Freelancing and Online Services

[Michael S.]

Hey,
I was wondering if anybody here conducts freelancing or other online services and how you run, or would go about running it. There are different ways to get into hobbies like this, but I didn't know if anybody here was big on resale, graphic/web design, or online services (ie. forum module installation, forum skinning, forum posting, etc). I'm really interested to know if a lot of people in freelancing and such use contracts, or do you just take it as it comes?

 

[PCGuy101]

I think with any freelance job, it all depends on how you play it out, if you are using a website and a business name, then yes. If you are just looking for a quick job that you found online, then no.

 

[Michael S.]

Alright, now I think I might try to get into web and graphic design, how do you think I should get a contract that would work best for me? I am considering to be making a website, but I think it might be too expensive to get a laywer to make up a contract, but I would want to have a professional, generic contract that I could give all my users, but I would need it to cover everything. Any advice?

 

[PCGuy101]

My advice to you is to read this article:

http://graphicdesign.about.com/library/weekly/aa091400a.htm

You will need a laywer to make sure you are protected legally, if there is the smallest technicallity, you and your freelance business can be in serious trouble. If you want to work without a business, you could run into problems there alone. You should see about making it into a business, if you want out it in something such as your family name, anything you do will then become copyrighted to your name and to your business. Laywer fees won't be too much, and you will produce a lot more business with having a contract that was drawn up correctly.