FEATURED FREELANCER – MIKE DOYLE

We’re so excited to announce our newest Featured Freelancer as well as also one of our most recent Partner- Mike Doyle. Mike is the owner of Drive80 which creates explainer animations videos. Besides that he has a podcast about the late 90s/Early 2000s punk scene called This Was The Scene, and has a webcomic that he’s drawn and posted every single day for over 3.5 years.

What do you do, and how long have you been freelancing?
I’ve solely focused on animating for the past decade and have been freelancing for 16 years. Prior to creating explainer videos I was doing photography, videography, graphic design, print design, flash animations, building websites, etc. I read “Built To Sell” and it changed my whole perspective on how I should treat my freelancing business. I still do a lot of videography and graphic design but that’s just for my personal marketing.

Share what has been great and what has been hard about freelancing and running your own business? 
The greatest thing about freelancing is the freedom. I get to work from wherever I’d like, plan my day however I want, and market myself without anyone telling me how to do it. 

The hardest part is when you don’t have any projects in the pipeline and you start to see your bank account slowly dwindle. My sales coach told me that if you’re currently panicking that means you were slacking 3 months ago. I remind myself of that all the time. 

What do you want people to know about you?
I think that freelancers get a bad wrap because a good amount have screwed it up for the rest of us by being flaky. I am the complete opposite of that. I reply to emails as quickly as possible, let my Clients know where I’m at with all projects, and try to add as much humor and fun to every project I’m a part of. 

What advice do you have for soon-to-be or wish-to-be freelancers?
Invest in sales training and be very aggressive with your marketing. Also, just use your own voice to market yourself. People can sense bullshit form a mile away.

Also, relax with all of the posts about #hustling. Show results with your work and not your giant posts about inspiration.

Who inspires you and why? 
Anyone who works for themselves and has figured out a way to productise what they do. 

Lastly, we love to celebrate freelancers “wins” Share with us a “win” or something that you are most proud of.
Passing 10 years with my LLC. It came out of nowhere and I’m pretty proud of myself for sticking with it for so long.

Anything else you’d like to share?
This is the explainer animation for my company. I dare you to get the song out of your head. Click here

Find him on social media and his website here.

Here are two videos that Mike recently created for Uncompany!
What is Uncompany for Freelancers?
What is Uncompany for Clients?