Business
4 Common Mistakes To Avoid When Accepting Projects: Freelancers
One of the key factors that contribute to the success of a freelancer is how to negotiate properly or make a proposal with a potential employer. Newbies in this kind of online work may find themselves in greater risk of either getting underpaid or the worst case scenario of loosing your credibility in the freelance market because of miscalculations of the entire project given.
For you to fully understand how the freelance market works in general below are the 4 common mistakes to avoid when accepting projects:
1. Avoid being fooled with large pay-offs
Most freelancers complain that they get fooled easily and enticed with huge amounts of pay-offs, only to realize in the middle of the work that is consumes most of their time and if they would calculate the actual hours spent already on that particular project, they have actually lost a great deal of possible earnings. To prevent this from happening again in the future, better give a careful analysis on the estimated number of hours you will dedicate on that project alone. Think first if the price is absolutely right for the work output they want from you or is it really realizable.
2. Don’t get too much workload you cannot handle
This is another common problem freelancers do face along the way, accepting too much workload they cannot actually cope up. Thinking that they can handle rush work or many projects at the same time often lead to poor work output or delay in submissions, thus leading to more dissatisfied clients in the end. Remember, all your clients think that their work is your priority, so juggling many tasks all at the same time would even stress you out, loosing your focus to work accurately and making you a less productive person in the end. Accept only projects that you think are manageable on your current available free time to spare. A successful project is something that will benefit both parties in the end, you getting paid fairly for work done and the employer getting his/her desired work output.
3. Lowering your rates
Lowering your existing rates in some cases cannot be beneficial on your part. Don’t always assume that employers would rather hire freelancers with the lowest rate. This may apply only if the employer is on a tight budget and is the employer is still willing to hire, you can always come up with a rate that both of you can totally agree reasonable enough. Generally, employers view a freelancer’s profile and see how much your expertise is really worth for their project.
4. Not making a proposal at all
If you are a newbie in the freelance industry, you also have the right to give you own proposal with regards to the work that a potential employer is offering you. Learn to negotiate properly before accepting any project. Don’t just accept all the terms set upon by the employer. Cite as well your conditions like: how many revisions will be set on the contract free of charge in cases the client was not satisfied with the project submitted. There should be a limit as to how many revisions will you do. Clarify all the important issues you need to voice out, so that by the end of the project, both of you will part ways satisfied.
Top Advice:
Freelancing job can work fairly on your part if you know how to deal appropriately with your potential clients. Don’t be afraid to set your own conditions like the number of revisions included in the contract, clarity where and when they will make the payments. Most freelancers associated in certain outsourcing sites like Odesk are usually payment guaranteed with hourly rates projects, so any freelancer is protected and assured of payments for work done. Fixed rates are a bit risky, especially if payments are only available upon completion of the project. You might end up not getting paid if the employer claims to be dissatisfied with the results and cancelling your contract without any notice. Remember, you can always offer a good bargain that will benefit you greatly when you know that you are an expert to that particular work. Keep it up. Don’t’ get discourage easily.
Tagged business, Employment, freelancer, mistakes, Newbie, Odesk, Project, Work output
RandomheroMay 17, 2012 at 9:12 pm
I think this is a great post, the problem is that there is a huge influx of freelancers in today’s society. With the economy still low for some people, everyone wanting to make a living from home and who knows what else. Your fighting against 10 other people for a job proposal. Their all submitting proposals cheaper than yours so in the end it really comes down to your credibility and past work on your profile. If your new though how do you show that your good if you have nothing on your profile?
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streakanimeJuly 19, 2012 at 4:55 pm
Bleh, it really does get harder and hard for freelancers to complete for jobs in this market. More and more people are opening the doors to working online for cash. The employers/clients have noticed that and try to low ball you for jobs too. There is only so low I am willing to go before the job is NO longer worth it. Building a portfolio is a great way to land a job though.
TashWordMay 18, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Randomhero, you need to build a portfolio of some sort – don’t just rely on those online freelance sites but have samples of your work on your site that you can link to. Samples can be things you’ve done on a voluntary capacity or purely to build your portfolio.
I don’t think you should reduce rates for a client at all. It cheapens their opinion of you and the value of your work. If someone can’t afford your rates, offer something else but keep your rates steady. For instance, I once quoted for a catalogue but she couldn’t afford it so I just did the text and she formatted itself to make my quote cheaper. If it is something you want to support, keep your rates but offer a donation so “it will cost $x but I will make $y donation to your organisation” means they pay less but you keep the value of your work.
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LinxMay 20, 2012 at 3:08 am
Good article, with truly valuable information. More and more I feel that the global office is becoming more virtual – calling for different ways of doing things.
I have been freelancing since 2004 and I have found that what made it more fulfilling and lucrative for me – was not lowering my value. If you know you provide a great product or/and service, hold true and those that value you will come along.
Then you will have too much work. So, I would say never ever undervalue yourself. Time is your greatest resource; use it wisely.
Jason MorganMay 29, 2012 at 11:45 am
Please keep on posting such quality articles as this is a rare thing to find these days. I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Looking forward to another great blog. Good luck to the author! all the best! commercial restoration st louis
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ClaireMay 31, 2012 at 3:37 pm
For instance, I once quoted for a catalogue but she couldn’t afford it so I just did the text and she formatted itself to make my quote cheaper. Thanks for sharing.
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TashWordJuly 2, 2012 at 5:12 pm
You’re welcome Claire
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LeetPro77July 5, 2012 at 10:10 pm
This article can be summarised with one word: Accurate.
I have been involved in lots of freelance work and I made these mistakes all the time when I was just starting out.
If you are looking to start out with freelance work, be sure to give this a read (and please take notes).
akanbiJuly 10, 2012 at 5:16 pm
I totally agree with the concept of being fooled with huge payouts. I have done this many times, where I will take on a project and realize that instead of making 25 dollars an hour, I am making 5 dollars an hour. You really have to know how much time a project happens, so you can cover yourself.
streakanimeJuly 19, 2012 at 4:56 pm
The general rule of thumb is if something is too good to be true, it probably is. Make sure that the client partial pays you if you know nothing about them. You could also split the project up into smaller amounts of work and ask for payments for the different parts. If the employer is not willing to do this… They are probably not willing to pay out at all.
ARipenedPotatoJuly 26, 2012 at 5:36 am
All of these articles regarding freelancing are really helpful, but ignore the fact that the market is over flooded with people looking to do freelance work. In order to break into this market, you probably need to be at the top of your game, especially if you’re hoping to make your freelancing your only source of income.
ashmonnJuly 26, 2012 at 6:14 am
I really have to second the first point that you made. Be sure you do your best to calculate all of the time that is necessary for you to complete the assignment in it’s entirety.
I have found myself accepting assignments that offered a high rate of pay, but because of the tasks that were require, did not amount to more than minimum wage, so be mindful of this.
Magic PixelAugust 1, 2012 at 11:20 pm
Good pointers. There are enough too-good-to-be-true offers and time-vampires to make you forget what you had intended to do in the first place by looking for online work. Even on job sites there are spam characters actually trying to spam PTC sites to you by getting you to apply for some job and wasting your applications, which isn’t a nice thing to do to people who are looking for work.
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toughtrasherAugust 23, 2012 at 11:34 pm
Awesome advice! I completely agree with point #2, in which you should NEVER accept a job that you can’t handle, whether it’s because the workload is too big, you don’t have necessary skills, etc.
You will only end up quitting the job half-way through and your time and energy is wasted on something you didn’t get paid for. Plus, you also have an angry employer on your hands.