Sometimes I find myself with friends asking me how did I become a freelancer.
There isn’t a protocol to follow, a right way to do it.

To be honest, when I started, I did not really know what I was doing.
I don’t even know what really means freelance at the time.
I went through a “real job” that makes me feel like I’m just not cut out for it.
I can say that I accidentally discovered freelance (thank God for my “failures”!).

Everyone told me not to quit my job.
But, like Rank Zappa once said:
“If you end up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom,
your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit,
then you deserve it!”
I done what people say not to do and went for it!

I believed that I will be able to make it happen.
After that, I just need love, hard work, patience and skill.
Easy, right?

I started searching for some works in the web,
developed my business website called Escolha Digital,
printed some business cards, friends telling friends what I do.
Eventualy, work began to appear.

I always say my friends, it’s not so easy as it seems or other people try to make you believe.
I have been through some rough times to, the lack of work or the clients that don’t pay.
It takes time, persistance and hard work.
I saw it as a natural evolution.

As a consequence of that I felt the need to subscribe to a server.
Now, the websites are at my side.
I create the host and regist/transfer the domain.
I even developed a website for it, I call it Hostvision.

In the course of time I discovered the fine art of networking.
In a certain way that changed the way I think.
I found myself talking to people that know what freelance realy means,
people with the ability and willingness to do more, to invest.
At that time I felt that I’m destined to do something greater (my nerd side revealing himself).

In one of those meetings, someone told me that if you want to develop a product, to make it suceed,
you need to develop something the world needs. Finding a solution to a problem.

Without knowing it, I was “developing” something that designers need.
They need to follow the evolution of technology and now a days everyone want a management area to their site.

Problem: Designers do not know how to program
Solution: ME

They need someone who can trust, consistent, that is not corny (piegas),
that does not disappear after the first project (or at the middle of it),
with the cards on the table.

I use it as a foundation of my work.
I speak with clarity and sincerity. I tell the clients the best solutions, trying to meet their needs.
I sell the product, I believe in it more than anyone, and they believe in me.
This is how I was able to begin a career as a freelancer.

How about you,
how do you start?