Posts Tagged ‘Freelancing’

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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.

I wasn’t prepared to lose. In the game, whether that be life, love, work, or taxes, you win sometimes and you lose others. To win in the long run, you have to be prepared to lose.

Quick thought: don’t play the taxes game. The banker knows when you cheat!

In October 2003, I started a short lived relationship with a client. I was developing what amounted to an AJAX powered website slightly before the AJAX revolution began. I started this project off on the wrong foot by quoting myself short on both time and cost.

These type of losses are only short term and can often be corrected through appropriate communication. If the budget that was planned turned out not to be enough, tell the client and attempt to work out a solution that is satisfactory for both sides.

That doesn’t mean you lost in the game though, you simply fell behind. I fell behind.

I continued to fall behind with missed deadlines and procrastinated work cycles.  We worked out a satisfactory solution where the project was completed on a longer timescale with the same budget.

This way I was able to focus on other work besides this project as well.

The project concluded in March. What was originally a two week project turned into a 3 and a half month long marathon.

I’d already been paid half of my budget in the beginning of the project and at the half-way point. I lost the game after handing over my work and my opponent chose not to pay me the second half of my budget.

I felt degraded, cast out, and pretty much like shit for a few months following. That was worse than not being paid what I was due.

Prepare Yourself for Failure

Playing chess, you usually don’t throw out a piece undefended. Your queen might be attacking but your bishop is right there backing her up.

Don’t leave your work defenseless. Prepare a good contract that will back you up when your opponent decides to play against the rules. Verbal or email contracts aren’t accepted as valid in all countries/states so make sure it’s in writing.

Even though you may have safeguards in place like an all-binding contract, you still have to prepare yourself to lose.

Your next project shouldn’t be an end-all be-all. What I mean is, if this project were to fall out from under your feet, you need to still be standing. Like wage earners who work from paycheck to paycheck, we freelancers often can fall into the mistake of living from project to project.

But placing ourselves in that position gives the client power over us. It’s unnecessary and only limits your potential as a freelancer. it doesn’t prepare yourself to lose but simply places hope, often false, in a win.

But hope, even if it’s not false, is not good. You can’t hope that you’ll be still working from day to day. Measures have to be taken to ensure that you still have your line of work tomorrow.

Work on multiple projects at once. Client often like to “own” you while they’ve hired you for work although if you let them then you have nothing to fall back onto if they decide to force a loss upon you.

Not Being Prepared

My brother is 13. He made a flippant bet with a friend the other day. It turned out that he lost and was forced to wear fingernail polish for the rest of the week. He wasn’t prepared to lose. He hadn’t expected to lose. His friend had only won by a slight margin which made it even worse.

At the dinner table when we noticed as he was trying to hide his fingernails by pawing the serving spoon is when he lost. He lost all scrap of manhood we had left for him. Admittedly, it was a pretty ballsy bet to make on his behalf.

What he was afraid of was losing the one piece of manhood he had attached to our other brother. He simply adores him and tries to be like him. He told me, he’s going to make sure he does not find out.

Thinking about what he said, I realized how prepared he really was. He knew what he needed to protect and where it was ok to cut his losses.

I learned how to lose from my younger brother.

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.

Why Network?

Networking takes time. True. It could also result in that one job that gives you the most pride.

When you network, you’re putting forth that extra effort that you wouldn’t have otherwise through either cold calling with a rote sales pitch or sending a standard CV and resume to potential clients. You’re showing that potential client that you see them as more than simply a paycheck that you either want or need. They see something special in you.

The client wants to know that you are there to take care of them. If they wanted someone that was simply able throw together a website they’d be looking for the cheapest provider possible. In most cases that turns out to be an Indian company where they can outsource the project.

As a freelancer, you’re most likely looking to earn more than a minimum wage job. Show you’re clients that you deserve to be paid what you’re asking by becoming personable in your networking techniques.

Profitable Habits

Your most profitable asset is your voice. What you say to someone will ring louder than any business card or email.

So use it!

If you’re going to the coffee shop to get some work done, talk to people. Pick out someone that looks like they own or operate a business. Pick out the ones that are using crackberries (blackberries) or dressed in business attire.

Yeah it seems weird but it takes a little guts to make real connections.

They will see you as different but approachable. This degree of approachability sets you apart from the crowd. You become a friendly acquaintance that you can sit and enjoy a coffee with rather than a greasy-haired salesman.

After you talk about what they do for work, tell them what you do and begin the networking process.

You may or may not get a lead from this particular person, but you have left a mark. It’s almost like you’ve branded them as your own. They’re going to be loyal to your name because they’ve gotten to know you a little bit in an informal situation and feel more comfortable with you.

The next time they hear something about your field (website design, writing, etc.) or they’re talking to a friend that needs that type of work, they will think of you!

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.

1. Endless changes. Unless you’re working on a high hourly rate, it’s not worth it to provide for a client’s unnecessary whims. They may state that they absolutely need something changed, but in reality it’s a very minor aspect of the project, if at all meaningful, and it’s better left out. The secondary option to simply getting rid of this client is raising your rates. In that effect, it forces the client to either be more selective in their needs or drop the obviously unnecessary ones.
2. Micromanagement. This will usually come from someone that you’re receiving outsourced work from. They know code, design, copy writing, fill-in-the-blank. They also feel as if they need to watch over your every move and monitor your job to the point where you can’t get anything done. It’s annoying and unproductive, but because they’re not the ones getting the work done they feel like they need to hold your hand in order for it to be completed.
3. Distrust. If your client can’t trust you, well, you have some problems! But if you are trustworthy and it’s out of your hands, it’s definitely a good reason to drop them. This may come in the form of them double-checking all your work or requiring regular check-ins during the day to ensure you are on schedule. Not only does distrust wastes both your and your client’s time, but it betrays the reason you’re a freelancer. You’re not freelancing so you can have a new boss managing your time. That’s why we left that office job.
4. Disorganization. This is more than the client simply not knowing what he needs as far as your project is concerned. They and their business are disorganized and/or dysfunctional. This spells bigger trouble for you because if their business can’t function in it’s own regard, it’s going to be even worse when they try to work with you.
5. Negotiation. It’s perfectly alright to negotiate with a seasoned client that you’ve worked with. They deserve some amount of discount having worked with you this long. The problem comes with the new clients that want something for nothing. They often think that the work we do is of little value because they generally won’t see all the work that is put in behind the scenes. Get rid of new clients that want to negotiate. All they’re doing is wasting your time.
6. “Well this guy says he can…” This client can’t tell the difference between someone that has been working in the field for 1 month compared to 10 years. They’ll often seek out quotes from others, many being freelancers of “lesser quality”, who they will compare to you. They’re not worth the time or effort to explain to them their mistake. It’s something they have to learn the first time by going with the cheaper guy. Inevitably, they will get what they pay for, crap, and come back to you having realized their mistake.
7. Too many chiefs. And not enough Indians. You shouldn’t have to work with more than one person in their organization in order to complete your work. That is your main person. If you’re receiving direction from multiple sources, there will be data overlap and misdirection rampant.
8. Attitude. You’re in for hell if you’re getting attitude from a client. You know what you can weather so decide this for yourself. This is a professional relationship and if you’re getting lip from the other end, that’s not good.
9. Deconstructive criticism. Anger and yelling will get the project moving nowhere. A lot of people manage others through fear and/or anger. As a freelancer, that’s not going to work because we work on our own time and bill.
10. Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t always right. That’s one of the more difficult things the deal with. In reality, they can often be wrong. They hired you for a reason: you are the expert. Not them. Take command of your job, and if they still don’t like it: get rid of them.
11. No payment. This might be a nobrainer. If they’re not paying you, stop doing work for them. A half-finished project isn’t going to do them nearly as much good as a fully finished one that you keep working on in “hopes” of getting paid. To avoid this situation to begin with, ask for a down payment. It weeds out these type of clients.
12. God syndrome. Plain and simple. They are full of themselves and think everyone and their mom lives to serve them. Your mom needn’t be baking cookies to sedate him while you finish his website. Kick him on the street before he saps the last of your life away.

If you have any reasons to kick a client by the wayside or examples of particularly socially untrained clients, post them in the comments!

As a freelancer, and granted, anyone really, it’s crucially important that we stay as fit and healthy as possible. Big corporations have made billion dollar businesses based on this fact.

We eat our daily vitamin supplements (Flintstones anyone?), we follow our healthy dieting plans, and I bet it’s a good estimate that 1 in 8 people carry a bottle of Aspirin/Ibuprofen/Tylenol with them wherever they go. Just in case they might need it to ward off that oncoming pain.

Who could possibly work the rest of the day with a mild headache?

I had a discussion with my mom the other week about obesity in America. She started telling me about this woman she had seen walking around town nearly everyday during the last few weeks. This woman was also very large, rotund, whatever you’d like to call it. I’m not going to try to be politically correct.

My mom mentioned something she had thought:

Wow, I’m really proud of you. You’re one of the few people actually taking this problem into your own hands instead of blaming other people.

It wound up that soon afterward, my mom recognized her walking into the high school football stadium, presuming she was there to walk around the track.

She did, and after went to the concession stand and bought a large coke.

It’s those disgusting contradictions that really piss me off. Like why we think we can stop aging or lose weight with a pill. Is everyone so easily bought in by advertising that they believe this shit?

I presume that I’m not easily bought in because my parents have always taken care of themselves the hard way and taught me the same:

• keeping fit
• eating well
• eating less

Though sometimes I do have a hard time eating well. Luckily, at the ripe age of 20 I have a roaring metabolism that keeps my bad eating in check.

This is the start of a series on healthy living. I’ve been planning on this for a while because it’s one of the most important aspects of a freelancer’s life. Do you pay yourself for sick days

Well, I’m pretty sure most of us work through the sick days anyway, but that doesn’t make it any less pleasant or heal the ailment any faster!

So I’m throwing the cards down here and now. Don’t take offense. If I were trying to offend you, no, wait, I wouldn’t. Shut up, sit down and listen up now boys and girls:

1. There is no miracle weight loss pill. The only thing they help you lose is your hard earned cash.
2. Being fat is not ok. Not because it’s you take up more room on the sidewalk than you should, or because I have some disposition against fat people. It’s wrong because being overweight is an endangerment to your health. I would go as far as saying it’s a crime worthy of punishment. In the same respect, it’s wrong to be unnaturally underweight. (Thank God France did make this a crime!)
3. You might have underlying mental/social problems to your unhealthiness. Too bad. That cannot be an excuse to be unhealthy. Yes it makes it that much harder to accomplish the goal of being healthy but it will make you that much better of a person for having done so.
4. Warehouse membership stores (Sam’s club, Costco) are not your friends. Think for a second: if you buy less food, you’re forcing yourself to eat less food, and in the end have less possibility of gaining weight from the food you eat. For that matter, stores, gyms, any business is not your friend. They are not looking out for your best interests. They are looking out for #1 only. #1 wants your money and wil do anything to entice you to give it to him.
5. No pain, no gain. It hurts to change. It’s going to hurt to change your diet and eat less. It will hurt to start working out. It will hurt to deal with pain without a bottle of Aspirin at your side.

Are you ready now? There might’ve been some tears. That’s good. You should have realized that it’s going to be hard to get what you want. And I hope you want to be healthy.

Now we’re going to start by eliminating the junk from our diet.

I had a bit of comment banter with Sheamus last week about a post I wrote on the pareto principle. He mentioned how we would have to try hard to differentiate his post as he was planning on writing about roughly the same thing.

Well Sheamus, too bad but you wrote it too well and I’m just going to steal it back: The Problem of Clutter… in our diets (And What I Intend to do About it). Ok, maybe that’s not such a great title. Works great for Sheamus, but not me. Let’s try something different.

The Plan to Declutter our Diets

This is the crucial first step because without knowing what’s wrong in our habits, we can’t know when we’ve stepped back into them.

I guess it’d be kinda like going cold turkey on smoking cigarettes. It almost never works because your mind and body have attached physiological needs to the nicotine and don’t know why it’s been taken away.

We’re going to apply the pareto principle to our refrigerators. Now flat out assume that if you are fortunate enough to own one, 80% of the stuff inside provides little actualy value for your body.

1. Throw away everything that contains high-fructose corn syrup. It has got to be one of the worst things you can ingest, ignoring toxic chemicals. Unfortunately, most U.S. products use it in some amount.
2. If it doesn’t have a reasonable experiation date, toss it. Twinkies would be right on the top of this list. I’m just waiting to read a blog post about someone that eats a twinkie they’ve saved since 1970 and we finally have proof that the damn things don’t expire.
3. Dump the wonder bread. It’s not good for you, much like the twinkie. Bread is not naturally that white or spongy.
4. If you can’t read the ingredients, get rid of it. Too many foods have way too many preservative chemicals in them that are not good for you.
5. Limit the meat and dairy. Dr. Atkins died of a heart attack. That should probably show you that red meat isn’t as great as he professed.

At this point, you should have been able to throw away most of the food in your house. That’s a good thing! It means we’ve taken the first step - identifying the problem. These are our problem foods. The ones that cause us unhealthiness.

Let me know your thoughts. Please! If you think I’m crazy about all this, tell me. Or conversely, if you see some point to what I said, say so.

I may want to expand on this topic even more than simply a series here, and launch a new blog dedicated to it. I’d love to do it with somone else that’s interested as well. Hint. Hint.

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!

4. Fight for what you want

This one is similar to #2 (Protect your assets); different in the fact that our goal here is obtaining something we don’t yet have.

It comes into play in a couple of instances:

• The contract/client/project that’s really going to boost your visibility and/or generate leads.
• You need something, anything in order to keep your business afloat

Nothing is ever handed to anyone on a silver platter. That took me a while to find out. I assumed for a while that if I knew my stuff and told some people that I was here (think Horton Hear’s a Who, that’s about how loud I was) then easily without effort I would get some clients that wanted my work.

Boy was I wrong!

If you want something, you have to fight for it. Securing assets you want can be an all-out brawl, Super Smash Brothers style.

5. You can’t do it all alone

And it’d be better if you learned that sooner rather than later!

No one can do everything on their own. If we tried, we’d long ago be extinct (we’re not asexual!) Needing someone else as a part of your enteprise doesn’t mean you’re less capable than someone else.

Behind everyone there are dozens, hundreds, thousands of people supporting the person that you see. Whether that comes in the face of friendships, family, partnerships, or the occasional Indian VA (I want one!)

Often in business it’s much better operating with a partner for a few reasons:

1. If the venture fails, it’s not all on your back. You have someone else to share the good and bad.
2. Secondary perspective. It’s a lot easier to see if the train is going to crash when you’re looking from two different perspectives. Then you also have the aid of the second hand to mend the problem before the trail derails!
3. Two brains are better than one. It’s much easier to work with projects/people when you have the resources of two brilliant minds to utilize.

6. Know what your competition doesn’t

Now this is a general tip, meaning it doesn’t come with any examples. Although I’ve left it as the last tip because Indy most of the time simply knows a lot more than anyone he comes up against.

Whether that be in this case where the Nazi’s staff was too long or when he simply knows more because of experience. He succeeds because of it.

Utilize your knowledge to get an edge up on your competition. We aren’t playing some gentlemanly sport like tennis! Take all the chances you have to get a head up on the competition.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed these useful, maybe entertaining tips. If you have any more that Jones might be able to give post them in the comments below!

Have fun at the movies this weekend!

Disclaimer: The photos are copyright the Indiana Jones people. I’m assuming that specifically means George Lucas himself. So go buy the movies, they’re awesome!

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.

1. It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you

Jones definitely knows a lot of people, but it’s the people who know him that advance his pursuits. Jones is known for being amazing. He’s a respected archeologist at a North Eastern college and still has time for fun adventures on the side.

How can I be awesome?

It’s called meritocracy. In other words, demonstrated ability. For those wikiphiles:

…responsibilities are given based on demonstrated ability (merit) and talent rather than by wealth family connections…

To get people to know you, you have to make yourself known by what you do. No one’s going to come looking for you so show them yourself!

If you’re a writer, enter a contest and win!

If you’re a designer, land that big project and tell people about it. Or better yet, ask that company to tell about it.

2. Dont screw with the Jones, or protect your assets like a large bobcat protects her cubs

Do you remember the beginning of the Last Crusade? Where “young Jones” finds that golden cross and very soon after has it taken? Damn crooked sheriff!

Then he eventually got it back a couple decades later. Point being, he fought long and hard for that cross. That’s what you as a freelancer have to do with your business.

I’ve learned this principle very well from my dad. He owns a lot of stuff. Although not all of it falls into the business category, he protects all of it like any mother would her cubs.

Why is this important to me?

As a freelancer, we are on our own. Often the goal is to maintain several streams of income but unless those are protected as crucial assets, they can simply walk away.

Take for example the client. Remind them how important you are to them. Send out regular newsletters or simply keep in constant communication with them. Protect them and they’ll keep coming back to you.

3. Community service as a business asset

You’d definitely get noticed as a “do-gooder” if you saved a couple hundred Indian children from slavery. Realistically though, that’s probably not going to happen for most of us.

Community service is integral to building a strong, profitable business. Even if it’s only as a PR measure (would you really not feel better donating some money here or there?) it’s worth it.

And most donations are tax-deductible!

You want to present yourself as good for the client, the industry and the community.

Here’s an idea. Why not start a scholarship for aspiring writers/designers? It could be a yearly $1000, that gets your name out there as a successful professional, widens your audience, and brings you much more than you paid out in new projects/clients.

I’m going to leave you in suspense at this point. Come back on Thursday to read part 2 and get Jones’ next three freelancing tips before you see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull later that night!