As a newbie, everyone wonders how we can grab things quickly and easily. You can either learn from your mistakes or learn from others. Everyone wants to know the process but a few want to know what wrong things we do in starting. So, here we will learn what are the common mistakes freelancers make.
If you are here to know what precaution you can take as a beginner in freelancing then this article is for you. In starting we can not understand what we should do to be productive but as we stick to that we know everything.
When you decide to focus only on yourself and do freelancing then actually you cut yourself off from learning from others’ mistakes. Eventually, you should be free to learn from others’ mistakes. Therefore, it will definitely give you a positive result.
Areas where we make mistakes
There are certain common areas where most beginners make mistakes. As a beginner, we really don’t care what are the back draws, what we can face.
#1. Bad Clients
When it comes to a client-based job, beginners always makes mistake. As a beginner, you can not know what a client really wants and what are their expectations. You can not differentiate between good and bad clients. A good client will always help you but a bad one will not.
Bad clients will always make you overburdened and they try to take how much you will give. You will feel ghosted, exhausted and frustrated. You will see bad clients will be rude and irresponsible. So, wisely choose your clients and if you have any bad clients or any client which you are not finding worth working with them leave as soon as possible.
#2. Pricing
Being a beginner in any sort of field is always tricky. You can not decide what should your rate list. For example, if you want to open a restaurant then you might offer things at a low cost but not at a cheap rate. Because this is a business strategy, providing a good thing in starting at a low cost attracts the clients.
This strategy works with all types of online money-earning work from promoting the product to providing service.
Don’t work at a cheap price
When it comes to working for a cheap price then you should not do that work because working hard for a cheap price is much better than working for free. People have to know their value even as a beginner.
#3. Working Time
Newbies often ask how much time a freelancer has to work and the answer has much confusing because it only depends on how much time you have asked from your clients. People are often irresponsible with their health and family time which put them in regret even after successful project completion.
The new one should know work-time management and its distribution. You have to give more time to your good clients who obey you and to also new clients. Working with a good client is far better than the bad one.
You can allow yourself to spend time with your kids and family. It will refresh you and boosts your energy.
#4. Cut yourself off from this world
When you choose to be a freelancer you might be thinking to earn huge money only by working at home. If you ever thought like this then you are making such a big mistake. Cutting yourself off starts when you have no time for friends and family. Then, you have only two options either to reach on nadir or to reach on climax. When you put yourself away from daily sort of things, it affects your mental and emotional mood.
If you are emotionally strong then cutting yourself off from the daily world and working passionately will definitely work but if you aren’t like that. Then that can lead to trauma.
#5. Make your portfolio
As we have already listened “First impression is the last impression”. So, one of the biggest mistakes people do is that they don’t have a portfolio. If you want to make your career in freelancing then you should focus on portfolio build-up. Make your portfolio with all the projects you have completed, your featured articles and all your important works. You can mention your social media account to tell more about yourself.
A good portfolio needs time to build. It means when you will have experience over time you will mention them. Without experience, you can not make a big impact on your client. Only you can make them agree through your promise and trust.
What we should do
We can work to reduce the chance of failure and mistakes in certain areas. Learning from others’ experiences is very important because the mistake they made, you can avoid.
Free from lure
If you free yourself from greed then you can easily achieve success. When I researched this article, I found that giving greed is one of the famous things. The client will tell you that they will pay you after you write for them. But, after that, they won’t pay you and won’t even give you credit.
If you choose to use a shortcut then there is much more chance that you will fail. Don’t use easy bait because it can be caught you up in a trap.
Know your value
You will have to know your value. You need to know what are your strength and weakness. Work on your weakness and create a portfolio so that client should know your actual strength.
Client pay for the experience not for age. For example, if anybody goes to a doctor he/she only sees his experience and qualification before treatment. So, know your value and create your own portfolio to tell about yourself.
A fixed-rate card
A fixed-rate card will add up quality to your portfolio. It will tell your client that this brand or person is trustable. If you are not sure about your rate list then the client will always say to reduce the amount. A fixed-rate card will make you confident about your service and how to control the pricing.
Best we can do
You can do something best to be productive in the field of freelancing –
Write for free
Writing for free is also worth instead of writing for a cheap price. You can write for free for your trustful customers on any new niche. You can also write to your friends and family members for free. If it is good then it can be added to your portfolio.
Start with your trustful clients
When you want to start something new then you have to see who are your customers if you have old clients and you both have a mutual understanding then it is much easier to start with them. You can use their platform to launch your service.
Guest post
A beginner in freelancing should never doubt writing a guest post. If anyone wants to write he/she can write it on some guest post website because it has the potential to fulfil your dream. It will increase your reach to new people and clients and tell people about your brand. If you are a newbie in freelancing and wants to write a guest post then you can write on some of the best and top website –
2. Medium
4. HBR.org
If you are here all the way after reading this article then thank you so much.
You can also visit and follow my social media account for further information on freelancing.
