How To Choose Your Clients As A Freelancer
Freelancing, just like any other industry, isn’t without its difficulties. One that comes to mind is building up a good clientele – and although Veelancing’s design eliminates those with no intent of holding up their end of the bargain, certain issues can’t be avoided via algorithms.
Here are some tips that can help you avoid freelancing contracts you’ll end up regretting.
1)Define your ideal client, and try not to stray
Before you start looking for clients, identify the characteristics of clients you enjoy working with. The most important characteristic will generally be the industry that the client is active in. Other factors may be the size of the company you are contracting for, project duration, budget, communication style, and so on. Although clients will rarely check all your boxes, try to keep deviations from your standards to a minimum in order to avoid burnout, confusion on both your and the client’s part, and missed SLAs.
2)Safeguard against scope creep
Nearly all projects will require minor touch-ups after completion. Taking a few minutes to rewrite several sentences or swapping out an image on a website for another isn’t scope creep. However, if a client asks you to add an entirely new section of content he hadn’t thought of previously, make sure you’re being paid extra for that. Always maintain clear criteria for the types of projects you're willing to take on, your pricing structure, and your availability. Don’t give in to unreasonable requests – these often devolve into camel’s nose situations, in which clients will repeatedly ask for exceptions, justifying their request by mentioning the previous one.
Since scope creep is an issue that many freelancers have complained about, we’ve eliminated it on our own platform, Veelancing, by ensuring the money is released once the requirements in the smart contract you signed are fulfilled.
3)Never work for free as a “test run”
Unscrupulous businesses love to abuse probation periods for employees – and many of those businesses also hire freelancers, which they attempt to mistreat using similar tactics. If you’re ever contacted with such a proposal, remind them that the moral of Pied Piper isn’t to be wary of strangers – it’s that you should always pay freelancers!
4)Ensure communication between you and your clients is efficient
Certain clients take too much time to respond when you need to run something by them. Although this isn’t as much of a problem when you have other projects you can work on, hold-ups due to miscommunications can leave you drained – financially, physically, and otherwise.
On the other side of the spectrum are clients who ask you to check in multiple times a day. This can be quite a nuisance and lead to delays due to time spent going over minutiae that can be solved in bulk later – so feel free to ensure you and your client can communicate at a speed that suits you both.
5)Know Your Customer, Know Your Work
Before taking on a new project, make sure the customer knows exactly what they want you to do – vague indications will infallibly lead to redesigns, confusion, and wasted time. On the other side of the spectrum, attempt to identify clients that have potential as repeat customers, or that may even want to keep you on retainer. Make sure to prioritize your work for these clients, and focus on maintaining a cordial yet professional relationship with them. A smile and some chitchat after a meeting can go a long way!
6) Maintain Professionalism
Sometimes, you’ll come to the conclusion that a client is not worth your time, or that your skills would be more helpful elsewhere. In these cases, always maintain a professional demeanour. Politely decline opportunities that don't align with your goals or values, and thank clients for considering you for their projects. It’s a small world – don’t forgo opportunities in the future due to poorly expressed sentiments!
7)Request Deposits or Milestone Payments
Consider asking for an upfront deposit or milestone payments for your projects, particularly those that stretch out over a longer period. This ensures that in case a project is abandoned by the client due to lack of interest, internal reorganizations, or other events, your work will not go unpaid.
8)Avoid shady requests
Last but not least, some clients will ask you to model your work on someone else’s. Often, this only means viewing said material to get a feel for what the client wants. However, if the client actually wants you to actively model your work on said material – or worse, outright plagiarise it – run. No amount of money is worth tarnishing your professional reputation and risking legal consequences. Additionally, if the client refuses to give any details on what your work will be used for – say, a database for PII is requested with no details on what it will be used for – distance yourself from the project as much as possible. You never know what consequences it may have for you later.
9) Keep Improving
Just like you keep looking for ways to improve your skills, you should also be looking for ways to improve your business relationships. After completing a project, take the time to evaluate your experience. Keep track of what worked well and, of what could be improved. Use this information to improve your existing business relationships, and to refine your client selection process moving forward.
10) Stay Informed, And Keep A Lawyer’s Number On File
If a client violates the terms of your contract, confront him immediately. Although a cordial discussion may be enough to rectify the situation, be prepared to enforce your rights through legal means if necessary. Having a solid contract in place can protect you in case of disputes or non-payment. Get ahold of a good boilerplate legal contract, and edit it on a case-by-case basis – or keep a lawyer on retainer and let him take care of this side of your business.
Stay informed about your rights as a freelancer, including local and international contract law, intellectual property rights, and so on.
Luckily, most of these issues can be avoided by using Veelancing, our smart contract–enabled platform built to prioritize the needs of freelancers. Most importantly, we charge the lowest fee of any platform – and none at all for the first year since launch.