roberthl

I agree that retainers are a really useful tool for ensuring a consistent income and minimising time spent prospecting, but do also consider your motivations for freelancing. If you are looking to work on a variety of projects then a retainer may limit your ability to take on new opportunities when they come up.

Having a well developed professional network is essential to being a successful freelancer, actively marketing and prospecting new clients is extremely time consuming and can lead to low value work. The best opportunities will come from referrals and existing contacts.

When I started freelancing I had two projects lined up to begin immediately, and had already been working part-time with one client - this is a great way to ensure you start your freelance career on a good footing.

Big engagements for a few weeks at a time are the ideal way to be most effective to your client as a developer, but it also puts a lot of risk on that contract working out and having work after it ends. If you are able to manage your time between two or more clients you are setting up a more stable income stream, also consider retainers but bear in mind these can restrict your ability to take on more lucrative projects when they come up.

One other thing to consider is that freelancing can be seen as a negative on your resume if you look to move back to a full-time role, since some hiring managers interpret it as a lack of a team-player attitude or tantamount to unemployment.

My main motivation to be a freelancer was for flexibility to allow me to move country, I found it very challenging to find new work after my relocation without a professional network in the city I moved to. If I had remained in my original city I would have definitely continued freelancing indefinitely.