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Freelance Advice with Hayley Akins

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Going freelance can be a nerve-wracking decision. That's why we're asking a panel of incredibly talented freelancers for their tips on how—and when—to take the leap

Hayley Akins studied film production at Staffordshire University. She discovered a love for motion design and set her sights on developing those skills. She worked for a tiny little company called Google for 4 years before making the leap into freelance. Running her own business for a few years helped her see a gap in the information available to designers just like her...so she founded an incredible site called Motion Hatch!

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Hayley has been there, seen that, and written a course about the whole thing. She is a fierce talent and a force to be reckoned with. Fill up that slushy and grab a beanbag, it's time to listen (read) and learn!

Interview with Hayley Akins

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THANKS FOR CHATTING WITH US, HAYLEY! CAN YOU DIG INTO SOME OF YOUR HISTORY FOR US?

After working as a staff motion designer for 7 years, I finally made the jump into freelance. It was very scary.

Luckily, I had made lots of contacts who gave me work, and I had a few freelance friends who told me what they charged, among other things. Once I got into the freelance space, I found a lot of people undercharging and almost nobody was regularly increasing their rates.

Some freelance motion designers with years of experience had only increased their rate once in the last 5 years. I felt like this was crazy!

I joined a digital nomad community called Location Indie, and they helped people freelance or start their own business with the aim to be location independent. I thought this was great, and wondered why no one had created a website offering information on how to freelance, what to charge, etc in the motion design industry.

It took me a while because of imposter syndrome to realize maybe I could do something about it.

I started the Motion Hatch podcast in late 2017 to open up conversations about the business side of motion design. It grew from there, and now 2 years and 6 months later we still release a bi-weekly podcast!

We have a Mograph Mastermind Program where we help people with their businesses and careers through small peer-to-peer groups providing feedback, accountability, encouragement, and community to our members.

Actually, we will be releasing our first online course very soon about how freelancers can find their ideal clients and create a system to get clients consistently called Client Quest.

WOW, YOU'VE BEEN DIGGING IN! WITH ALL OF THIS EXPERIENCE, WHO WOULD YOU RECOMMEND GIVING FREELANCING A SHOT?

It’s important to have some experience working on client projects before freelancing, ideally in a studio or agency (when you can). This helps you to get a feel of what it’s like to work with clients and how to deal with feedback, etc.

It also gives you an insight into how people run their studios and agencies. I would advise you to pay particular attention to the person that deals with the client requests, which is usually the production manager or producer.

If you have been at your staff motion design job for a while and you would like to try freelancing, I would encourage you to do it!

Just make sure you have the necessary things in place so you can hit the ground running:

  • A good website (Squarespace or Adobe Portfolio will do) with your own URL. Don’t send people Vimeo links. If you want to know what to include in your portfolio, here is a free checklist.
  • A reel (usually under a min). If you only have 30 secs of good work, that’s fine. Don’t fill it with work you’re not proud of, or work you wouldn’t want to do.
  • At least 3 months of savings, if possible.
  • Start building your contact list before you go freelance. Reach out to people to let them know the date you are available from.
  • A business account. You need to keep your finances separate so you can easily file your tax return when the time comes.
  • Ideally, you would have an accountant or CPA too. Ask them for advice on whether you need to set up an LLC or Sole Proprietorship or Limited company or Sole trader or whatever is relevant to where you are based.

THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A LOT THAT GOES INTO JUMPING SHIP. WHO WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE TO NOT BECOME A FREELANCER?

If you’re straight out of School or University, ideally you would find a place in an agency or a studio to get some experience, as I’ve already mentioned.

If it’s not possible to do that, you should seek to get as much information about the freelance motion design world as possible. Educating yourself online for both your practical skills (looks like you’re in the right place for that) and your business and freelance skills.

You can find many free and paid resources at Motion Hatch.


FROM WHERE YOU'VE BEEN OBSERVING, WHAT ARE THREE POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE FREELANCE MARKET?

  • People are opening up to the idea of hiring freelancers remotely.
  • There are so many platforms that you can use to showcase your expertise, help others, and even get hired. Many motion designers are starting YouTube channels and communities. It’s great to see everyone giving back to the community.
  • It’s really easy to learn online and increase your technical skills and business knowledge.

SO, NOW WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT ARE HURTING FREELANCERS AND THOSE ENTERING THE FREELANCE MARKET? MAYBE SOMETHING THAT YOU’RE SEEING COMMONLY POP-UP IN YOUR MASTERMIND GROUPS?

  • Lack of confidence is a big problem. As artists, we are usually quite humble and don’t see the value in our own work. You should think of yourself as a service-based business, which means you help people by providing your services. You aren’t trying to force them to buy from you and you shouldn’t. Put yourself out there, share your work, but also be part of the community.
  • Many people are cold-emailing to try and get work, but not doing anything to warm their potential clients up. You should be focused on building relationships with people. Head over to Instagram and find the studio or agency you want to work with, and engage with their work. Give them value in the comments and not just an emoji. Then reach out to them via email or in the DM. They might recognize your name and are more likely to respond.
  • Motion Designers usually only do outreach to get work when they have finished a project. It leads to desperation when trying to get work. Instead, try putting a system in place to do consistent outreach which leads to consistent clients and breaks the cycle of the ups and downs of freelance life.

IF THERE WAS A GOLDEN FREELANCE TIP THAT YOU COULD PASS ALONG, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Set a time every week when you reach out to your potential clients. Use a client tracker or CRM to keep track of when you last contacted your clients and when you need to reach out to them again. Be consistent!

Freelance Panel

Did you enjoy this interview? Check out our Freelance Panel with all of our incredible freelance guests: Jazeel Gayle, Hayley Akins, Leigh Williamson, and Jordan Bergren.


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EXPLORE ALL COURSES ➔

Dive into real-time 3D with our Unreal Engine beginner's course by Jonathan Winbush. Master importing assets, world-building, animation, and cinematic sequences to create stunning 3D renders in no time! Perfect for motion designers ready to level up.

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Unlock the secrets of character design in this dynamic course! Explore shape language, anatomy rules, and motifs to craft animation-ready characters. Gain drawing tips, hacks, and Procreate mastery (or any drawing app). Ideal for artists seeking to elevate their craft.

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Elevate your freelance motion design career with our guide to client success. Master a repeatable method for finding, contacting, and landing clients. Learn to identify prospects, nurture leads, and develop a thriving freelance philosophy amidst chaos.

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Rev up your editing skills with After Effects! Learn to use it for everyday needs and craft dynamic templates (Mogrts) for smarter teamwork. You'll master creating animated graphics, removing unwanted elements, tracking graphics, and making customizable templates.

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Stand out with Demo Reel Dash! Learn to spotlight your best work and market your unique brand of magic. By the end, you'll have a brand new demo reel and a custom campaign to showcase yourself to an audience aligned with your career goals.

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Illuminate your 3D skills with Lights, Camera, Render! Dive deep into advanced Cinema 4D techniques with David Ariew. Master core cinematography skills, gain valuable assets, and learn tools and best practices to create stunning work that wows clients.

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Master After Effects at your own pace with Jake Bartlett's beginner course. Perfect for video editors, you'll learn to create stylish animated graphics, remove unwanted elements, and track graphics into shots. By the end, you'll be equipped for everyday AE needs and more.

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Revolutionize your Premiere workflow with customizable AE templates! Master creating dynamic Motion Graphics Templates (Mogrts) in After Effects to speed up your team's work. By the end, you'll craft easily-customizable templates for seamless use in Premiere Pro.

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The freelancer’s guide to finding, booking, and keeping clients.

Drive your freelance motion design career to the next level with a repeatable method of finding, contacting, and landing clients. You’ll learn new ways of identifying prospects and nurturing leads, plus how to develop a freelance philosophy that keeps you thriving through chaos. See this system in action so you can implement it yourself!

Not sure where to start?

If you’re a beginner, here are some great courses to help you get started:

After Effects Kickstart

Dive into the fundamentals of motion design with our most popular (and recently updated) After Effects course.

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Photoshop + Illustrator Unleashed

Master the basics of Photoshop and Illustrator and gain invaluable insights in this introductory level course.

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Design Kickstart

An introduction to the design principles behind all great work.

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More Advanced?

If you’re a more advanced student looking to up your game, here are some great options:

Animation Bootcamp

Learn the art and principles of creating beautiful movements in Adobe After Effects.

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Design Bootcamp

Learn to design for motion in this intermediate-level, project-based course.

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Cinema 4D Basecamp

Learn Cinema 4D from the ground up in this exciting introductory C4D course.

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Now is the time to learn the skills you need to advance in your motion design career: