5 Freelance Mistakes That Made My Life A Shipwreck.
What Doesn’t Kill A Freelancer Makes Him Stronger.
Firstly, who is this story for? For the freelancer in their early stages.
I’ve faced plenty of obstacles, I feel it’s my duty to make you aware of the pitfalls that lie ahead.
So you can avoid these pitfalls and give your freelance business the possible best chance at thriving and achieving sustainability. Im on this journey with you, to help you succeed.
Freelance is possible by all means, provided we have the right approach and mindset.
However, there are obstacles, that only show themselves once you’re well into your grind.
So, What are the obstacles/problems that I faced the ones that you should be aware of? Let’s start with the first one.
Problem 1: Spreading Myself Across Every Online Platform, Instead of Focusing on One / Two.
Online platforms are definitely useful. We need them to open up opportunities for ourselves.
However, being on a few platforms can be productive, but too many can be inefficient. Because we can’t possibly maintain a presence on all of them.
When I spread myself out too thin, I noticed that we not only need to build a profile on these platforms, but also maintain that presence.
What does this look like on a day-to-day basis?
- Connecting with other profiles and building constructive relationships.
- Producing content.
- Developing assets for that content such as imagery, videos and copy.
- Replying to comments.
- Collaborating with other creators on those platforms.
- Strategic content research, keyword research.
- The list is getting too long.
This may look simple and straightforward, however, in my experience, it takes a lot of time and effort.
For some perspective, I was following the same system for:
- Dribble
- Blogging on My own website
- and more.
Adding everything mentioned above with a part-time degree and client work, im sure you can tell that it’s a broken system.
Eventually all of this lead to burnout (something that is very real in my experience).
What Is the Solution?
Focusing on one or two platforms that play to your strengths, mixed in with self-awareness.
What does this look like?
- If you’re good on camera, Youtube is for you.
- If you’re good at doing self-initiated projects, the Behance is for you.
- If you’re extroverted and love people, then networking events are for you.
Above all, we need to find and build a system that works for us.
Whatever platform we pick, we need to play to our strengths instead of what’s popular. This way, we’ll have a chance at standing out amongst the competition.
Pick only a couple, this way, we’ll be able to go deep instead of across. we’re able to build up more traction and generate leads a lot quicker.
In my experience, every platform has clients, it’s only a matter of finding a way of connecting with them.
Problem 2: I Failed To Set the Right Expectations Upfront.
There was a huge difference between what I could offer and what I could actually deliver.
For instance, a client I met at a networking event needed presentation design, I gladly accepted it since I had the skillset.
The mistake I made was thinking that I could complete their project within the deadline. Well, I completed the project but not to the expected quality and I struggled with the deadline time frame.
I was over-confident and arrogant, in the fact that, I could deliver within their timeline.
The result was that the client was very dissatisfied and highlighted tons of mistakes within the project that I missed. Eventually, it was completed but not in the given time frame.
I could have simply been honest and requested more time in return for a higher-quality deliverable. I’m very sure the client would have adjusted accordingly.
What Is The Solution?
Always set the right expectations, with a client.
Never be overly confident with what you can deliver.
As competent as you might be, I feel it’s always better to underpromise and over-deliver.
Always be honest with what you can deliver.
Problem 3: Assuming the Solution Before Discovering Their Needs and Pain Points.
This is a mistake I admit to committing over and over again.
As soon as the prospect approved my request for a meeting, I would get excited that start creating solutions that I think the client needs.
I would go into the first meeting with a presentation, assuming that it would do the trick, only for them to be confused and not convert into a sale.
At the time, my strategy was, to impress the client, instead of solving their problems. If you’re a designer like me, you need to remember that,
Before I understood this, I was a decorator, not a designer.
What Is The Solution?
Before a first meeting, call the client and ask them what their pain points actually are. Qualify whether or not your services will actually solve their problem.
It shows the clients that you’re invested in them. Don’t jump straight to an assumed conclusion.
All it takes is a discovery phone call before a meeting. This way you’ll invest your time in creating a solution that will actually solve their problem.
The client will feel heard and understood, and both of you will think on the same page. As a result, the project will turn into a success.
Problem 4: I Didn’t Know When To Use Effort and When To Use Efficiency.
I used to work hard, very hard, I mean 16-hour days. When I would collate everything I did, I figured out that the needle didn’t actually move that much.
I was simply working hard at the wrong things, let me help you with some perspective.
Looking back, instead of making huge efforts to attend networking events and follow up with prospects.
It would have been more efficient for me to create content on Behance and build a presence, along with my developing SEO-driven content on my website.
This way, I would have attracted the right clients. Clients who actually needed my services.
By networking, I attracted all of the wrong clients.
What Is The Solution?
You need to identify exactly how you can maximize the fruits of your labour.
Wherever you are placing your efforts, it should eventually lead to clients/revenue.
I suppose in the beginning we need to dabble and find what works. Once we’ve found what works, we can easily double down on it. This is how we can build a strong funnel and works for us, month in, month out.
Problem 5: Didn’t Take the Time To Build Case Studies.
Building case studies can take time, there’s no denying that. However, it’s the fundamental way that we can attract clients.
My portfolio back then, had very generic work, and not anything detailed or in-depth. As a result, I never got picked for larger and more complex projects.
I simply had a portfolio, because every designer should have a portfolio.
Looking back, I needed to think of my portfolio as a conversion/lead generation machine.
Case studies can help clients or employers understand how we solve problems, and as a result, it builds trust.
What Is The Solution?
In my humble opinion, we don’t need to have loads of projects, around 3 would be fine.
But those 3 need to be highly detailed and showcase our problem-solving ability.
Behance.com has tons of inspiration and examples on how you can structure your case studies,
it should tell a story from idea to outcome.
I know that it can take time to properly set out these projects, but it can make a difference when clients are making important hiring decisions.
Carefully craft your projects, you’ll see that, it will pay dividends when the time comes for you to prove yourself.
Takeaway
To summarize everything, in a nutshell, mistakes you can avoid are:
- Focus on a couple of platforms instead of being everywhere, it’s better to go deep than across.
- Ensure to always set the right expectations, and be realistic with your deliverable.
- Focus on areas that impact your bottom line the most, everything else might be mere fluff.
- Build case studies, that show how you solve problems, instead of generic works.
- Go into a meeting having the correct solution, and never ever assume or guess what they need or what will solve their problem.
Conclusion
So there you go, those were some of the pitfalls I faced when freelancing.
Freelancing can truly lead to freedom, but only when it is done right.
I hope the pitfalls I mentioned above will give you a heads-up on, what to look out for.
I’d love to read about your experiences with freelancing and any obstacles/success you faced. Im sure we can learn and grow from each other’s experiences.
Thank you for reading and let me know if this post helped you in any way.
I’ll see you in the next post.
