Tips for Your First Freelancing Job
You just got your first freelancing job. You’re excited because you’ll be able to put into practice all that education and a pay check will be waiting for you at the end. However, this raises a vital question: Now what?
Write The Quote
Do this first. This simple document will explain what you’ll be doing, how much it’s going to cost and when it’ll be done. It’s also a good idea to explain how the process goes. This is where you explain how many revisions the client will receive, the cost of printing, and other steps of the process. If you don’t know what your process is, that’s quite alright. Remember, this is your first freelancing job.
Commit to a Reasonable Deadline
Committing to a humanly impossible deadline is one of the worst things you can do. There are two important reasons. First, the quality of your work will be horrible. Second, you’ll burn yourself out. Don’t feel intimidated, give yourself a reasonable amount of time to complete the job. When you do this, not only will your work be of great quality, but you’ll also be building your reputation as a reliable freelancer.
Ask Questions
Freelance Folder has a great post about asking the right questions. Questions are invaluable to doing your job right. However, don’t annoy your clients with unnecessary questions. Write down what you’d like to ask beforehand and read the aforementioned article.
Send a Thank You Card
This is a great business practice. Thank them for their business. Tell them that it was a pleasure working with them. Stroke their ego. They’ll come back for more.
Final Words
Do you remember your first freelancing job? What did you do? Anything to add?
Tim Smith is a music loving blogger and designer. He’s passionate about blogging and loves to share his thoughts and experiences for the benefit of others. Find out more on his personal site. Follow Tim on Twitter: @timothybsmith.
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A written quote and statement of work always blows them away with professionalism, also for a semi-quick win: branded stationary.
Most usually they aren’t expecting a high level of professionalism with a first-time freelancer. Give them something to tell their friends about.
Branded Stationary… now that’s a good one. Thanks for your comment.
I agree that branding is huge, I might suggest even more then a semi-quick win. When your not a big marketing company, “looking” like one can go a long way. I have found that with branded quotes, invoices, website and business cards, clients may not even know that it is your first time, or that you are just starting out.
If you are a designer, it can be a lot of fun designing a brand for yourself. One thing to remember though, make sure it looks good. Not Arial on white. If you are a developer, it is worth it to hire a friend or another freelancer to give yourself a brand.
Nice work Tim, I think an article focusing on the importance of branding for start-ups would be a great article to see, along with examples. Maybe on Fuel Your Branding! ;)
Thanks for your comment. I definitely agree with your points. Branding can do a lot for a newbie freelancer.
Oh and thanks for the idea of writing for Fuel Your Branding. I just might have to do that :-)
BenchMark your new client. Study and learn is area of business.
Make always a proposition that requires x% of the total price in advance.
After recieving the first cheque think that you didnt recieve any. Keep with the same passion! Forget the money until the end of the process.
Regards,
BM
Yeah I agree. Money isn’t everything. You have to have a passion/love for what you’re doing. Thanks for your comment.
LOVE the idea of the Thank You card. Great idea.
One thing I’d add is that having a contract is essential, I believe. It doesn’t need to be complicated but it should lay out the terms of the agreement for service. Years ago I was burned by not having one so I always have one now. Not only are you protected, but you appear more professional.
Thanks for this good article!
A good article.
I agree with Lisa, because having an agreement define the scope of your project. So it is easy in every case.
The thought of sending a “thank you” card is new to me. Thanks! I might just do that soon. Since someone mentioned a branded stationary, which would you prefer to send- a handwritten note or a typed up one? You’re choosing between professionalism and having a personal touch. How about a handwritten note on a branded stationary? Sounds like a good combo!
Exactly! This is what i do: I have some 10,000 (exaggerating) thank you cards with my name and website. When I finish a project with a client, I take one out and write, “Wow! This went awesome! Thank you so much for the pleasure of working with you! We should do it again sometime!”. Or something like that. Great idea Rachel and thanks for your comment.
That Mix idea is BRUTAL! Thx Rachel.
Tim — where’s a good place to have TY cards printed? Do you have a recommendation?
I actually have access to an actual press. So… I print them myself.
Lisa: try this guys » http://www.moo.com
Very nice, Tim!
I completely forgot about moo. Thanks, Bruno!
really cool blog post, I have been freelancing for a couple of years now and although its working great for me now, it was very hard to win my first job and gain peoples trust when having such a little portfolio of work.
Never had a job. I’ve been using a lot of techniques so far, but never seen any pay. I may probably be doing something wrong, here.
Also jumping on the band wagon here – the thank you card is new to me too and I can see a LARGE pay off in using that. Thanks!!
As a first time freelancer this info really helps but, just starting out how do you know how much your worth.?
I think it really just comes down to hit and miss. Compare your work to your competition, if it is better charge more, if it isn’t quite as good charge a bit less. I know that is kind of vague, but really you just need to pick a number and see how many clients you land. If you value yourself at a rate and aren’t getting any clients past the quote/estimate stage, you probably need to think about adjusting your rate.
It’s all about finding that happy medium by trial and error!
Thanks! good advice. I’ve just gradutated, and having finished my internships, now looking for a job, I’m stuck in the in between, and now I’m wondering if I couldn’t just have my own business.
Well I think a lot of people feel the same way coming out of school, I did. I did work a bit freelancing in fact after graduating. It was nice and all, if you can keep finding clients and putting the effort into it, but at the same time, the experience you will get from finding a job with a design company of any sort, in a team environment, is huge. Even if you do want to start your own business or freelance, you can learn a lot about the business and the industry from working at an agency.
I have just recently made the switch from freelance to full time work and am enjoying it.
That’s my plan.
I completely agree with Graeme. I did freelancing out of school and it became very difficult to continuously generate business. Especially because when you get out of school… you don’t have much of a portfolio.
I would recommend starting with a company. Gain experience. Then, freelance.
I want to add that in a highly creative situation, you need to have everything spelled out. I’m a freelance photographer working with a lot of editorial fashion productions, and if I don’t discuss the creative brief with the client in detail, chances are there will be something they might think of to add or change on the day of the shoot. To be really prepared to shoot the assignment on time and with all the right equipment ready, I try to spell out all the creative aspects we agree upon, and we sign these into the contract. Part of the contract states that we don’t change anything in the brief after a certain date. This makes sure both parties are clear on the parameters of the assignment, and there’s no scrambling around for clarity when the time comes to deliver the product.