Grisly Freelance Death Traps

For most of you out there who are either fairly new to freelancing jobs or who are seriously considering jumping in, a big question may still remain of whether you will be able to make it or not. The answer is that EVERYONE can succeed in freelancing, however, many do not.

Unfortunately for those who do not succeed, they do not realize that many factors that cause them to fail are within their own control. The key is to recognize what these factors are and take the right steps to control them. In this article, I’m going to focus on the factors that will cause the bloody death of your freelance career (and has caused for many other). The next week’s article will focus on the Freelance Life Lines for your career.

The following are the five death traps you want to avoid when starting out in freelance. If you are already in your freelance career, then pay attention. This just may save you.

Death Trap #1: Not having a backup plan or backup source of income

Speaking from experience, most freelancers will not have an idea of what freelancing is really like until they complete their first year… and that is a big IF they complete their first year. Therefore, you would be taking a huge risk if you decide to suddenly decide to tell your boss to go to #!@% off and think you can continue to earn your income by freelancing.

As a newcomer to the freelance world, you will need a period of adjustment to get used to the demands of it. I won’t go into depth of these demands here, but to name a few, there are high/low workloads, customer/client service (yes, you have to keep them happy) and invoicing/collections.

What often happens for a new freelancer, too, is that initially they will notice their income decreases from what they made in a paid position. This is overwhelming enough to cause many to panic and quit freelancing and resume working in their careers for a fixed salary.

To overcome the “freelance panic” and freelancing demands, the best route to go is to not quit your job and to freelance part-time in addition to it. Sure, this may bring about a very heavy workload, however, it is the best way to learn freelancing in your field without losing income.

Once you are established as a freelancer, you may want to decrease the hours in the salaried position and increase the freelance workload if at all possible. This method can all but guarantee that you will have a smooth transition into a freelance career.

Now, there are those who may jump into freelancing right away without having been in a salaried position in their career field. The same demands of freelancing still apply, in addition to the demands of their chosen field. That is why in this case, a fallback job or other source of income, even if not related to their career field, is ideal.

A backup source of income can be vital to giving you peace of mind and keeping you from quitting when times get difficult in freelancing. Believe me, too, they can get difficult.

Death Trap #2: Not being service minded

It is safe to say that most of us have had some kind of job position where we’ve had to deal with customers in a friendly and helpful manner. For those of you who haven’t, then for sure you have had to deal with some kind of customer service whether it was returning a purchased item, complaining of service, or receiving help.

In either case, do you remember being yelled at by the “nasty” customer or getting poor service, yourself? Can you remember what their voice sounded like when they got on your bad side?

Well the same will apply to your freelance job. Argue with your clients and treat them poorly and you can kiss your freelance career goodbye. The opposite is true, too. Treat them like you really appreciate their business and they will keep coming back AND bring their friends with them.

All of this boils down to one simple concept: service-mindedness.

If you honestly appreciate your clients, you will do the little things such as, getting work done on time, delivering high quality and even responding promptly to emails. Such things make a client feel appreciated and keeps work coming which is especially important to a new freelancer.

One thing that must be noted, though, is where the line should be drawn where it may appear that a client is taking advantage of your kind treatment. It is actually pretty simple. In this case, you have to be firm, but polite with them. Not surprisingly, most clients will try to see where their dollar will take them. If you keep giving in to complaints/requests for changes, they will keep coming back with more.

A rule of thumb is to always fix mistakes made on your part, but charge if a change/fix requested was not due to your error. Inform the client in a polite but stern manner and they will they won’t take advantage of you.

Death Trap #3: Not making a working schedule

Part of the reason that the majority of us switch to freelancing is to get out of the 9 – 5 grind Monday through Friday. We want the ability to sleep in on a Monday morning and the freedom to take a three hour lunch break if we want to. What is generally not taken into account, however, is that despite our perceived freedoms in freelancing, we still have to work those eight or more hours a day during the week. Sometimes more.

If you freelance at home, too, you also open yourself to distractions that can inhibit your workday. After all, there is a bed, refrigerator, TV and a sofa all within arm’s reach from your working desk. What has to be done is to get into the habit of eliminating these distractions and getting yourself used to good working habits.

One of the most important things you can do to gain a good working habit is to create a working schedule. This may sound like the dreaded work schedule at your old job, but here you have the freedom to schedule anything.

The schedule should be started by first determining the hours you want (or need) to work in an entire week. Divide these hours up by the number of days you will work in the week then schedule in the daily hours in a weekly planner. Remember, you have the freedom to work at 3 AM as you do 3 PM. The important thing is to stick to those scheduled hours like you would at a job.

As you are working, be sure to keep track of the time and make sure you complete scheduled times. Try not to “cut-off” from working five minutes early nor starting five minutes later than your starting time. The goal is to develop a productive working habit and not be a clock-watcher like most were at their old job.

Once in a while, you will have an emergency or you may have had a little too much fun the night before to keep you from sticking to your schedule. Do your best to reschedule those working hours for another day in the week or divide them among the rest of the week.

Keep the habit of working your desired weekly hours and you won’t have to worry about the distractions that often dooms freelancers to low productivity… and low income.

Death Trap #4: Charging too little for your work

Freelance newbies are often so eager to find work they will accept any price for a job. Then they quickly find they do not earn the income they thought they would and quit.

This is by far one of the biggest mistakes made as a freelancer since this leaves you open to being taken advantage of by employers. Even if you are new in your field, there is a market price for the work you do and you are entitled to it.

The key is to know what prices are being offered for the type of work you do. More specifically, you need to determine a price range paid for a project where you know exactly the requirements to complete it. Then you bid a price on a project within that range.

Note that you may have to take a longer time than a more experienced freelancer to complete a project, but as long as you note the time for completion to the employer when you bid, this will not make a difference.

Do not sell yourself short if you are looking for work and/or if you are new to your career field. Remember that there are plenty of people looking for freelancers to provide a service at a price ideal for you. Your focus should be on looking for one of these instead of taking anything that just happens to come your way. Be patient because they will come.

Death Trap #5: Not tracking your production

As a freelancer, you are officially a business. As a business you need to track your working income to see where you can be more efficient and grow your business to earn even more.

Let me give you an example. Personally, I found that as long as I was able to pay the rent every month, eat and go out on the weekends, then I was doing more than enough to make ends meet. Why should I have to worry about what I make if it appeared to be enough?

Well, the answer is that as a business, you want to run efficiently. You could actually come to find that you are leaving money on the table like I did.

What did I do?

I first kept track of my hours (see Death Trap #3 above), but then kept track of what I did in those hours. For instance, I would spend a typical day responding to business emails and client questions and then doing the work of my field. What I came to find was that I would spend a disproportionate amount of time emailing (which doesn’t pay!) rather than doing productive work earning myself an income.

Just from this finding, I was able to limit non-income business activities and increase my income. This is also without increasing the number of hours I work.

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