Full-time Freelancing: 10 Things Learned in 180 Days by Cameron Moll.

Cameron came to my office and we talked just days before he took the leap of faith he talks about in this post. Frankly, I'd love to have the guy working for me and I told him that when he came by, but I bet he's making more money freelancing than I would ever be willing to pay somebody. Sure, some of that has to do with his obvious talent, but you know as well as I do that most clients don't know what talent is when it comes to design and CSS, so I'd wager even more of Cameron's success has to do with following his own rules.

And as someone who has run an agency since 1999/2000, I can say that these same rules apply to agencies, and individual posts could be written about each one.

Take "abundant contact" for one. I've never heard a client complain that we talk to them too much, or that we give them too many updates. About a year ago we started using a project management tool from 37signals called Basecamp and it has been invaluable in helping us stay in touch with clients. Not only do we stay in touch better, but we're better organized internally, which makes us less afraid to stay in touch.

I think the number one reason agencies and freelancers don't stay in touch with clients is because they're scrambling to get something done. You always want to have something to show, and you avoid contact until you can show that you've made progress. In the meantime, the client is tearing their hair out saying "I don't care about where things are at, I just want to know where we're at and when things will be done!!!"

I had to add a comment of my own to Cameron's list. Don't compose a nasty email about a client and then accidentally send it to the client. Around the time I was starting my agency one of my employees composed an email with a colorful metaphor about a potential partner/client we had just met with, who happened to have the same first name as another of my employees. While typing in what he thought was his co-worker's email address, he didn't bother to look at what the email program had auto-completed for him in the to: field and sent it off.

The next day I got an email from the partner, and suffice it to say, he never talked to us again. No, I didn't fire the employee, but I seriously considered it.

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