Why you are losing clients | How to stop

We spend a lot of time on Freelance Folder talking about marketing. That is because good marketing is very important to a freelancer’s success. It is important to get those clients in the door and signed up for your products or services if you are going to earn enough to really support yourself as a freelancer.

For some freelancers, though, that “in” door is actually a revolving door. If this is you, it may seem that no sooner do you get a client signed up for your products or services than they leave. You have no idea why you are losing clients, but you know that it has to stop.

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This post should take some of the mystery out of why freelancers lose clients. It will also provide some tips for how to hang on to the clients that you do have.

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Critical resources to help designers get organized

One of the most important aspects of running a freelance business is getting and staying organized. Most freelancers wear so many different hats and have such a wide variety of responsibilities that organization will be one of the critical factors in determining what percentage of working time can be dedicated to income-generating activities.

Organization is key to achieving optimal productivity and efficiency, which of course are important for any freelancer who wants to earn a living without working ridiculous hours. In the life and work of a freelance designer there are many different aspects that must be well organized. In this article we’ll take a look at a number of different ways that freelancers need to be organized, and I’ll point out some helpful resources along the way.

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29 (mostly FREE) resources for freelance designers operating on a tight budget

There are plenty of highly-useful resources and web apps that have been created with freelance designers and developers in mind. But for many freelancers, especially those who are just getting started, pricing can be an issue. In this post we’ll feature 29 resources that are not only very useful for freelancers, but also extremely affordable. Many of them are free or offer a free plan, and the others are priced below the competition.

Hopefully you will find some resources here that will help you to save time and make your work more efficient and effective.

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How many ideas do you show your clients?

I read somewhere that showing your client the full range of your creative ideas during a project is important, the rationale being that the client is entitled to see the ideas coming from the creative professional who they have hired and invested in. While this approach has some benefits, in some cases showing too many ideas is counter-productive to the natural flow of a project. Proof of how imaginative you are can be shown in other ways.

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When and how to draw the line when everything is an ’emergency’

Clients usually turn to freelancers because they prefer a more ‘personal’ approach than agencies or larger organizations can offer. The relationships and sometimes even friendships that come from working closely with clients to bring their vision to life are always a satisfying element of my business. Unfortunately, the expectations that accompany the client’s desire for personal service can grow to nightmarish proportions if not managed correctly.

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Freelancers | Where do you work?

Assuming that you have a choice available with no outside factors involved – choosing whether to work from home or a rented space/studio is a decision every freelancer should spend time thinking about. Importantly, it’s a question that one should probably ask themselves at regular intervals of their freelancing life… There is no right or wrong answer; it is ultimately a personal decision for the lone freelancer.

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Freelance overload | How to deal with too much work

As freelancers we often face the dilemma of “feast and famine,” alternating between having too little work and too much. Here at Freelance Folder we’ve even written articles on how to avoid the cycle as well as help with avoiding the famine completely, but there will also be times when you are overwhelmed with work and more projects just keep falling into your lap.

Having too much work is a better problem to have than too little, but it is still a problem many freelancers face. With too much work, you risk getting burned out while working very long hours and not sleeping enough. You may start missing deadlines or be less accessible than some of your clients would like or need you to be.

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How to get your ideas across to clients

We know all too well the common and frustrating design scenarios clients present us with, such as wanting us to stretch images disproportionally, cramming as much information as possible in a small space so that you need a magnifying glass to read the text, or brushing off design best practices. Yet we seem to always have the same flat rebuttals to throw back, and furthermore, we repeat them time and time again.

I’d like to share with you two quotes that have helped me deal with getting my ideas across to clients.

“Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I might remember. Involve me and I will understand.”
– Chinese Proverb
“You only need three guiding principles: show up, tell the truth and be on time.”
– Brian Matt, Founder/CEO, Altitude, Inc.

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Freelance contracts: dos and don’ts

In the world of freelancing, entrepreneurs have to take on a number of tasks for themselves that would normally be handled by a separate department at a bigger company. Most of these tasks are not part of the creative processes that freelance workers are used to, but rather are more tedious, left-brain paperwork. Right-brain creatives often shudder at the thought of these forays into linear domains. Such detail-ridden tasks would strain any freelancer who wears multiple hats, but they must be completed.

One such task is contracts. Drafting a contract that covers you, and doesn’t just enumerate information, is more than important: it is a must. Freelancers do not have the benefit of a legal department dedicated to protecting their interests with a watertight contract. Nevertheless, a freelancer’s contract must be comprehensive, concise and clear. It should outline the scope of the job, scheduling demands, the expectations of both parties and more.

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Critical mistakes freelancers make

Seeing as we are all human (well, presumably whoever is reading this post anyway), we should recognize that mistakes happen. They even have that saying, “To err is human…,” which goes to show that it is not only commonplace for us to err once or twice: it is expected. But a method is behind this madness, because making mistakes is one of the major ways we learn. This is no different for freelancers.

Finding our way over these bumps in the road often gives us valuable insight to take away. It helps us develop techniques and methods that we can incorporate into our creative process. As freelancers, we have the benefit of access to an entire online community that is willing to share its experiences so that we can learn without having to make the same mistakes.

So in this post, we look at 10 critical mistakes freelancers make. Hopefully, if you haven’t already made one of these mistakes yourself, you can learn the lesson behind it.

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