A freelancer: Avoid these mistakes if you want to get paid
Starting new as a freelancer; that feeling of you wanting to do everything to always be on the positive side of your potential client is always something of concern to you.
In as much as this is quite good, many jumps into the fray without getting a hold of the business side of freelancing at first.
At a point, you might have found it quite difficult to get yourself a good reputation with your clients, so, as to gain their trust and appear reliable.
At this very moment of truth, you might begin to question why you are involved with freelancing, as it appears that your expectations are not coming through.
If you have the passion, but you are not getting the desired results, why not soft pedal and look back, to see, if you had not committed yourself into making some common, overlooked mistakes.
Common mistakes, they are because, you might not have considered freelancing, as a serious form of business that can make you a fortune.
Here are some few tips that prevent you, as a freelancer from getting paid:
Working with any client
As a newbie in the system, the urge not to turn down any work that comes your way appears high, but the reality is that not all clients are worth your time.
It might look difficult at the beginning, but as a freelancer, you do not have to accept all offers rolling through your pathway. When you notice a potential red flag, simply refuse the offer, politely.
If you deliver your jobs at the specified time with a negligible fault, then, your clients should reciprocate the same, when it comes to payment.
Working without a contract
As with other forms of regular business, so, should it be for your freelancing. Terms of the agreement should get set before starting off your project with your client.
As a newbie in freelancing, you might not go through the route of a legal-looking contract, but a clearly written agreement presented in your proposal work is the first point of call for the client to agree to your terms of service.
Taking on too much work
An average freelancer would like to have on his desk, a flow of constant work, which also means more money on the table, but do not forget that, at a point you, could get overwhelmed, hence, the quality of your work becomes affected.
You are actually passing a message to your client that, you are not fit to handle, or, multi-task and this damages your work reputation.
As a freelancer, do not jeopardize your quality service for quantity. Rather than take numerous projects, you simply give the best to your client.
This will, in turn, send more clients to you, through recommendations and reviews, then, you are at liberty to choose which to work with.
Missing deadlines
As a freelancer, you ought to be an expert in meeting deadlines. Though the management of time and getting a task done is tough, nevertheless, you need to step it up, if you want to last in the freelancing business.
Since you are most probably not involved in any other business, taking deadlines for your freelancing jobs should be taken with all manner of seriousness. Clients are professional so they expect the same from you.
Undervaluing your worth
Sometimes the freelancing work can appear as work with no classification value (a means to just survive) such that even you can undervalue your worth by charging too little.
But with a higher price, you are indicating that clients should be highly expectant.
You should show sufficient confidence in your work so as to not sell yourself short. You charge them what you feel is a fair bargain to you both.
Lastly, don’t forget, you need to include a portfolio and produce proposals that give you a marketable value and can explain your work process to your clients for a clear comprehension of your work.
Your work must be able to deliver a great client experience. Doing all these will make you stand out as in the world of freelancing.
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