c/toronto-freelancers

Coworking space on Queen West kicked me out for taking too many calls

I was at the Workhaus on Spadina last Thursday, on a 20 minute zoom with a client about a $200 revision, and the manager came over and told me to 'take it outside' because my voice was disturbing people. Fine, I get the rule, but now I just book meeting rooms at the library for $0 instead of paying $300 a month for a hot desk. Anyone else ran into this nickel-and-dime attitude from coworking spots downtown?

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emma_lee22•11d ago

TIL comparing my rates to other freelancers on Reddit was a bad idea

I saw someone post their $150/hr rate for graphic design and started feeling bad about my $60/hr charge. Turns out, I was comparing apples to oranges since they do animation and I do social media posts. Has anyone else found a better way to price check without wrecking your own confidence?

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ivan462•11d ago

Had a lightbulb moment about proposal pricing this week

So I've been freelancing as a graphic designer in Toronto for about 2 years now, mostly doing branding stuff for small businesses. Last Tuesday I was at the Snakes & Lattes on Bloor working on a proposal for a local bakery, and I realized I was writing this huge paragraph explaining my hourly rate and why it was worth it. I stopped and looked back at my last 6 proposals and noticed a pattern - every time I wrote a long explanation about pricing, the client either ghosted or tried to negotiate me down. But the 2 times I just said 'here's the flat fee, here's exactly what you get for it, no hourly breakdown' those people signed immediately. I think when you explain too much, it makes you sound unsure. Has anyone else noticed that being too transparent about your math actually hurts your chances?

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oliviabutler•13d ago

That free Notion template I downloaded for invoices actually caught a $300 error

I used a free invoice tracker from a Toronto freelancer's blog and it flagged a payment that was $300 short from a client I'd already marked as paid. Has anyone else found a free tool that saved you from losing money?

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faith27•14d ago

Got a $700 rush job on a Friday and somehow wrapped it by Sunday night

Client emailed at 4pm Friday needing a whole website mockup done by Monday and they actually paid half upfront before I even started, has anyone else had a last-minute gig turn out better than the ones you plan for weeks?

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kai839•15d ago

Last Tuesday was the worst day I've had freelancing in 2 years

Client called at 8am saying they needed a full rewrite on a project I'd already finished. Then my laptop died mid-save and I lost 4 hours of edits. Had to borrow a friend's old Chromebook just to get the file sent by 5pm. Anyone else have a day where everything just breaks at once?

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the_sage•16d ago

Found a co-working hack that cut my cafe spending by 60%

I started booking library meeting rooms through Toronto's free reservation system instead of buying coffee at Starbucks for 5 hours of work. My monthly cafe tab dropped from $200 to about $80 in the first month alone. Anyone else use public spaces to dodge the coffee shop markup?

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sagejackson•16d ago

I changed my mind about coworking spaces after overhearing something at the library last week

I always thought coworking memberships were a waste of money for freelancers, especially when the library is free. But last Thursday I was working at the Toronto Reference Library and overheard two freelance graphic designers talking. One said she paid $200 a month for a basic desk at a place on Queen West and it paid for itself in the first week just from client referrals she got hanging out there. She mentioned she landed three projects from people who just happened to be working at the same table. That got me thinking about all the networking I miss by hiding in quiet corners with my headphones on. I checked out a few coworking spots near me and found one with a trial day pass for $25. I'm going to try it next Tuesday. Has anyone else found that coworking spaces actually lead to more work, or is it mostly hype?

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patricia_hill60•17d ago

My backup drive died mid-project and I lost two days of edits

Was working on a freelance copywriting gig for a local bakery near Queen and Spadina, and my external hard drive just gave out with a click sound yesterday. Lost all my revisions from Monday and Tuesday, had to redo them from memory while the client kept asking for updates. I emailed the drive manufacturer but I'm not hopeful, anyone had luck recovering data from a Seagate that just stopped spinning?

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emma_lee22•18d ago

Was dead wrong about using Fiverr for local work until a failed delivery saved me

I was at a coffee shop on Queen West last Tuesday when a client called furious about a rushed Fiverr guy who missed all their brand guidelines. That moment convinced me to stick with Toronto freelancers I can meet in person, even if they charge more. Has anyone else had a bad experience outsourcing to random online gig workers?

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kim_davis•24d ago

Hit $5k in a single month for the first time and it messed with my head

I've been freelancing for about 18 months now doing graphic design work out of my apartment in Scarborough. Last month I hit $5,100 in billings which was way more than my previous best of $3,200. The weird part is I didn't even feel like I worked that much harder. I had three bigger projects come in back to back from repeat clients and one new referral who needed a rush job. It made me realize I've been undervaluing my time because I was scared to ask for more. Now I'm wondering if I should raise my rates across the board or if that was just a lucky month. Has anyone else had a big month and then struggled to figure out if it was sustainable?

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emma_lee22•25d ago

Just saw the math on charging per hour vs per project and I totally switched sides

For like 2 years I was all about hourly billing. Felt safe, you know? Then I did a branding project for a bakery in Hamilton and tracked my hours. Came out to $38 an hour after all the back and forth. Next week the same kind of project I quoted flat at $800 and finished in 11 hours. That's almost $73 an hour. The numbers just hit different when you see them side by side. Has anyone else found a specific threshold where one makes way more sense?

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river_thompson•1mo ago

Need window tinting recommendations for home office (Toronto)

Hey everyone, I recently moved my home office setup into the south-facing sunroom of my place here in Toronto. The natural light is amazing, but the glare on my monitors is driving me absolutely crazy, and it gets insanely hot by 2 PM. Has anyone hired a good window tinting company locally? I want to get a decent UV/heat blocking film installed but I'm not sure who to call. Most places I found seem to mostly do cars and just offer flat glass as a side gig.

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