7 Tips To Not Lose Your Soul As A Freelancer

Being a freelancer is exhausting. Of course, you’re a freelancer because you want to choose when, where and for how much you work. However, as you know, it’s much harder than that. The thought of going back to a full time job doesn’t appeal but freelancing tests your mental health. In the beginning of freelancing, I was all over the shop but having freelanced for a little while now, here are a few tips that have helped me not lose my soul!

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1) Regular Communication

The no.1 most important thing I’ve found as a freelancer is regular communication with both clients and project managers (if you’re working with agencies). The problems come when there are unclear boundaries set at the start of the project which sets the tone for the rest of the project. If the communication is sporadic and random, it becomes a nightmare to manage the project.

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Tip: I recommend making sure that you arrange to have calls for throughout the project in the kick-off call. This way, whether it’s weekly or bi-weekly, you always have a regular call.

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Tip 2: Set up a communication channel like Slack where the client and anyone else involved in the project can reach you. Emails get lost and you can get bombarded from all sides other wise.

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2) Have A Clear Process

Having a clear process makes the whole experience for you and the client more seamless. Obviously, when you start out, you are trying to work out your process as you try and work out what your service(s) are but when you have consistency with what you do and how, I recommend writing it down. This way, you will be able to clearly explain what your process is to a client which will sell the project for you. It also means that if you want to hire a freelancer, you will be able to give them documents to guide what you expect of them.

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Tip: WRITE DOWN YOUR PROCESS. You may think ‘Why would I do that? It’s my process and I’m the only one that’s doing it.’ However, it’s game changing when you speak confidently about your process and how it will guide the client to their desired goal.

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3) Charge Enough Per Project

I used to charge to cover my costs. However, my mentor at the time asked me what value I was providing for the client. This completely changed my perspective. I realised I need to charge based on the value I was providing, not simply on the minimum of what I could afford. I think I have struggled with money mindset for a long time but slowly have come to terms with the fact that money is not inherently evil and I shouldn’t be guilty charging more for projects.

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Tip: Read You Are A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero. Cringe book title but it honestly helped me to understand my self worth and feel comfortable charging enough.

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4) Keep Up Client Relationships

After a project is done, does that mean that you will never speak to your client again? NO! Hopefully, they were a pleasant client and you got on well. If that’s the case, isn’t it worth checking in on them after the project? If you see an article that might help them, how about you send it to them? If you hear a podcast that might help their marketing efforts, send it to them maybe? Just be a caring human being and they will reciprocate by asking you to do work for them potentially. Or maybe they will recommend you to their friends because you are top of mind.

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Tip: Everyone wants to feel cared for. Reach out to past clients and genuinely try to help them. Maybe they will then be more inclined to genuinely help you.

5) Use Feedback To Your Advantage

Recently, I got some really blunt feedback on a project. I felt it was unfair and disrespectful. However, once I got past the feeling of hurt, I realised that the feedback was in some ways valuable to me to learn from. I learnt that I needed to communicate more clearly about why I chose to make the design decisions I did. I learnt that I needed to pick and choose my clients more carefully too perhaps. Either way, getting feedback (even if it hurts) can teach you something.

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Tip: Ask the question why. Try and dig in to the mindset of the person giving negative feedback to you. Ask yourself how you can prevent this happening again and how you can improve the process.

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6) Always Plant Seeds

My previous mentor, Joana Galvão always spoke about planting seeds. If you think about when you plant seeds, some come grow and some don’t and you never know when they do. So, it makes sense to always plant seeds! What does this have to do with freelancing. I have found it helps to regularly post your work on social media, engage in conversations around your services online, have regular conversations with agency owners/freelancers and pick their brains and ensure that you share testimonials too.

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Tip: Try and make a regular cadence to post on social media. Or maybe commit to having a chat with a freelancer every week. Keep planting seeds!

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7) Never Stop Learning

Even if you become busy with work, I find it’s helpful to carve out some time during some time at least one day a week. You can always learn from other freelancers about their process, business practices, mindset setbacks or whatever. Ensuring that you’re growing as a freelancer is a never ending task which is quite overwhelming but also really liberating - there is so much out there to grow and explore!

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Tip: Work out when you want to focus on self growth and book that time off in your calendar! That way, no client calls or anything else can happen then.