With so many illustrator styles out there, it can be difficult to carve your own niche to stand out in the competitive illustration market.

A shocking 80% of freelancers fail in the first 18 months of business because of a lack of business know-how, research reveals. It’s a tough statistic to swallow, but don’t let it put you off. Here are five freelance success tips to bring out the entrepreneur in you. 

Over the course of a year, the Freelancer Club will appear in print, exhibitions, industry talks, panels, radio interviews, university lectures and everything else in between. The topics range from The Truth Behind Freelancing to Making Money with Twitter. Time and time again, the number one question we're asked across the board is:

Work from home jobs in the UK are becoming a genuine option for new mums looking to get back to work. New mums tend to have new goals and new priorities once the baby arrives which make the next career step a very important one. Genuine work from home jobs mean flexibility which, as all mums will attest to, is vital with little ones running amuck.

Freelancing is often seen as a male dominated pursuit. This is particularly evident in the IT and trade sectors (plumbing, carpenters etc...). However, the creative sector bucks the trend, in fact, it would seem the women are taking over across the board. 

Most people associate learning with textbooks and gaining knowledge. However there are a lot of lessons that you can take from a training course to the world of freelancing. Being your own boss sounds like the ultimate dream for some people but the truth is, you will need to apply a wealth of other practices and mindsets in order to really thrive within the freelance world.

Do you have a skill that you'd like to share with the world and make money doing it? Great. Freelancing could be tailor made for you. How to become a freelancer is the next question so let's jump straight in.

New freelancers generally have one core focus - survival. Staying in the game long enough to figure out how it all works until you can grow your business is a common journey for many newbies. Over the years, we've helped enough freelancers to know there are a few key approaches, techniques and traits to success. Check out our top 5 ways to freelance like a pro for the inside scoop.