Being a freelancer is a lot of hard work, and as Gloria Perri discovered, one of the risks is burnout. It's hard enough to do the job without worrying about all the possible ways that it will get harder for you to make a living.
At age 50 I went to Drexel U for Web Design getting certified and thought I would finally be able to use my artistic talents creating Web sites and actually get paid doing so.
My first job was for a non-profit associated with my dad and I still manage and update the site I built. However, since it is non-profit I charge such a minimal amount I'm embarrassed to say. I get reimbursed for host server and domain names, and charge maybe $200.00 over that per year.
By the time I started my own business, registered the name with the county seat, and spent a lot of money on new equipment, domain names, host servers, books and manuals, and yes, purchased pictures to use on my new propsective sites...big business took over Web design and as I was going down in flames, technology left me in the dust with CSS, the threat of all my code becoming deprecated I was overwhelmed. I concentrated on studying CSS on weekends and gave up creating for a while. With big dreams of virtual private servers and too many jobs that evaporated into thin air while I was in the midst of creating them, (not being paid), somewhere along the road I lost interest in all of it. I burned out so to speak...I really did go down in flames! I still manage the non-profit. All the church Web sites I created for free are now defunct because the church's closed, and I'm now working full time as an executive assistant and the only thing I create these days is spreadsheets! and cringe when when I look at my computer because I have no prospects of making money creating Web sites at the present time. I remember though and get a warm feeling when I think of the days I was working from home with big ideas of creating so many important Web sites for small company's and non-profits. I had dreams of enterprising with other Web Designers and swapping jobs: i.e.; if I was good at poetry, flash, and artwork, and someone else was great at navigation menus, or layout, etc. My own art and poetry and flash design are prevalent on those sites I still have, but the inspiration and job offers are waning with the economy on the fritz. I wonder...will I ever be able to make enough money creating Web sites to quit my day job?
The only advice I can give to Gloria and others in her position is to not give up your dreams completely. If you really want to do Web design as your "day job" you can't stop doing it. But if you're burnt out, then taking time to re-stock is important too. There will always be new technology and big business out to drive you out of business. But letting that get to you will just ensure that you never achieve your dreams. Find your niche and keep plugging.
