I was just thinking the other day how lonely life as a freelancer can be - one of the major drawbacks in my opinion is that I haven't got other creative professionals to bounce ideas off, brainstorm and even just give me a good kick up the behind if I am lacking in motivation.

Online networking and communities are all well and good, but I was just wondering if there are any other freelancers in or around Leicester who would be interested in forming a small Freelance network? It would be a great opportunity to have real-life interaction with other creatives - getting together to give each other feedback etc on work, have brainstorming sessions and bounce ideas off each other - maybe even passing excess work on to each other etc.

Of course we would all still keep our individual brands, just being of mutual benefit to each other - if that makes sense??

If it's a new client I tend to ask for a % of the fee upfront as a deposit no matter where they are based in the world :happy the % depends on several factors - like the overall value of the project, location etc, but I usually ask for a minimum of 25%.

If it's a client I have worked with before and I know I can trust then I am not too bothered about a deposit if that makes sense?