1.  We’re afraid we won’t get the assignment.  It will go to the cheaper guy.

2.  We’re afraid of being laughed at.  “How much?  For that?  Are you serious?  Wow, you are way out of line here.”

3.  We’re afraid the client will say yes to that big juicy fee, and holy crap we’ll [...]

There is a perverse karma in freelancing in that, sometimes, the most lucrative and most plentiful work can be the ugliest.

Or the work that makes your skull ache is precisely the work clients love you for.

A programmer friend of mine moans that he could spend six months a year collecting $10,000 checks for untangling hairballs of code for big enterprise applications. He’s supremely good at the work, but can’t stand the pain of doing it.

Meanwhile, he’s itching to program some kick-ass photo manipulation software for a startup. But that gig pays only in Cheetos. The small bags.

Me, I have a client who will pay me $2,400, over and over again, to write the same happy customer story, over and over again, all year long. Same word count, same format, same subheads each time. I have to duct-tape myself to the chair to get these done.

But the client loves them. And wants ever more.

It is thus for all freelancers at times.  For all artists.  Even for companies.

Continue . . . »

There are only three possible reasons for saying ‘yes’ to a freelance assignment.

You’re making a good pile of money. You’ll have a lot of fun doing it. You’ll be doing good for a bunch of people.

None of the above?

Pass.