As a freelancer, I get the chance to work with startup companies that are still too new or too small to have a lot of in-house staff. Because of this, I’ve become familiar with the common characteristics that many startups share. As I come to expect these characteristics with new clients, I become more efficient at avoiding problems and maximizing opportunities.

But first, a definition: What exactly is a startup? Although the term “startup” is usually associated with tech companies, it’s not necessarily that specific. As long as the business is young, usually still in development, then it can be considered a startup.

The first common trait that most startups have is their tight or unpredictable income. Usually they are bootstrapping (working without external funding) which leads them to minimize their expenses. Even if they have the benefit of external funding, startup founders still tend to keep a close eye at their cashflow. Some of them might be looking for low freelancer rates, or perhaps some prep work to justify your cost. You shouldn’t be selling your services as an added expense: talk about your fees as an investment.

To minimize any negative effects a startup client may have on my own finances, I tend to bill early and send reminders before the due date indicated on the invoice. This sometimes isn’t necessary, but it can be useful, especially if the people in charge of paying you are wearing too many hats or paying attention to several other aspects of the business –  a common situation in startups.

Also, if you’re working with a startup, you’ll be dealing with their growing pains firsthand. This means you’ll be part of an exciting and interesting stage in the development of their business. While this stage is typically filled with new ideas and innovation, there will also be a lot of mistakes, which will often affect your work. They might even be a bit disorganized, since they don’t have standard processes in place.

There might even be major changes when the founders get a better (or simply different) idea of what they want to do. One of my earliest freelancing jobs was writing web site copy for a tech startup. When they hired me they were developing a simple chat application. By the time I left them six months later, they had plans to turn their app into a full-featured social networking tool. Because of possible changes like this, it’s important to keep communication lines open so that you’re updated with the latest developments. Startups are flexible organizations, and you should also be equally flexible as you work for them — as long as you are treated and paid fairly.

There may be some exceptions, but I usually find that working with a startup is also like working with a small, close-knit family. They often don’t have a large staff since they’re just starting out. With few, if any, bureaucratic hoops and hierarchies to deal with, getting feedback and disseminating information is usually faster. In fact, you may be working directly with the founders.

Although working closely with the big bosses has its advantages, there are a few challenges you should expect. Sometimes, founders can be micromanagers. They tend to think of their startup as a baby whose every tiny step they should monitor and approve. While I appreciate this devotion to one’s business, too much of it can prevent growth through other people’s ideas, experience and perspective.

Working with a startup certainly has its own opportunities and disadvantages. We need to be expect both these things if we want the working relationship to go as smoothly as possible.

Have you ever worked with startups? What was your experience like?

Image by cobrasoft from sxc.hu

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First, I started using social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook heavily. As a result, my address book ballooned from a few hundred contacts to over 1,100. The additional contacts were all people I knew, but I hadn’t seen many of them for a long time — being able to see photos makes it much easier to find the right contact. Second, I switched to a Mac as my main machine, and I started using the Mac OS X Address Book. It’s a very well-designed application, and it makes adding pictures to contacts incredibly easy.

Just open the Address Book to the appropriate contact. You don’t need to click the edit button. Then, use your web browser to find a photo you want to use as that person’s image, from a web site like Facebook or LinkedIn. In the browser, click on the image, hold your mouse button down, and drag the image to the Address Book. Let go of the mouse when you’ve dragged the image to the pale-grey square immediately to the left of the person’s name. A green circle with a white plus sign in it will appear when you’re in the right place. You may then crop the image as you wish. I like to crop tightly so that the person’s face is easily recognizable in the small space provided.

Most other address books have a way to attach photos to contacts, including the address books for online services like Gmail. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any others that allow easy drag-and-drop of images like the Mac Address Book does.

There are programs that allow one to sync pictures between Facebook and the Address Book; I haven’t tried them, as I prefer to select my own images.

Finding images of your contacts is generally easy. Use an image search in your favorite search engine. Social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, and sites like Twitter, encourage people to post pictures of themselves. I sometimes don’t like the pictures that people select, though; I prefer headshots that actually look like the person! For that reason, I’m not thrilled about cartoon avatars, either, unless the caricature is really good.

I suspect that more and more people have growing address books. If you want people to remember you, post picture of yourself that can easily be added to address books.

Do you add images to your contact list? Do you post headshots that can easily be imported?

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The problem, as is always the problem with internet advertising, is finding a simple, cost effective way to bring my ads to potential customers who’re actually looking for my services. Google Ads are one way to try to insure you reach the people you intend to, but advertising networks are another.

Design Ads is a brand new network (doesn’t officially launch until 2009, in fact), which provides a targeted solution for those in the web design field. Ad network models are successful because they ensure a healthy cycle of targeted material that will remain fresh and relevant to viewers, so you’re ad won’t become stale or melt into the background by virtue of visitors seeing it every time they go to a specific site.

The people behind Design Ads clearly know their target market. They list among their discriminators for publishers the fact that the advertising is simple, and clutter free. Design blogs and online magazines will, after all, be more concerned than other outlets about the effect of advertising on their site’s layout. Revenue rates are reasonable, and are priced according to unique visitor statistics, not click-throughs.

One-at-a-time ads is a boon for advertisers, as well, since they will get the the exclusive focus of visitors to member sites. Cost of ads is variable, depending on a number of factors, including network membership and traffic numbers. Design Ads currently projects a cost of $2,500 per month, which isn’t that much if the network becomes your primary advertising outlet, as it is designed to be.

Design Ads is just getting started, and whether you’re looking to advertise, or you have a design site and want to generate some extra revenue, it might be a good time to get on board.

Full disclosure: Design Ads is operated by David Appleyard, who is a freelance contractor for TheAppleBlog, part of the GigaOmnimedia network.

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The study went on to say that someone using a larger monitor could save in upwards of 2.5 hours a day.  However, it should be pointed out that the sponsor of the study was NEC, a computer monitor company.

(photo credit: flickr user Abron)

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