6 Tips to Have Moral Conduct as Freelancer
The freelance world is getting bigger and bigger and, if some years ago it was only a small uninteresting entity, nowadays freelancing is more appealing for everyone involved in online environment and not only. There are huge advantages to work from home but, of course, there are also many disadvantages. No matter by context, the freelancers must understand that they are a community and many times, the potential customers are judging them as entire and not separated workers.
It’s simply now to conclude that the bad character of some persons is enough to ruin a positive image formed over last years. The necessity of a moral conduct for the freelancers is obvious and the good news is that the “morality guide” of the freelancers isn’t rocket science, is only a particular case of the human society one. Yep, having a fair community of freelancers is both beneficial for them and clients. It’s beneficial for freelancers because is created a good image and the customer will trust their potential but also the clients will have a large palette of services at hand, reliable and quality providing.
Somehow, the freelancing may be regarded as a global economy at a small scale, as soon as there is trust between “actors”, the relationships bring profit and everything is OK. Once there is a lack of trust between freelancers and clients, the orders are limited, the importance is taken by the signed contract than the project itself. You may easily notice the actual state of the economy to make an idea about what really means a crisis.
There are presented some few tips that assure barely the minimum conditions for a freelancer to be considered as a fair and correct solution by clients. Once again, these aren’t very difficult to accomplish but, unfortunately, there are still few that apply into practice.
1.Don’t lie!
Many freelancers are exalting their skills and the number of years spend into the field are doubled. Some people consider it normally, it’s marketing that allows everything. Personally, I don’t agree, a lie is still a lie and nothing more. It’s true and sad that lots of clients are searching for the complete freelancer, he must know from the basic HTML and CSS to a little bit of C++ and Php, from Adobe Photoshop to After Effects which can’t be possible at a very young age and at a very low payment. In order to gain the respective project, the freelancers are tempted to present themselves as the “designer robot”, ready to do everything and the final isn’t positive, usually both the clients and freelancers are unsatisfied with each others. If you don’t lie, you aren’t part of these quarrels and across time the good testimonials will attract more clients that the false skills probable mentioned in your personal bio.
2.Set yourself a Decent Maneuvering Space
A good part from the freelancers accepts very tight deadlines just to receive the projects and this strategy has the role to impress the clients. At the same price, every client will select the service provider that declares that will finish first. It’s perfect to finish the job quickly but, usually, is sacrificed the quality which is dangerous and unwanted. When dealing with clients I usually set a deadline that takes into account unexpected facts but also situations when simply, I am not fully inspired. A good freelancer will form, by getting more experienced, a sense of establishing the best deadlines which in fact is a balance between the deadline of the clients (“would have been perfect to get it done yesterday ”) and your lazy ego (“next month, maybe”).
3.Try to develop a network of satisfied clients and not a bunch of unsatisfied ones
It’s fantastic to have the income from many sources, in this way it’s more easily to avoid any financial issue but, is better to have “many stable and trusty clients” and not only “many clients”. Apparently, the difference isn’t great but in reality it’s colossal. Having a reliable group of clients, the relationship is cemented and the feeling of safety gives the needed pace for the designer. In this context, he may focus on work while the client has the certitude of a quality service. Also, the clients are content that they don’t need to search for a good designer everyday.
4.Communicate efficiently
The equilibrium is the key to any problem related to communication. The dialogue with the clients shouldn’t be too frequent to irritate them but not rare so not to get the needed details. It’s a shame to annoy someone just to appear very interested in his project and it isn’t recommended to be very infatuate not to take into account the opinion of the clients. Once again, the balance is everything.
5.Never expect to be paid for nothing
It’s logical and morale not to expect money from a bad or decent project realization. The Internet is full of opportunities but it seems that the good quality is always shining and people notice it. A good freelancer knows that it’s the key of success and it’s more correct and beneficial on long term perspective to win 500$ by doing a very good job than 700$ by tricking a client.
6.Don’t be humble
Many freelancers are behaving humble just not to upset any potential clients but it isn’t a very good strategy. In this context, the freelancer is a modern slave and not a good specialist, as he must be considered. Avoid by all means the humiliation in any form it may exist: don’t accept very small payment for serious projects and frankly reject the client’ ideas that don’t respect your work and mentality. Much more, there is no superior and inferior, a freelancer and a client are partners.
It’s impossible to synthesize all the moral laws, it’s even “more impossible” to respect all these but there must be always an obvious respect between freelancer and client. No matter the circumstances, the freelancers should be more interested in creating around him a positive image. Keep in mind, it’s the essence of the entire post: no sacrifice is in vain for a better image, try to create a brand and the clients will come non-stop.
I got the thought to write down these point when having a discussion with one of my top client BrainHost.com . Hope you find the useful…
via Web Design Blog, Web Designer Resources http://www.2expertsdesign.com/freelance/6-tips-to-have-moral-conduct-as-freelancer?source=rss