, which are generally non-negotiable.
While I do appreciate the services Upwork provides in assisting freelancers find work, and they do make sure that everyone is who they say they are- I was required to do a video chat with their staff to confirm my "liveliness"- I'm not sure the hassle is really worth it. I've gotten one job so far...
My Upwork Experience
I was pretty pumped when I saw this one come across my suggested jobs feed. Someone in Rhode Island was looking for two custom-made ambulance dog costumes to arrive before Christmas (the listing went up on December 15, a Sunday). Now that's my kind of job! Weird, out there, involving dogs... yup! I'm probably the only one crazy enough to have applied, but the $400 fixed price seemed totally worth it, so I jumped. The premise behind this silly gift was based on this viral video.
By Monday morning I had everything drawn up and planned and headed to the hardware store to pick up my supplies. I think I spent around $60 on the first trip, and I was happy with that, considering I thought that's all I would need to construct these things.
Side note- it's difficult to create a costume for a dog that's 1200 miles away, and whom I've never met nor seen. Photos don't help much in regard to scale, but fortunately I have a good selection of friends' dogs to eye up for size. I ended up planning these to be 14" tall, 14" wide, and 22" long.
 |
| The Doodles in question. |
Everything came together great from the start. The material I chose to construct the boxes out of was easy to work with- I could cut it with a scissors and bend it to form with a heat gun. It's some sort of plastic bathroom wall panel from Menard's that's 100% water and mildew resistant, and easy-clean (which caused an issue when it came to putting art on these things). I was able to construct the boxes in one fold-up piece with four simple tabs, which thankfully adhered well with Gorilla Glue 5-Minute Epoxy. I also added PVC cross-supports with padding to sit on the dogs' backs and to help it retain the square shape while remaining as light as possible.
No ambulance is complete without a flashing beacon! I ordered two of these battery-operated, magnetic bottom LED lights on Amazon (another $30), and Gorilla-glued a steel plate (i.e. electrical junction box cover) on the inside of each ambulance. This way, the beacons could be popped on or removed as needed.
I brought a sample of the plastic material to my local DigiCopy to get some graphics printed, and literally NOTHING they had would stick to it. The consensus was that I should have brought the raw material in to have the art printed directly onto it on the flatbed printer... I guess next time I need dog ambulance costumes I'll know. I ended up spending another $90 on digitally printed vinyl banner material and using contact cement to stick the decals onto the boxes. These side panels are based on an actual ambulance fleet; the costumes were commissioned for a pair of labradoodles who are apparently this company's mascots.
While I've created a few articles of dog apparel in the past, I have never put a canine in a rigid box that is expected to stay upright on a moving creature. I tried one of the ambulances on my dad's golden retriever Willie (my Howie is too short), and while he wasn't super thrilled to be a guinea pig, I could tell right away that my original cross-members needed to have more of a curve to them to hug the dog's shape a little better. Another trip to Menard's for PVC and $20 later, the new padded curves were installed.
By this point, it was Thursday and I really needed to get these in the mail if they had any hope of arriving by Christmas. The final shock of this project was how darn expensive it was going to be to ship these!
 |
| Thank goodness they nested to fit in one box! |
Now, if you've been doing the math, I've spent around $200 on materials to make these dog costumes high-quality, durable and (hopefully) functional. The project pays $400, but since Upwork takes 20%, I was really working with $320. I did some calculations on the UPS website, and it appeared as if I'd be able to ship these for about $80. OK, whatever. I'll recoup my costs and make a tiny bit for my time.
But nope. I got to the UPS store, and it actually cost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS to ship these to Rhode Island, and there wasn't even a guarantee that they'd be there on time, nor that a fragile sticker would prevent them from getting damaged, as they are "handled by conveyor belts". I was tempted to hop in the car and drive the darn things to the East Coast myself... but I sucked it up and paid the grumpy man to box and ship my hard work.
They arrived the Monday before Christmas Eve in perfect condition. Whew!
To top things off, I still haven't received the second half of my payment from the customer. While he did send me an $80 bonus to make up for the 20% that Upwork takes (on which they, again, took 20%), I'm not entirely sure how to go about getting paid aside from continuing to message him on Upwork, or getting Upwork involved (which I really don't want to do). I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that the holidays have been busy, and hopefully I'll see that money come through eventually.
Task #1: FAILED
In the end, I really did enjoy making these! I love a good challenge, and I'm very happy with how they turned out. I'm chalking it up as a learning experience. I know I have a tendency to over-deliver and make everything way more extravagant than I need to, but that doesn't always work out when I'm trying to make money.
Comments
Post a Comment