Designer & Illustrator Andi Best
About this episode…
ILLUSTRATOR & Designer Andi Best
After graduating with a degree in illustration, Andi moved back to his hometown.
Renting an odd-shaped office with no windows might not have given him great views. But it did give him amazing business connections. Resources and referrals that would set the first of many freelance plates spinning.
With a varied career, Andi is also enjoying the challenge of mastering freelancing with his latest clients…his children.
Read the highlights in the next tab.
Building Connections
After graduating, Andi moved back to his hometown and rented a serviced office: a triangular shaped space with no windows, but surrounded by connections that would kickstart his freelance career...
“I suppose if getting web knowledge was the first kickstarter to the idea that I could confidently do this, freelance wise, the second kickstarter would be being in that building, being within those bricks with the other businesses that were already trading there. That was a huge benefit - we were so close knit, sharing the communal spaces, the kitchen areas, the staircases and such, conversation would just happen. It was like free networking.”
twitter hours
Although Andi refers to networking events as ‘a bunfight of marketing’, he’s found that spending time on Social Media gives him an outlet he finds much more suited to his needs and has helped him to shape his business…
“You do get these people jumping in and shouting out what they're working on or how much things are for sale and things like that. But there's also a purpose to be there. There's a means to talk to other people, and it is talking, it's conversation, and it's valuable, it's worthwhile. And you begin to meet people, you begin to understand their experiences and you even learn from other people. There's certainly things I've adopted that are folded into my business based on 240 characters of a snippet of someone else's experience.”
to niche or not to niche
Andi may have started off as an illustrator, but over the years he has added many more strings to his bow, thanks to his natural curiosity…
“I'm not adverse to niching. Again, by the same token I'm not like a jack of all trades. I wouldn't ever claim to be an animator or a photographer or something like that. While aspects of my work may bleed into those territories now and again, it's not something that I would advertise as being part of my skillset. But offering the breadth of services that I do offer, that's just really off the back of a kind of natural curiosity I've had about those disciplines.”
PLATE SPINNER
Andi likes to be kept busy, and enjoys taking on multiple projects at once…
“I'm definitely a plate spinner. I know that some freelancers prefer stepping into a project or a fixed contract with a client and then sort of see that through for a quarter of the year. I've never really done that. Because I guess back in the day when I had that triangle office and then all of those guys there learnt about me simultaneously, we were all talking about projects all at the same time. So a big mix of work kind of turned up at once and I've always just kind of pursued that template. I've always had multiple things on the go at once.”
“Children are new clients basically...
They also need managing, they've got their own schedules, their own timelines. So family’s impacted that fancy free approach to getting freelance work done.
Illustrator & Graphic Designer Andi Best
More from Andi Best
Transcript of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland and Freelance Illustrator & Graphic Designer Andi Best
Steve Folland:
As ever, how about we get started hearing how you got started being freelance?
Andi Best:
I can probably track the origin of my career back to my degree years, which would've been circa 2006 -2009, where I graduated from the Arts Institute in Bournemouth, with a BA honours degree in illustration, much like Tom Hovey of Great British Bake Off illustration fame, and former Being Freelance podcast guest.
Steve Folland:
I was gonna say, I think you mean Being Freelance podcast fame <laugh>
Andi Best:
If I've done my calculations correctly, he would've been finishing up his final year the same year that I started the course. So we would've shared some studio space together, so Bournemouth turning out some absolute legends.
Steve Folland:
Do you know, I went to Bournemouth. I went to the university. So across the road from all the cool people who went to the art college.
Andi Best:
But as I say, Bournemouth turning out the absolute legends <laugh> The course there was illustration and the course was pretty much geared up for you going out into the world and manage yourself. It's not a tremendous lot of opportunity to become a salaried in-house illustrator. So the bulk of commercial illustration work comes from freelancing, or contracting through gigs and things. So you even need to secure that kind of work directly with the client, or you need agency representation. And in each case you'd need a portfolio, and portfolios then were predominantly those one sized black canvas <laugh>, sort of the size of a small caravan kind of thing that you'd slip your artwork into. If it's digital, you'd have to get it printed off first, obviously as well into the plastic wallets. You had a shoulder strap, you had to literally mount it onto yourself and then kind of cart it around to the interviews and things.
Andi Best:
And I didn't really fancy doing that. So I decided I'd rather have a website, and get my artwork up on there. And, you know, a link is decidedly lighter than a heavy portfolio to cart around everywhere. Being as I was a student at the time, or just graduated, I didn't really have the cash to get an agency or someone professional to put a site together. I decided to do it myself. And for that, I took on an auxiliary class and learned the beginner's guide to HTML, which opened up a huge avenue for me. It blew my mind really to find a new way to take my illustration and my graphic design prowess and present it in a way that is interactive and is much more accessible, to think that there are strangers out there engaging with stuff that you've built for them and instructed them how to use.
Andi Best:
And you kind of lead them through the processes of those web pages arrive at whatever goal it is you've deemed necessary. So that kind of added web and web design to the gamut of stuff that I was doing creatively. And as I say, the course was pretty much go out and manage yourself. So that's what I wanted to do. So I became freelance immediately. After graduating, I moved back temporarily to my hometown and I hired a serviced office. I set up there. It was a triangular shaped office <laugh> so no furniture configuration was really ideal in there. It didn't have windows, so it could be a relatively depressing environment, but it wasn't, I made it work.
Andi Best:
I got some of my illustrations up on the walls and I started to develop my kind of brand, my logo and my perception of aesthetically what I was going to be as a trading entity now, and set that all up around the space. And so, I suppose if getting web knowledge in the beginnings of web knowledge was the first kickstarter to the idea that I could confidently do this, freelance wise, the second kickstarter would be being in that building, being within those bricks with the other, I think it was nine other businesses that were already trading there. That was a huge benefit because those businesses, we were also kind of close knit, sharing the communal spaces, the kitchen areas, the staircases and such, conversation would just happen. It was like free networking.
Andi Best:
So immediately out of the gate, there was a pool of clients and resource to just utilise from day one, which wouldn't have happened if I'd just set up in a spare room, and hoped that the internet would provide, so yeah, I'd pass people and they'd be like, 'Oh, hey, are you the new guy? Yeah, yeah. You've got the triangle office, right? Yeah, yeah. <laugh> yeah, that's me. Yeah. What is it that you do? Oh, you know, I'm a freelance creative. What does that mean? <laugh> Well, you know, its web, its illustration, its graphic design its, oh, do you do leaflets? Do you do business cards?' They weren't jobs that obviously rocked my world, but they were enough foot in the door to get the ball rolling. So the networking was happening, word of mouth between the offices was happening. And, that was the strongest start given that I didn't really have a plan. I just had the determination to get started.
Steve Folland:
Hmm. So the cost of paying out for the interesting shaped office <laugh> was reaped in by actually having those first clients or referrals literally on your doorstep?
Andi Best:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And it saved the legwork. I mean, I never did any formal kind of marketing. As soon as you hook up a phone line in a place like that, you get bombarded with junk sales calls <laugh> 'Would you like to join our directory? Would you like your phone number published here and there?' I didn't go in for any of that. So I was quite light on broadcasting beyond that building initially. And it seemed that that was okay. That was fine. There was plenty of work coming from those eight or nine other businesses. And that went on even after I left that building, eventually some of those clients came with me in so much as they were still commissioning me to do bits and pieces.
Steve Folland:
So how did it continue to sort of grow or continue from there if you weren't putting yourself out at all?
Andi Best:
Yeah. So as I say, word of mouth was a big deal. The people in those buildings, in those offices, knew other people, 'Oh, I've got this guy at the moment. He's doing this, he's doing that. Maybe he could help you too.' So referral was huge, word of mouth, and that's still true today. Even today, I don't really do a lot of marketing. I mean, I'm quite active on social media. I genuinely enjoy social media, so I like having conversations. I like sharing whatever it is I'm working on, meeting other people, I mean, the Being Freelance community is obviously huge for that. And I've met so many people just through casual conversation there. So that's exactly what I mean when I say I'm using social for conversation for, just sort of diet soft networking, I suppose, is something I do.
Steve Folland:
I must admit. Now you mention that I do often see you on Twitter getting involved in Twitter chats.
Andi Best:
I do that a lot. There are three, four, maybe that I try to participate in regularly. And it's because the chats, the networking, even offline, has got this kind of stigma of everybody just shouting directly at each other, what it is that they do. And hoping that that's the way to secure work. I've attended networking events, and business shows and things, and it's just, beguiling, that's all it is. It's like a bunfight of marketing. It's bizarre. And I admit, you know, I would turn up to something like that with that agenda, because that's all you see, that's kind of the learned behaviour of a place like that, but the hashtag hours on Twitter and the chat's are a little bit more orchestrated, there's usually a theme or a concept, or there's at least a mediator in there posing the questions.
Andi Best:
And so what's actually communicated is a mixture of that. You do get these people jumping in and shouting out what they're working on or how much things are for sale and things like that. But there's also a purpose to be there. There's a means to talk to other people and it is talking, it's conversation, as I keep saying, and, it's valuable and it's worthwhile and you begin to meet people, you begin to understand their experiences and you even learn from other people. There's certainly things I've adopted that are folded into my business based on what 240 characters of a snippet of someone else's experience. So yeah, the Twitter hours is predominantly Twitter. I think of all the social platforms, it's Twitter I use the most, it's just, the format of it just suits me. Yeah. Very active in those. And I get, I get a lot out of them. I get business out of them very occasionally, which is also good, because it costs nothing to just have a chat with someone.
Steve Folland:
Yeah. So mainly it was word of mouth, but actually being active in those communities online?
Andi Best:
Yeah. That certainly helps. Business coming from those chats, it's an organic kind of process. And again, I'm not there to secure work. I genuinely am there to chat, you know, how it is being freelance. You don't often get the opportunity to converse and get things out your system or share perspectives or even just taking that break and not be focused on whatever it is in hand you've got on your desk at the time. So yeah, being in those chats is a kind of productive way to keep going, keep thinking, keep working, but also not be working <laugh>.
Steve Folland:
Yeah. Did you find, you know, cuz often advice is, you know, niche or be known for this thing or whatever, did you find that it worked for you like being an illustrator, a designer, I can do your web thing. Like you had this broad range of skills. Were you ever tempted to pick one or did you feel like it was, it was great to have this sort of broad offering?
Andi Best:
Yeah, that's a good question. I'm not adverse to nicheing. Again, by the same token I'm not like a Jack of all trades. I wouldn't ever claim to be an animator or a photographer or something like that. The wild aspects of my work may bleed into those territories now and again, it's not something that I would advertise as being part of my skillset, but offering the breadth of services that I do offer, that's just really off the back of a kind of natural curiosity I've had about those disciplines. So illustration typically the era of illustration that I was educated with and exposed to was already blended with graphic design. A lot of the kind of pop culture reference and things I grew up with was already a hybrid of graphic design and illustration.
Andi Best:
So for me, there's always scope to keep the two united. I'll always offer an illustrative component to the graphic design work that I'm working on if it's appropriate. But I don't feel that anyone is turned off by the idea that I do quite a bit. If anything, people ask what else can I do, encourage me to look at other elements of web or, for example, I don't touch SEO, I don't touch analytics, but they are very prevalent elements to website design and website development. Now, while I'm obviously conscious of those things and I cater for them to the best of my expertise, I'm not gonna go and advertise myself as experts or even that I'm gonna be interested in that kind of work. That's the kind of thing that I would offset or collaborate with another professional for, if a project dictated that that be necessary.
Steve Folland:
Mm. Is that something you often do?
Andi Best:
Yeah. Yeah. When I have to. So I have a modest list of contacts, some are friends, some are complete strangers who have become associates through this line of work. I have outsourced bits and pieces for different motives, to be honest, it's either work I don't do, don't touch, can't do it, but it's a small part of a broader project, so it's integral that it be done, in which case I bring in that resource, or else it's something I just simply don't want to do, don't want to touch it. It's going to bring little value to me. It's going to take up too much of my resource when I've perhaps got to focus on something else or it's going to be mind numbingly dull <laugh> to be perfectly honest. I mean, this is one of the benefits of being freelance, isn't it, it's that you do get to cherry pick what jobs sound like you'd want to lend your time to, what you feel would look good in your portfolio and what you'd like to push forward elsewhere.
Andi Best:
If all the work that I took on was work that I could do and work that the client would be over the moon to have completed, that's pretty much the end of that exchange. They may come back and offer you more, but then you're just doing more of the same, whereas I'm sort of in a position now, or maybe I've always been in the position where I like to take what I've completed and draw more value out of it. So sharing it on social media, here's something I've completed. Is this kind of what you would have in mind? Or what do you think about this project that I've just collaborated with this guy on or this person with? And, if I feel like I can't have that dialogue or conversation about something I've done, then I want to kind of limit that work coming into my desk, if that makes sense.
Steve Folland:
So you want it to be something that you're kind of like proud of or that you think will spark other work like that?
Andi Best:
Yeah. And perhaps I'm speaking to you about this right now, specifically because I'm in that mindset. I'm presently redesigning and rebuilding my website, and the version of the site that's up now, the tact I was using was pretty much volume. Let's showcase the largest volume of stuff that I've worked on, to try and reap the SEO benefit, to try and put across the notion that I am extremely busy. And here's why <laugh>, you know, I've done 500 projects. But when I designed that, that was almost a decade ago that website was built and designed, so it's in a very different state of mind and outlook now. So the version of the site that I'm working on behind the scenes now is going to be fairly refined by contrast.
Andi Best:
So, I suppose you could argue that's a form of niching maybe. I'm trying to cut down on the breadth of projects that are on there and more tailored to the industries that those projects were within. So, retail design for example. I do an awful lot of charity work or should I say work for charities? So, because that's a huge chunk of my workload comes from that sector, I perhaps need to gear a more dedicated element of the website to that sector, again for the SEO benefit, but the work I've done is more relevant to other organisations. So it's taken me that time to get through that initial scramble as a freelancer. Because there's always a worry that the triangle office people will go away that nothing new will materialise because I'm not marketing or perhaps all the efforts on social media are bounty less. That is always that worry. But I think I've reached a point now where I've got significant confidence in everything that's happening organically. I do get leads off my website as old as it is, and as bloated as it is.
Steve Folland:
If I could ever just take those words for my Tinder profile, if I ever need one, that would be great <laugh>.
Andi Best:
As old as it is, as bloated as it is, it is reliable.
Steve Folland:
<laugh>. Now you said that you don't really market yourself as such, but one thing I did want to talk to you about is your newsletter because you encourage people to sign up for it, and I did a long time ago, and I love your newsletter, but describe to us what you do with your newsletter.
Andi Best:
Okay, cool. The newsletter. So as of January last year, 2021, I refined it, adjusted the formula ever so slightly. I was conscious that it was a little bit too, not salesy exactly. And again, it wasn't heavily marketed, but it was pretty much me, me, me, it's my newsletter, here's some news about me. And it wasn't quite offering value to anybody reading or at least in a very limited capacity. And no one had said anything, no one had steered that thinking to me, or me onto that course of thinking. I just, I sat back and read one of my own newsletters and thought to myself, yeah, this is not what it needs to be. So over the Christmas break, before that January, I had a good old think about it and I rejigged the formula, and the newsletter now, I get a lot more feedback from it.
Andi Best:
People will hit reply and say, oh my gosh, Andy, thanks for that, that was quite amusing, I've enjoyed reading that, I didn't realise you were a wordsmith. Someone's called me a wordsmith in the past. People seem to be now getting, or at least I'm being communicated to, that they are now getting the value from it, that they're enjoying it. And that alone, I mean, when I say getting value out of newsletter, I don't mean that it's got to have discount codes and industry secrets and all the rest of it. It's just that if people take the time and they read it and they enjoy it, that's all it needs to be. That someone's gotten something out of it that they felt compelled to even hit reply and type something.
Andi Best:
I mean, that's, that's an extraordinary exchange to tease out of someone. People just don't do stuff like that anymore, and the fact that that's happening month on month, that's spurring me on to continue doing it. Because again, it was one of these, 'Yeah. People are doing newsletters. Could I do it? Is that something I could do? Have I got news? I'm sure I've got news. Why don't I try it?' You know, it's a trial and error kind of thing. And it is working. So typically I'll open with something topical, an anecdote, something that has occurred or led me into thinking about something new or different, a new way of looking at something in the month. It's monthly, so that gives me enough time to ignore it and then furiously put it together.
Andi Best:
<laugh> When the month's nearly done, then I might showcase a couple of things that I'm either working on or have completed with a bit of a breakdown of those jobs. And that's about as kind of marketing as it gets because that's a direct depiction of my services. Then there'll be this section with a quote or a takeaway kind of something somebody said or something that's been published that's incensed me at some point during the month <laugh> and, or really struck a chord or really made me, you know, it's been quite thought provoking, so i'll include that because I'll reflect on it. I'll obviously link to it as well if it's a source that others can read on. And that, I hope encourages a bit of dialogue, a bit of thought provoking beyond just reading it and people react to that.
Andi Best:
I mean, I try to make that relevant to the rest of the newsletter as well. So it's not just chopping and changing all over the place. And then I might finish up with something I've seen artistically or creatively that someone else has been working on, or a body of work that I've always appreciated that I've never really sort of expressed to anybody else. It's a spread of stuff I've been up to, stuff that's struck a chord with me, stuff that I'm enjoying, occasionally some industry sort of news, anything that's ruffling feathers or making a stir. Yeah, it's just a blend of things like that.
Steve Folland:
Yeah. It really is great. It's one of those ones, that I really look forward to and you have that story full of personality, but then glimpses of your actual work as well. Do you find that it has a positive impact on your business?
Andi Best:
Yes. I won't quote names and say who's done what here, but, off the back of my newsletter going out, yes, I have had business. I've had sales in my web shop as well. So as far as the positive impact on the business goes directly financially, yeah, there's that component of it, but otherwise the impact it's had on the business, I suppose you could argue that it's a positive experience to send that out, to get that feedback. It's almost like the same kind of loop you have with the client in some respects, you know, you've put something together and the people are reacting to it. People are telling you what they think about it in a good light. I mean, no-one's actually written back to me and said, this is tosh mate <laugh> Chuck it in. And I don't think the unsubscribe rate is all that high either. Again, I'm not awake at night watching these metrics, but yeah, at the moment, and I've just probably jinxed it by saying all of this out loud, it's going well, and I enjoy doing it.
Steve Folland:
You mentioned your web shop. This is like for your artwork, right?
Andi Best:
Yeah. So as I mentioned earlier, I am professionally educated as an illustrator. Of all the work that I do, illustration sadly crosses the line last. This comes back to me having said so many times that I don't market myself. I don't. If I did push myself marketing wise as an illustrator or marketed my illustration more aggressively, perhaps that would turn around what I'm about to say. But illustration work is few and far between compared with the web development work that I get. So it's always a surprise to people that I do illustrate or it's something they don't really have a need for. So a lot of what's in my web shop is ill fated illustration that has nowhere else to go.
Steve Folland:
<laugh> I love the fact that many people would call them side projects, passion projects, but no they're ill fated pieces of work that have nowhere else to go.
Andi Best:
It's a recovery programme. Yeah. For those sorry pieces of artwork, just languishing in my office. Yeah. Alright, go on then, side project. It's a side project. It's largely personal work. I mean, it wouldn't be client work obviously. It's personal illustration or it's some things I've revived from my degree years or even earlier. I do get very, very little spare time. Had I had more, I would obviously create more artwork on the side and then seek to monetise it or seek to do something with it. And then the shop would offer more. But predominantly what's there is, as I say, it's the artwork from yesteryear that's got nowhere else to go.
Steve Folland:
Mm. How about the way you work? Like, do you tend to work on one project for a big period of time or you spinning lots of plates at once?
Andi Best:
Oh, I'm definitely a plate spinner. I know that some freelancers prefer the template of stepping into a project or a fixed contract with a client and then sort of see that through for, a quarter of the year to half a year. I've never really done that. Because I guess back in the day when I had that triangle office and then all of those guys there learnt about me simultaneously, or thereabouts, we were all talking about projects all at the same time. So a big mix of work kind of turned up at once and I've always just kind of pursued that template. I've always had multiple things on the go at once. When I've got larger jobs on, I obviously have to scale that back because I just don't have the bandwidth to do that.
Andi Best:
But what I've found I'm able to do in terms of time management, is assess which clients are going to take longer to review things or compile the rest of the brief or the components and the elements needed, etc. And they're obviously off busy doing their own things. And I might not hear from some clients for weeks or even months. So I can't, you know, you can't rest on clients like that. So yeah, I do take on multiple things simultaneously, obviously up to the point where I have got the headspace for them, and the capacity to address them all, and not do a shoddy job of the work obviously. And that's my preferred way of working. Yeah. Sort of not moving from one long slog to the next, I think it keeps me invigorated, certainly keeps me interested because I'm quite a busy guy.
Andi Best:
I like to be busy. I like the notion of being busy and it's not, you know, artificial. It genuinely is when you've got that much work on busy, and that's just what I'm used to, I'm a creature of habit, I suppose. That's all I've known and I perpetuate that.
Steve Folland:
And how have you found like the business sort of finance side of being freelance?
Andi Best:
So jumping straight into freelance with two feet, as I did, from a creative background, creative degree, and now creative profession, I've neglected largely, any preparations so far as administrative business side of business. I've done probably as most freelancers do, I've sought to monetise my talent and skill and interests and sort of based the freelance career around what's going to keep me happy everyday, working on everyday. With that obviously comes the need to monitor budgeting, financing things that aren't the work in hand.
Andi Best:
And I've had no formal training in that. I've had no informal training in that. I <laugh> pretty much had to pick that up as I go. And I've been very fortunate in that, because like I say, in the triangle of dreams, that building, there was a guy in the office next door. He obviously detected I was quite junior, quite green and was very kind enough to lend some of his expertise on contracting, just tweaking and tightening things. I mean, I didn't go completely green into being freelancing. I'd done my research and I'd got some templated ideas together of how to contract and what terms to offer, rough idea on rates as well. Rates seems to be a point of contention for all new freelancers, I think because there's no frame of reference really.
Andi Best:
The perception is that there is this hidden formula that people are keeping up their jumpers and won't reveal about what stuff should cost, what you should be charging, and anytime a question like that gets raised in a forum, like Facebook group or something, there's not really general consensus that emerges from that either. So to kind of define my rates, it became a question of, well, what do I wanna earn? How much would I like? What's my overheads? How much am I paying out? How much do I have to cover? And sort of divvy that up into, into rates that make sense. And, and then, you know, when you come to the end of that equation, is that competitive? Will people pay that sort of thing? And again, the results are inconclusive. I get clients that ghost me upon hearing the quotes that I'm giving for the work, and that's after we've spent an hour or two on a prospective call, scoping out what's digitally and technically involved and the rest of it.
Andi Best:
And I get clients who have absolutely no compunction saying to me, 'Oh, you're cheap aren't you?' <Laugh> 'You should be charging more. Yeah, we'll take it.' So yeah, I'd say somewhere between 10 and 15 years in the game, and there's still no consensus on exactly what you should or shouldn't be charging. So it's all suck it and see, trial and error. And that's sort of been my philosophy since the beginning then again, through not knowing otherwise. And yeah, it may not be the best way to go. It may not be the most efficient way to do things, but it's working. So I'll stick with that.
Steve Folland:
<laugh>. So you've had kids while being freelance. How did it change that?
Andi Best:
Having kids did change, I won't use the word disrupt, but it did change the way I freelanced. Before kids, I thought nothing of working flat out till 3:00 AM, for example, not through sort of stress or deadlines or mismanagement, but just from getting into the zone, getting quite inspired about whatever it was I was working on or making huge strides of progress in some coding or something like that. And just being so tunnel vision focused in a positive way on what I was working on. And it wasn't detrimental. I wasn't like a zombie the next day, I had the flexibility to take that in my stride. Children are new clients basically, <laugh> they also need managing, they've got their own schedules, their own timelines. So it's impacted that fancy free approach to getting freelance work done.
Andi Best:
I obviously wouldn't change it for the world, but I had to adjust what I did. My formula had to adjust on the back of their presence, which you know was expected to a degree. So now freelancing is a little bit more robust during the days around school pickups and collections and drop-offs and then there's every other week it feels like there's a holiday of some sort and the kids are around. And again, there's no formula for how that's treated. Where we are, we don't have a lot of external support from family and friends and things like this. So we are reliant on schemes and clubs, play dates and, you know, sort of kid sharing and this kind of thing. So yeah, that keeps you on your toes because that's pretty organic every time.
Andi Best:
So yeah, it was an adjustment, but it's a case of keeping on top of it really, taking each day as it comes. I don't now channel through till 3:00 AM. I can't do it. <laugh> Not with a one year old. I'm basically awake at 3:00 AM anyway, but I will get back to my desk for a few extra hours after the bedtime routine and things like that is done. And just work as efficiently as I can. I take on less if there's a holiday coming up for example, or I try and take on the kind of work that doesn't require so much intense focus. So yeah, there's no hard and fast answer to that. It's just, it has been a huge adjustment. And then again, some, when my second came along. Doing the best I can.
Steve Folland:
Andi, if you could tell your younger self one thing about being freelance, what would that be?
Andi Best:
I would tell myself that it's not going to be an overnight sensation. That whilst that triangle office was garnering results, that wouldn't necessarily be the be all and end all, that wouldn't necessarily be the state of things to come. And perhaps some investment in some of the things that we've even talked about today, like, a better understanding of business finance, business management, to pay attention a little bit to this kind of stuff. And then we might get to where we are quicker than where I am now. Because there were a lot of months, perhaps even years just sort of whilst it was steady, it was all fine, but it was just that it was steady. I wasn't making huge strides as quickly as I perhaps could have. So yeah, in the interest of progression, skill development, and even like client handling, things like this, to have adopted some interest in that a lot earlier
Steve Folland:
Andi, It's so good to talk to you. Oh, by the way, am I right in thinking, so you have a limited company.
Andi Best:
Yes.
Steve Folland:
And your limited company is
Andi Best:
Best Freelance Design Limited.
Steve Folland:
I bloody love that. So if somebody Googles best freelance design <laugh>
Andi Best:
That'll come up. Yeah, yeah. That'll come up. I mean, that sounds inspired, but to be genuine with you, I just had to fill out the form cuz the accountant, this is when I was getting an accountant on board for the first time, had to come up with a name. I had to register it and it was all quite swift, so I didn't put much thought to it. And I realised that your trading name can be absolutely anything you want.
Steve Folland:
It's great. So Best Freelance Design. But as you say, actually, when you are talking to clients for all purposes, really you are just Andi Best.
Andi Best:
Yeah. They didn't even consider any alternatives really. And it took this one guy, the average man word of the street kind of thing said, yeah, your name's brilliant, just go with your name. A boy called Harry told me that, I'll never forget that. So I did, I did, as he said, <laugh>.
Steve Folland:
Andy, thanks so much and all the best being freelance.
Andi Best:
Thanks Steve.
This episode is sponsored by…
This episode is sponsored by…
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
Boost your search ranking - audit your freelance website with the powerful tools from Ahrefs.