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I'm Dan Mall. Ask me anything!
4 years ago from Dan Mall, Founder & CEO
Robert Williams, 4 years ago Do you have to decide on one of those? What if you're doing it to stay indie, work on fulfilling work and make a great living? Is that too greedy?
Dan Mall, 4 years ago Not too greedy at all, and you certainly don't have to decide! But, I've found that the more variables there are, the more difficult the decision becomes for me. Without a hierarchy of priorities, what should I do if a mind-numbing project comes along that pays for my whole year? It's not fulfilling, but I can make a great living. Is that worth it? Or what if my dream project comes along, but I have to do it for free? Is that worth it?
All I mean to say is that clear priorities have aided me tremendously in decision-making.
Robert Williams, 4 years ago Thanks for clarifying man, love your work
Congrats on getting ready to take the leap, Rodrigo!
Lots! But I'll stick to one for now: before you do it, decide why you're doing it. Is it to make more money? Is it to spend more time on your hobbies and interests? Is it to do more fulfilling work? If you don't know, it'll make freelancing difficult. But if you can decide in advance, it'll make the decision-making part much easier.
If you're trying to make more money, don't be picky about gigs and take as much as you can and/or the ones that pay the most (as long as they're not crossing any moral, ethical, and legal lines, of course). You'll make a fortune.
If you're trying to do more fulfilling work, don't say yes to projects that aren't what you want to do. If fulfilling work is the most important thing to you, doing projects that your heart's not in will be more painful than, say, getting a bank loan or borrowing money from friends/family to pay the bills.
It's ok if your decision changes year-to-year, or month-to-month, or heck, day-to-day. But you decide. Don't let it be decided for you. You're in control of your own destiny.
Go get 'em, Rodrigo!