I am back from my Ohio vacation! It was a fun time full of family and hanging by the lake. I am planning to do a post about my trip tomorrow. But for today - I am so excited to show you this post that is CHOCK FULL of freelance wisdom. Seriously, you will learn so much from the lovely Kristen Drozdowki.

I am not sure where I found Kristen's beautiful work (probably Pinterest) but I remember being really in love with her lettering style. She has a wonderful blog that I have enjoyed following and an adorable etsy store, called Worthwhile Paper, filled with beautiful stationery goods. She had a really excellent blog post about working from home - and so when I was busily reaching out to freelancers I knew she would have plenty of advice for me. And she did! I seriously cannot believe how much amazing advice she sent. Everything has been so helpful as I prepare for this crazy journey :)

Pump out the work you love to do:

The energy of putting what you love out there (and what you think you're the best at) will automatically draw in people who naturally resonate with your style. I've found that social platforms are best for that. Dribbble and Instagram are my favorite, and I've had some pretty great clients come from those sources.

Sure, it's natural to end up with some not-so-dreamy clients on your hands and sometimes we need those to challenge us. However, it's always good to know that you're allowed to say no to projects that don't resonate with you (even if it's an opportunity to make a little extra cash). I learned that as much as I want to do every type of design project for anyone who asks, it's best to focus on & specialize in specific types of work. I found that the more specific I can be about what my services are for client work, the better. People will begin to understand what it is that you do the best and hire you for that!

Get an Accountant:

- Get an accountant. Best decision I have ever made. Taxes and bookkeeping as a self-employed freelancer can seem sort of tricky - and I couldn't imagine trying to figure it all out by myself (that's just me though). Now that I have an accountant and a system for bookkeeping, I feel so much more confident about the business and money side of things! It's so worth it.

- Get a separate bank account for your business - it makes everything so much easier to organize. I plan on setting about 1/3 of every payment aside for taxes (I'm told that 1/3 is on the higher end, but it's better to be safe - and then if you don't actually owe that much at the end of the year, you have a little leftover instead of having to owe a lot at the end of the year!) There are great resources and books for freelancers out there that have great advice on taxes. And you can always ask that accountant that you just hired ;).

On Work Life Balance:

Try to be in tune with yourself, and schedule yourself around what feels best. I think I'm addicted to working - so my challenge was to find that balance between working and making time for myself. Being your own boss can sometimes take a little adjusting.

Love what you do:

Not all work is fun - and during those non-fun times, it's important to always love and embrace the fact that you're allowing yourself to follow your dream do something creative for a living! Even when it's stressful - you'll love it all if what you're doing is something that really makes you happy.