Adapting and changing in the freelance world
Peaks and troughs; adapting and changing; determination and perspiration – all part and parcel of a freelancer’s life.
It’s been a tough couple of months for me – and I think, for many – but seeds are being sown, curiosity is growing and word of mouth is progressing as tentative whispers.
There is little doubt, if you read this column regularly sufficient, that I’ve been finding freelancing hard and uninspiring recently. As soon as Christmas was from the way in which I used to be buoyed up with plans and drive but I didn’t envision that others would ease on their own into January at a snail’s tempo. So, a slow month and an incident which knocked my confidence, sadly, took its toll.
I pride myself, that within the three years I’ve been freelancing (both part-time and full-time) I’ve always obtained glowing praise from my clients.
Sloughened and self-pitiful
A new consumer recently came along who needed their web duplicate re-written. They’d merged with another company who offered comparable services and they needed 1 web site depicting the very best of the new company. For weeks I waited for a brief – for 1, I like to have, in black and white, just what the client is expecting (even when just a paragraph or two), and two, I used to be unsure what services the brand new, reformed business was keeping and which they were discarding.
Following a while, it became clear that I would have already been waiting for this short till armageddon, so I recommended I put together a tough draft of what I imagined the brand new company would look like, just to ensure that the consumer could rapidly dissect what needed to remain and what required to go – as well as viewing the proposed writing style.
“Great, I like it,” they stated, happily, on receipt. “I’ll need to run it past other colleagues, though.” No issue, I stated. A few days later I obtained a curt message saying the draft was too ‘rough’. “It has to be perfect for our firm,” they stated.
I tried reiterating it had been what it was – a draft – however it was clear I’d misplaced the client. I could (and, most likely, ought to) have charged for my time but I doubt they’d have compensated my bill.
I focused intently on this sequence of events for days and it affected the way I promoted myself. I doubted I was good at what I did and even discovered myself checking out the Jobcentre website – not that there was any solace there.
Who loves ya’ baby?
This self-pitying cloud, thankfully, started to clear; a few my long-standing customers gave me some great feedback to other work I had done and I began to concentrate around the percentage of my clients whom are happy to the ones that weren’t – all 1 of them.
It made me realise that, although scenarios don’t alter, how we think about them and what we consider through the experience is important. Chalking this episode up to expertise didn’t make the consumer run back again to me but my change of attitude stopped it impacting the rest of my business and freelancing function.
As January draws to a close, new opportunities are sparking which make me feel more motivated that issues will function out well. It appears to become, the more constructive I feel, the much more I can make the best of a situation and also the more I can spot an opportunity or advantage from it too.
It is not usually about you
You cannot alter how other people act – but you can alter the way you REACT. So long as you know you have done your extremely best and aimed to please the consumer – which, as being a freelancer, is really a requisite – your clients’ perceptions of your work cannot be controlled. Therefore, don’t instantly assume the issue is with you.
Word of mouth is essential for a freelancer but I’d bet for every one unruly, difficult-to-please consumer, you’ve 10 much more in the wings who’d sing your praises all day long. That is what you need to remind yourself each and every now and once more.
If you get clients returning to you, that is praise enough, simply because if they were unhappy together with your service they’d make sure they used an additional freelancer.
Focus on the good things. Listen towards the poor, and if there is some thing you are able to change or improve on – great! But sometimes, you just need to let things go.
The dictionary definition from the word ‘experience’ is: ‘knowledge gained by seeing and doing’. Amen to that. For more info about freelance jobs visit Adapting and changing in the freelance work website.
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