Freelancer, contractor or project worker. Whetever you like to call it, we are living in the age of the entrepreneur for hire. With the web connecting potential contractors to employers across the globe, anyone and everyone has the ability to sell their services to the highest bidder. Putting your talents up for sale however, does come with a few critical dilemmas.

Jack of all trades, but master of none? We’ve heard that many times before. In the digital arts field however, it can often be a case of requiring a broad set of skills in order to get clients and survive. Yes the specialist might get paid more, but without a team to complete a project, the work is fewer and the risk higher.

What about the concept of selling your talents to others in the first place? Do you suffer through potentially soul-sucking projects, building what others want? Or do you put your skills to work for yourself and build a business of your own?

Zeb Hansell, of Rossland BC is both an artist in general, as well as having a deep quiver of highly specialized skills. His company Zebontheweb has been doing video, audio and graphic production as well as animation for more than half a decade. Putting them all together while building a community of contacts and talent around himself has led him on a successful path as a digital arts freelancer. Just the same, the desire to do his own thing never lies too far below the surface.

I caught up with Zeb in Rossland to learn how he’s navigated his way through the wilds of digital media contracting.