Many people go into it thinking that they get to spend all of their time creating projects that they love, only to quickly realize that this is not the case. Not only do you have to be responsible for the quality of work that you produce, but you also have to now handle all of the not-so-fun nuances that keep a business running, such as accounting, sales, business development etc.
I still am learning a lot every day and still have a lot to learn. While freelancing for these past 6 months, I wanted to share some insight on 9 lessons that every freelancer should know—in no particular order.
Lesson 1: Be Yourself
One of the most important lessons is to be confident in who you are as a freelancer. Start developing a personal approach to your creative work, but make sure you stay clear of making the work be about you when you are hired. You should always add your personal touch to your work, and over time, when your work gets more notice, this will be the main reason clients want to hire you.
When it comes to your personal work, you have to be open to telling your story because you are the only one who is able to do that. For example, I am a freelance web developer and digital marketer, but I was born with one hand and coined my nickname The One Hand Wonder Man. I tell my story in my blog posts which help me relate and connect with potential clients on a deeper level.
Don’t be afraid to tell your story.
Lesson 2: Learn to Say No
Before I dive into this lesson, just know that it is a lot easier said than done. Especially when bills need to get paid and your workload is looking extra light, it is very tempting to say yes to any project that comes your way—but don’t. Look out for the warning signs when speaking to a potential client. Are they punctual? Do they respect your time and not argue about your rates? Do they have a vision of what type of work that they want to be done, or are they all over the place?
Keeping these questions in mind will help you determine if this potential client is a good fit. Remember, when you accept a project you are potentially turning down a bigger one down the line, so you have to make sure that each project you take on is worth your time.
Lesson 3: Define Your Key Audience
Being able to target your audience is going to be really effective when pitching to get new work. If you are a designer who has a portfolio with a lot of work done around software companies, then it doesn’t make sense to spend your time pitching restaurants and coffee shops. Once you have a clear audience in mind, you’ll be able to more effectively lock down clients in your niche. I’m not saying you have to stay in this area forever, but you’ll notice more times than not when pitching potential clients, they want to see the work that you have done that can be beneficial for them and the experience that you have in their field.
Lesson 4: Content is Always King & Queen
I cannot stress this enough. Especially being a web designer, you can create a beautiful website with nice elements and colors, but if there is no content or the content is lacking, then it defeats the purpose. Most of the time as a freelancer you have no control over the content that your client has, but this is where sometimes turning down work because you don’t want it to reflect poorly on your style comes in handy (see lesson 2).
When creating content for your own brand, of course, you should put emphasis on how it is presented to entice the reader, but the message of the piece is what is going to keep them hooked.