Freelance Mentor & Marketing Consultant
A lot of freelancers get to the interview stage but fail to secure a contract because they do rookie mistakes. Most often, they don’t know better yet due to lack of experience. They may not even realize when their behavior is unprofessional or unethical.
To help you be a better freelancer and land more projects, I’ll share the top three things I continuously see freelancers do during negotiations with freelance clients, which in most cases cost them the project.
If you want to make any real progress in whatever it is that you do, you already know setting SMART goals is your first step. However, too many people fall short on actually achieving those goals because (they think) they lack time, fail to stay motivated, can’t visualize the benefits they would have once a goal is reached, etc.
So today’s post is aimed at helping you achieve your goals through commitment. Be sure to read until the end to find out a great resource to guide you through the whole committing process to your freelance success.
Learning how to handle rejection is paramount for your freelance success. When you are at the beginning of your freelance career, rejection will often come in the form of declined proposals or lack of response to your cover letters, not getting invited to interviews, and not landing the job after a great interview.
Don’t take it personally. A single YES makes it up for all the NOs along the way. But until you get it, it’s important you don’t give up; that you learn from the rejections and keep on trying.
Don’t you hate it when you see a client review just saying “job well done”; or a freelancer review saying only “good client, recommended”? Such reviews are pretty useless to me – they raise more questions and doubts than bringing me peace of mind that I am making the right choice working with the said client or freelancer.
What was the job that was done so well? What does “well done” mean – without corrections? On time? Ahead of time? Above and beyond expectations? For less money than anticipated? All of the above? Something else?
Why was the client so good to work with – good communication skills? Paying on time? Paying bonuses? Not asking questions? No edit requests? Prompt feedback? All of the above? Something else?
This post is a bit unusual for this blog format but I hope you’ll find it useful nonetheless. It is a result of a reader’s question I received some time ago. It probably is a question many starting freelancers ask, if they are unsure of their qualifications. So I included the question as well as some food for thought on some points in her email. Read on.
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