8 freelance advice I wish I had known starting out
1) Always take at least 50% upfront payment from the client! I've almost lost around $5K in 2017 because I didn't charge upfront. I learned my lesson the hard way.
2) Say No. This can be draining, but it's essential. Sometimes we say yes to things that aren’t right for because we need to pay bills. Then, later down the line, when the thing we said yes to is eating up our time and energy, stress levels rise and we become overwhelmed. Charge what you're worth, not what you need to pay a bill. Don't take a job out of desperation. You'll cry.
3) You can't build a profitable freelance business by running on vibes. You've to treat it like the business to be profitable. If you don't, you'd always worry about your next meal & won't have anything to show for your freelance life.
4) Stop trying to do everything yourself. There's this common belief that we have to wear many hats as freelancers. Why? Play to your strengths and outsource the rest! You'd be surprised at the affordability.
5) Don't rely on freelancing platforms like Upwork alone to get jobs. They're good to get started, but you're much better off working directly with individual clients and/or companies versus going through a job platform.
6) Always use contracts. Aside from the apparent advantages of using a contract, another benefit is that it provides clarity for your client on all sorts of potential pain points. Apart from payment terms and late fees, it can also cover a bit about your work process, meaning your client will know what to expect.
Your contract also provides the perfect opportunity to set client expectations. It can be awkward to reset expectations mid-project if they haven’t been explicitly stated upfront, so use your contract to reduce the number of difficult conversations you need to have. Contracts are also useful for weeding out people with shady intentions
7) Effective networking and paying for things/tools/resources will always make things easy for you.
8) The four Fs of freelancing are feast, famine, fear & fvckk what have I done to myself. And you'd most likely pass through each of this F-phase. But Mafo. While trying to take on projects, and pitch for potential next clients, never let your pipeline dry up because when you're thirsty, it is hard to get that pipeline flowing again.
You've to get incredibly mentally tough and stoic. Embrace the suck, grind through. It won't get easier, you'll just get tougher.
I hope someone out there finds this helpful.
Next week, I'm going to start working with aspiring, newly minted and expiring freelancers who want to become profitable in their field and have total control over their life, routine, rates, clients, the work they do and their freelance business. differently.
So, If you want to shake the dust from your shoulders, feel free to join the telegram group for more update.
Bi-eee