As a freelancer, you will make lots of mistakes. But, the good thing is you can fix lot of mistakes you make each day. Making mistakes is a good thing given you can learn from them. The more mistakes you make, the more you will learn. Infact, it’s a good sign. But sometimes, you may not even know you are making a mistake, this can hurt your freelance business.
You are Charging Low
Freelance rates are subjective. Your rate may be low or high for others. If you are not attracting the types of clients you wish to work with, you are not charging the right amount. You have to check whether you are giving a room to new clients, personal life and you meet all deadlines comfortably. If the answer to these questions is no, then it’s a sign that you are not charging enough.
Letting Clients Set your Rates
What’s worse than allowing clients to set your rates. Figure out your lowest acceptable rate, which is the minimum amount set for clients. Figuring out the lowest rate will help you make the right decisions.
Clients
Taking the Work of all Clients
Most freelancers struggle to say no to the clients. Our inability to say no results in accepting every client. Instead of saying yes to every client, it is better to spend your time finding interesting work that pays better.
Not Knowing How to Handle Unhappy Clients
When I say unhappy, it mean that your work is not meeting client’s expectations. You need to deal with unrealistic clients too because they will help you learn a lot and hone your skills. You must also learn to how to handle criticism. Do everything you can to satisfy the unhappy client. It might be a pay check or working extra hours, you should do everything possible from your end to turn unhappy client into happy client.
You are not in Touch with Former Clients
Although you are not working for your past clients, greeting or sending a simple catch up mail will help you build strong relationships with the client.
You are not Available for Clients
This is the most common mistake most of us does but won’t realize. Make yourself available to clients not on emergencies but as on when required.
Deadlines
You are not Specific about the Deadlines
A deadline is not a tentative date. When you commit, you should deliver on time. Leave room for your personal life while setting a deadline. You’ll never know when things go wrong. Hence, set a deadline that you will be capable of meeting or let your client know about the delay.
If you are committing to a deadline, stick to it no matter what it is. Your clients will stick to you in return.
Business
Not Maintaining Working Terms and Conditions
Like clients having terms and conditions, freelancers should also have working terms and conditions. It may be you accept payment only through bank transfers or don’t accept rush work. Whatever conditions you have, write it so that your client will know what to expect from you while hiring. If you don’t set your own rules, you will run into problems with your client. Research about freelance contract clauses and you’ll find some similar clauses matching your requirement.
Not Learning from your Mistakes
Doing mistakes is common for all of us, but what actually would benefit is whether we are learning from our mistakes. Do everything that is possible to fix and figure out the issues. Find ways to make it work from next time. This is the best practice every freelancer should adopt to grow in their career.
