Things to avoid as a freelancer
As a freelancer, no matter how experienced you are, there will be times when you will have to deal with some sorts of difficulties. In other jobs, when you are hired, you know that you will be getting a fixed amount of salary every month but in a freelancing career, it is different.
You will have to take regular projects and maintain a balance in order to keep earning well every month. You will have to be extra careful about which projects to choose and which ones to say no to. Due to the need of maintaining a constant balance, there are a lot of traps a freelancer can easily fall to. In order to make you extra careful, I have mentioned them below so that you know what to avoid and how to keep your freelancing career going without any problem.
Saying Yes to every project:
As mentioned above, freelancers need to maintain a balance among all the projects they do. They are their own boss which means they can take as many projects as they want. A person who is new in this field tries to get every assignment that comes in his way. This approach is very wrong because doing a lot of projects simultaneously is a very hard thing to do.
You might take all of the work to earn more money but most of the time that is not the case. When you start taking more than what you can manage, you start stressing and you try to finish your work without paying much attention to the details. Once you submit a task that you have done half-heartedly, your client wouldn’t be happy with you and will not hire you for any further projects. Now look at it, instead of gaining more money this way, you are losing your potential future clients.
This is why it is always advisable that you take only a limited amount of work per month. Even if you think you can do more, don’t go for it. Make sure that you have time for yourself and have an active social life as well. Just because you can do everything doesn’t mean you have to. As a freelancer, you should have a very healthy relationship with your work and that can only happen when you know how to say no to the projects that you are not very eager to do.
Taking very few projects:
This one is the opposite of the above-mentioned trap. Like taking too much work is bad, taking too little is not good either. A freelancer main task is not only to just write or do all the stuff that he is hired to do, but he also should learn how to ma’am age all of it. Since a freelancer worker doesn’t have any fix hours so it is up to him to choose some time of the day as his work hours. This will give him an idea about how much time per day he should be spending doing his work and it will be easier for him to manage. For example, if you decide to work from 10 am to 3 pm every day, then you should take only those projects that you can manage during this time neither any more nor any less.
This time management will help you maintain a balance in the amount of work you take. Only say no to an offer when you are sure that you already have enough work. Otherwise rejecting a task is not a good idea. It forms a negative image on your client’s mind and he will not be giving you any further projects in the future.
Another thing that you can do instead of saying no is that when someone offers you a task that you think you can do but you already have a lot of projects pending, let him know that you are busy at the moment. This will give him the idea that people love your work and that is why they hire you and you are loaded with projects to finish. They might also push their deadline forward and ask you to do it whenever you have enough time.
Working on lower rates:
Since freelancing is not a usual job where you get a fixed salary, you have to decide your worth yourself. Always remember to get paid for any hard work that you are doing. Keep your rates high because otherwise, you won’t be able to progress in this field. There are a lot of freelancers, especially the ones who are new in this field, they are always hesitant about charging more rates. They feel as if in order to get more orders, they need to keep their rates less, which is such a wrong concept.
Just find out what the normal rates in your area are or who many other people are charging for the same project and quite that rate to your clients too. Never compromise on your hard work and work for lower rates. A good rate means you will be happier to work for that client since you would know that he pays you well. You will write quality content for them and you won’t hesitate to spend your time writing an excellent piece of work.
However, if you accept a low paid offer, you won’t be able to enjoy your work for them. You will have the thought that your client is not paying you well and this will refrain you from doing any sort of hard work. This whole process is very stressful so it is best that you decide your rates beforehand and don’t take any projects which pay you less than this. Charging good rates will build your reputation in the market and everyone will know that you neither compromise on your rates nor your work. So that your clients know that the money they are paying, no matter how hard it is, will always be worth it since you will end up delivering them the best quality work.
