I mentioned in my last post that in 2021, I left way too much money on the table. I undercharged. Given the huge amount of work I had, that was a serious oversight.
No tears for me — I still had a phenomenal year. But if I’d been paying attention, I could have retired in December of 2021. This post isn’t about money, though.
It’s about the other stuff you’re doing or not doing that’s causing you to miss out. If you’re human, you’re doing it, too.
This comes up after a call to a specialist’s office. I have an appointment for this week, but I am free this week and would be happy to take the place of any cancellations they might have. You’ve done that too, right? You’ve called the dentist or the orthopedist or the GP and asked to be called should a cancellation come up.
However, this specialist’s practice is different. When I asked to be called if a cancellation occurred, they said, “We don’t typically do that. You’d have to call every day and see if there’s a cancellation.”
Those of you who are business-minded freelancers (all of you) are seeing the problem, right? The time slot that someone would normally be paying for is now empty. And unless another patient takes the initiative to call and ask, it’s going to remain empty. And now converts to unpaid time the specialist spends in the office.
Because that’s a smart way to run a business, right?
[bctt tweet=”Are you sabotaging your #freelance success by leaving money on the table?” username=”LoriWidmer”]
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We freelancers are also prone to random acts of WTF. Here are the ways you may be sabotaging your own success:
Avoiding the tough conversation.
That client hasn’t paid you nor acknowledged the invoice you’ve sent three times. What have you done about it besides resend it? Time to talk to that client and get what’s owed you. In fact, clients tend to sit on invoices, revisions, communication … you name it. If you don’t push a little in the communication department, you’re going to miss out on payment, finalizing and moving on, troubleshooting problems …
Send the late fee. Mention collection. Remind them of the contract terms. Send the invoice after two weeks of noncommunication. Don’t lose your hard-earned fee because you didn’t want to confront a client. You have to. If not, you set a bad precedent going forward even if you never work with that client again. You have to advocate for your business. No one else will.
Going silent.
If the work is too much, tell the client ASAP. If something’s come up and you can’t follow through, communicate it right away. If they’ve insulted you with their feedback, suck it up and fix it. Unless they’re verbally abusive to you, you owe them your best work and your best interpretation of their needs. Never disappear on them. That shit gets communicated forward to the next person they talk with at a conference or meeting who asks if they know any good writers.
Waiting for the next client to appear.
Unless you’re a household name in the industry in which you write, clients have no idea that you’re there. So, network. Get in front of them. Use that social media you’re surfing to find them, follow them, share their stuff and start a conversation. Move that to email eventually. Show up. Engage. Ask smart questions. Be present.
Not announcing your availability.
I’m not talking about going on Twitter and blasting out the same, dull “I’m available” tweet. I mean go to your current clients and tell them you have a gap in your schedule over the next few weeks — did they need anything? Go to former clients and let them know that you now work on case studies or web content or whatever it is you’ve been doing. One writer I know used to send emails to clients with a handy tip and a brief announcement of what you’re up to.
Not defining the scope of work.
Any freelancer who has found themselves caught in the project Loop of Hell knows that clearly defining in writing what you’ll be doing on the client’s project (and how many rounds of edits are included in the price — very important) saves you countless hours of, “Could you add this” and “Oh, could you incorporate the CEO’s thoughts” and “We’d really like to see this include this new thing …” This is easily fixed by spelling out what you expect to be doing and how many chances that client will have to change things under your stated price.
Not raising your rates.
We’ve already covered this in other posts. So, raise your rates already, would you? Frankly, too many freelancers have no idea what to charge and as a result, they grossly undercharge. Learn how. Start here. Or here. Then go here to find out how to improve that rate consistently.
What other ways are you noticing freelancers leaving money on the table?
Have you identified an area in your own freelance business where you were losing money? How did you fix it?