Freelance for Life

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Ready to go freelance but not sure where to start?This free template is designed to help you plan for both necessary (and ideal) steps in setting up and launching a successful freelance practice. Get a better holistic view into what to expect with:<ul><li>Registration</li><li>Launching</li><li>Pricing</li><li>Routine business practices</li></ul> And join the next class cohort to dig into this in even more detail!

Your Business Setup Checklist

Learn how to start and sustain a successful and fulfilling freelance practice.

Sarah Jutras

Solopreneur and design director

Designing Your Freelance Business

Motion Designer

Senior UX Deisgner

User Experience Designer

Founder @ SWIM

Design and Product Operations 

Product Designer

Founder & Principal

Founder

Design consultant

I get it. You're a talented creative professional. You've designed amazing products, crafted beautiful user experiences, and maybe even shipped a few apps to the App Store.&nbsp;But the leap to freelancing? That feels like a whole different ball of wax. Perhaps you've tried to figure it out on your own. Late nights spent scouring blogs, devouring books, and binge-watching YouTube videos. You've taken guesses on different pricing structures and paid for way too many project management tools. Yet still, things aren’t quite clicking into place. The advice is often conflicting and either too generic or so niche that it doesn't meet you where you're at.&nbsp; That’s because freelancing isn't one-size-fits-all. You need education, adaptable frameworks, and support to learn how to make freelancing work for YOU. In 2016 I quit my corporate job as a product design director and left behind what wasn’t working for me, and I’ve been creating a new way of working, for myself, ever since. And you can too. The top 3 things freelancers worry about most involve:(1) finding work to make money(2) keeping organized with operations, and(3) setting boundaries and attaining balance You no longer have to worry whether you're doing it right. After our time together, you'll not only have foundational systems to help you run your business but you will be inspired to redesign your work life by: ✦ Creating a flexible schedule that works for you ✦ Building a sustainable income on your own terms ✦ Choosing projects that ignite your passion ✦ Making a real impact with your work ✦ Going from in-house employee to successful freelancer – even if you're afraid of giving up that steady paycheck ✦ Finding fulfillment in being a business owner

Does the thought of freelancing both excite and terrify you?

Course syllabus

Recorded lessons of lecture and demo walkthroughs that you can watch on your own time and return to at any point in the journey of launching or running your business.

Exclusive video content

Specific course assignments will help you get hands on with building your business and your operating procedures. You'll be able to leverage coaching and peer feedback from the cohort community to help you progress.

Weekly projects

Our live time together is spent on live review, interactive workshopping, and group critiques.<ul><li>Workshop 1: Weds 10/25</li><li>Workshop 2: Weds 11/1</li><li>Workshop 3: Weds 11/8</li></ul>

Live workshopping

Take a break in your day and join me in my afternoon office hours for small group coaching and additional guidance on your projects.

Additional "Tea Time" office hours

Course schedule

Aspiring freelancers who want the confidence to quit their 9-to-5 (or 9-to-9!) job even if they don’t have a solid game plan (yet)

Active solopreneurs struggling with inefficient systems and overwhelm who want to design more intentional processes that lead to growth

Design/Tech industry creatives who worry about finding consistent, high-quality clients and want to become magnets for dream projects

Creative business owners who are ready to attract better clients, and achieve the harmony in their work AND life they’ve been looking for

This course is designed for

In Designing Your Freelance Business you'll...

<ul><li>Define your core values to help guide your future business decisions</li><li>Identify your unique service offerings that set you apart in the market</li><li>Establish concrete fit-for-you financial goals that motivate and guide you</li><li>Master the art of pricing your services for profitability</li></ul>

Transform your mindset from employee to entrepreneur

<ul><li>Establish daily practices and SOPs so you can spend more time on what matters&nbsp;</li><li>Create a calendar and task planning system best for your brain</li><li>Design personal rituals that fuel your creativity and well-being</li><li>Maintain healthy boundaries to manage stress and prevent burnout</li></ul>

Design a sustainable freelance lifestyle that prevents burnout

<ul><li>Develop a strategy for finding and landing clients</li><li>Craft compelling proposals that close deals</li><li>Get templates for running a project from start to finish with the support of tools like Notion</li><li>Design seamless and thoughtful client onboarding and handoff experiences</li></ul>

Create systems that attract and retain dream clients

Contract Basics for Freelancers

Sam Mazzeo

Attorney, Advocate, Halloween Aficionado

Olivia Casellini

Attorney, HR professional, educator

Business owner since 2016, design consultant, former product design lead

We’ll explain what this language means and why you need to address these clearly in your contracts.

What all of that dense, robotic legalese actually means

We’ll explain the basic differences between these regarding Intellectual Property, when each are most appropriate

The difference between “assignment” & “license” of IP

We have tips for you around navigating cognitive biases, logical fallacies, and when the other side won’t compromise.

Negotiating 101

As of 2025, certain freelancers in California are required to have a written contract, with very specific requirements.

Bonus: California’s Freelance Worker Protection Act

How to find (and keep) clients

Founder, design director with 15 yrs experience & 8 yrs of solopreneurship

Learn about online/offline client acquisition, which platforms I list on and why, plus other ways to promote yourself

Where to discover new, prospective clients

Get tips on qualifying your leads, taking intro calls, and what info I share with prospective clients to land projects

How to prepare for biz dev calls

Gain insights on delivering a great client experience for current & past clients + soft skills for relationship building

How to foster relationships with clients for repeat business

Discover tactics for planning/preparing for slow periods and how to move away from fearing feast or famine

What to do when things are slow

Designing Your Freelance Pricing

Business owner since 2016, freelance design consultant, former product design lead and design director

Understand pros/cons of time-based, to project-based, to value-based structures and beyond (+ see examples!)

Learn the most common pricing models for freelance work

Pricing can actually be flexible. Understand the levers you can adjust to dial in your services or offering

Understand the levers you can pull to adjust your pricing

Get a template for your pricing strategy and see how to present costs to prospective clients

Learn directly from Freelance for Life

Freelance for Life

Courses

Designing Your Freelance Business

Lightning Lessons

Contract Basics for Freelancers

How to find (and keep) clients

Designing Your Freelance Pricing

Resources

Your Business Setup Checklist