Working as a freelancer is a great alternative to starting your own business.  Our next guest shares his experiences servicing clients as a freelance Web Developer.  

Please introduce yourself to our readers

I’m Marc Isaacson. I’m a freelance web developer and I specialize in using Drupal as a framework to build custom web applications for clients.

Can you tell us what company you work for?

I am self-employed at my company: Isaacson Web Development, LCC. Please excuse my totally out-of-date website. The cobbler’s children have no shoes. I’ve been to busy working on client sites to spend time on my own!

What is your title there?

You can call me Drupal Application Architect. You can call me chief bottle washer. Just don’t call me late for dinner!

What are the exact responsibilities of your job?

I work with my clients to define the requirements for their website project and to either implement those requirements myself or oversee others who will complete the implementation.

What is it about your job that makes you love it?

I love being self-employed. I love programming. And I love working with Drupal. Finally, I really love the flexibility and control I have over my schedule as well as the ability to pursue interests of my own. For instance, I’m working on creating a Drupal training curriculum on Udemy.

What particular skills or talents are most essential to completing your tasks?

In addition to acquiring the technical skills to properly use the Drupal content management framework, it’s extremely important to be able to listen to my clients’ needs and translate those needs into specific functionality and its corresponding implementation on their website.  I have to enable clients to feel comfortable that I am both knowledgeable and personable.

What level of education would you say is required to perform your role?

While I do have a Bachelor’s in computer science, what’s more important to my clients than what degree I have or what school I attended is that I can prove that I have the skills to help them with their needs.

Do you find that you bring your work home with you? (And is that a good or bad thing?)

I work at home so my work is always with me. It is a big struggle to keep up a healthy work / life balance since it’s possible for me to work around the clock, seven days a week if I’m not careful.

How does this job compare to other jobs you’ve held in the past?

It’s almost impossible to compare being self-employed with working for a company. But, there are still similar requirements such as meeting my customers’ expectations and delivering quality work on time and within budget.

What is your favorite food?

I love carbohydrates!

Thanks for sharing Marc! You can connect with Marc on his Facebook and Twitter.