I have been a freelancer ever since I thrust a hastily scribbled invoice into the hand of my neighbor for cutting and trimming her lawn at the tender age of 13. Over the intervening decades, I have learned a thing or two about what it takes to be successful at freelancing, culminating in this simple guide:
Know Yourself And Your Capabilities
Understand your time and financial commitments. If you cannot handle the uncertainty of irregular pay—know it. It is difficult for individuals to separate their personal life from their work life, even more so when working from home. It is a rare person who can do two full-time jobs well. Try as you may, you cannot be both a full-time caregiver and a full-time freelancer. It is guaranteed that something will suffer, most likely you.
You are your own boss. Therefore, know how and where you like to work. Some people thrive surrounded by others. For example, I work best in the isolation of my home office. Learn when you are at your most productive and take advantage of that knowledge.
Keep focused on what you are good at. Projects which were clearly not suited to me—but that I accepted anyway out of freelancer fear (the fear of never working ever again)—have been some of my greatest failures. Concentrating on your innate talents instead of technical skills will position you to be open to opportunities and ready to adapt to changes within your industry. For example, I began my career blowing paint as an airbrush illustrator; even though I have not touched a Paasche brush in years, I continue to give visual shape to content.
Run A Business
Accept that you are running a business; otherwise, become an employee. Being a freelancer is not for everyone. I have known people far more talented than I am fail miserably because of lack of basic business skills. For example, I spend an average of 20 hours a week on non-billable time running my business.
This is especially true when it comes to money. At one point or other you will have to ask for and collect money for your services. Deciding your rate is not a guessing game. It is based on cost of doing business and the value of your services in the market place. Trust me, there will always be someone cheaper and also more expensive. I struggle over every aspect of each new contract for it is the glue that binds me to the client.
Keep Your Word
If you said you were going to do something, then do it. Always under promise and over deliver— it is better for you to scale back clients’ expectations before starting than it is to fail to meet them. No one remembers the insanity of the request; they only remember that you did not fulfill it.
Obviously, being on time, staying on budget and within the scope of the project are all equally essential. When things happen, be upfront with people. Even though I have not always been successful I have more often than not kept my promises.
Take Responsibility And Don’t Lie
We all know how easy it is to side step that you made a mistake, that you forgot something important, that you did not do as promised, or you take credit for that which is not yours. Please, don’t lie and make excuses. For example, having too much on your plate is your fault—fix it. No client ever wants to hear you are busy with something other than his or her project. Still, it is better to keep the client informed of what is going on. State the truth, that you overextended yourself or whatever the situation is. If you were the team leader of a project, then take full responsibility for everyone below you. After all, you know you would take the credit, so take the blame too.
You can lose many things in business but your integrity is impossible to regain once lost. Business is based on trust. Trust goes both ways. When a client knows you will tell the truth no matter the consequences they will trust and respect you and your opinion.
On the other hand, when a client does not appreciate your honesty or is in turn deceitful, he or she is not a client you can trust. This is an indicator to reexamine your relationship. This could be a warning they may not pay you in the end or possibly blame you for their shortcomings.
Listen To What Your Clients Are Really Saying
I sometimes wonder if some clients’ instructions are tests. Countless times I have been told, “You were the only one who followed our instructions on how to submit a proposal.” Well, guess who got the work—me.
Really listening to what people say always leads to helping them solve the issue or problems they are struggling with. Sometimes that is hearing what they are NOT saying too.
This also requires checking your ego at the door. How can you hear what your client is saying if your own voice is drowning out the conversation with a bullhorn of intractability?
And listen to hear if the client appreciates you. It is healthier to fire a client who constantly asks for favors and special treatment than it is to continue to devalue yourself and your work. We have all heard this notorious beginning to a freebie request, “It will just take you five minutes.”
Constantly Push Yourself
Learn new things. Try new things. You are the only one providing yourself with training and career guidance. Freelancers never get an evaluation or progress report. When all goes well our invoice is paid, maybe we get a few samples, and the true gauge that we have done a good job is that we are given more work.
Create your own corporate advisory board. Find and cultivate people you trust and believe in to give you both personal and business advice. Not necessarily a cheerleader squad unless that is what you need, but more for guidance. Importantly, know when to take the advice even if it means doing something that is really hard. No one has all of the answers and life is not static. Be prepared for changes to your situation; they can come in any form from technological innovations to a family or personal crisis.
Good Luck
I started by saying this was simple. I never said easy. At some point or other I have failed at each of these. This guide is not a list to choose from or accomplishments to tick off. Instead, I find that success as a freelancer has come from my daily striving and is demonstrated in the respect and loyalty I have earned from my clients, co-workers, vendors, friends and family. I appreciate the richly rewarding work/life balance that being a freelancer gives to me, but that is another article.
I hope you find some value in this guide.
by reader
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bcotier
Wow Bonnie, everything you say is oh so true. All points you’ve raised need to be considered, adhered to and actioned. As we become entangled in our busy work/home lives all of these issues are as important as the next and must be considered to enable us to offer the valuable, reliable and truthful service we strive to offer being freelance!
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HI Bonnie! Hope you are well. This is both a great primer and a great review of those of us who are experienced. Even though I am in my 30th year of business, your points are reminders of how the game is played and how one can continually excel at the game.
I’d like to add one piece of advice, and that is to also choose a mentor that is younger than you. We all strive to find more experienced, more knowledgeable individuals in whom we can confide. And most of the time this conjures up a person older than one’s self. But I have found that an additional, important source of information can come from a younger person who may in fact, have their finger more on the pulse of the place you want to be. As you get older (and better, of course) those who will advocate on your behalf tend to be those who are younger and look up to you. So the idea of networking both up and down is very important to success.
Unfortunately, women do this less often and less naturally than men. If you look at corporate culture, you will see that male executives naturally do this when they hand pick a young man and help nurture the young man’s career. There are lots of things that could be criticized about the good-old-boy network, but connecting with young, bright, leaders of tomorrow is a practice from which we can all learn. -Beth
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Excellent advice. Thank you for sharing this.
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This is EXCELLENT. The rules are so simple, aren’t they. It astonishes me that “Keep Your Word (aka, meet deadlines)”, and “Listen To What Your Clients Are Really Saying” are beyond the grasp of most freelancers….particularly the younger ones. In my opinion, that’s why we have had continued success.
Also, the part about not lying is really important…and I learned a valuable lesson many years ago. I was hired to do simple line drawings of kids playing certain sports. I was lucky enough to find one of those clip art books that had exactly what the client needed. I scanned ‘em, included them in the layout and presented it to the client. I have to be honest…I thought about the opportunity of charging her the agreed upon rate per illustration but just couldn’t go down that road. Good thing! bI told the client about finding the clip art, making stats, and saving her money, and then showed her the artwork. She smiled and said she recognized them but had forgotten about them. She also told me she admired my HONESTY because another artist tried to pull a fast one and lie about slipping in clip art…she caught him in the lie.
That one incident taught me to always be honest, even when I have the devil on one shoulder whispering in my ear. Fortunately, my angel on the other shoulder reminds me of my integrity, pride and “what goes around comes around”.
I really enjoyed this post!
Pam
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Thanks for adding your experience here.
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