10 Reasons Your Freelance Career is Failing
If your freelance business isn’t where you want it to be, then it’s time to own up to your choices and make a change.
Here are 10 reasons your freelance career is failing. If you want to turn it around, then it’s up to you.
Consider this your “tough love” article of the week.
1. You know your craft, but not your business.
Sure, you’re an excellent artist or a skilled tradesman. You understand your task and you can do it well.
But you don’t understand marketing or sales or any of that other business stuff.
Guess what? It’s on you to figure it out. Learning new skills and adapting to the environment is part of the job.
You can either sit around and complain that less-skilled freelancers are beating you out because of “stupid marketing tactics” … or you can read some books, try some new things, and play the game.
2. You’re lazy.
Sorry. That’s not what you want to hear. And it’s not what I want to say.
But most of the time, it’s the truth.
Your business isn’t growing because you want to sleep in. Your business isn’t growing because you want to take Saturday off. Your business isn’t growing because you want to watch TV for two hours every night. Basically, you’re too lazy to build a business.
Don’t act like there isn’t enough time. Time doesn’t change. You can’t create more or less of it. You can only choose to use it better.
3. You treat it like a side hobby.
And what if you’re not lazy? What if you’re putting in three hours each night and still aren’t really getting anywhere?
Well, then you need to ask yourself, “What am I doing with these three hours? Is this the best use of my time?”
In all likelihood, you’re treating your freelance career like a side hobby. Reading an article about freelancing, updating your portfolio, tweaking your website design for the 100th time.
Scrap the extras and focus on the essentials.
Maybe you’re not lazy, but are you really giving it your personal best?
If I’m being honest with myself, most days I don’t give my absolute best effort. Each day there is something I could have done better. Time that I could have managed more effectively.
Whether you are willing to admit that you’re lazy or not, the fact remains that on most days you could give a better, more consistent effort. Stop treating your freelance career like a side hobby and start giving it your best effort.
4. You’re not charging enough.
Are you scraping to get by? Raise your rates!
There is no sense in complaining about people not paying you enough when you are the one who sets the price.
Increasing the cost of your services is a natural part of doing business and it’s not nearly as scary as you think.
Of all the freelancers I have talked to, almost every single one wishes they would have raised their rates sooner.
5. You assume that good work will be recognized.
Guess what? If you build it, they will not come.
People don’t just show up and hand you money because your portfolio is pretty or you have been featured in a nice magazine.
Part of freelancing is prospecting, cold-calling, networking, and promoting.
Doing good work isn’t enough. You have to do great work and share it in a great way.
I know a lot of people struggle with the soft side and interpersonal skills. That can’t be an excuse for not trying to get better. If you need help with this, then start with this list of self promotion tips and this article on networking tips.
6. You’re too scared to try something and fail.
Instead of taking a risk and telling everyone you know about the work you’re doing, you play it safe.
You keep your freelance work quiet. You don’t want to bother anyone with your dreams. Not to mention, what if you fail? What if you tell people you’re going to do something and then you try it and fall flat on your face?
That would be embarrassing, right?
Here’s the deal.
It’s not OK to be wrong. Failure isn’t something that we’re striving to achieve. But being wrong is a cost that you have to bear on the way to being right.
Show some courage in the process and some confidence in yourself. If you want to make a great change, then you need to take a great risk. Put yourself out there. Push the envelope. Try something new.
7. You don’t ask for what you want.
The world is filled with good people who are willing to help you out. But they are also very busy. If you never ask for their help, then you will never get it.
This is especially true if you’re running a business.
- You need to ask previous customers to refer you.
- You need to ask successful freelancers to come out to lunch with you.
- You need to ask potential customers to buy from you! Yes, actually ask them.
The more you ask people to buy from you, the more they will buy. It sounds simple, but it works.
Quit acting like the world doesn’t want to see you succeed and start asking for people to help you out.
8. You want everything to be “perfect.”
If you’re waiting for the perfect time to do something … you’re going to be waiting for a long time.
- It will never be the perfect time to start freelancing.
- It will never be the perfect time to transition from part-time to full-time.
- It will never be the perfect time to pitch that big client.
- It will never be the perfect time to raise your rates.
- It will never be the perfect time to fire your bad clients.
It will never be the perfect time to do anything.
Sometimes you just need to move forward.
9. You debate over decisions.
No business ever grew because the founder sat around and thought their way to success. Action has to be taken.
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
-Theodore Roosevelt
Indecision is the father of regret. Make choices and make them now.
10. You try to be all things to all people.
Stop trying to sell to everyone you know.
First, it makes you look desperate.
Second, it’s a terrible way to do business. Figure out the profile of your ideal client. Develop a clear skill in one profitable area.
Yes, this means you will ignore some people. That’s a good thing.
Coca-Cola doesn’t sell milk. They sell Coke. If you want milk, then you go somewhere else. But when you want Coke, you know where to go.
This strategy makes it easy for people to realize what Coca-Cola does and it allows Coke to get really good at making Coke.
You want the same thing for your business.
Ignore the masses. Forget about being everything to everyone. Do your best to be one thing to someone.
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Lawren.
Good post pretty accurate.
4 is an absolute killer, especially for new kids on the block. You’re going to want to undercut the competition in order to make the sale and build up some portfolio work. And all that’s going to lead to is you becoming disenfranchised and willing to put less work in.
All of these are really important and take a while to learn. It took me almost a year to learn numbers 4 through 10. Another thing I’m noticing here on FS is there seems to be a lot of articles about business, starting, and failing this month and last! I’ve noticed over the last 4 years that no matter what, November and December are slow. I have projects going on right now; but the clients are lagging. Rather than me trying to fight with them to get work out I instead plan all year for these two months to be slow and use the time to work on personal stuff and the business side. This way, come January, the clients and I are usually both ready to go.
Getting to a point where you can easily deal with two slow months takes some practice though. This is probably the first year I think I got it right. Of course, ask me next year and I’ll probably say something different. That’s just how it goes.
“Coca-Cola doesn’t sell orange juice and milk.”
Sorry? what? they sell water and everything else. Coke own EVERYTHING.
They just use different Brands
that’s the difference.
yeah… coke sells everything beverage. not the best example but an otherwise great article.
thanks.
Not to be a nag, but Coca-Cola owns Minute Maid, which produces orange juice. There are certainly better examples out there to prove this point.
I agree with everything except 2. I always take Saturday off unless it’s an emergency and the client will pay double. Work-life balance is too important to be burning yourself out working fourteen hour days, six days a week.
It’s refreshing to get some real, honest advice on this subject. I think it’s actually very applicable to a number of different business ventures.
All the time I hear people say they didn’t have time for this, or they didn’t have time for that. But if the next thing coming out of your mouth is a 30-minute synopsis of last week’s American Idol, I somehow don’t believe you’re as strapped for time as you’re letting on!
Doesn’t matter if you’re trying to freelance, launch a small business, or just do your day job better, this advice can help. Thanks!
“Coca-Cola doesn’t sell orange juice and milk.”
I get what you mean even though the company sells Minute Maid juice.
Completely agree with Laura. Taking a day (or two) off to balance the whole work-life paradigm is extremely important for anyone’s well-being. Employees get time off – why can’t a contractor?
Nevertheless, this is an awesome list. I’m definitely guilty of a few, mainly because freelancing’s just a part-time thing for now. Indecisiveness is a big one for me – Roosevelt’s quote rings very loudly, and he’s absolutely spot on.
Mostly agree. The probably could either be laziness, or that you’re just not working efficiently.
I’m sorry but what the hell?
Point 2 is downright wrong. You need to set the time for work and life – and as another poster pointed out – unless it’s an emergency or you need extra time for work then Weekends in general should be off limits. If you can manage a typical 40hr week then well done to you – if you do more even better for you I guess (if you need it that is – I can’t tell you that no one can) but don’t go overboard as you MUST take care of yourself and other reponsabilities as well!
“Don’t act like there isn’t enough time.” – That sounds to me like you’re someone who runs their entire life so much by the clock that you resent others that actually find the time to enjoy it.
Ultimately each and every one of us are capable of a certain level of success – or are willing to achieve as much as we want to. No one and I mean NO ONE – not even you – have the right to tell someone else how they can succeed. Every person that have found success found it to suit their situation it doesn’t work for everyone.
If you want to give a piece of advice than do so properly… but don’t state such false claims as a reason for failure.
Your business isn’t growing because you want to take Saturday off. Your business isn’t growing because you want to watch TV for two hours every night. Basically, you’re too lazy to build a business.
I agree with lots of stuff in there but that one is terrible advice – if you dont take proper time off your business will fail you will get burned out unless you’re in your early 20′s or something ……… and what’s the point anyway – if you’re going to work saturdays and sacrifice family life/social life/hobbies and not chill out in the nighttime by watching tv or going out or playing tiddlywinks or whatever then you’re just living to work and you might as well just get a job and work for someone else
Great article.
You do not only have to be good at what you do, but also you have to learn all aspects of running a business.
You are brave enough to made the point 2.
All should self analysis and they can find other points too.
Good post.
Thanks, great list!
I’m fairly new in the freelancing business.
I think my problem is point 4
Time to rise the rate…
Thanks for the list! Point 3 really hit it for me… I never really thought about how those things might be more “hobby” than “business.”
Great article. What about failing because you constantly take contract projects onsite through agencies or staffing services. Is that a good solutions between freelancing or is that hindering long term freelance goals?
Wow, James!
I’m just starting to get into freelancing and I guess I’ve been doing the hobby thing. I like this article, it really helps me see where I need to focus. All I want to do is draw and paint; now I’ll stay focused on only that : )
Point 4 to the 10th degree!
Spending even a couple hours up front talking to other professionals about setting rates and charging for time can save you from unintentionally undercharging for your work. Undercharging doesn’t only hurt your bottom line, it makes it more difficult for other freelancers to negotiate fair rates.
Making good money for good work isn’t a bad thing!
Great point James. Thank you for this article.
I agree with most of these points, but disagree on two. First, I do also believe that you need to take time off and have balance in life. You can take time off and still work effectively and not be lazy. It’s not about how much you work; it’s about how effectively you work. You can “work” 8 hours and get nothing done. Or you can work 8 hours and make a huge difference.
I also think that it is ABSOLUTELY OK to be wrong. Being wrong is just part of getting to being right. It’s not wrong to make a mistake. It’s not ideal or the goal, but it isn’t bad. It’s just part of the process.
And yes, Coca Cola does sell orange juice, but I get where you were going with that point. It’s just, you know, a wrong example.
Hi,
I have problem with 3 and 4. So when do you do your personal things to improve your brand identity yourself? Like say im trying to create an awesome website for myself, to how a client will see me. How will i make a time for that? Wont this burnt us out. I feel like there’s no social life. Not that I like social life, In fact, I have none because I kept working and doing other business that’s not related with graphic design.
as for 4 I’ve had this trouble always until i got upset of how it burnts me out selling myself too short. I just got lazy and started rating myself high to avoid burning out and I got what I asked for!
Some very good salient points, now to apply them.
This is a nice information,thanks for sharing;
Great article.
I felt like number #1 and #10 spoke most to my experience.
I love to write. I do it well, and while I’m not very accomplished yet I do feel like I’m on my way. Instead my problem is that I’m not a natural marketer. I feel awkward emailing or calling people who haven’t invited me to do so.
I also started out trying to market myself as a “Freelance Writer.” Way to general. Then I revised myself to focus on Individuals and Small Business. It’s better, but I feel like it’s still to general. Now I’m going to start focusing on small business. I’ll offer them copywriting, business blogging, press releases and a number of other things they might need. I’m hoping that’s going to be specific enough.
So in short, nice article. I think there’s a lot to think about in here, especially for people who haven’t worked Freelance for very long.
This is spot on! Too many writers think they can just sit down and type away and “make a living”. Most of them wind up with a super rude awakening!
Awesome article, felt like I was being lectured by Don Draper, which is what I need sometimes.