20 Tips For Freelancers That Guarantee Rapid Success

The life of a freelancer is like a rollercoaster ride: From the top, it's easy to go downhill again. In this article I have collected 31 tips from freelancers with the aim that you, dear freelancers, can learn from the mistakes of others - and thus gain money, time and satisfied customers!

Read here about the areas in which most mistakes occur and where the potential for success (perhaps undiscovered to date) lies dormant, namely in:

• the fee

• The customers

• the deadline

• the entrepreneurship

• the SVA and the tax office

• the business processes

• the legal aspects

About the fee

1. FEE NEGOTIATIONS

Sure, the customer often has a small budget and imagines the outsourced work to be done quickly and easily. The "I would like the new feature tomorrow" order makes many programmers despair. Communicate the individual steps of the project in detail to your customer using the cost estimate so that he is informed about the actual effort and the costs are justified. And don't ask about his budget, name your price first!

2. DEFINE FEE LIMIT

Calculate a fee limit. You should not accept an order below this limit because it is not economical. Wave through the idle orders. Here you can see how to calculate your fee.

3. CALCULATE PER HOUR OR PER PROJECT?

With experience you work faster. Projects that are billed by the hour reduce your turnover over time. Therefore, calculate in projects and not in hours.

4. FEES ARE FLEXIBLE

When was the last time you increased your fee? Do you remember? If not, it's about time! With experience and expertise, not only does your competence increase, but also your value. Set your fee higher in line with your ability.

About the customers

5. "SAYING NO" IS NOT ONE OF YOUR STRENGTHS?

Almost all freelancers find it difficult to say no. I feel the same way. The customer keeps our business running, is a big cog in the system that we don't want to shake. To make things run smoothly, we don't dare to say no and swallow our uneasiness.

But before all signs are pointing to "No" and the thought of the project makes you repressive or even nauseated, it's better to cancel it - for the sake of your business. Because in the time when you would have been toiling, there is often another job that you do with the usual enthusiasm and joy.

6. CHOOSE A CONTACT PERSON

The more people join in and voice their opinions, the more your project degenerates and the more your frustration grows. After all, you want to please everyone. Pick (if it is possible) a specific contact person who stands between you and the company and mediates.

7. SCREEN YOUR CUSTOMER

Better safe than sorry: one or the other customer turns out to be a problem customer. Research what you can find about them on the Internet or review the warning signs that troublesome customers brought with them. Do your research on your behalf, too, to avoid potential blunders.

quote from lilli koisser

8. TAKE NOTES DURING CUSTOMER MEETINGS

How often has it happened to me - the customer explains his wishes and ideas to me and I'm so concentrated on it that I focus - so that I don't hear what is actually being asked for. To ensure that what is said is actually received and does not disappear in the draft between the two ears, it is important to record requirements in writing!

elena pavaletz

9. QUICK ACTION ON DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS

A dissatisfied customer leaves a bitter taste, a bad conscience gnaws at you and you question your skills. Own up to the mistakes you made and fix the job with a few extra hours so that the customer is happy again and your reputation is restored.

Customers who exaggerate excessively and have unrealistic ideas should be reassured quickly, because they are also the ones who communicate their frustration with you loudly and for a long time.

Luca Mercedes Stemer

10. THE CUSTOMER IS KING, IS HE?

Of course, the customer has the upper hand. But don't forget why he approached you: he needs your skills. And if the customer has an insane idea, you can calmly and politely put him in his place - you are the expert in your field and the result is also the inspiration for your work. Because if it's embarrassing, it'll come back to you.

11. MAINTAIN CUSTOMER CONTACTS

Which orders did you complete last year with flying colors and which customers are you still in contact with today? Wasn't there something? Knock but once again, Christmas is coming and is the ideal opportunity to wish happy holidays and remind yourself!

12. UPDATE CONTACTS

While we're on the subject of "sending a sign of life": You may still remember company XY, which brought you good sales in 2013. But who was the person behind it again? Hang on to your contacts, who did you particularly please? What is this person doing now? Research where the key person works now and get in touch.

About the deadline

13. NOTHING IS FIXED, EXCEPT THE DEADLINE

The deadline is not a vague deadline, it is the end of your (project) world and there is no afterlife here.

Allow enough time to deliver your work on time. A cold or a laptop that doesn't work - all reasons that drive the self-employed to despair and deliver results that would have had more potential.

If there is a delay because you were invited to the Ted Talks as a speaker, please inform your customer in good time.

14. MISSING: THE DEADLINE CALENDAR

The more customers you take care of, the more deadlines there are. An extra deadline calendar is needed to plan whether and how the overlapping projects will end. The deadline calendar should also be pulled out during a customer meeting in order to agree on realistic deadlines in advance.

Payments to the tax office or the SVA should also be listed in the deadline calendar so that there are no delay costs.

About entrepreneurship

15. YOU HAVE NEVER INVESTED IN YOUR BUSINESS?

If so, then that smells more like "muddling through" than a business. And we all do that as freelancers in some way – after all, who has great money to invest? But the competitors don't sleep and it's all about small investments: A computer that works quickly or reading material that brings your knowledge up to date. Invoicing software or social media tools are also available for little money - and they save a lot of time.

16. ABSTINENT: A CASH RECEIPT SCHEDULE

We issue our invoice generously - and whoops, once sent away, one or the other payment amount can already be forgotten - on both sides! Many customers are real payment muffles. Or even worse: The customer is a corporation and pays as late as possible anyway in order to earn on the interest. Make a note of when the payment should be made on the calendar and send a reminder immediately if it is not received. But more on that later.

For large jobs, it is best to ask for the first half of the fee during the project and the second half after the correction loop. On top of that, your liquidity does not suffer.

17. YOU SPEND EVERYTHING YOU EARN

Have you compared your expenses with your savings? That hurts, right. But even more painful is not having a backup in tough times. Sooner or later everyone is hit by a lack of orders, without savings you get into a negative spiral, at the latest when the tax office or the SVA comes knocking. Either save on expenses or increase your fee.

18. FREELANCE IS A HOBBY

Many freelancers have turned their talent into a profession. And many freelancers mistake this for a hobby: they work nights and sleep until noon. In order to be able to make a solid living from your work in the long term, cash flow and profitability should not be foreign words!

dominik quote

19. ...AND THE HOBBY DOMINATES THE BUSINESS

Analogous to the above point, the creation dominates the actual business. Accounting is gathering dust behind the scenes and customer acquisition is waiting in vain for its appearance. Admittedly, these things are unattractive, but when they are suppressed, they result in mismanagement and often the end of a business! Therefore, also regularly put the unwelcome business areas in the spotlight!

20. POLISH YOUR VALUE

Admittedly, in times of freelancer online portals, the fee suffers. For example, text creators are charged per word. But that says nothing at all about the value of the text. After all, we want an article to stay for a long time or a high percentage of click rates for a newsletter subject! Convince customers with facts and figures - what your texts/graphic designs/films/plans/translations etc. have been proven to do and why they are worth their weight in gold!