How often do you chase a potential client for a response?
One of the things I find hardest about freelancing is handling new business enquiries, and particularly deciding how often to chase someone if I don't hear back. After many years…
How I set payment terms
Since freelancing full time, my payment terms are 14 days. I picked 14 days as a reasonable balance between wanting to be paid promptly whilst also allowing for the fact…
Why I work remotely
I've worked remotely for the entire period I have been freelancing full-time, as well as my first full time job after leaving university. The only period when I didn't was…
2025 review of the year
2025 was a mixed bag in comparison with 2024 from a freelance perspective. I had a noticeable drop off in enquiries, but my income was stable. I moved to being…
Have you tried using AI / LLM coding tools?
Freelance question via Mastodon: have you tried using an LLM coding tool to see how good/bad the code it generates is? I have tried using AI / LLM coding tools…
Why I make my resources available for free
I produce a variety of resources which I make available for free, such as my freelance questions + answers, blog posts and open source software. This is for a number…
How long should your initial consultation be?
Unsurprisingly, most prospective clients want at least a brief chat before deciding whether to hire me, and likewise I want to know a bit more before working for them -…
What are your niches and how did you find them?
I have four niches or specialisms: Sector: IT for financial services Programming language: PHP Type of work: Bespoke/legacy applications Working arrangement: Retainer-based These make up the majority of my business,…
Why and how do you set client financial exposure limits?
A financial exposure limit is the maximum amount of work I allow to be outstanding for a single client at any one time, which I've currently set at £1500. I…
10 years of freelancing full time
On 30th June 2015, I officially left my job as Software Support Officer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, and started freelancing full time the…