Freelance - practice
Nowadays, it’s easy enough to find the “12 Freelancers Rules”, or “20 Freelancer Tips,” or even the “Freelance Bible”.
Everyone has a different attitude to this phenomenon, different experiences or prejudices. A lot, by the way, negative opinions.
I would not like to write another guide "how to earn $ 10,000 per month." I will share my small but positive experience in the role of "Freelancer" and some conclusions. This experience has made freelancing work for me comfortable and profitable.
It all started a few months ago. What they called the “Crisis” weakened the flow of orders and slowed down the activities of the studio’s internal projects. I have long forgotten how to waste time, but it just became a lot.
')
I had a choice: to take time “creative flight”, or to find additional paid orders. But to be honest, I didn’t want to refuse extra money.
Orders are always there, it is a fact. Even in the war painted posters. By the way, I forgot to tell a little about myself: I am a graphic designer. Web, multimedia, animation and even printing are all about me. Actually, I always loved the animation, in particular, flash. This is what I decided to do, calming down, thereby, my own greed and creative conscience.
There are always orders. They only need to find. Since the usual sources at the time froze, I went to where they can be found quickly and a lot - on freelance. More precisely, on the "exchange of orders". In general, for me this is the first such experience, which is probably why my specialist level was more than zeroed out by the lack of experience in freelancing.
PLAYGROUND.
For a week, a couple of dozens of various forums were viewed, at which naive artisans expected to see projects, and quite decent portals with a solid public.
Together with the choice of "source" in front of me there was a choice of "halo habitat." Work: do I have to go to Russia or look “there”.
I started with Russian resources. From "ours" I will note free-lance.ru and weblancer.net. Moreover, there was an impression that orders on the first one are more interesting, and the function of grafting works from the portfolio in “bids” is crucial when choosing a freelancer, but more on that later. I met frank freaks from the industry, for example, web-lancer.com where the main page is inundated with spam or freelancejob.ru, where after paid registration you watch the dull appearance of 1-3 projects a week.
In general, here is additional information on freelance resources: habrahabr.ru/blogs/freelance/27177
Communication with foreign portals did not work out. And the matter is not even in the language, which is still rather weak for me to communicate freely by phone. With a larger volume of projects, higher competition from countries of the 3rd world. Dumping prices. I used getafreelancer.com, terribly not convenient. No, as such, a portfolio, or I did not find? .. Only a list of works performed through this service. And at the very beginning, even the specialist does not have such. For 2 weeks I left the service without catching anything there.
START.
So. I settled on a free-lance and simultaneously registered for weblas.
Threw up works better in the portfolio. Not so little, there are those that are proud. I actively declare projects, write directly to employers ...
One, two weeks, and the effect is zero. Here you will think: whether you didn’t come out with something, or you don’t understand something. The situation must somehow be resolved, I thought. I dug in the old works "from the past centuries", and threw them into the portfolio. There is no less work than the "guru", the quality seems to be niche too. And there are no orders!
I started sweating about the text content of my bets. Compiled a mini-commercial proposals. Insolently copy and customize texts of other freelancers (competitors forgive me) ... even just noted in the project without text. The situation did not change much. I was already thinking about throwing these gestures.
“PRO”, “VIP”, “GOLD”.
The coveted "GOLD" opposite the name of the freelancer, is filled with customers of sacred trembling - in front of them a pro. And no matter what it costs, it is about $ 20 a month and is not connected with professional qualities. Customers stubbornly continue to trust “about”, although, for the most part, this is only a sign of dedication to the service than an indicator of employee seriousness. 60% of the rating and any regalia for services are not created at the expense of professionalism, but with money and the use of specific services.
With this, you just need to come to terms. Money is not big and pays off in a couple of hours. Realizing this, I began to receive the first orders. Actually, I immediately realized another specificity - the client loves with his eyes and wallet. He wants to see at once pictures from your portfolio and prices. And nothing more! And you should not assure him that you are a hereditary horse breeder, and mares are your best in the "Old World". The client has 2 seconds to catch you from the stream. Already then, he reads your resume, look reviews.
By the way, of all the freelance services, only on free-lance.ru you can put examples of work in the application in the form of a preview of pictures. Judging by the change in the flow of my work, it is very convenient for customers - they do not need to go to 30 pages of summary, just see a few pictures. Applications without a vaccination work worse. With the vaccine you can not even write anything.
2 factors: the speed of decision making and competition.
PORTFOLIO.
This is your face. 90% of the decision will be made based on the work in the portfolio. I got the impression that customers do not appreciate the experience as a whole, but specific works: “I like that about you”, “not contact without a portfolio of such works”. You can have 10 incredible presentations, but if you don’t have the faintest banner in your portfolio, you won’t see the order as your own ears. This is where you start to wonder: is it necessary to lay out everything for everyone, or is it just the best? Few works in the portfolio will tell about your laziness and that you have few works. There were direct questions - why not enough work? All again because of the speed and competition. A person has little time to choose an artist (there are many of them there), and his illiteracy in the question aggravates the situation - he is looking for in your works what he needs in the end.
Quite by chance I conducted an experiment: having 2 accounts on different services, I filled out a full portfolio on where I bought “pro”, and on the second I put only a link to the first portfolio. The result - from the first service a constant stream of orders, from the second complete calm, in general, zero!
No one is looking for links. Enjoy the internal service portfolio, because it has a single structure for all freelancers. And no need to climb into the wilds of individualism. And the sites of different specialists often differ in their originality. In this case, it is harmful. So, do not be lazy to fill out a portfolio on the service. And let the third-party personal site be as an addition to the overall picture.
PRICES.
In general, in the first days, in despair of getting at least some orders, I began dumping. And thank God, that I quickly left this practice, all the more so since this affected the receipt of orders. Scored would penny, and would work like a black man.
You need to put a good, normal prices adequate to you. There is no sense to underestimate. Your client will be sooner or later, and if the price is adequate, will cover downtime. Your price is also a sign of self-respect, it works at a subconscious level, especially when the only understanding of quality that is available is price. Well, or work “like a Negro on a plantation.” You can exaggerate about your work in any studio. Paying for the work of the studio, the customer pays for the work to you and 10 guys. Paying only to you, but with a bonus, he still saves.
How to put an adequate price? I consider my requests per month. I divide the amount by the number of working hours, and then multiply the price per hour by the objectively necessary time for the project (with delays, approval, etc.). In general, many useful things can be found here: habrahabr.ru/blogs/blog_sersh/53702
CLIENTS.
First of all, you need to understand that customers in freelancing services have their own specifics. They are all different, they have different education, upbringing (!), Experience. It makes no sense to describe all. But they have in common: they all came for low prices, and often, at the last minute.
In general, everything is like freelancing, only the decision making speed is higher (deadlines are tight) and pervasive competition.
As in non-freelance practice, customers are divided into inadequate and sane. The first ones either have small budgets and big requests, or large requests and a complete lack of understanding of what they need. By “what they need,” I do not mean the final product, but the awareness of the work of a professional. Everything is as usual, just to react to them is different.
Sane customers know where they are going, how much services really cost and how to cooperate. There are fewer, but these are potential “regular customers”. Their messages you will not ignore after the completion of the work. And if you honestly did your work, they will correctly evaluate and remember you for the future / advise others.
"INADQUESTABLE" CUSTOMERS.
They may have a big wallet. Their projects could potentially adorn the portfolio. But. All this can turn into a great waste of time, and as a result, money.
Often, the inadequacy of the customer comes from ignorance of the specifics of the work. Out of fear. He has to turn to new people, trust them with his hard earned money, his “face”. The man is afraid, and the best defense is attack!
This often ends with “self-affirmation,” in the form of baseless criticism of everything and everyone (maybe you will touch a weak point), and once scolded, please follow to correct it. A lack of understanding of the market leads to the fact that the customer, having paid a good (not overpriced) price, begins to think that he bought the soul and body of a freelancer, and can do what he wants with them. And he reinforces it with phrases like: “I paid as for Rolls-Royce, and the guy from p. Fedorovka undertakes to do it for a third of the price! ” In addition to fear, one's own unrealized creative potential can force one to intervene in a specialist’s work. And for such work you need to "give milk for harm."
Do not forget. The customer came to the freelancer - the guy on that end of the line, and not to the studio with a good office and friendly staff. The level of respect in the first stage is different.
Communication with “inadequate”, provoked by any need, turns into a headache and loss. Customers themselves pay for such communication, having received a “crooked” product, and designers who spend a lot of energy balancing all that. The deadlines are broken by 10 variants, the communication all the time passes on the verge of slamming doors. I do not want to communicate again.
But we are on freelance! There are still 10 of them! A couple of days of searching (which you will lose on the customer’s “creativity”) can be given by another order.
How to catch inadequate?
The recipe is simple: listen to what they tell you.
Here are the “disturbing phrases”:
“Past designers have let me down” - he was initially determined that you can let him down, did not appreciate the portfolio, does not believe that you are an expert who “can”.
“I am very demanding” - tantamount to “I will still get you”, again, they do not believe that you can do it right, you will constantly interfere.
“This color speaks of mourning, the fonts are small, and in general, read your own words” - a classic, a client is smarter than you, leave him alone to create, for good. Otherwise end all mutual insults.
“The budget is $ 500, and if you are impressed, then $ 1000” - This is money, you feel sorry for them, therefore, you will never be impressed so that you will be paid $ 1000. They play with you, but you need to work.
Work, in theory, you need to be able to do with those, and with others. Moreover, often some seem to be different in the beginning. And having assumed obligations and an advance payment, you will already be compelled to work with them. A prepayment can also be spent and lost the opportunity to turn around.
But if you do not filter customers, then you will spend half of your time on difficult, exhausting or non-revenue generating orders. You should never forget: to find a replacement for an “objectionable” freelancer is often easy (decision-making speed and competition), in the end you will be left with nothing.
Do not be afraid of free time, spend it on rest and self-improvement, as a result it will be more useful. Moreover, in the “fresh” state you will work faster and better. And in general - do as much as possible only what you like. Internal fighting with oneself only hurts. The flow of orders for freelancing is always great, tomorrow catch a new order. I had to make an order whose ethics were in question. The work was done, the client, and I am satisfied. But in the portfolio you can’t put it, and experiences during work were exhausted.
COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS.
Actually, this is half the success. It needs to be understood.
Completely introducing yourself when communicating is good. Nick is bad. Although on the portal itself, call yourself as you please.
I will not tell you about how exactly it is worth communicating - I'm not sure that I am a Guru in this area, contact those who think differently. Let me just say that you should not be afraid. Mail is better than the internal messenger of the portal (the mail will be accurately looked at), icq is better than mail, Skype is better than icq, Skype is better than a phone, and nothing will replace the meeting. In general, more open communication may allow pushing the scope of the budget. Supporters of remote anonymous work - to think.
WHY NEED PREPAYMENT?
Often, customers complain that freelancers are “obsessed” with prepayment, for example: habrahabr.ru/blogs/freelance/28230
Do not listen to them. They themselves, with their clients, work according to the principle “money in the morning, chairs in the evening”.
Prepay is your only “shield”. The prepayment, at times, “sticks together” the project - it forces both parties to delay the gap, thus allowing it to be completed. At a minimum, it is worthwhile to use "safe transactions" if the client is afraid of getting frank slag. Again, I personally at the very beginning stumbled upon several "contestants".
Freelancers competition, generally a separate topic. The client gets “average pennies” for an average of 100 layouts, 20% of which are sanity. The budgets of such contests are usually minimal, and freelancers rarely spend more than one evening on a regular logo. 3-4 hours, with the ability to get $ 200 is quite tempting. But the choice falls more often on the most "no" work. Therefore, you rarely find a decent designer there, or they merge their old sketches into contests.
Clients "contestants" are very smart guys. They create a sketch contest, “forgetting” to say this to freelancers. Yes, then I was a “green” freelancer. I am more used to direct communication with the end customer. But on the freelance of such units, more often the customers are the performers themselves, and they need to provide their work experience to their customers. So, the “competitor” gives you and 5 freelancers one task, you spend a day on a sketch, and you no longer communicate, saying: “it didn’t fit”. It seems to be all fair, on the one hand, well, did not get "in the subject." But no one warned you about the contest. You have spent your work day, every hour of your work is worth the money. Anything can influence the decision of the final customer, the weather, for example. The point may not even be in a sketch. Sometimes you just need to "grope" the right solution. But you simply do not have the opportunity to "justify" - the client is gone.
Prepayment eliminates all lovers of "tenders".
Say, you need to be able to fight? “That guy” is fighting for you, the failure of the sketch will be on his conscience. So calm your own and do not mess.
PAYMENT.
I ran into the technical side of the payment on the very first project. Quite common currency in the freelance WM and Yandex-money.
Roughly speaking, to get the amount on a WM purse, it’s not yet to get them into “live use”, unless of course you are so integrated into the web environment that you don’t need cash.
I had to spend my time and nerves to learn about the methods of cashing all of these electronic currencies, and there are also some interest on the cashing, sometimes significant. Contact money transfers are also capable of spoiling blood. In the city of the customer there may not be all types of transfers, so you will receive for some unpopular one whose only branch is at the other end of the city. And this is not always convenient. Residents of both capitals will agree with me.
For the convenience of customers, you can use different types of transfers, electronic currencies. But at one point, it may turn out that on 3 of your "wallets" lies, in general, the average amount, but separately the amounts are insignificant. Each system has its own type of cashing, so you’ll wander around the city ... like me. Of course, you can transfer everything into one currency, the benefit, of electronic exchange points is complete. But this is again interest. After the case when I had to collect a fee from different systems for kopecks, I chose one currency + picked up 2 types of transfers, the most common in the CIS and whose points are near the house.
Failures.
Were Unpleasant But it was enough to refuse as soon as possible. Gave an interim option, so that the customer could score a gap at the time. Did not receive an angry response, did not spoil the "face". I had the very experience of dealing with freelancers, breakfasts and frankly bad sketches only aggravate the position of the customer. And you will not receive money. It is better to give people a chance to find another and correct the situation as soon as possible.
Here, by the way, useful material, where the topic is revealed: habrahabr.ru/blogs/freelance/48818
SCHEDULE.
Needed, definitely. Consider the time for sleep and rest, you need to sleep at least 6, and preferably 8 hours a day, or even better, at the same time. Ideally, when achieving a stable flow of orders, limit to 6 or 7 hours of work per day. It is impossible to work in “stress” for a long time, the limit is calculated by days, fall down from some kind of cold during exhaustion, get sick for a week.
LOAD.
There was a time when I took 2 orders at once.Both were interesting, in the end, I almost collapsed both. He did it, but then he slept a day and didn’t want to do anything for another day.
It is better to make one order well than to “merge” two. Schedule work, if there are several orders, leave at least 2 days between them (no one canceled the force makers).
WHAT YOU CAN HAVE ON FREELANCE?
My answer is all that a specialist in demand in the market wants. The main thing is not to waste time on potential “brakes” like customers who need to be talked about. You should always remember about the speed of decision making and competition, both freelancers and customers. I will not begin to name the concrete sums, they can completely correspond to good payment in the studio corresponding to the level of the expert.
What do unclaimed specialists do not know. For example, an order for industrial modeling saw 1 time. It may be worthwhile to choose a different, more demanded, field of activity.
As a matter of fact, if I decide to dwell on the role of a specialist, the option of freelancing will be considered by me as quite acceptable.
PSI would like to note that much of this article will not suit the newcomer in the path of a specialist. A good steady stream of orders, the ability to refuse and choose, can only be achieved by a professional who has reached a certain level. A newcomer should take everything that comes across, it is also advisable to filter orders, but even a “bad” experience is good. Lost in youth 500 rubles. will save in the future 500,000 rubles. I consider it even contraindicated to try to find oneself on freelancing when there is no experience in “office” work. It is better to start working with any, even the smallest, company. Constant contact with living people, sharing experience is irreplaceable. This is not necessary: habrahabr.ru/blogs/f1/49807 Only if in the form of a rare practice.
Everyone has a different attitude to this phenomenon, different experiences or prejudices. A lot, by the way, negative opinions.
I would not like to write another guide "how to earn $ 10,000 per month." I will share my small but positive experience in the role of "Freelancer" and some conclusions. This experience has made freelancing work for me comfortable and profitable.
It all started a few months ago. What they called the “Crisis” weakened the flow of orders and slowed down the activities of the studio’s internal projects. I have long forgotten how to waste time, but it just became a lot.
')
I had a choice: to take time “creative flight”, or to find additional paid orders. But to be honest, I didn’t want to refuse extra money.
Orders are always there, it is a fact. Even in the war painted posters. By the way, I forgot to tell a little about myself: I am a graphic designer. Web, multimedia, animation and even printing are all about me. Actually, I always loved the animation, in particular, flash. This is what I decided to do, calming down, thereby, my own greed and creative conscience.
There are always orders. They only need to find. Since the usual sources at the time froze, I went to where they can be found quickly and a lot - on freelance. More precisely, on the "exchange of orders". In general, for me this is the first such experience, which is probably why my specialist level was more than zeroed out by the lack of experience in freelancing.
PLAYGROUND.
For a week, a couple of dozens of various forums were viewed, at which naive artisans expected to see projects, and quite decent portals with a solid public.
Together with the choice of "source" in front of me there was a choice of "halo habitat." Work: do I have to go to Russia or look “there”.
I started with Russian resources. From "ours" I will note free-lance.ru and weblancer.net. Moreover, there was an impression that orders on the first one are more interesting, and the function of grafting works from the portfolio in “bids” is crucial when choosing a freelancer, but more on that later. I met frank freaks from the industry, for example, web-lancer.com where the main page is inundated with spam or freelancejob.ru, where after paid registration you watch the dull appearance of 1-3 projects a week.
In general, here is additional information on freelance resources: habrahabr.ru/blogs/freelance/27177
Communication with foreign portals did not work out. And the matter is not even in the language, which is still rather weak for me to communicate freely by phone. With a larger volume of projects, higher competition from countries of the 3rd world. Dumping prices. I used getafreelancer.com, terribly not convenient. No, as such, a portfolio, or I did not find? .. Only a list of works performed through this service. And at the very beginning, even the specialist does not have such. For 2 weeks I left the service without catching anything there.
START.
So. I settled on a free-lance and simultaneously registered for weblas.
Threw up works better in the portfolio. Not so little, there are those that are proud. I actively declare projects, write directly to employers ...
One, two weeks, and the effect is zero. Here you will think: whether you didn’t come out with something, or you don’t understand something. The situation must somehow be resolved, I thought. I dug in the old works "from the past centuries", and threw them into the portfolio. There is no less work than the "guru", the quality seems to be niche too. And there are no orders!
I started sweating about the text content of my bets. Compiled a mini-commercial proposals. Insolently copy and customize texts of other freelancers (competitors forgive me) ... even just noted in the project without text. The situation did not change much. I was already thinking about throwing these gestures.
“PRO”, “VIP”, “GOLD”.
The coveted "GOLD" opposite the name of the freelancer, is filled with customers of sacred trembling - in front of them a pro. And no matter what it costs, it is about $ 20 a month and is not connected with professional qualities. Customers stubbornly continue to trust “about”, although, for the most part, this is only a sign of dedication to the service than an indicator of employee seriousness. 60% of the rating and any regalia for services are not created at the expense of professionalism, but with money and the use of specific services.
With this, you just need to come to terms. Money is not big and pays off in a couple of hours. Realizing this, I began to receive the first orders. Actually, I immediately realized another specificity - the client loves with his eyes and wallet. He wants to see at once pictures from your portfolio and prices. And nothing more! And you should not assure him that you are a hereditary horse breeder, and mares are your best in the "Old World". The client has 2 seconds to catch you from the stream. Already then, he reads your resume, look reviews.
By the way, of all the freelance services, only on free-lance.ru you can put examples of work in the application in the form of a preview of pictures. Judging by the change in the flow of my work, it is very convenient for customers - they do not need to go to 30 pages of summary, just see a few pictures. Applications without a vaccination work worse. With the vaccine you can not even write anything.
2 factors: the speed of decision making and competition.
PORTFOLIO.
This is your face. 90% of the decision will be made based on the work in the portfolio. I got the impression that customers do not appreciate the experience as a whole, but specific works: “I like that about you”, “not contact without a portfolio of such works”. You can have 10 incredible presentations, but if you don’t have the faintest banner in your portfolio, you won’t see the order as your own ears. This is where you start to wonder: is it necessary to lay out everything for everyone, or is it just the best? Few works in the portfolio will tell about your laziness and that you have few works. There were direct questions - why not enough work? All again because of the speed and competition. A person has little time to choose an artist (there are many of them there), and his illiteracy in the question aggravates the situation - he is looking for in your works what he needs in the end.
Quite by chance I conducted an experiment: having 2 accounts on different services, I filled out a full portfolio on where I bought “pro”, and on the second I put only a link to the first portfolio. The result - from the first service a constant stream of orders, from the second complete calm, in general, zero!
No one is looking for links. Enjoy the internal service portfolio, because it has a single structure for all freelancers. And no need to climb into the wilds of individualism. And the sites of different specialists often differ in their originality. In this case, it is harmful. So, do not be lazy to fill out a portfolio on the service. And let the third-party personal site be as an addition to the overall picture.
PRICES.
In general, in the first days, in despair of getting at least some orders, I began dumping. And thank God, that I quickly left this practice, all the more so since this affected the receipt of orders. Scored would penny, and would work like a black man.
You need to put a good, normal prices adequate to you. There is no sense to underestimate. Your client will be sooner or later, and if the price is adequate, will cover downtime. Your price is also a sign of self-respect, it works at a subconscious level, especially when the only understanding of quality that is available is price. Well, or work “like a Negro on a plantation.” You can exaggerate about your work in any studio. Paying for the work of the studio, the customer pays for the work to you and 10 guys. Paying only to you, but with a bonus, he still saves.
How to put an adequate price? I consider my requests per month. I divide the amount by the number of working hours, and then multiply the price per hour by the objectively necessary time for the project (with delays, approval, etc.). In general, many useful things can be found here: habrahabr.ru/blogs/blog_sersh/53702
CLIENTS.
First of all, you need to understand that customers in freelancing services have their own specifics. They are all different, they have different education, upbringing (!), Experience. It makes no sense to describe all. But they have in common: they all came for low prices, and often, at the last minute.
In general, everything is like freelancing, only the decision making speed is higher (deadlines are tight) and pervasive competition.
As in non-freelance practice, customers are divided into inadequate and sane. The first ones either have small budgets and big requests, or large requests and a complete lack of understanding of what they need. By “what they need,” I do not mean the final product, but the awareness of the work of a professional. Everything is as usual, just to react to them is different.
Sane customers know where they are going, how much services really cost and how to cooperate. There are fewer, but these are potential “regular customers”. Their messages you will not ignore after the completion of the work. And if you honestly did your work, they will correctly evaluate and remember you for the future / advise others.
"INADQUESTABLE" CUSTOMERS.
They may have a big wallet. Their projects could potentially adorn the portfolio. But. All this can turn into a great waste of time, and as a result, money.
Often, the inadequacy of the customer comes from ignorance of the specifics of the work. Out of fear. He has to turn to new people, trust them with his hard earned money, his “face”. The man is afraid, and the best defense is attack!
This often ends with “self-affirmation,” in the form of baseless criticism of everything and everyone (maybe you will touch a weak point), and once scolded, please follow to correct it. A lack of understanding of the market leads to the fact that the customer, having paid a good (not overpriced) price, begins to think that he bought the soul and body of a freelancer, and can do what he wants with them. And he reinforces it with phrases like: “I paid as for Rolls-Royce, and the guy from p. Fedorovka undertakes to do it for a third of the price! ” In addition to fear, one's own unrealized creative potential can force one to intervene in a specialist’s work. And for such work you need to "give milk for harm."
Do not forget. The customer came to the freelancer - the guy on that end of the line, and not to the studio with a good office and friendly staff. The level of respect in the first stage is different.
Communication with “inadequate”, provoked by any need, turns into a headache and loss. Customers themselves pay for such communication, having received a “crooked” product, and designers who spend a lot of energy balancing all that. The deadlines are broken by 10 variants, the communication all the time passes on the verge of slamming doors. I do not want to communicate again.
But we are on freelance! There are still 10 of them! A couple of days of searching (which you will lose on the customer’s “creativity”) can be given by another order.
How to catch inadequate?
The recipe is simple: listen to what they tell you.
Here are the “disturbing phrases”:
“Past designers have let me down” - he was initially determined that you can let him down, did not appreciate the portfolio, does not believe that you are an expert who “can”.
“I am very demanding” - tantamount to “I will still get you”, again, they do not believe that you can do it right, you will constantly interfere.
“This color speaks of mourning, the fonts are small, and in general, read your own words” - a classic, a client is smarter than you, leave him alone to create, for good. Otherwise end all mutual insults.
“The budget is $ 500, and if you are impressed, then $ 1000” - This is money, you feel sorry for them, therefore, you will never be impressed so that you will be paid $ 1000. They play with you, but you need to work.
Work, in theory, you need to be able to do with those, and with others. Moreover, often some seem to be different in the beginning. And having assumed obligations and an advance payment, you will already be compelled to work with them. A prepayment can also be spent and lost the opportunity to turn around.
But if you do not filter customers, then you will spend half of your time on difficult, exhausting or non-revenue generating orders. You should never forget: to find a replacement for an “objectionable” freelancer is often easy (decision-making speed and competition), in the end you will be left with nothing.
Do not be afraid of free time, spend it on rest and self-improvement, as a result it will be more useful. Moreover, in the “fresh” state you will work faster and better. And in general - do as much as possible only what you like. Internal fighting with oneself only hurts. The flow of orders for freelancing is always great, tomorrow catch a new order. I had to make an order whose ethics were in question. The work was done, the client, and I am satisfied. But in the portfolio you can’t put it, and experiences during work were exhausted.
COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS.
Actually, this is half the success. It needs to be understood.
Completely introducing yourself when communicating is good. Nick is bad. Although on the portal itself, call yourself as you please.
I will not tell you about how exactly it is worth communicating - I'm not sure that I am a Guru in this area, contact those who think differently. Let me just say that you should not be afraid. Mail is better than the internal messenger of the portal (the mail will be accurately looked at), icq is better than mail, Skype is better than icq, Skype is better than a phone, and nothing will replace the meeting. In general, more open communication may allow pushing the scope of the budget. Supporters of remote anonymous work - to think.
WHY NEED PREPAYMENT?
Often, customers complain that freelancers are “obsessed” with prepayment, for example: habrahabr.ru/blogs/freelance/28230
Do not listen to them. They themselves, with their clients, work according to the principle “money in the morning, chairs in the evening”.
Prepay is your only “shield”. The prepayment, at times, “sticks together” the project - it forces both parties to delay the gap, thus allowing it to be completed. At a minimum, it is worthwhile to use "safe transactions" if the client is afraid of getting frank slag. Again, I personally at the very beginning stumbled upon several "contestants".
Freelancers competition, generally a separate topic. The client gets “average pennies” for an average of 100 layouts, 20% of which are sanity. The budgets of such contests are usually minimal, and freelancers rarely spend more than one evening on a regular logo. 3-4 hours, with the ability to get $ 200 is quite tempting. But the choice falls more often on the most "no" work. Therefore, you rarely find a decent designer there, or they merge their old sketches into contests.
Clients "contestants" are very smart guys. They create a sketch contest, “forgetting” to say this to freelancers. Yes, then I was a “green” freelancer. I am more used to direct communication with the end customer. But on the freelance of such units, more often the customers are the performers themselves, and they need to provide their work experience to their customers. So, the “competitor” gives you and 5 freelancers one task, you spend a day on a sketch, and you no longer communicate, saying: “it didn’t fit”. It seems to be all fair, on the one hand, well, did not get "in the subject." But no one warned you about the contest. You have spent your work day, every hour of your work is worth the money. Anything can influence the decision of the final customer, the weather, for example. The point may not even be in a sketch. Sometimes you just need to "grope" the right solution. But you simply do not have the opportunity to "justify" - the client is gone.
Prepayment eliminates all lovers of "tenders".
Say, you need to be able to fight? “That guy” is fighting for you, the failure of the sketch will be on his conscience. So calm your own and do not mess.
PAYMENT.
I ran into the technical side of the payment on the very first project. Quite common currency in the freelance WM and Yandex-money.
Roughly speaking, to get the amount on a WM purse, it’s not yet to get them into “live use”, unless of course you are so integrated into the web environment that you don’t need cash.
I had to spend my time and nerves to learn about the methods of cashing all of these electronic currencies, and there are also some interest on the cashing, sometimes significant. Contact money transfers are also capable of spoiling blood. In the city of the customer there may not be all types of transfers, so you will receive for some unpopular one whose only branch is at the other end of the city. And this is not always convenient. Residents of both capitals will agree with me.
For the convenience of customers, you can use different types of transfers, electronic currencies. But at one point, it may turn out that on 3 of your "wallets" lies, in general, the average amount, but separately the amounts are insignificant. Each system has its own type of cashing, so you’ll wander around the city ... like me. Of course, you can transfer everything into one currency, the benefit, of electronic exchange points is complete. But this is again interest. After the case when I had to collect a fee from different systems for kopecks, I chose one currency + picked up 2 types of transfers, the most common in the CIS and whose points are near the house.
Failures.
Were Unpleasant But it was enough to refuse as soon as possible. Gave an interim option, so that the customer could score a gap at the time. Did not receive an angry response, did not spoil the "face". I had the very experience of dealing with freelancers, breakfasts and frankly bad sketches only aggravate the position of the customer. And you will not receive money. It is better to give people a chance to find another and correct the situation as soon as possible.
Here, by the way, useful material, where the topic is revealed: habrahabr.ru/blogs/freelance/48818
SCHEDULE.
Needed, definitely. Consider the time for sleep and rest, you need to sleep at least 6, and preferably 8 hours a day, or even better, at the same time. Ideally, when achieving a stable flow of orders, limit to 6 or 7 hours of work per day. It is impossible to work in “stress” for a long time, the limit is calculated by days, fall down from some kind of cold during exhaustion, get sick for a week.
LOAD.
There was a time when I took 2 orders at once.Both were interesting, in the end, I almost collapsed both. He did it, but then he slept a day and didn’t want to do anything for another day.
It is better to make one order well than to “merge” two. Schedule work, if there are several orders, leave at least 2 days between them (no one canceled the force makers).
WHAT YOU CAN HAVE ON FREELANCE?
My answer is all that a specialist in demand in the market wants. The main thing is not to waste time on potential “brakes” like customers who need to be talked about. You should always remember about the speed of decision making and competition, both freelancers and customers. I will not begin to name the concrete sums, they can completely correspond to good payment in the studio corresponding to the level of the expert.
What do unclaimed specialists do not know. For example, an order for industrial modeling saw 1 time. It may be worthwhile to choose a different, more demanded, field of activity.
As a matter of fact, if I decide to dwell on the role of a specialist, the option of freelancing will be considered by me as quite acceptable.
PSI would like to note that much of this article will not suit the newcomer in the path of a specialist. A good steady stream of orders, the ability to refuse and choose, can only be achieved by a professional who has reached a certain level. A newcomer should take everything that comes across, it is also advisable to filter orders, but even a “bad” experience is good. Lost in youth 500 rubles. will save in the future 500,000 rubles. I consider it even contraindicated to try to find oneself on freelancing when there is no experience in “office” work. It is better to start working with any, even the smallest, company. Constant contact with living people, sharing experience is irreplaceable. This is not necessary: habrahabr.ru/blogs/f1/49807 Only if in the form of a rare practice.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/53938/
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