Freelancefolder

The Four-Letter Word That Freelancers Truly Hate to Hear

Posted March 17, 2013 in Freelance Stories, Managing Clients

It’s not what you think.

Admittedly, there are a lot of things that bother freelancers.

For example, most freelancers don’t like bad clients. Many don’t like criticism. And some don’t like unreasonable deadlines.

But the one thing that most freelancers agree upon is they don’t want to work for free. Yes, “free” is that four-letter word that freelancers hate.

In this post, I’ll discuss the problem of “clients” who ask you to work for free. I’ll also discuss whether you should ever agree to work for free. If you’ve ever been asked to work without pay, you’ll probably relate to this post.

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Is It Time for Freelancers to Slow Down?

Posted February 22, 2013 in Lifestyle, Managing Clients

We freelancers seem obsessed with speed. There are many articles out there to instruct us on how to get more done in less time.

Not only that, but I’m often contacted by freelancers who are looking for ways to do their work more quickly. The common thinking is that the more a freelancer does, the more they will earn.

And it’s not just freelancing. Our entire culture seems to be in a rush.

But is it true? Is faster better? The signs are out there that it may be time for many freelancers (and others) to slow down.

In this post, I’ll describe some of the problems associated with trying to accomplish too much. I’ll also address one reason why freelancers try to work too fast.

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Freelancing Problems–What Can Go Wrong?

Posted January 30, 2013 in Managing Clients

What can go wrong with freelancing? The answer is that quite a lot can go wrong.

Recently, a family member confessed to me that he was freelancing on a part-time basis in addition to his regular job.

However, it was now over a month since he completed the work and he had not yet received payment. What’s worse is that the client was talking about paying him half of what they originally agreed upon. To cap everything off, the work was done for a friend (as a subcontractor) and my family member is reluctant to press the issue because of the friendship.

Of course, I was really sad that my relative had so many problems with his freelancing. But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that many of his problems could have been avoided if he had taken some precautionary measures.

In this post, I’ll take a look at each (very common) problem he experienced and discuss some things that he could have done differently. Since I know that a lot of freelancers make these very same mistakes, you may be able to avoid the very freelancing problems my family member now faces.

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7+ Classic Secrets to Persuasive Freelancing

Posted January 25, 2013 in Managing Clients

What if you could get others to agree to your point of view more often? Wouldn’t your freelancing business be better off?

Just imagine it. You’d be able get clients more easily. Your freelancing negotiations would go more smoothly. And in the long run, you’d have fewer complaints from clients after your projects were done.

Fortunately, there are some time-honored principles that you can use to become a more persuasive freelancer. In this post, I’ll share over seven “secrets” to help you persuade others.

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