The Top Biggest Mistakes in Freelancing

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It is common that we learn from our mistakes more than from the successes that we’ve been through. And at times, it is nice to learn from others who have made the mistakes instead of your own faults. Each freelancer has their own stories to tell like me. Let us just hope you find my stories useful enough and maybe you like to share your own stories as well.

Underpricing. Let me admit it; money is a difficult topic for many people. It is really an uncomfortable topic even if I am now talking about money than before. Aside from not being easy to talk about it, it is really just as critical. You have the right to earn with the right price for your good work especially if you are really good with your job and have such an excellent experience. The concern is how you will know if you are underpriced.

Just be careful if you have a task and you are charging by the hour even if you do not need to. If you charge by the hour you are really forcing yourself to go faster with your work. Aside from this, other tasks do require vast experience and it would require a skill in your part to do things in a shorter period of time.

Overcommitting. No one has the right to monopolize your time even if such persons think they are paying much more compared to others. Whenever a client takes much of your time, it goes to show that he is your boss and you have a regular job. The real freelance situation is defeated, that is to have a freelance relationship. Always bear in mind that you need to market yourself and grow within a network so as to get more work in the future. If you allow one client to dominate your time, that will be the most terrible error that you will ever make. Ideally you want to have four or five contracts that are overlapping with different clients in addition to the needed breathing room so that the loss of one client will not have much impact on you.

Selling Flaws. The possible next not so good part for most freelancers is the thought of selling yourself and your services. There are plenty of times when the client wants your services but they do not really know what they want exactly from you. The important thing here is to offer your services that they will take action as well-maybe it is their needs and what they will get out of it.

Replying with Yes always. There are various requests to a freelancer to work for free. Learn how to say no; you have to bear in mind that a bad client will really hurt you more than work loss. Always be prepared to disagree at times to some instances that come your way. You can be friendly and pleasant even if you do not agree always.

Not following up. You may easily get more work from happy clients that you have worked with in the past, by referrals and repeat business. Always remember to have a testimonial from them to say how happy they are or they may even recommend you. It is not bad to ask. It is also nice if you can send greeting cards on special occasions. It sure is nice if somebody remembers you.

Almost all of us have such fun in being a freelancer while at the same time learning about the freelancing tasks. It is best to share whatever lessons you have learned in freelancing to others.