{"id":10127,"date":"2010-11-24T14:20:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-24T14:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musik.a-z-translation.com\/30-spooky-freelancing-practices\/"},"modified":"2020-01-03T11:32:35","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T11:32:35","slug":"30-spooky-freelancing-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/30-spooky-freelancing-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Spooky Freelancing Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h2>\n

Courtesy of the Freelance folder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spooky Freelancing Habits<\/h3>\n

Are you engaging in scary freelance practices? Check out the following list:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Not researching your client.<\/strong> You\u2019d better believe that your client researched you before they hired you. Why wouldn\u2019t you do a little work and research them?<\/li>\n
  2. Not asking for a payment up front.<\/strong> For a new client, you should ask for at least 50% of money for the project up front. This ensures that you will get paid at least something.<\/li>\n
  3. Starting work before there\u2019s a written agreement in place.<\/strong> Contracts are important, but if you don\u2019t get a contract at least get it in writing. Nobody\u2019s memory is perfect.<\/li>\n
  4. Starting work before you understand what the client wants.<\/strong> This one\u2019s easy. Don\u2019t agree to do something unless you understand what the client wants.<\/li>\n
  5. Trying to be the lowest priced freelancer in your specialty.<\/strong> Let\u2019s face it, really low prices are scary. It means that you\u2019re going to struggle to make ends meet.<\/li>\n
  6. Working for exposure or some other undefined future promises.<\/strong> How valuable is exposure, really? In most cases, a future promise is equivalent to working for free.<\/li>\n
  7. Not checking over your work carefully before submitting it to the client.<\/strong> Too many mistakes are bad for business and can lose you a client.<\/li>\n
  8. Not managing your time well.<\/strong> Find a time management system that works well for you and stick to it. You can tell if it\u2019s working by whether or not you meet your deadlines.<\/li>\n
  9. Not maintaining an online presence.<\/strong> In this environment, an online presence is really not optional. Get online and get involved.<\/li>\n
  10. Failing to monitor your reputation.<\/strong> Do you care what your clients are saying about you? If you care about your freelancing business, take the time to find out.<\/li>\n
  11. Taking an excessive amount of time to respond to a client.<\/strong> How long do you make a prospective client wait before you answer them? (Hint: Over eight business hours is too long.)<\/li>\n
  12. Complaining or griping publicly.<\/strong> How do you conduct yourself online? Do you come across as being pleasant or grumpy? Would you want to work with you?<\/li>\n
  13. Not investing in updating your skills.<\/strong> Technology is changing. It\u2019s important for freelancers to stay current in their field by learning all they can.<\/li>\n
  14. Working on outdated equipment.<\/strong> The machine you started your freelance business on will be outdated in a year or two. Budget for upgrades.<\/li>\n
  15. Failing to keep track of your business expenses during the year.<\/strong> Business expenses are tax deductible (at least in the U.S.). Be sure to keep good records.<\/li>\n
  16. Forgetting to take into account the amount of time a project will really take.<\/strong> Don\u2019t try to cram too many projects into too little time.<\/li>\n
  17. Not getting help when you need it.<\/strong> Whether it be from another freelancer, or another type of specialist, sometimes the best thing you can do is ask for help.<\/li>\n
  18. Playing computer games and surfing when you should be working.<\/strong> Just because you work at home doesn\u2019t mean that you can get away with slacking off.<\/li>\n
  19. Not taking enough breaks or scheduling time for vacations.<\/strong> Everyone needs to rest from time to time, and that includes freelancers.<\/li>\n
  20. Procrastinating.<\/strong> Avoid the scary habit of putting projects off. If you can, work ahead on your projects so that an emergency doesn\u2019t catch you by surprise.<\/li>\n
  21. Panicking.<\/strong> When something goes wrong in your freelancing business, stay calm. Panicking never solved a problem.<\/li>\n
  22. Not following up on leads.<\/strong> It\u2019s easy to let leads slip through the crack when you\u2019re busy. Following up on leads could be the difference between feast and famine.<\/li>\n
  23. Not negotiating an additional fee for services out of the original scope.<\/strong> Keep an eye on your project\u2019s scope and don\u2019t let it creep too much or the project could wind up costing you money.<\/li>\n
  24. Not making time for your family.<\/strong> Your business is important, but you\u2019ll wind it regretting it if you ignore your family and friends.<\/li>\n
  25. Missing your deadlines.<\/strong> Deadlines are usually there for a reason. Try to stick to them and at least notify the client if you think you\u2019ll be late.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Really Scary Stuff<\/h3>\n

    As if the scary list above wasn\u2019t enough, there\u2019s the really bad freelancing practices. These are scary mistakes that I\u2019m sure no Freelance Folder reader would ever make:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Bad mouthing a client (by name) in social media or on your blog.<\/strong> Unless you have evidence that the client is in fact a scammer you\u2019re better off keeping your gripes to yourself.<\/li>\n
    2. Plagiarizing someone else\u2019s work.<\/strong> In a perfect world, every freelancer would realize that plagiarism is wrong (and illegal).<\/li>\n
    3. Bad mouthing another freelancer (by name) to a client.<\/strong> Oddly enough, putting down your competition to the client winds up making you look bad.<\/li>\n
    4. Dropping out of sight in the middle of a project.<\/strong> Nothing says unreliable like breaking off all communication with your client.<\/li>\n
    5. Don\u2019t have an emergency fund.<\/strong> You may be able to get by without an emergency fund if you never have an emergency, but why take the chance?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      To Sum It All Up<\/h3>\n

      If you\u2019ve been reading Freelance Folder for a while, you probably know most of what I just listed. We\u2019ve written posts on how to succeed<\/a> and posts on how to fail<\/a>. However, everybody needs a reminder from time to time (I know that I do). Look over the list above to make sure that you haven\u2019t slipped into any scary bad habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Courtesy of the Freelance folder. Spooky Freelancing Habits Are you engaging in scary freelance practices? Check out the following list: Not researching your client. You\u2019d better believe that your client researched you before they hired you. Why wouldn\u2019t you do a little work and research them? Not asking for a payment up front. For a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[524,90],"class_list":["post-10127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unkategorisiert","tag-business","tag-english","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10279,"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10127\/revisions\/10279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a-z-translations.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}