The Freelance Web Professional's Manifesto

Authored by Guy Who Knows

Sure, you could work with an ad agency or a large development firm, and yeah, you'll probably get good results.

Usually though, you'll spend more money that way. And remember, that extra money doesn't always translate into extra development.

That extra money usually pays for the account executives, the secretaries, the managerial types, and the fancy chairs - all of which look nice and smell of professionalism, but none of which usually translate into great work.

In the end, when you've paid their fees and you're back at home holding the final product in your hand or staring at it onscreen, none of those people, or chairs, or fancy office buildings will have mattered.

What will have mattered, is what kind of day, or week the lowly junior designer was having, and what kind of mindset he was in when the account executive dropped by to interpret the client's (your) needs to him as he sat in his cubicle all sleepy-eyed and overworked - starved of free time, sunshine, and peaceful walks with the wife and dog.

Sure. Sure, the guy in the cube will usually try his best, but his best, in that captive environment isn't generally his "best". It just isn't.

Sometimes, sure. But not that often.

The point? There must be a point we're trying to get at here.

The point is, the only people who have a direct, tangible impact on your final product, generally speaking are the guys like us.

Guys who's wives want more money.

Guys like us, who's job is to simply get things done; to work and toil in the trenches of communication, development and design. The underpaid graphic artists, programmers and copywriters who, ..if they were "managed" well enough, poured their heart and soul into your project.

Look into that sales executive's eyes, or the eyes of his secretary as she enters the room, mid-sales pitch, to bring you coffee. Are they worth your time, or your attention?

What percentage of your money is paying for the chit chat, the starched dress shirts and the solid wood product of a rain forest conference table?

If you need to spend more money to feel better about the final product, and need your ego tickled by going to a fancy office and talking about your needs to a room full of energetic business types with intentionally disheveled hair and Prozak smiles, great. We're happy for you. Have at it.

An hour after closing the deal, those people you met with will celebrate your new business and move on to the next catch - while we, or some of our fellow cogs will end up working on your project anyway, ... except the process will be a bit more complex and hazy at our day job, complicated by extra meetings, time sheets, performance reviews, and petty inner-office bickering about vacation time and personal use of the telephone.

Do you understand? Did we ramble? Perhaps we did. We apologize.

We're trying to give you a sense of the common agency or corporate atmosphere where most of us have worked or are still employed, compared to the freelance or partnership roles that we'd prefer to spend our time on if we had the choice.

Usually we've found while freelancing that we're more satisfied, more involved, and more creative in finding ways push your projects towards greatness. And you, the client also end up being more involved and more satisfied with the end result.

These were things we felt we needed to communicate.

So that you would understand.

So that you might be more inclined to skip the ritual corporate mating dance.

So that,.. so that you possibly could feel better about spending your money with us, in the same way that you feel better about buying a shovel from a locally owned hardware store instead of the Home Depot.

And ultimately, yes,

So that our wives will have more money,

to spend on God knows what.

About the author:

Drew Stephens is a designer, developer and failed dachshund trainer living in Little Rock Arkansas. Lately he's been assembling a local development collective that goes by the name: "Guys Whose Wives Want More Money," an employee-owned design and production co-op remniniscient of the A-Team, except without the guns and cool van.

We design. We copyright. We Code. We Create. ..But mostly in our underwear. We're all passionate about what we do, and we're often better at it when we're not at "work".