Review
"The future is freelance. But that doesn't mean it'll be easy. If you're looking for greater independence while also gaining more control over your life and your financial future, this is an excellent roadmap for your journey."
-- Justin Cone, Motionographer
"Within the first three months of following Joey's tips on getting booked, I had a client ask what they needed to do to make sure I was available. That's a lot of power for a freelancer!"
-- Kyle Martinez, kyle-martinez.com
"I've been using Joey's lessons for over a year. In my first year of freelance, my goal was $100,000 in revenue. I was shy of that goal by about one project. This year using everything Joey teaches, if everything continues its course, I should reach that $100,000 in about nine months. I'd probably be doing business out of a cardboard box if I hadn't learned everything I did from Joey."
-- Liam Clisham, five-31.com
"Joey gives you the map, the tools, the words, and the confidence to start or (like me) build on my five-year-old freelance career. I owe this man the highest of fives and of course a beer!"
-- Dario Kham, dkham.com
"Joey's e-mail and Google-fu insights have changed my entire approach to prospecting. Most recently, these tips got me a job at CapitalOne, which had been only a dream until now."
-- Ivan Witteborg, IvanWitteborg.com
"Using Joey's tips on how to make contact with potential clients was a game changer. I had been making it way harder than it needed to be, which was equivalent to writing cover letters and sending them to Santa Claus. The response rate I get now is at least 90 percent with much less effort."
-- Jeff Coles Smith, motion-smith.com
"I made $70,000 two years ago, but that increased to $124,000 last year after learning these tips only midyear. I don't work any harder, but I worked and bid a lot smarter in the second half of last year. I'm really excited to see where Joey's advice will take me this year and beyond. It's timeless advice that I'd needed for a long time."
-- Kalika Kharkar Sharma, antidotefx.com
"I don't feel intimidated by the whole process anymore; in fact, I feel totally empowered. I've also doubled my day rate since eighteen months ago and have been busier than ever. I have to pinch myself sometimes."
-- Collin Leix, littlehilstudio.com
"When I started applying the tips Joey talked about, I found myself in conference rooms pitching my reel to new businesses. It was very surreal. It's almost scary how the things Joey predicts will ACTUALLY happen. If you drink the Kool-Aid, you won't regret it."
-- Devon Laird, plus3video.com
"Since I started applying Joey's client contact and tracking system, my freelance income has quadrupled. His techniques for getting and prioritizing work have had a very positive impact on my business."
-- Sara Wade, sarawade.com
"I was going through a patch of weeks with no bookings. I followed Joey's freelance advice to follow up with past clients, and it got me booked the very next day. Sometimes you need someone to help you with the obvious ways of the business."
-- Carlos Weisz, carlosweisz.com
"The strategies got me booked by three new clients, added to the roster for another ten, and made me £7,500 all in one month. Not only that, it also helped me get my foot in the door at a dream job."
-- Brendan Cox, BrendanCox.co.uk
"You know that old saying, 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.' Well, these e-mail tips have taught me how to fish. I'm now an ace at warm e-mails and reactivating older clients. I'm booked to the gills."
-- Jerry Nelson, attackmotiondesign.com
"Joey's knowledge and info helped light a fire under my a** to make the jump from full time to freelance. Best decision I've made for my career."
-- Adam Bender, vimeo.com/adambeder
From the Back Cover
Designing beautiful boards and making smooth animation come naturally to us Motion Designers. It's what we're good at. However, designing the career we want, with the freedom, flexibility, and pay we crave, that's more difficult. All of the above is within your grasp if you're willing to take the plunge into freelancing.
School of Motion founder Joey Korenman worked in every kind of Motion Design role before discovering that freelancing offered him not only more autonomy but also higher pay, less stress, and more creativity. Since then, he's taught hundreds of School of Motion students his playbook for becoming a six-figure freelancer. Now he shares his experience and advice on breaking out of the nine-to-five mold in this comprehensive and tactical handbook. The Freelance Manifesto offers a field guide for Motion Design professionals looking to make the leap to freelance in two clear and concise parts. The first examines the goals, benefits, myths, and realities of the freelance lifestyle, while the second provides future freelancers with a five-step guide to launching and maintaining a solo business, including making contact, selling yourself, closing the deal, being indispensable, and becoming a lucrative enterprise.
If you're feeling stifled by long hours, low-paying gigs, and an unfulfilling career, make the choice to redesign yourself as a freelancer--and, with the help of this book and some hard work, reclaim your time, independence, and inspiration for yourself.
About the Author
Joey Korenman is the founder and head instructor for School of Motion, an online school for Motion Designers all over the world. Before finding his true calling as an educator, he was a working Motion Designer for over a decade, climbing the ranks from junior artist to freelancer to studio head and back to freelancer. Since founding School of Motion, he has dedicated his time to teaching aspiring and working Motion Designers how to be effective, high level, and in demand in their professional careers.
Joey has also presented and run workshops for Wacom, Shutterstock, Adobe, and the Ringling College of Art & Design, and acted as emcee at Blend, a Motion Design festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia. School of Motion content has been featured by Adobe, Maxon, and The Foundry.
When not teaching or animating, Joey is busy training for marathons in the sunny state of Florida. He lives there with his wife and three children. He is also a taco enthusiast.
