Seven Lies Freelancers Tell Themselves
Posted July 30, 2009 in Business, Lifestyle 50 Comments »
There’s no doubt that freelancing can be tough — freelancers face many obstacles. From finding clients, to meeting deadlines, to keeping skills and equipment current, all the way to being paid: freelancing just isn’t easy.
One of the biggest challenges that we freelancers face, however, is one of our own making. It’s the challenge of being totally honest with ourselves and accepting the reality of certain situations. Without overcoming this challenge, without learning to be totally honest with one’s self, it’s pretty tough to succeed.
You see, we freelancers have many excuses. Usually, we believe these excuses wholeheartedly — which is a bad thing. If we can’t recognize a problem, then we can’t take the steps necessary to solve it.
This posts lists the seven most common lies that freelancers use to fool themselves. Overcome these lies, and you’ll increase your chances for success dramatically.
Lie #1 — I don’t need to market my business
This lie is dangerous because it shortchanges your future ability to earn. Although you may have plenty of clients right now, that could change in an instant. All it takes to go from being to busy to needing clients is for one or two major clients to stop calling on you. Freelancers should be continuously marketing their services — even when they are too busy to take on new work.
Lie #2 — A high-dollar job is a good job
It’s important to always consider the scope of the work being requested with the amount of the offer. I’ve known of freelancers to commit weeks (and even months) of their time to a project that worked out to be less than minimum wage because they overlooked the scope of the work. A $1000 offer isn’t a good deal if the work takes hundreds of hours to complete.
Lie #3 — Clients don’t like being asked questions
Good client communication is crucial to running a successful business. Most clients understand this and are happy to answer questions if they are asked in an organized and respectful manner. If you can do so without compromising the project, try saving all of your questions to ask at one time. Asking questions shows that you want to get the project right, and is always good business practice.
Lie #4 — All that time spent reading blogs, it’s networking
So, you’ve been spending a lot of time reading a lot of blogs. Good for you! You can learn a lot from blogs. However, networking has two important elements: interaction and strategy. If you don’t ever interact with others and you don’t have a strategy, then you aren’t really networking. Actually, there’s another term for what you are doing. It’s called “websurfing.”
Lie #5 — There is such a thing as a free lunch
Everybody would like to get something for nothing, and freelancers aren’t much different from anyone else. In fact, you’ve probably already read many advertisements that promise to teach you a “money-making system” that requires little effort on your part to achieve great success. Don’t believe it for a minute! Successful freelancers are those who realize that they have to work hard to earn what they have.
Lie #6 — I’m an expert, I don’t need to update my skills
No matter how much experience you have, how many degrees you have, or how well known you have become — there is always something new to learn. Don’t rest on your past experiences. If you do nothing to improve your skills, you won’t stay where you are. Instead, you’ll actually find yourself falling behind. No matter how busy or successful you are, always make time for additional training.
Lie #7 — What works for will work for me.
It’s easy to believe this lie. You hear, or read about how someone else achieved success and assume that the same steps that he or she took will work for you. While it is a great idea to learn from others’ successes, you shouldn’t expect to have an identical experience. Each of us exists in our own unique freelancing environment. What works for one, won’t necessarily work for all.
Share Your Thoughts
What lies have proved to be obstacles for your freelancing business? What lies would you add to the ones above?
Share your experiences in the comments.
Top photo by Dyanna
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 19 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts
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50 Comments
Rachel - Last Res0rt
July 30th, 2009 at 12:49 pmOkay, #4 shamed me into commenting. I use an RSS reader to “streamline” my blog reading, so I still consider it functional — the same way a good book is functional.
I don’t comment on every post I read, naturally, but maybe I should. At least, when I’m at a computer where I can freely do so in my browser — while riding on a subway train the connection’s a bit spotty for that.
Laura Spencer
July 30th, 2009 at 1:00 pmHi Rachel!
There’s nothing wrong with reading blog posts. I surely didn’t mean to imply that. You can learn a lot by reading blogs (and I hope our readers who don’t comment learn a lot).
It’s only when we fool ourselves by telling ourselves that reading counts as networking for our freelance business that it’s bad. Networking is an important marketing step and merely reading isn’t quite enough.
Whatever the case, I’m glad you decided to step forward and leave a comment.
Alex Covic
July 30th, 2009 at 1:36 pmWith “Freelancer” it’s like with “Artist” = a pseudonym for “broke”, “unemployable”, “barely working”, …
The best Freelancers are the ones that never need to apply the ‘Freelancer’-logo to themselves. They have their clients, who know they can rely on them. They deliver quality work and you don’t negotiate prices with them. You are happy to get them and pay them. And new clients have a hard time even getting them.
Of course, getting there is hard work too. Your only message to clients should be: “I am reliable. You know, you can count on me and the quality of my work is transparent to you.”
Some things are not negotiable. Have rules and be strong enough to stick to them.
All this implies, that you know what you are worth and have no delusions about your skills, quality of work, reliablity. Being realistic, knowing the market and your competitors is a given – otherwise, don’t bother.
See the self-proclaimed unemployed ‘experts’ on Twitter, who call themselves ‘marketing-gurus’, ’social-media-experts’ etc, etc…pathetic.
This of course, is just my humble opinon. (twitter: @buckybit)
Laura Spencer
July 30th, 2009 at 2:21 pmInteresting comment Alex!
I’m not sure that I agree entirely. The label “freelancer” isn’t necessarily bad in and of itself.
When hiring an independent contractor (regardless of whether they call themselves something else) it’s important to conduct due diligence – check references, ask for samples, and so on.
Joseph Palmer
July 30th, 2009 at 2:51 pmI definately need to get better at number 1. I barely do any marketing except through my FB and Twitter. Unfortunately I have next to no followers. Hahah. I signed up for AdSense from google…not sure if that will help me get more traffic. I think that maybe if I narrowed down my subject matter I might be able to market better. But I am interested in so much…I guess that doesnt mean I should blog about all of it though.
Julian
July 30th, 2009 at 3:20 pmHoo-ray! I passed all 7 lies except for #2 this one time earlier this year and #1 when I first started freelancing until I read another freelancefolder article about asking clients questions.
It’s good to know that I’m doing something really right in this freelancing world.
Fernanda Angelo
July 30th, 2009 at 3:29 pmLaura, what a great blog. Congratulations!
You know that, while surfing it, I realised that eventhough I am a journalist for over ten years – three of which I write as a freelancer – I not only don’t market my business (nor myself), but also do not have a personal website or even a blog.
This post made me think about these issues, and decide working on them.
Thanks for the “light”, and , again, congrats for you work.
Kim Smith
July 30th, 2009 at 3:58 pmGreat post!
I love 6 & 7.
It seems there’s always something new to learn and no reason to think that so-and-so’s strategy will work for me.
Michael Arnaldo
July 30th, 2009 at 3:59 pmWell #4 is netvibes for me. It puts all the info in one place for me. Nice write up
Herne
July 30th, 2009 at 4:07 pmA “freelancer” is often seen as someone who “can’t get a real job.”
The important part(s) of freelancing include;
Being realistic when responding to the client’s specs–Don’t promise it in 2 days if you know it’s going to take a week.
Be realistic in your pricing and billing–”low-balling” only hurts the rest of us. “Working for spec” only hurts the rest of us. Stealing images from online sources and calling them “public domain” only hurts the rest of us.
Most importantly though, is to be honest and keep your word. Don’t make promises you know you can’t keep and don’t claim knowledge that you don’t have thinking “I’ll figure that out later.” A person without honour is nothing.
Computer
July 30th, 2009 at 4:54 pmI think I liked number 4. It made me laugh.
Anyway, this list will probably help my cousin who needs to learn better time management. Maybe these lies are the things costing him his time.
Brian Yerkes
July 30th, 2009 at 5:00 pmGreat post, all very good points! Another lie could be “Any job is worth taking on for the money”…..definitely not. Interview your client as much, if not more, than they interview you!
Laura Spencer
July 30th, 2009 at 5:00 pmGreat comments!
Keep them coming. . .
BTW, Fernando thanks so much for the compliment. This is actually a team blog. My personal blog link is in my bio.
Rich Bailey
July 30th, 2009 at 6:46 pmGreat post and I enjoy your comment especially Herne. All to often we as designers are compared based on pricing and thats the one area I’m most upset about. Designing a 5 page website should in no way cost $200 with hosting when clearly the hosting itself would cost half of the price your working for. Plus spec work I feel is the new scam out now aimed to getting a free logo as a recent article on Smashing Magazine posted. My philosophy is if you either graduated from art school or are currently paying your tuition to attend school bottom line is you deserve to be paid for your services. Being a contract designer is no different from being a mechanic or plumber so in theory you deserve to be paid what you feel your worth. And about the HONESTY deal your absolutely right because I believe if you say you know a skill but you really don’t the universe has a way of making sure you pay dearly for it being you lose the work or the client altogether.
Sebastian Insua
July 30th, 2009 at 9:28 pm“Lie #5 — There is such a thing as a free lunch”
That’s not the lie. Surely the lie is the belief that there is such a thing as a free lunch…
Diego Ponciano
July 30th, 2009 at 10:06 pmWow, I’m just planning to become a freelancer, and I’m way too afraid of not getting success…
I read a bunch of blogs (FreelanceFolder is a good example) and I don’t comment so often, now I realize I’m just websurfing…haha
Hope I stop lying to myself…
btw, great post.
Laura Spencer
July 30th, 2009 at 10:50 pmThanks everyone for commenting.
Don’t feel bad if you see yourself in one of these lies. We all get caught up in them from time to time.
Jo
July 31st, 2009 at 8:34 amLie #4 is brilliant. It’s similar to a web developer spending a lot of time with social media claiming its “research”. I’m sometimes guilty of that one! We do need to keep up with the trends though and it’s important to find a balance.
michael soriano
July 31st, 2009 at 12:41 pmhere’s my acceptance to lie #4 – I’m leaving a comment in order to interact. I find it a lot of times I just take what I read from blogs. Very seldom do I leave a comment. Thanks to your article – I will soon change that behavior. Thank you.
Angela
July 31st, 2009 at 1:07 pmGood post.
As a long-time freelancer I think I have struggled with every on eof them and still have so much to learn. That’s a process that never ends or if we think it does we are just being pretentious.
Thanks for spelling it out so well.
Angela
Daniel Groves
July 31st, 2009 at 6:11 pmI’m not a freelancer yet… but once I have finished school at the end of next year I plan to do some while at Uni. Thanks for the advice!
Kei
July 31st, 2009 at 8:19 pmHi Laura, I’m really enjoying your posts. Been reading your past blogs here also.
Great job! Thanks a lot for sharing…
Vivienne Quek
August 1st, 2009 at 1:09 amJust sharing my thoughts, some freelance writers charge by the hours they spent writing. My feel is they can consider charging by the values they provide.
Fen
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:16 pmWhat the sense of writing the things that are applicable to nearly any work that has salary? It’s not only about freelancing.
Max Chan
August 5th, 2009 at 10:47 pmI would add…
even you do not need to get up early every day,
time management is very important.
I love the “websurfing” and networking idea a lot.
It is one of the lies for me.
thanks for sharing it.
Ryan VanZan
August 10th, 2009 at 5:07 pmI definitely agree that updating your skills is very important. I am a web developer, and things are constantly changing. If I don’t at least keep up on the current trends I will have obsolete skills, and it will be more difficult for me to get work.
Amr Mohsen
August 15th, 2009 at 2:54 pmyou are awesome Laura , Great Article
Aaron
August 24th, 2009 at 3:39 amA great article. We really are lucky that we live in a time of blogs, iphones and the internet as we hace access to a lot more information that we would otherwise be without.
Melek
October 21st, 2009 at 6:41 pm#2 is one i’ve had to learn from many a time.
I would love to see a blog post about “Lies clients tell themselves”….it could include:
An agency can do a better job than a freelancer
Since the freelancer works from home, I can call anytime, even on the weekends.
Freelancers struggle for work, so I can pay low and expect them to finish overnight.
I’m sure there are plenty more to add to the list :)
Another great article, thanks!
John E
October 21st, 2009 at 6:46 pmGreat Post. Thanks! I’m saving this link I can re-read occasionally. I am guilty of a couple of these mistakes.
Ben
November 7th, 2009 at 7:22 amGreat post! I’m definitely guilty of #4 (hence the comment) & also #1 I’m now suffering from a quiet period due to my big clients not needing any work at the moment. I guess it’s time to get out there & market.
I hope no-one believes #6, the main thing that got me into this business was that it is forever evolving & changing. Thinking you know it all will as you pointed out lead to falling behind rapidly.
I’m definitely bookmarking this site to come back and do some more websurfing ahem I mean networking ;)
Aliff Afiq
November 16th, 2009 at 12:08 ami love lies no 6.
hehehe its true tho’
Paul d'Aoust
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:14 pmOuch — #4 hurt a lot. I’ve been feeling like I’ve been spending a fair bit of time reading design and productivity blogs in the name of expanding my business. Thanks for calling me on that!
alx21creations
December 7th, 2009 at 1:52 pmgreat post!
yes most of us have the same problem. i think there are more than 7 lies LOL .
i started commenting on blogs and using twitter , because the “Websurfing” it is really good thing to do when researching but i agree , if you don’t say something …it is like if you never existed, no one will know who you are.
thanks for this post Laura! =)
alx21creations
December 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pmcool! i didnt have to upload an image!!! =)
Paul d'Aoust
December 7th, 2009 at 5:34 pmOh wait; I shoulda clarified. I meant that I am guilty of reading blogs in the name of improving my *skills* rather than my *business*. Haven’t even delved into the idea of tackling the world of networking through blog comments.
I find that I can read and read and read and read, and gather all sorts of useful information (and bookmark at least half of it), but what good is education if I don’t actually apply it? I mean, I’ve got clients I could be working on right now…
J Munro
December 11th, 2009 at 9:29 amGood post; I know someone who had a major issue with lie #2 & I’m guilty as hell of lie #4- as seem to be a few other people here!
I now put aside specific time to read newsletters & blogs, update my skills & learn new things. Time-management is the way forward I think – I used to waste whole days just pootling about whilst kidding myself that I was being productive!
@munropaservices
http://www.chaoskiller.com
Barb Hranilovich
December 18th, 2009 at 8:44 amGood, clean, smart points. I’ve been at this awhile – it’s all true!
Amy Gelfand
December 18th, 2009 at 10:07 amMelek – so true! Maybe I’ll write that post on lies clients tell themselves (or, to be kinder and perhaps more accurate, misconceptions that trip up clients. Hmm…)
I’ll add a lie: The job always goes to the most competent developer/designer, so I just need to show that I’m the best at what I do.
No, the job goes to the best salesperson, and oh so too often, that salesperson is NOT the best man/woman for the job (or works for a company that is not qualified at all). And when you’re out networking with businesspeople, it’s a real challenge to base your value proposition on your expertise in standards compliant coding (I speak from experience). It frustrates me that the typical client does not understand or care why I am the best gal for the job – but that’s the reality. You have to craft a compelling message for your target audience and be a salesperson.
Too bad for all of us, the world of web is an unregulated industry, and anyone with a copy of Dreamweaver can hang out a shingle. I hope this changes someday, but I don’t know how.
shakil ali
January 19th, 2010 at 3:36 amvery simply and very clear things we must focus to improve thanks good one to read
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