Q: From Amy, a freelance translator: “I definitely need a smarter, more compelling sales pitch. “I struggle with clients who see translators as interchangeable, or think that one translation is as good as another. Some are even okay with having ‘bilingual’ employees do their translations in-house. “It’s especially frustrating when they don’t realize that […]
I used to think that a ‘fair price’ was whatever the client was willing to pay. I had always heard, “If they pay, they must consider it fair.” So I made it a practice to shoot for the ‘whistle price’. (Except when I chickened out.) That’s the fee where the client says, “Whew. That sounds […]
I’ve seen this happen over and over with the freelancers I know. Especially with me. I kick myself for it. Consider: When you’re new to freelancing, when you’re finding your way, your fees are modest. You may be skillful in your chosen craft, but you are not so sure-footed in this freelance thing. You worry about […]
Do those swell testimonials on your website do any good? I have no idea. Do clients even read them? Do clients know what they say even before they read them? Does it help if testimonials have many exclamation points? I don’t know. I know it gives us a warm feeling to have those customer […]
A friend Diana writes: “Please understand that I am going through a dry spell here, so I may be overstating this. “But I’m beginning to feel hopeless, as if I’m just one more designer/illustrator bobbing in a sea of 8 jillion other designer/illustrators who are all smart and talented and more famous than me. […]
How should you charge for your work? This is an age-old question. Should it be by the pound, by the day, by the project? What’s the framework? Then, how much should you charge? Is there a formula? A rationale? Do you even need a rationale? There are plenty of ways to think about all […]
From a friend in the UK: Q: I’m a freelance coder and developer. Twice, in the span of a month, I have accepted an assignment, taken a deposit, only to discover that the project is pure hell. One client turned out to be hopelessly clueless about the technology behind his own project. He couldn’t understand […]
I know. This should be obvious. It should also be as easy as sneezing. Working without a boss is, after all, what we signed up for. It’s why we went freelance in the first place. So we wouldn’t have someone leaning into our cubicle all day, telling us what to do. We wanted to call […]
You need to be good at your chosen trade, of course. The more skillful and knowledgable you are, the brighter your chances out there. (And besides, when we hang out our signs as writers, coders, illustrators, and designers, we have an obligation to honor the craft by being as good as we can be.) But, unfortunately, mastering your craft […]
Bear with me, because I’m about to get all sales and markety for a minute. But just for a minute. I’m talking about Way Smarter Freelancing, the first ebook from the editorial staff here at The Freelancery. (Me, mostly.) It’s 178 pages of real-world help that will make you a lot savvier about freelancing, right away. […]