5 Lessons Learned from Freelancing
发布时间:2017年09月10日
发布人:nanyuzi  

5 Lessons Learned from Freelancing

 

David Carlson

 

Freelancing can be an awesome source of side- or full-time income, or it can be a total time and energy drain. Since I was in college, I have freelanced and worked on the side in a variety of ways. I have been paid for freelance social media, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), writing, and just last year, spreadsheet consulting. I learned more from spreadsheet consulting than any other freelance job I’ve had, mainly because it gave me the most work and hit some road blocks and challenges.

 

Overall, I enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) my experience, but there are a few things that I would definitely wish I had known before diving into freelancing:

 

1. Be realistic about your time

 

While I would love to own my own spreadsheet/database design and consulting company, the reality is that right now I have a full-time job, pretty much single-handedly run this website, and bought a home that has many home improvement projects waiting for me to tackle. Did I forget to mention that I’m married and desire to have a social life?

 

While you can certainly try to “do it all”, at some point, you will have run out of ways to fit everything in your schedule, eventually your freelance work, regular job, social life, etc. will start to suffer. Make sure you don’t take on 80 hours of work a week when you already have a full-time job (or you know, a significant other… or friends… or hobbies). Set the hours you will dedicate to freelance and defend your free time.

 

2. Charge more than you think you should

 

I absolutely understand that when you freelance you are competing against many others who want your job. Ultimately, though, you need to decide what your time is worth. For spreadsheet consulting, I have been charging less than I make per hour at work, and that doesn’t even include all the benefits and perks of working at a large corporation. After taxes, I really wasn’t making that much.

 

Especially if you are freelancing in your spare time, be weary of setting your rate too low. You may get a lot of work from a client, but if you set your hourly rate too low, you may come to loathe the pay rate… especially if you are working your butt off to make sure that you are giving them the most for their money.

 

3. Make yourself stand out

 

Some Spreadsheet/Database/Excel/Access/VBA consultants charge in the range of $100 to $200 per hour. They stand out because of their skill set. Not many people have put in the time and energy to master a programming language and the art of good database/spreadsheet design. Beyond having good design, you have to be able to troubleshoot problems before they happen and make sure that what you are creating is adaptable, usable, and anticipates user error. This is a highly sought-after skill set for many companies who live and die by data analytics.

 

While that is a very niche freelance area, there are some freelance areas that a much larger pool competes in. The obvious example is freelance writing. There is a huge need for content because there are an endless number of sites who need daily – if not hourly – content. Making yourself stand out can be a bit harder when there are so many other people competing for jobs. The most obvious way would be to focus on one niche, as well as get published content, which can be as easy as starting a blog.

 

Whether it’s the specific skill set you have, the niche you focus on, or the experience that you have accumulated over the course of years, it’s incredibly important to stand out in the freelance world.

 

4. Set realistic expectations for your client

 

The most important thing to do when freelancing is to communicate to your client about expectations. Sometimes, freelancers are guilty of making a project sound simpler than it really is, or not being completely open about potential issues that could arise (and inevitably cost the client more money). I think it’s important to be very vocal about the possible limitations of software as well as being very conservative about potential hours it will take to finish a project.

 

Make sure you don’t set unrealistic – or impossible – expectations from the get-go!

 

5. Have fun

 

Especially if you plan on freelancing as a side income source, try to pick something you will actually enjoy. The last thing you want is a side income to become lucrative, just to find out you hate it. I think one of the best things to do, when it comes to freelancing, is to either pursue something that relates to a hobby of yours or something that will improve your skills in your full-time career. That’s what I’ve done, and it’s made it a bit easier to stomach doing work after work and on the weekends.