Freelance Interview Series: Benek Lisefski

Benek Lisefski of Benek Design

Today we’re kicking off our whole new series of Freelance Interviews. Over the course of the next few months, stay tuned for new interviews with some of the coolest freelancer’s around. To mix things up, some of the interviews will be interviewed via Skype, to create special podcast episodes. If you have question you’d like the freelancers to be asked, send it off to hello@podcastforfreelancers.com.

We’d like to thank Benek for taking the time to do a brief interview with us. He’s also the debutant interviewee!

PFF: Thanks Benek for joining us today. Your our first interviewee!

Benek: Thank you. I’m honored to be asked and I hope people find my answers and experiences useful.

PFF: So then, tell us a little about yourself,  and what you do for work.

B: My name is Benek Lisefski. I’m American but have been living and working in New Zealand for the past 2.5 years. I work for client’s locally as well as all over the world.

I’m 26 years old and recently married. I have an art/design background and I’m passionate about anything design: web design, graphics design, typography, architecture and interior design, etc. I try to absorb as much design as I can in my daily work and in my free time.

I’ve recently been thinking a lot about passive income. I love what I do, but I don’t want to be trading time for money for the rest of my life. I’m in the process of creating and launching a number of side-projects. I’ve got a flash product that I created a while ago which I’m revamping with a ton of improvements. Keep your eye on http://www.fotomaps.net for a brand new look and vastly improved product coming soon.

I’m also in the process of developing a new online magazine about all things design – a joint venture with my brother. Lastly I’ve got a huge project in the planning stages that I’m really excited about. It fills a big need here in NZ and I can’t wait to start working on it.

PFF: How then did you get started in Freelancing?

B: I’m mostly self-taught and have been tinkering with web design since I took a basic HTML class in 8th grade. I studied art and design at university and had been doing web design work part-time as a student during my studies. When I graduated and needed work the natural step was to start freelancing full-time. The transition was a bit slow—it took me a while to build up enough clients for full-time work. But I was young and had limited expenses and I never imagined getting any other kind of job.

I’ve never had a full-time job. Freelancing is all I know.

PFF: Do you think freelancers will feel the credit crunch pinching? How do you see the outcome? What tips can you give them in terms of marketing in this economic hardship?

B: I haven’t felt any effects of the economic crisis yet. In fact, in the past few months I’ve been busier than ever. I think with business trying to save money they find it more economical to lose a full-time salaried employee and replace them with a part-time contract worker instead. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the demand for freelancers increased.

I think this creates an obvious marketing opportunity. Advertise your services to small to medium sized businesses and agencies that might be able to save money by hiring a freelancer instead of an employee.

It also creates an opportunity to push social media marketing services which I believe will appeal more than ever as business try to save money. They may abandon traditional advertising, like print and TV which are expensive, in favor of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

PFF: Thats a great point. The web is much more track-able in terms of statistics and such also, so clients really do get a much better value for money. If you could go back to have a quick chat with yourself when you first started freelancing, what would you tell yourself?

B: I wouldn’t do a whole lot differently. I’d tell myself to get more structured in terms of business, finances, taxes, contracts, etc. right from the beginning. I’m currently a sole-proprietor but I’m considering forming an LLC as my business expands. These kinds of issues are things you don’t think about when you’re starting out. Hire an accountant and have them help you set up the right structure. Open a business bank account and be strict with how you use it. Track everything! These things will give you peace of mind later.

PFF: Great tips! Especially with the business bank account. If you have to do your own taxes, it will save you hours trawling through your personal account and picking out your business expenses. As you say, I think its good to consider the future, by asking “Where will my business be in 5 years time?”.

Freelancer’s and Creatives seem to love books. So if you could recommend a book (or several books) related to freelancing or your field, what would they be and why?

B: To be honest I’ve read very few books related to freelancing or web design. I find that there is so much information on the web that I don’t need to look elsewhere. It’s such a visual and interactive medium, with examples, tutorials, code-snippets, etc. Ink on paper is an inferior medium for delivering that kind of content.

I recently read an e-book called The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder which was useful but not groundbreaking. I’d like to read more books on marketing and design strategy.

PFF: Do you peruse any blogs regularly

B: I love the web design greats like A List Apart. I also enjoy visiting sites like Web Designer Wall, Smashing Magazine, Freelance Switch, and other for advise, inspiration, and tips.

I’m not as big of a blog reader as I wish I was. I need to make more time for it. There’s so much amazing content out there and so many brilliant ideas. Web design is such a quickly changing field and it can be hard just to keep up with the front lines. I think good web professionals need to dedicate a big chunk of their time for learning new techniques and digesting the latest ideas. I’m guilty of not allowing enough time for this when I get busy.

PFF: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Where can we find you on the web?

B: My personal portfolio: http://www.benekdesign.com [PFF: Loving the design for your portfolio]
FotoMaps (new version 2.0 coming soon): http://www.fotomaps.net

Thanks!

Do you have any comments or thoughts on anything Benek has said? Share them with the community in our comments section!  Stay tuned for our next installment of freelance interviews very soon!

Tags: Freelancer Interview