Laiba Shahzad
There is nothing wrong with starting with outsourcing sites such as Upwork, Freelancer, etc. This is basically how many of us got started and got accustomed to the layout of the freelancing land. The issue arises when you as a freelancer start to work and made mistakes that make you cringe in the future. Your first few forays into the world of freelancing do not make you realize that some of your actions can get your work and time wasted by some of the devious clients.
It is easy for you to lose time and money if you are not prepared for working in this field. Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process and as long as you learn from your mistakes, you don’t feel bad about them in your life.
To help you start out, there are five mistakes that you can make while starting as a freelancer and how you can avoid having a super successful career.
- Be Flexible, but not too flexible:
Freelancing trends are helping independent workers to do more work and tackle it more flexibly than ever before. Being a freelancer lowers the barriers to working and increases the levels of income in a much better way. The most obvious thing that attracts more and more people to this field is “flexibility”. But the problem with being flexible means that the clients know and they can test you by giving you more work with tight deadlines. Flexible working tends to appeal to clients as they can simply take advantage by asking you to set a precedent that you might not be comfortable with in the long run. So it is better to avoid taking such decisions.
- Setting and Negotiating Rates:
Setting and negotiating rates seem one of the most intimidating parts of freelancing therefore the first thing you must do is ascertain the hourly rate you are willing to work. If you are a full-time freelancer, then always keep in mind your personal overheads which are the cost of keeping a roof over your head, food on your plate, and so on.
As a freelancer it depends on how highly you value your own work and time, do not limit your earning potential by charging low for your services. View your work from a client’s eye and a commercial perspective and price accordingly.
- Speak up when something is wrong:
The relationship with the client is tricky to deal with especially when you are working as a freelancer. There are many types of clients that may curse your creativity, so when you find fault with such clients you need to interact effectively with them. When something does not seem fit, always ask for clarification. Being professional requires you to clear all the project deadlines and fee matters before starting with a client.
- Recurring Jobs:
As a newbie freelancer, you probably send dozens of query letters, each written in a unique way to attract more clients. But if you get repeat work from the same client, then it can be a good dose for you. Getting repeated work from a previous client means a long-term relationship because you are familiar with that work and know how to deal with it. And also this will not shift your focus on the new projects and you can work freely with possible long-term clients.
- Clients that are difficult to deal with:
There are a lot of clients that do not appreciate anything from freelancers and do not give them the respect due to rational hatred. You need to keep warning signs that arouse during the initial consultation and keep good manners for the sake of professionalism in the future.
