My Top 5 Biggest Freelancing Mistakes
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Every freelancer will have their own stories to tell, here are mine. I hope you find them useful and maybe you will share your own in the comments.
1. Under-pricing
Most of us will have done this at some point, many of us still do. Money is a difficult subject for a lot of people. While I am better at talking about money now than I was, I still find it an uncomfortable topic. Problem is, while you might not find it easy it is absolutely critical.
You have a right to earn a fair price for your work, and doubly so when you are good at your job and have excellent experience. How do you know if you are underpricing? If you do good work but you never lose a bid then your prices are too low.
Also be careful about charging by the hour when you don’t have to. When you charge by the hour you are actually penalizing yourself for getting faster at your work! Also some jobs require considerable experience and expertise while taking little time to execute. As the old carpenter said when his customer complained at the price for fixing a creaky floor board, “That’s $1 for the nail, $999 for knowing where to put it”.
2. Over-committing
No one client has the right to monopolize your time, even if they do think they are paying well. When one client takes all your time that is a boss and you have a job, not a client and freelancer relationship. Remember as well as the job at hand you need time to market and network to bring in future work. Allowing one customer to dictate my hours was the worst mistake I ever made as when that contract was over I had nothing to fall back on. You ideally want to have four or five overlapping contracts plus some breathing room so the loss of one doesn’t set you back too far.
3. Failing to sell
After money I am guessing the next worst part of freelancing for most people is the thought of selling yourself and your services. Fact is though many times a client will know they want your help but will not know exactly what they want. Selling need not be about snake oil and ripping people off. If you can truly help someone out then offer your services in a way they will respond to. Make it all about them, their needs, what they will get out of it. Most importantly, listen more than you talk.
4. Always saying ‘yes’
Fear can cause us to do many stupid things. It took a lot before I started turning down requests. Some were easier than others. Requests to work for free still come but I am better at saying no now, turning work down is still tough but I can do it. You have to remember that a bad deal or bad client can damage you far more than the loss of the work. Be prepared to not agree to everything that comes your way and know that you can be nice and friendly without agreeing all the time!
5. Not following up
Past, happy clients can be your biggest source of new work, both with repeat business and referrals. Always get at least a testimonial when they say how happy they are. Even better if you can get them to recommend you. It doesn’t hurt to ask! Also it can be nice to send birthday cards, etc. You never know.
Like the rest of us, I am still learning about this freelancing lark, but having a great deal of fun doing it, mistakes and all. What lessons have you learned the hard way? Please do share in the comments.
Chris G.
******
Chris Garrett is a freelance blogger and internet marketing consultant from the UK. You can follow Chris on his blog where he shares his experiences, insights, and writes a ton of useful posts about blogging, freelancing, new media, networking and marketing.
64 Rockin' Comments
October 9th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I can relate to this. I think every freelancer has fallen prey to some of these at some point. Nice post, Chris.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I’ve made simlar mistakes when selling seo services. It sucks but you learn your lesson after making each mistake, well at least I did
October 9th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Hi Chris,
Not following-up would be my biggest foul as well. In the past I have collected some good contacts, only to not call them back. I have hopefully turned a leaf recently, but only time will tell.
FYI, thanks for this site. It’s helping me stay focused on how to be the best Freelancer I can be.
Will
October 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Ach being freelancer…that i tried so hard and tbh didn’t work in the best way and i decided to cheat in some point. First registered a company, build a nice pro looking web site, now looking for an office. Just after I completed first two steps, I’d already started to get some offers…Still, it’s not easy and can’t say I make enough but better than how it was.Btw I should add, all these depends to country, when i was back in UK, it was much easier to be a freelancer than where I’m living right now.
I made every mistake written up there several times, still making time by time, but as saying goes…can’t learn without mistakes.
October 9th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Very valid points, Chris.
Under-pricing is as bad as over-pricing. And the other aspect of under-pricing or being too anxious in getting orders is that your client is likely to think your blog may not be so popular, after all.
It’s like that resarch/test they conducted at some university: more than 80 percent of the volunteers chose a $100 tie against a $30 tie, while, in fact, they were both the same quality, style, etc.
That shows most people think ‘more expensive’ means ‘better.’ So thinking big, charging high and producing excellent content constantly will definitely help one improve one’s standing in the freelance market.
Just my 2 cents :-)
October 9th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
I can definitely agree to a few points up there. Reminds me of the little mistakes I have made along the way and a couple that I’ve actually made recently. The best point above, imho, the one about the client turning into a boss and eating up the hours you could be spending overlapping with other clients. So true as some people out there think they own you while others are way too carefree. I guess it’s our job to regulate that. Great post!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
I have just learnt the art of turning down unreasonable offers and pricing myself according to what I should be worth, rather than what I think I’m worth. I must say that it feels liberating to finally run with the big dogs.
The main lessons I’ve learnt are not to devalue yourself and to approach money matters openly and honestly.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
I agree with your views
October 9th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
#0. Get the agreement in writing. Handshakes are great, but don’t pay the bills. If your client isn’t willing to sign a contract, odds are good you’re going to get screwed.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Pure common sense.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
These are all very excellent points that I’m beginning to learn as a freelance web developer.
I’ve done my share of projects now, and I have definitely noticed the impact of charging by the hour vs. by the project. Charging by the project without a doubt brings in more money than charging by the hour.
Another thing is that it’s a good idea to give a deal to people you know for a fact will give a good word to their friends, if they have them. For example, I had a client who is a local business owner, and I was aware of that, so I took advantage of it. I gave the guy a hell of a deal, and as a result I’ve received more clients than I can currently handle.
Now that I’m starting to flourish, I’m starting to settle in on prices and get the flow of the process, but from witnessing and talking to other freelancers in my town, it goes without saying that the “good ole boy” network is still around, and it sure as hell helps to be in it. If you are known by the business elite in town, you will get those contracts that pay the big bucks.
I guess to sum that up, it’d be to gauge your client and be flexible based on that gauge. If you make a client feel like you are giving them a deal or treating them special, you have no idea what kind of impact that will have on their outlook on you, and future recommendations.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Guilty as charged.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
One more mistake, not make a clear agreement with the client. Freelancer sometimes does not make a clear requirements what actually client need. Client will change the requirements as they want. It will be never lasting development.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
I feel the same way.
Unfortunately you cannot just pull magic numbers out of a hat, or think that you are the best thing since sliced bread.
To be honest, I think that your ability to pull gigs off should be the baseline of your quotes.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Wow, you really hit on 5 things I’ve experienced very well. kudos.
Underpricing gives the perception of lower quality. Pricing well shows you’re not desperate & know your worth.
One other tip from my experience:
Don’t be too proactive in terms of starting a project after initial contact from a potential client. Clients who are serious about spending their $$ on a site will actively reach out to you. The worst feeling is drawing up a contract, designing a concept, ready to start, only to have an unserious person pull out right b4 signing an agreement. It’s deflating.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:43 am
I agree with the underpricing, theres buyers who expect you to charge less the first time. You do it in the hope they stick with you however they do it knowing they;ll move onto the next person to give a cheap price.
October 10th, 2007 at 5:38 am
Excellent post, Chris. Of the five, I’d say #3 is the biggest in terms of importance and what freelancers fail to do. Looking forward to more…
Eldon, Wordpreneur.com
http://www.wordpreneur.com
October 10th, 2007 at 7:30 am
Make it crystal clear how you will handle the client changing their mind or dragging their feet. I once did a job for HP that slipped ONE YEAR, and I was still obligated to work for no additional money (I was young and kind and really stupid, mea culpa.) For this reason, I don’t bill per-project or per-milestone anymore. I bill for time. I give the client an estimate, then try my darnedest to hit it, but the risk is shifted to them. It gives them the incentive to be on their game.
October 10th, 2007 at 8:07 am
That is a great list. There are other mistakes that many free lancers do, but I think you’ve covered the main ones.
One facility which may help many of your UK readers is to suggest using the services of a business advisor from a business agency to help find flaws which may be holding you back.
The biggest problem in small business is the one of solitude. This is where the freelancer is not talking to enough people about their business issues. They are not going to talk to customers about them and they certainly won’t talk to competitors, so who’s left?
businesslink.gov.uk and businesseye.org.uk are both government funded directories of business support which are generally free and could help many freelancers who don’t even think they qualify for help!
For businesses in Flintshire, there is a website dedicated to helping people get out more!
http://www.gratisguidance.co.uk
There should be something similar in your neighbourhood!
October 10th, 2007 at 9:25 am
ALWAYS get the copy first. Starting projects without the photos you need, color schemes the client likes…etc.
If they want photos on the page, either let them know you can take them for an additional cost, or they have to supply them before price is agreed upon. Waiting to finish a project because a client isn’t prepared sucks.
October 10th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Too familier :)
Eventhough I regularly said ‘No’ to customers who obviously drain energy & time. I am now learning to turn down customers who come with impossible deadlines.
Thanks for great pointers!
October 10th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Excellent points! I’ve wrote a book on the same topic if people are interested.
http://book.airgid.com
Point #1 about being under paid is the biggest one for everyone starting out. Sometimes you have to know your worth. And NOT take jobs that don’t pay enough, even if you are not busy. You have to set standards for your self. Good read! thank you for sharing.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:13 am
One thing I just hate is when you submit a bid and they accept it right away. I mean, the work is nice and after all, I am the one who priced it, but it always makes me think I am leaving money on the table…
October 10th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Excellent back-to-basics list, Chris. Like many of the others here, I have committed my share of these mistakes, and can add a couple of my own:
6. Not getting exact requirements/deliverables
7. Allowing scope creep due to #6!
October 10th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
One thing to keep in mind is, get a contract, gather all content, media, target audience, color schemes, products and additional art from the client before starting on a project. I made the mistake of accepting some design work for a programmer I know with only one color scheme and that they wanted a contemporary design. I asked for additional information and was told to just “throw” something together and to hand it off to him in html/css. 8 hours later the client hates the design and decides to go elsewhere which resulted in me not getting paid for my work. Always have a contract and ask for half up front! Always!
October 10th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Over-commitment is a tendency I’ve been trying to curb now. More than over-commitment it was like mismanaging commitments because I was keeping track what was being committed to whom. Now that I maintain a calendar, I know how much time I can commit in the near future.
October 10th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Yes, it seems that most freelancers don’t like to sell their services. I’d say all those failures can be attributed to poor marketing and salesmanship. It might help to get a partner (why not the spouse) involved to enforce those marketing/selling things. Though, the main problem with freelancing is, that you cannot leverage your time. Isn’t it just another from of employment (with probably worse terms)? –John
October 10th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Underpricing is a big one … I’d rather be selling rolexes than timexes any day of the week.
October 11th, 2007 at 9:14 am
THanks for these tips. I find that I often make these mistakes alot. When you start juggling two or three clients and what their needs are it sometimes gets a little dicey. But do you take those little almost for free jobs that give you the experience? I know I have…I am rewriting a manuscript…the pay is cheap but I am getting the experience…so it will pay off in the end. (I hope!!) Also I try to find clients that will give me more work…I don’t like doing the one job and then struggle to find more work…
Thanks again. I could go on and on. I’m so glad that I’m not alone.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Very good points! Another thing you should throw in that may apply is expectation management. I do business marketing and have problems in this area. Dealing with what the client expects so you can address any misconceptions about your services, and what we expect from them in order to effectively do our job.
October 28th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Interesting that my name and company appeared before I wrote anything here.
Listen, where questions about ‘how much “come up before you have even had chance to pitch your benefits, that you create for your clients objectives, demographic and that your creations get RESULTS, then steer clear of this ignoramous.
Ignorant punters are the worlds worst. They have difficulty seeing anything but “cost “.Take a look at www.thebaldchemist.com don’t worry its free , no buttons to press, no joining fees, and I am not interested in traffic. Its there just for educational purposes.
Take care my friends. The Baldchemist
October 28th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
As an addendum. Stop asking what your punter wants and advise them of what they need to reach the objectives.
November 12th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
#1 and #3 serious areas of opportunity :) Thanks for sharing such insightful and useful info
November 21st, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I think you covered all of the mistakes we make! They are the tough issues in freelancing.
I think the one I have the most difficulty with is pricing. I have tried to research some kind of standard pricing but cannot find much to go on. When I tried naming prices that I thought were truly fair, I got some horrified reactions. Of course, one woman wanted articles for $3.00. Horrible, isn’t it?
Once again, I enjoyed your post. Thanks!
November 26th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I’m just starting out with freelancing and I can relate to all of these. If I can learn from such posts then maybe I can nip these various problems in the bud by recognizing them sooner…
December 6th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
When I first started out in consulting, I made a huge mistake that had me running out of money in no time: I didn’t spend ANY time on marketing. After the one or two smaller jobs I landed, there was nothing in the pipeline… and the well ran dry.
As a freelancer, you absolutely must spend at least part of every week (some days are just busier than others, so focus a week-by-week timeframe) doing marketing: networking with people who might have jobs, improving your web site, placing ads to drive traffic to your web site, placing listings in online directories where customers might find you, … pretty much ANYTHING to increase your exposure.
And don’t be afraid to spend money on marketing either! Well-placed for-pay ads can return 10x or more. Sure, it’s a bit of a gamble, but this is your business, and businesses need visibility to grow and thrive.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
“How do you know if you are underpricing? If you do good work but you never lose a bid then your prices are too low.”
Its funny you say this b/c I just recently got enough exposure to start charging normal rates (as apposed to the slave wages I accepting when trying to build up clientèle) and my first worry was they’re going to think this is too high.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Good summary.
I am thinking of increasing the price of my service now.
–
Kevin
Plenty of Software: Free downloads center
http://www.plentyofsoft.com
January 25th, 2008 at 12:23 am
i always say YES when writing article to article directory…
and sometimes, i feel stupid…
March 2nd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Thanks for the great article…!
As a beginner I had a couple of bad moves already. Once I began a project for a good friend I haven’t seen a while. I said my price and made the website . The problem arose when it came to paying. He said it’s not for him, it’s for a friend and so on.. Long story’s short I still haven’t recieved the money and I ended the project like in August 2007… I still have the problem with saying my pay rates and I don’t really know how to handle it.. Oh well… Thanks again!
V
April 15th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Great article! I have a big problem with time management and estimating how much time a project will take.
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? It seems like more and more of my time is spent on the site theme and layout development issues.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:25 am
A good post for all new and old freelancers. I can completely relate to it, especially the last point. A lot of us find ourselves so happy and content with a satisfied client that we fail to follow-up. Will definitely keep these tips in mind.
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