Would you consider yourself to be a freelancer?
Jon Clayton:Or maybe you prefer to be called a solo preneur or perhaps a sole practitioner.
Jon Clayton:Whatever you choose to call yourself running a business of one
Jon Clayton:can at times be hard and lonely.
Jon Clayton:So, how can you avoid the common pitfalls and fries as a freelancer?
Jon Clayton:I'm joined by Angie lions for a conversation about freelancing
Jon Clayton:over the next two episodes of architecture business club.
Jon Clayton:The weekly podcast for small firm founders who want to build their
Jon Clayton:dream business in architecture and enjoy more freedom, flexibility,
Jon Clayton:and fulfillment in what they do.
Jon Clayton:I'm John Clayton, your host.
Jon Clayton:I know that building an architecture business can feel hard.
Jon Clayton:Especially for a sole practitioner.
Jon Clayton:The good news is that you don't have to do it alone.
Jon Clayton:In 2024, we launched our membership community to a small group of
Jon Clayton:founding members, including architects, architectural
Jon Clayton:technologists, and interior designers.
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Jon Clayton:In 2025, we are opening the doors to a limited number of new members.
Jon Clayton:If you'd like to join this supportive group of like-minded
Jon Clayton:professionals, now's your chance.
Jon Clayton:Just go to architecture, business club.com forward slash waitlist.
Jon Clayton:Or click the link in the show notes and enter your details so we
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Jon Clayton:And if you have any questions, just email Jon that's, J O
Jon Clayton:n@architecturebusinessclub.com.
Jon Clayton:Now let's start our conversation on freelancing.
Jon Clayton:Ange Lyons is a brand and marketing graphic designer based in London.
Jon Clayton:With over 20 years of experience in the design industry, she has
Jon Clayton:successfully run her business, Lyons Creative, for the past 12 years.
Jon Clayton:Ange specializes in creating marketing designs, brands, magazines,
Jon Clayton:and websites, working across both print and digital media.
Jon Clayton:Ang is passionate about engaging with people and offering her
Jon Clayton:assistance wherever possible.
Jon Clayton:Her love for colors and fonts is evident in her work, and she delights
Jon Clayton:in sharing this enthusiasm with others.
Jon Clayton:To connect with Ang, head over to LinkedIn, send her a connection
Jon Clayton:request and a DM to let her know that you've listened to the show.
Jon Clayton:Ang, Ang, welcome to Architecture Business Club.
Ange Lyons:Hi.
Ange Lyons:Hi, John.
Ange Lyons:Nice to be here.
Ange Lyons:Thank you for having me on.
Ange Lyons:I feel really honoured.
Ange Lyons:Thank you so much.
Jon Clayton:Oh, you're so welcome.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:It's great to have you here.
Jon Clayton:So, Ang, I know that in your free time, you, you're a big, Cycling fan.
Jon Clayton:Can you tell me about that?
Jon Clayton:And there's a group that you're in as well, isn't there?
Jon Clayton:A cycling club?
Ange Lyons:Yeah, there is.
Ange Lyons:Um, so during lockdown, um, the group, um, was created by three women, um,
Ange Lyons:three black women, and they called it Black Women on Wheels, Be Well.
Ange Lyons:And they just literally met up in a park and, um, they started the group.
Ange Lyons:And I heard about them about a year on, about a year and a bit
Ange Lyons:into lockdown, um, after lockdown.
Ange Lyons:And, um, I cycle with them every other Saturday where we can, and weather
Ange Lyons:permitting, because we are in the UK.
Ange Lyons:Um, and I've made the most amazing friendships there.
Ange Lyons:And it's just been great.
Ange Lyons:I love cycling.
Ange Lyons:Plus we get to exercise, um, make good friends and have a laugh.
Ange Lyons:Um, we're not a serious, serious cycling club.
Ange Lyons:We do have a kit, actually.
Ange Lyons:I designed the kits for them.
Ange Lyons:Um, but we're not like, you know, we're not going to.
Ange Lyons:be all crazy and, and just go hundreds and hundreds of miles.
Ange Lyons:Um, we, sometimes we can do it.
Ange Lyons:Some people break off and they can do that, but we just more so go
Ange Lyons:for the, the community, um, the cycling and the chat, basically.
Ange Lyons:It's just, um, yeah, it's one of those, um, clubs that are, it's serious,
Ange Lyons:but not taking ourselves too serious.
Ange Lyons:And I, and I love being with them then.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, but they're called Be Well for short, and they're called, uh, Yeah,
Ange Lyons:B WOW as in B W O W, so Black Women
Jon Clayton:Oh, Bewell.
Ange Lyons:Yeah,
Jon Clayton:I love it.
Jon Clayton:Love it.
Jon Clayton:It's a great name as well.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, so I also handle their social media account for them, so I do
Ange Lyons:a bit of pro bono work in my time, so.
Ange Lyons:I've just designed their website and I've designed their kit, so I'm
Ange Lyons:really part of the community there.
Ange Lyons:So yeah, I
Jon Clayton:gonna say it's um, sounds like they're very, very lucky
Jon Clayton:to have you as part of the group.
Ange Lyons:I think so.
Ange Lyons:And also that part of the group is, um, that's another thing.
Ange Lyons:Everyone is so different and so diverse, um, that everyone, if they can, volunteers
Ange Lyons:their time somewhere down the line.
Ange Lyons:So, yeah, we're, yeah, part of a community
Jon Clayton:that sounds lovely.
Jon Clayton:How many members do you have at the moment?
Ange Lyons:Oh gosh, do you know what?
Ange Lyons:I actually don't know.
Ange Lyons:There's quite, there's a big WhatsApp group.
Ange Lyons:We're on WhatsApp.
Ange Lyons:We'll be chatting on WhatsApp.
Ange Lyons:I haven't counted the numbers recently, to be honest with you,
Ange Lyons:but it's quite a, quite a decent amount of, um, um, people there.
Jon Clayton:Oh, that's cool.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I, I haven't been cycling for ages actually.
Jon Clayton:Um, so yeah, but I need to, I think I need to upgrade my bike.
Jon Clayton:I used to have one of those, um, Brompton folding
Ange Lyons:Oh, yeah.
Jon Clayton:but then since I sort of wasn't commuting anymore it seemed like
Jon Clayton:a bit of a, a bit of a luxury item.
Jon Clayton:So I ended up letting somebody else have that when it ended up selling it.
Jon Clayton:or I do, I do miss it.
Jon Clayton:Cause it was a lovely bike.
Ange Lyons:They're so convenient, especially like in London, jumping on the
Ange Lyons:train with them, just like flipping them over and flipping them down to get on the
Ange Lyons:train or bus or wherever you need to go.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, if I was still commuting like that, I
Jon Clayton:would absolutely still have it.
Jon Clayton:It was like the best bike that I ever owned.
Jon Clayton:It was such a cool bike.
Jon Clayton:But, um, yeah.
Jon Clayton:Nevermind
Ange Lyons:yeah, no worries.
Ange Lyons:Yeah,
Jon Clayton:freelancing people might use some other terminology.
Jon Clayton:Maybe they might call themselves a solopreneur or a business of one, perhaps.
Ange Lyons:of one, solopreneur, yeah.
Jon Clayton:we're gonna gonna have a chat about that.
Jon Clayton:I think for any architects or people that have been working in architecture that
Jon Clayton:might be transitioning into freelancing, maybe they might have been working for
Jon Clayton:another business or another architecture practice, I mean, finding clients at the
Jon Clayton:beginning can, can be quite a challenge.
Jon Clayton:I was wondering if you had some recommendations for how
Jon Clayton:freelancers can market themselves.
Jon Clayton:Do you have any, any thoughts on that?
Ange Lyons:It's interesting because, um, when you make that decision
Ange Lyons:to go into freelancing, the first thing I'd say is try and get, if
Ange Lyons:you can, get at least one behind you before you leave the full time job.
Ange Lyons:Um, and also build on your own connections, people that you know.
Ange Lyons:So marketing yourself, I'd say, Oh, you know what I'm LinkedIn.
Ange Lyons:Marketing yourself and LinkedIn is one of those platforms where it's free.
Ange Lyons:It's free.
Ange Lyons:You know, you don't pay, there is, there is a premium service, but you can sell
Ange Lyons:yourself on LinkedIn, um, not easily because it does, it will involve work.
Ange Lyons:But if you start posting content on LinkedIn or you start commenting on
Ange Lyons:people's comments and just must get your, get, start getting your face visible,
Ange Lyons:start, you know, getting recognized.
Ange Lyons:I'd say that it's the number one place to start just to start
Ange Lyons:and then marketing yourself by.
Ange Lyons:Building your website or getting your website built for you and then another
Ange Lyons:form of marketing is networking.
Ange Lyons:You can't be people people talk to people people love people and When you start
Ange Lyons:networking either online or in person, you'll start seeing your connections grow
Ange Lyons:and then people start recognizing you.
Ange Lyons:So it's about, I suppose marketing is about getting your face out there, but
Ange Lyons:as a freelancer, solopreneur, whatever you want to call yourself, I call
Ange Lyons:myself a freelancer with a business.
Ange Lyons:Start, start marketing yourself in the most simplest way that's not too stressful
Ange Lyons:for yourself, and I would say LinkedIn.
Ange Lyons:I don't know if you saw this, John, but there's um, the statistic came out
Ange Lyons:recently from LinkedIn that there are, they now have five billion users and
Ange Lyons:only five percent of the users post.
Jon Clayton:What?
Ange Lyons:Yep.
Jon Clayton:That's insane.
Ange Lyons:can you imagine if you're on LinkedIn, and you're not even posting,
Ange Lyons:um, There are five billion people there.
Ange Lyons:There's one billion, sorry, one billion people there.
Jon Clayton:What, so 1 billion people
Ange Lyons:Yeah,
Jon Clayton:and only 5 percent of them are posting?
Ange Lyons:yeah.
Jon Clayton:Right.
Jon Clayton:That sounds like a huge opportunity because like you could easily become
Jon Clayton:one of the five, you could be part of that 5 percent just by starting
Jon Clayton:to post and to start to stand out
Ange Lyons:yeah, yeah.
Ange Lyons:And even if you're not posting, I'd go and comment on people.
Ange Lyons:So if there's someone that you might wanna work with, or you might think, oh,
Ange Lyons:that person knows that person, or they've got an audience that I might wanna go
Ange Lyons:and have a look at or be engaged with.
Ange Lyons:connect, start connecting with people, start following people, comment on
Ange Lyons:their posts if they post, and then, I know people say it, but they go into
Ange Lyons:DMs, and I know sometimes people direct messaging, and I know people sometimes
Ange Lyons:find that quite icky and not very, you know, nice, but we are in the business
Ange Lyons:of getting work, and Marketing ourselves.
Ange Lyons:So even if it's just like saying, Oh, I saw your post.
Ange Lyons:That was really cool.
Ange Lyons:They're like, Oh, thanks.
Ange Lyons:It's not like, don't go in direct and say, I've got this service.
Ange Lyons:Rawr!
Ange Lyons:Don't do that.
Ange Lyons:They will hate you or they'll block you.
Ange Lyons:Ha ha ha
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:By my thing,
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:I get some terrible like first messages from people where
Jon Clayton:it's just straight into the pitch.
Jon Clayton:Like literally as soon as you've accepted the connection and it's like, right.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:You know, here's my service that you should buy from me.
Jon Clayton:And it's like, like, yes, you wouldn't do that.
Jon Clayton:If, well, you shouldn't do that.
Jon Clayton:If you were, um, a networking event in person, you imagine how that would feel.
Jon Clayton:If like you walked in there and somebody just came over and started immediately
Jon Clayton:trying to sell you what they, you know, sell you their product or service.
Jon Clayton:I think there is some similarities there with the approach.
Jon Clayton:I think between Online platforms like LinkedIn and in person networking
Jon Clayton:isn't there that actually, you know it's about a lot of it does hinge on
Jon Clayton:relationship building and you know getting to know people and not just
Jon Clayton:You know frosting a business card into the hand and like buy my thing.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, it's good to do a business card, but do that at the end of
Ange Lyons:the conversation, maybe, say, or if they offer one up and, you know One thing I do,
Ange Lyons:actually, I've got, um, laptop stickers.
Jon Clayton:Ah Laptop
Ange Lyons:yeah, but say, um, love on it and it's got my, um,
Ange Lyons:um, email address, um, and my, um, website address and my name.
Ange Lyons:Because it's something different than a business card, isn't it?
Jon Clayton:Oh, that's quite cool.
Jon Clayton:So there's some really good ideas there because they're Those are ideas
Jon Clayton:that in order to for somebody that's new to freelancing to be able to start
Jon Clayton:Marketing themselves and getting the name out there in a way that isn't isn't
Jon Clayton:necessarily like hugely time consuming or costly you can get a LinkedIn set up
Jon Clayton:a LinkedIn account for free and There are lots of networking events that people
Jon Clayton:can go and attend and there's lots of those that are free too, isn't there?
Ange Lyons:Yeah, there are.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, there are.
Ange Lyons:And also, um, don't forget, go local.
Ange Lyons:If there's something local to you, have a look what's, a lot of councils
Ange Lyons:nowadays have a local meetup or they might have a local business hive or
Ange Lyons:hub somewhere, just go and, if, say, get your name out there, even if it's
Ange Lyons:like a, a local group, just go and check out what your actual area has.
Ange Lyons:Um, locally.
Ange Lyons:Especially if you're, we are by ourselves, we do work by ourselves, and if you feel
Ange Lyons:like you're craving for company or, um, networking for meeting people, I'm not
Ange Lyons:saying going to like BNI type meetings or anything like that, and, and again, not
Ange Lyons:spending money, these events that are put on by the council are normally free, so.
Jon Clayton:That's um, that's such a good point that and I think that's
Jon Clayton:worth reiterating that You Going to those events, there's multiple benefits
Jon Clayton:because it isn't just about, Oh, well, I'm, I'm just going there because
Jon Clayton:it's a chance for me to try and win business and to sell my services or
Jon Clayton:whatever it's, it is an opportunity that particularly if you're working on
Jon Clayton:your own, then you perhaps work from home that it can feel quite isolating.
Jon Clayton:You can feel a little bit lonely and, um.
Jon Clayton:I think you might not realize that to begin with, but once you're
Jon Clayton:doing it for a little while.
Jon Clayton:So having the opportunity to go to like local in person events and meetings, it's,
Jon Clayton:it's serving so many different purposes and the fact that you can go along, I
Jon Clayton:think another objection that maybe some of the architects listing might have
Jon Clayton:is, Oh, well, what's the point in me going to, you know, if I only work with
Jon Clayton:this certain type of client, what's the point in me going to like a local thing?
Jon Clayton:And it's like, yeah, but it's not.
Jon Clayton:It's not just about that.
Jon Clayton:It's not, it's all of like, every person that you meet, it's like,
Jon Clayton:They know hundreds of people as well.
Jon Clayton:So it's like, you get in the opportunity to meet other people that they might
Jon Clayton:not directly ever be a customer, but they might be a business buddy.
Jon Clayton:You might make a new friendship.
Jon Clayton:It might be a business partnership or somebody that
Jon Clayton:like, refers business to you over
Ange Lyons:I was just about to say that it could be even a recommendation.
Ange Lyons:I, this is no word of lie, I went to a networking event in my area, um,
Ange Lyons:about two years ago, and I'm still part of the community, um, they hive,
Ange Lyons:um, in Walthamstow, and they're great.
Ange Lyons:And, um, somebody there recommended me to, um, Um, a scientist who
Ange Lyons:wanted her branding done and she turned out to be a client.
Ange Lyons:This is someone I met two years ago that's just remembered me.
Ange Lyons:So do you know what I mean?
Ange Lyons:It's just like, it's not you're going there for work.
Ange Lyons:I went there because it was a local event.
Ange Lyons:I wanted to meet some people.
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Ange Lyons:Great.
Ange Lyons:I got work off it, but two years later, you know, so I'm not saying
Ange Lyons:again, it's just like what you said.
Ange Lyons:It's not just about getting the work.
Ange Lyons:People know people and they'll just, They'll recommend you if they,
Ange Lyons:but don't go with the hard sell.
Jon Clayton:Yeah, absolutely.
Jon Clayton:And if that doesn't entice you to go to your local networking event,
Jon Clayton:there's usually some free pastries
Ange Lyons:Oh
Jon Clayton:something
Ange Lyons:yeah.
Jon Clayton:some free goodies if you're lucky.
Jon Clayton:So, um, and I'd be interested to know, we've talked there about a few ideas and
Jon Clayton:maybe looking at how we can use LinkedIn and networking being another thing that
Jon Clayton:we can use to help market ourselves.
Jon Clayton:What creative approaches have you seen used by freelancers?
Jon Clayton:So maybe have you seen some things, ways to market their business that
Jon Clayton:not everybody's doing, something a little bit different that beyond
Jon Clayton:kind of social media and networking?
Jon Clayton:Remember, don't forget to join the wait list for our membership community,
Jon Clayton:where you can meet other business owners who want the same thing as you.
Jon Clayton:If a thriving business that gives you more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment.
Jon Clayton:just go to architecture, business club.com forward slash waitlist, or
Jon Clayton:click the link in the show notes.
Jon Clayton:And enter your details.
Jon Clayton:So you don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to improve
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Jon Clayton:And if you're enjoying the show, then please leave a five-star review or
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Jon Clayton:Now, back to the show.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, only what I've seen on when people have actually posted on social
Ange Lyons:media that they've when they've actually on boarded a new client or they're off
Ange Lyons:boarded a new client, something creative around that, but they're telling us
Ange Lyons:about it is that they might send them something like a notebook or a cookie
Ange Lyons:or, um, or homemade brownies that are, you know, or something that's local to
Ange Lyons:that person that they might have like in conversation said, Oh, do you like this?
Ange Lyons:And they might've heard that they liked it and they'll send them a gift.
Ange Lyons:And I'm not saying.
Ange Lyons:That you should spend all your money on client gifts.
Ange Lyons:But just those nice little touches that the client will then share maybe
Ange Lyons:on their shows, social media, their LinkedIn or Instagram and say, Oh
Ange Lyons:look, um, this person sent me this.
Ange Lyons:And that's another form of creative marketing, you know?
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:that.
Jon Clayton:If you think about, let's say, an average client project, and this is going to
Jon Clayton:vary from business to business, but, I mean, you might be working on a project
Jon Clayton:for that client, and maybe the value of that project could even be several
Jon Clayton:thousand pounds, potentially, if it's an architecture client, and to do
Jon Clayton:something for them like that, To send them a thoughtful gift at some point
Jon Clayton:in that process of working with them.
Jon Clayton:And actually as a, if you think of it as a percentage of what the value of
Jon Clayton:that client project is, it could be a relatively small percentage, but actually
Jon Clayton:really kind of impactful thing for the customer to get something, especially
Jon Clayton:if it's something, um, like a physical thing, like they're actually physically
Jon Clayton:getting a gift that they can hold in their hands, you know, whether that's I don't
Jon Clayton:know, like a nice box of brownies from the bakers that they mentioned that they
Jon Clayton:really like, or a gift I don't know, like a, I suppose it could even be like, um, a
Jon Clayton:voucher for somewhere if they'd mentioned that they had a favourite restaurant or
Ange Lyons:Yeah, it could be something like that.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, exactly.
Ange Lyons:Actually, on my off boarding form, I do say to people, I do ask my
Ange Lyons:client, Do you want something sweet, savoury or paper based?
Ange Lyons:So, when it's the paper based one, I get them a personalised notebook.
Jon Clayton:Oh, I love that.
Ange Lyons:And again, when you say the value of what you've spent, what
Ange Lyons:they've spent with you, and then they'll, you know, Remember you and
Ange Lyons:then they'll, again, post it on, they might not even post it, but even getting
Ange Lyons:that bit of testimonial from them, that's a bit of marketing for you.
Ange Lyons:You can put that on your profile, on your LinkedIn, make a post out of it.
Ange Lyons:So creative marketing.
Ange Lyons:I've also been at events when, um, I've seen people, um, give, um, chocolate bars.
Ange Lyons:There was an illustrator and he had the chocolate loony, is it chocolate Tony?
Ange Lyons:The Tony's chocolate.
Ange Lyons:That one, you know, the loony chocolate bar.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, Looney, that's the one.
Ange Lyons:You know what I mean.
Ange Lyons:But he actually printed out his own labels and stuck them around a chocolate
Ange Lyons:bar and put them in the goodie bags.
Ange Lyons:I'm just like, that's genius.
Ange Lyons:We get a chocolate bar, plus that's like creative marketing for you.
Ange Lyons:That's marketing for you.
Jon Clayton:I love that.
Jon Clayton:That's so cool.
Jon Clayton:Um, something else that I saw which I really liked was, uh, an architect that
Jon Clayton:they'd printed a book for their client.
Jon Clayton:Well, when they go out to see prospective clients and they go to that initial
Jon Clayton:meeting with them, rather than sort of just leaving them with, you know,
Jon Clayton:A little bit of paperwork to read through and um, or a business card.
Jon Clayton:They'd printed a really nice book and it was like a, a mini book and it was
Jon Clayton:including some sort of case studies and client stories, but it felt like
Jon Clayton:it was, I mean, I don't know who said it, but I've, somebody said it.
Jon Clayton:Books are like the world's best business card because if you leave somebody with a
Jon Clayton:book, they're very, very unlikely to just throw it away or put it in the recycling.
Ange Lyons:it, um, yeah, was it Daniel Priestly
Jon Clayton:it may well have
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:It may well have but yeah, they, it's so true though, because like people
Jon Clayton:don't, we don't throw books away.
Jon Clayton:So to have something like that to give to, prospective client or somebody
Jon Clayton:that was interested in working with you is quite a nice thing.
Jon Clayton:I know that's sort of more at the front end, isn't it?
Jon Clayton:Rather than gifting them afterwards,
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Ange Lyons:No, but it's still, it's still something in a creative way.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, exactly.
Jon Clayton:Cool, and I suppose things like, um, Well,
Jon Clayton:we're on a podcast now, aren't
Ange Lyons:Oh, sorry.
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Ange Lyons:How could I not?
Ange Lyons:How could I forget?
Ange Lyons:I'm meant to be marketing myself here.
Ange Lyons:I'm on a podcast.
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Ange Lyons:You're right.
Ange Lyons:Um, podcasting is a great way if you can get onto, um, guesting on
Ange Lyons:a podcast or creating your own.
Ange Lyons:Um, I'd say guesting is obviously a lot easier.
Ange Lyons:And then with those, what I love about podcasting is that I I get to talk to,
Ange Lyons:obviously, the podcast hosts and explore ideas with them and talk to them about
Ange Lyons:subject, different subject matters.
Ange Lyons:But then the best thing out of it is that you can create your own Spotify playlist.
Ange Lyons:And a lot of people that have been on podcasts, they forget this, like
Ange Lyons:you've been on podcasts, why don't you actually put them on a playlist in
Ange Lyons:Spotify and say, Same for mine, Angela Lyon's podcast appearances, and then
Ange Lyons:I've got a list of podcast appearances.
Ange Lyons:So if I put that on my website, or if someone sees it on LinkedIn, my
Ange Lyons:LinkedIn profile, they'll say, Oh, I might go and have a listen to
Ange Lyons:her, see what she's talking about.
Ange Lyons:That is a bit of creative marketing right there.
Ange Lyons:And it's free.
Ange Lyons:Oh,
Jon Clayton:That's, that is a fantastic idea and that is
Jon Clayton:something that I haven't done.
Jon Clayton:So I need to go and do that.
Jon Clayton:I need to go and put together a a Spotify playlist of podcast appearances.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, and you share that link with people and say, especially
Ange Lyons:if you're pitching to be on a podcast, um, that's another, that's a whole
Ange Lyons:different ballgame, I suppose, is, um, wanting to pitch to be on a podcast.
Ange Lyons:That's, I'd say always, always research the podcast first that you want to be on.
Ange Lyons:Don't just say, I want to be on your podcast.
Ange Lyons:But, if you say, if you put that as a link in your pitch deck to be on
Ange Lyons:a podcast, they can see where you've been and how you sound like and how you
Ange Lyons:come across, and Again, it's marketing.
Ange Lyons:How many billions of people are on Spotify?
Jon Clayton:yeah, no, that's a really good idea.
Jon Clayton:And I would say if anybody is thinking about, oh, that sounds interesting,
Jon Clayton:maybe being a guest on a podcast.
Jon Clayton:I recently did, um, uh, an episode with Colin Gray, and we talked all about how to
Jon Clayton:be a great podcast guest, and we touched upon pitching for podcasts as well.
Jon Clayton:So if anyone's listening, thinking that sounds quite interesting, and
Jon Clayton:you haven't listened to that episode, please go and give that a listen.
Jon Clayton:And the other thing I would say is, I am always on the lookout
Jon Clayton:for great guests for this show.
Jon Clayton:So if anybody is listening to this thinks that, Oh, I'm a little bit
Jon Clayton:curious about being a guest on a podcast.
Jon Clayton:If you've done it before, then feel free to reach out to me.
Jon Clayton:Connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email and share your Spotify playlist
Jon Clayton:if you've you've taken Andrew's advice there And I will happily give that a
Jon Clayton:listen and we can talk about being a guest on the show and if you haven't
Jon Clayton:done a podcast interview before then go and listen to that episode with Colin
Jon Clayton:and then Feel free to make your pitch and, uh, get in touch, uh, especially if
Jon Clayton:you're working in and around the world of architecture, that would be really
Jon Clayton:cool because I'd love to hear some more stories from people in the industry.
Jon Clayton:It's a lot of shy people, I think, that I've spoken to a few folks
Jon Clayton:that are curious about the idea of, taking part in something like a
Jon Clayton:podcast, but they're a bit like, oh, Not too sure maybe feeling a bit shy
Ange Lyons:I think people also think, why would anyone want to listen to me?
Ange Lyons:What have I got to say?
Ange Lyons:My gosh, people always want to hear stories.
Ange Lyons:That's one thing I'd always say, people always want to hear about the person, hear
Ange Lyons:a story, get some advice, get some tips.
Ange Lyons:I listen to loads of podcasts.
Ange Lyons:I get so many tips from them because we're, as you said, we're in our
Ange Lyons:rooms, in our offices, working from home, working at a co work.
Ange Lyons:We're mostly pretty much by ourselves.
Ange Lyons:Stick the, stick the stereo on, just put a podcast on, get some tips and listen in.
Jon Clayton:yeah, that's so true I mean, I think everybody's got a story to share
Jon Clayton:There's a story in all of us, you know, definitely like to hear more of that.
Jon Clayton:So Ange, One of the thing that can be quite tricky for freelancers is
Jon Clayton:is speaking setting a chargeout rate.
Jon Clayton:So sort of deciding what to charge.
Jon Clayton:And I think that's especially could be tricky in architecture
Jon Clayton:because the the projects can vary quite a bit in complexity.
Jon Clayton:And I imagine there's some similarities there in other creative businesses
Jon Clayton:and, in your business, for example, that there might be some variation
Jon Clayton:in the scope and size of projects that you might be working on.
Jon Clayton:Have you got any thoughts on how we could approach that about how we can
Jon Clayton:approach Deciding upon a charge out rate.
Ange Lyons:Um, it's interesting cause a lot of them, especially in
Ange Lyons:graphic design and freelancers, they.
Ange Lyons:I've tried to stop doing this now.
Ange Lyons:It's charged by the hour.
Ange Lyons:And I just think that that's not the best way to do it because we've had years of
Ange Lyons:experience and you're not, you're not filling in that, that, uh, that in that
Ange Lyons:one hour time or your hour charge rate.
Ange Lyons:I think around, um, charging projects always work out.
Ange Lyons:Even though I say don't charge by the hour, work out how
Ange Lyons:long it is going to take you.
Ange Lyons:And then what I do is.
Ange Lyons:adds more on top because then we're gonna have the variables of they're
Ange Lyons:taking forever to get back to you or they're not getting back to you.
Ange Lyons:Or we've got, we've had to build in another meeting into this.
Ange Lyons:I know some freelancers that build in meeting time and then
Ange Lyons:they'll charge that by the hour.
Ange Lyons:Um, I try not to do that because I like to be upfront and open with my clients
Ange Lyons:to say, this is going to cost X amount.
Ange Lyons:Um, so there are, do you know what?
Ange Lyons:There are calculators out there that work out project rates.
Ange Lyons:I can't think of one right now, but I have used them in the past, where
Ange Lyons:you put in how many hours you think it's going to take, and then how
Ange Lyons:much you want to charge for, and then building anything else on top of that.
Ange Lyons:Um, like for example, are you going to have to, well for me for example,
Ange Lyons:am I going to have to delve into buying stock photography for them?
Ange Lyons:So I'm going to build in that price.
Ange Lyons:Am I going to, um, Do I have to talk to printers?
Ange Lyons:I'm going to build in meeting time.
Ange Lyons:So it's, it's, there's no set, it's quite hard.
Ange Lyons:Price, pricing is so tricky.
Ange Lyons:It's such a tricky thing.
Ange Lyons:Um, I don't know if that, that helps,
Jon Clayton:Yeah, definitely.
Jon Clayton:Yeah,
Ange Lyons:such a tricky thing, but I'd, I'd definitely say, one
Ange Lyons:of the things I would say is that I'd research price calculators.
Ange Lyons:Have a look at price calculators, and then they always tell you to add
Ange Lyons:a percentage on top because there's going to be so many variables that will
Ange Lyons:just like tip you over and the client is going to take more of your time.
Ange Lyons:Hmm,
Jon Clayton:by the hour versus charging by the project.
Jon Clayton:I'm sure that's something that a lot of small business owners wrestle with.
Jon Clayton:And it's like, The charging by the hour thing, it, I guess, it depends a little
Jon Clayton:bit on your appetite to risk as well.
Jon Clayton:And particularly if you're sort of a new freelancer, when they're charging
Jon Clayton:by the hour, it's like, well, I know if I charge by the hour, like I'm going
Jon Clayton:to get paid this amount for that, for that time that I spend on the project.
Jon Clayton:And then when it moves to the project based pricing, that like the key to
Jon Clayton:that is that, There has to be, the number has to be big enough to actually
Jon Clayton:cover and that that's where it kind of gets a little bit tricky where it's
Jon Clayton:like, that's project based pricing.
Jon Clayton:I would agree is the preferable way to go if the number that you know that you're
Jon Clayton:charging is high enough to actually allow for that margin of error and scope creep.
Jon Clayton:That's the classic one.
Jon Clayton:isn't it?
Ange Lyons:Scope creep.
Ange Lyons:Yeah, exactly.
Ange Lyons:Scope creep.
Ange Lyons:I don't know.
Ange Lyons:It's a term that people, when I mentioned it to somebody, they
Ange Lyons:were like, what does that mean?
Ange Lyons:I think sometimes people don't know what scope creep, actually,
Ange Lyons:do you want to explain, Josh?
Jon Clayton:Well, yeah, I mean, scope creeps like when, you know, you, you, in
Jon Clayton:all good faith, you will put together a proposal for a client and you'll agree
Jon Clayton:the, the scope of work that you're going to do for them and you have in mind
Jon Clayton:whether, and this in particular is when it's like project based pricing and it's
Jon Clayton:a fixed price that you'd say, okay, this is going to be 5, 000, we're going to
Jon Clayton:do this work and in your mind, maybe you thought, well, roughly this is going to
Jon Clayton:take, you know, X number of hours, but then somewhere along the way there's
Jon Clayton:like some extra bits and pieces that seem to creep in and it might be kind
Jon Clayton:of quite almost quite sort of insidious that it's sort of like you might not
Jon Clayton:realize it's happening and it's like oh can we just can you just do this bit as
Jon Clayton:well or could we have an extra revision or could we could we have that and if
Jon Clayton:the If the contract and agreement with the client in the first instance isn't
Jon Clayton:like absolutely watertight crystal clear with exactly what is included in terms
Jon Clayton:of deliverables, like very easily there can be this scope creep that, you know,
Jon Clayton:this creeps in where all of a sudden the scope of the project is like slowly sort
Jon Clayton:of expanded and then by the end of it, you look at it and you're like, wow, like,
Jon Clayton:I was meant to spend a hundred hours on this and I spent like 140 hours on it.
Jon Clayton:Or, you know, there was these extra things that because it wasn't bolted
Jon Clayton:down at the beginning and because, well, maybe I felt a bit awkward asking the
Jon Clayton:client for like, Oh, well, actually that little extra thing you've asked
Jon Clayton:for here is going to be chargeable.
Jon Clayton:Maybe that conversation because I think that's the thing is that sometimes
Jon Clayton:that conversation around pricing that sometimes we can feel a bit icky about
Jon Clayton:talking about money and pricing and if that doesn't happen up front and it
Jon Clayton:isn't sort of crystal clear about like, this is what's included in the package.
Jon Clayton:And anything beyond that is chargeable.
Jon Clayton:And this is what we charge.
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Ange Lyons:Yeah.
Jon Clayton:area.
Jon Clayton:A classic one is with, within architecture, I found is
Jon Clayton:when does a, a revision.
Jon Clayton:So we'd like, say somebody wanted to make a small change to a design
Jon Clayton:that's been done on a building.
Jon Clayton:Like we've been designing somebody's home extension and the client would
Jon Clayton:like to have some changes made, can we change the bifold doors, the
Jon Clayton:sliding doors, or can we change that.
Jon Clayton:Make that roof, like, bigger, that sort of thing.
Jon Clayton:So first, it's like, has it been identified how many rounds
Jon Clayton:of revisions are included?
Jon Clayton:Can they just keep coming back forever and ever saying, no,
Jon Clayton:move it two inches to the left?
Jon Clayton:Oh no, move it two inches to the right, you know?
Jon Clayton:So that's one area where there can be a lot of scope creep that
Jon Clayton:creeps in with little revisions.
Jon Clayton:And the other thing is, when does a project go from, uh, when does
Jon Clayton:a revision become a redesign?
Jon Clayton:And has that been communicated with the client?
Jon Clayton:So what happens if, like, we spend lots of time designing this?
Jon Clayton:Projects or in the case of graphic design.
Jon Clayton:It might be a brand branding or a logo and then they're like no With we need
Jon Clayton:to change everything like, and their X might be their expectation might be
Jon Clayton:that Oh, well, the agreement says we get you know, three revisions included.
Jon Clayton:Well, we've only had one revision So, can you just like change the whole
Jon Clayton:thing now as part of the next revision?
Jon Clayton:It's like oh, hang on a minute This is actually a full redesign, like now you
Jon Clayton:told us you wanted a, in the case of architecture, well you said you wanted
Jon Clayton:a single storey rear extension and now you're saying you want a loft conversion.
Jon Clayton:Well that's totally different, so that's A redesign, that's total redesign.
Jon Clayton:Oh, but that's a revision.
Jon Clayton:Like, where does it say in the contract that, you know, you said we could
Jon Clayton:have as many changes as we want.
Jon Clayton:And so, and that's where it can get a bit sticky, I
Ange Lyons:Hmm,
Jon Clayton:Have you had that sort of experience, Angie, in graphic design
Jon Clayton:and branding?
Jon Clayton:And that's all we have time for today in the next episode, Angie and I continue
Jon Clayton:our conversation about freelancing and talk more about contracts getting paid.
Jon Clayton:How sole practitioners can avoid isolation, productivity, and more.
Jon Clayton:Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.
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Jon Clayton:Remember.
Jon Clayton:Running your architecture business.
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