I say this as someone who was a contract developer from 2008-2011 and survived solely on that income from 2009-2011.
Don't ever use the word freelance. It implies that it's not your focus; whether that's because you have other things you really enjoy (product work?) or that you have a full-time job, there's nothing you get from using that word that you don't from "contract designer" or something similar. Better yet, spend a few hundred dollars on an LLC and operate as a business and not a sole proprietorship/individual.
Right or wrong, "freelance" implies to clients that you can be paid less for the same work, or not paid at all.
Don't ever use the word freelance. It implies that it's not your focus; whether that's because you have other things you really enjoy (product work?) or that you have a full-time job, there's nothing you get from using that word that you don't from "contract designer" or something similar. Better yet, spend a few hundred dollars on an LLC and operate as a business and not a sole proprietorship/individual.
Right or wrong, "freelance" implies to clients that you can be paid less for the same work, or not paid at all.