Cody Robert — design, code, freelancing, productivity, LIP, travel

That’s some solid advice. Although it’s very contradictory to what I’ve been told most of my life.

Our parents tell us to think things through before we act, which in many respects is a very valuable skill. Pausing to think for a second can help us to avoid many mistakes. If I had stopped to think about what I was going to write for this post and actually thought it out, I’m sure it would have been a hell of a lot more grammatically correct and none of my words would be misspelled.

But had I stopped, planned a little bit and then started piecing together my work, I wouldn’t have finished writing.

I was an editor for my highschool newspaper and during that time I can’t think of once where I planned out a story ahead of time, or stopped to think about what I would ask my interviewees, or even thought about what my page would like before I placed all the stories and photos.

Planning and thinking takes time. Time I do not have.

If Bill Gates had thought and planned, we wouldn’t have the Microsoft empire that exists today. He would still be tinkering with his Altair running BASIC.

Microsoft thought may be the biggest example I can give. They act before they think. Ofcourse they make mistakes, often. More mistakes than many of us would like. Were they to plan out every detail of Vista before they actually started working on it, we’d still be running Windows 98.

Action is what moves us forward, advances us in our pursuits. You can only do so much thinking about action before you’ve thought all that you can.

There’s only so much thought that can be put into planning a project for a client. If too much thought is put into it, that client may pass you by. The world runs on a clock and if you can’t match the speed at which the world operates it does pass you by.

If you’re going to think and muse you might as well sit on the sidelines and let someone else do the hard work. The action. Movement.

But I want you out in the battlefield. Fight for what you want. Don’t think about the fighting. Don’t think about how you’re going to increase your income.

Find ways to accomplish what you want and don’t think, do.

Let’s be honest: you are a freelancer to make money. This is your income. The goal of your work should be to make a living using the skills you own and love. But what are your client’s needs? Do those needs and interests match your own?

I was reading Freakonomics this past week. One chapter struck home in a business sense. The chapter talked about realtors and how, even though they may seem to be looking out for your best interests, that’s often not the case.

Realtors are just like any other hard working business man: they want to maximize profit over time. They want to sell your house as quickly as possible for as little as possible. Eventhough you hired them to sell your home, their job isn’t to get your to most bang for your buck, but rather to get your home sold fast so that they can get their commission as quickly as possible.

That’s often why when selling your home realtors will suggest that you start marking down the price on your home. The home is of no value to them unsold.

Likewise as a freelancer, a design, or project is of no value to us unsold. But even when it is sold, it’s of less and less value if more and more time has to be put into making changes. In that case, we freelancers can be very much like the realtor that was looked at previously.

How then can we align our interests with our clients?

As a freelancer, I strive to offer quality service, amazing designs, and usually at a reasonable price. Although what if I am charging too little for my services? It’s possible that I could increase my rates (which I have several times over the years) to allow a greater budget for myself, while continuing to provide the excellent service and design that I strive for.

But thinking about it like that doesn’t suit most clients. As a business, a website or design is only as useful as the value it provides them. Whether that value is in the form of increased sales or greater brand identification.

If I can create a design or user interface that effectively increases sales of a business by $50,000 annually, wouldn’t that work be worth 50%, 25%, or even 10% of that amount?

My job then is not to simply choreograph a pretty website, but to design a website that increases sales. Because if my client makes money, I make money.

And my interests, are then the same as my clients interests, which makes this whole business easier for the both of us.

There’s a reason that guy came to you (or you went and got him, but they still picked you!) It wasn’t because you blew them away with your coding knowledge or reasonable prices. It wasn’t even because of that cool logo you had designed by your sister-in-law.

Businesses will hire you because you’re human. They want that perfect combination between what they perceive to be the nerdy geek needed to complete the job and the cool mac dude that knows how to befriend everyone.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…

My mother works for a construction lien company. Their “computer guy”, I’ll call him John Doe for argument’s sake, created and operates the company website.  I couldn’t tell you how he was hired other than assuming it went like this: the owner’s friend highly recommended his sister-in-law’s husband without really knowing how good he was or if he would be a good match for the company.

Needless to say, I have a fairly low opinion of John Doe as he’s performed well for the work, not the business. Yes, they have a functional website and it’s also fairly attractive. He could have done much better for them though. The work is average and I’d hope that they’re not paying more than an “average” pay for it.

It’s not because of the average work that I have a low opinion of this man. He’s just an example of the average good worker. Which means that he’s perfectly acceptable to the “average” business. But when we’re looking to achieve excellence, and trust me, most businesses you work with are attempting the feat, you have to perform as an excellent individual - not a good, hard worker.

Businesses are made of people. In a lot of situations the person is the business. Take a look at a lot of the professionals in any field and you’ll see names as brands rather than brands as names. It’s the difference between Louis Vuitton and CARP (China’s Average Retail Product). If you’ve ever tasted carp, trust me, it ain’t pretty. It’s grainy and full of garbage that you don’t want to eat. There are much better fish in the sea.

All this comes back to say that businesses prefer working with people. If they wanted robot with no personality, they could just as easily outsource their work to India and pay half as much for the same result. And to be honest, a lot of those Indians have better personalities than many of your “average” workers.

John Doe is that robot. He works from home, by himself, and most likely has no social life. He has odd mannerisms that tell you he is socially inept and doesn’t know how to deal with people. He definitely knows how to deal with computers. Businesses are a “tiny bit” more than just a computer.

Your client doesn’t want a John Doe, or a Chinese knock-off. They want the Louis Vuitton and Swarovski of the web world. It honestly probably makes little difference if the actual work is done by you or an Indian outfit as long as it is done well.

The client won’t see all the work that is done behind the scenes. What they see and want to know are good and kind are you. They want to be able to put a friendly name and face to the business they are working with. A face is something identifiable, a personality, a thought or idea, a kind smile.

Show them that face and personality. Become more than simply a service that they’re using. Make them your friend and associate with them. Businesses want to feel like they know you and have developed a relationship with you. That’s exactly the same thing as you want because that means trust in your brand (and continued work!)

Be friendly and compassionate and show them that you’re someone to be had as a friend rather than an acquaintance.

Nearly four years ago I swore off any and all future work for myself online because of a client. We’d figuratively played a game of chicken and I lost. For about a year after that I stuck to that decission and didn’t take any more freelance work.

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Networking is the only reason I continue to receive freelance work.

I don’t cold call. I never could call a business/person and just starting selling myself. It feels like I’m pimping myself out as something to be bought and used rather than a service or product separate from me. It’s not me and I don’t want to be presented as such.

I also don’t apply to job listings anymore. It’s too much of a hassle considering the often low ROI that is often attached.

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We’ve all had or will have a client at some point in our careers that simply doesn’t perform for you. They might be overly needy or their personality plain doesn’t mesh well with your own.

But they are your bread and butter. They’re your bed partners as well. They’re your source of income so they can’t simply be shrugged off and ignored. They either have to be worked with or dropped by the wayside.

Rather than struggling through an unworkable situation, the better option is almost always to drop or break-up with them. This post is going to define the description for that client so we can better be prepared for these circumstances.

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In part 1 I gave you the first three tips from Indiana Jones. They went like this:

1. It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you
2. Protect your assets, like a large bobcat protects her cubs
3. Community service as a business asset

Now’s time for the next three!

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I’m very excited for the new Jones movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I’ve re watched the first three, three times over the last week. It might be a little bit of overkill!

As such, I’ve been noticing how much Jones’ work compares to my own as a freelancer. This is part one of the top 6 freelancing tips, courtesy of Indiana Jones.

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