A freelancer should be committed to providing quality freelance services for clients.
The 13 biggest mistakes freelancers make that make them lose money (best solutions) will help new freelancers avoid mistakes that might affect their freelancer journey.
Whatever tech jobs or skilled work services you might want to offer, these mistakes I made will help you improve and charge what you are worth.
What is the biggest challenge for freelancers?
These 13 biggest mistakes freelancers make that make them lose money (best solutions) will teach freelancers the fundamental of earning their service worth.
Many freelancers are always desperate for work.
They will take almost anything offered to them.
I have been a freelancer for over two years and some months.
During these two years, I made many mistakes I wish others would avoid.
Secondly, most freelancers (both new starters and old) fear selling their work and their clients judging it with a stiff ruler.
Because their clients expect them to be at their beck and call.
Thirdly, for many stay-at-home-mums, graduates and students, it might seem like skills are easy to come by.
With all the information today, you can learn and master skills quickly.
But learning how to avoid these mistakes and get clients are supreme.
Many things go into making your freelancing journey very fruitful.
It is nearly impossible to cover every mistake a freelancer can make when starting, but these are the known ones from my experience.
What are the 13 biggest mistakes freelancers make that make them lose money?
I made many mistakes when I started my freelancing journey.
Freelancing can be easy, but you must follow these 5 action steps if you have yet to gain experience.
These are the 13 biggest mistakes freelancers make that make them lose money (best solutions).
You need to know the following freelance mistakes that might hurt your freelancing business.
1. Specialization will help you charge your skill worth.
If you figure out your speciality early, you will find it easier to upskill, update your skills and determine who your clients are.
So, you will also be easy to get jobs if you are a highly specialized Virtual Assistant – e.g.
Virtual Assitant with in-depth knowledge of social media management.
Note: Do not sell your services too cheap
It is one of the most expensive freelance mistakes you might make as a beginner.
2. The absence of a system affected my productivity.
I was a mother of a toddler when I started freelancing.
I had too many back-office, like sourcing for a client, filing my tax, making invoices and uploading them, paying bills on time and much more work by myself.
It overwhelmed me and affected my work delivery dates so much.
That is also why you need to use freelance platforms, and they will do all the back-office jobs.
3. Lack of marketing skills
Freelancers are business owners; they provide skilled services and will need exposure to drive sales and revenue.
New freelancers must learn to drive traffic to their online brands to close deals or projects.
A lack of marketing skills can destroy the market targets of a good freelancer.
You must know how to increase your online presence by understanding your goals, the audience you are serving and how to improve your earning and cut industry market share to yourself.
Increasing your brand recognition online and offline will boost your freelance career.
4. It will help if you work on personal and business brands at the beginning of your freelance journey.
Freelancers must pay attention to their personal and business brands early, even if they have one follower or one subscriber or over one million followers or subscribers.
It is because you have a personal brand if you have an online presence.
Building an excellent personal brand and online presence is very vital for freelancers.
As a freelancer beginner, you have a lot of work to do with yourself.
But remember that building a solid personal brand and online presence takes time, consistency and effort.
And it will pay off in the long run with constant high-quality customers or clients.
5. Lacking good time management
Jumping from a 9 to 5 corporate work to a freelancer was a big move for me.
I was managing my time and client time by myself, and I needed to be more skilled in managing my time, as it affected my work delivery.
As a new freelancer, you must learn how to schedule and journal as much as possible so that you remember everything.
Time management becomes essential for a freelancer beginner to ensure high work satisfaction and productivity.
6. It will help if you work on personal and business brands at the beginning of your freelance journey.
Freelancers must pay attention to their personal and business brands early in their freelance journey.
Even if they have one follower or one subscriber or over one million followers or subscribers.
It is because you have a personal brand if you have an online presence.
Building an excellent personal brand and online presence is very vital for freelancers.
As a freelancer beginner, you have a lot of work to do with yourself.
But remember that building a solid personal brand and online presence takes time, consistency and effort.
And it will pay off in the long run with constant high-quality customers or clients.
7. Taking all projects
In my early days of freelancing, I got a client through my only client I got through social media groups.
I accepted her work, and when I could not do the second job due to how I struggled in the first project – she complained so bitterly.
Since I started freelancing through Facebook groups – I dont know what to charge, and I was getting a flat rate.
Secondly, Taking on a client without contract paperwork is risky.
I suggest that everyone sign a written contract agreement from the beginning.
8. Refrain from believing the hype.
Most top freelancers trying to sell their courses will tell you to do this and that, sit on a beach all day and have fun earning millions of dollars freelancing.
Such a claim is not valid.
You cannot sit on the beach; the work will flow in, which is a lie.
You initially work harder as a freelancer, and it is nothing near sitting on a beach, and the jobs will flow in.
Dont ever believe this hype but wear your work hard-shoe on your legs as you start.
Believing the hype is one of the mistakes that hurt your freelancing business.
9. Being habitually lazy due to burnout
Take only as few jobs as you can handle to avoid burnout.
You might be tempted to take more jobs because of financial commitments and want to deliver quality work to retain your client.
You might suffer burnout, and being habitually lazy due to burnout will make you provide your clients with shoddy work and might affect your reviews and references.
10. Learn how to say “NO.”
Learning how to say NO is an art every freelancer must learn.
If you cannot do good work with the price tag your client is proposing, it is a good idea to say no that you cannot do it for such a price.
If the time frame does not work for you, tell the potential client “NO.”
Saying “NO” is a sign of being professional in your job.
Take care of your clients and keep the relationship professional.
11. Treat your freelancing work as a job.
I had problems early days of freelancing because I did not treat the work as a job.
And I cared for my clients and neglected myself, pricing what I was worth and my skills.
Once you start freelancing, take it seriously and know you are doing a professional job.
When you take it seriously, you will be able to understand that it is only sometimes fun, and you need to retrain and update your skillset constantly.
12. Spend your money wisely.
Spend your money to update your skills, not on posh equipment. You dont need posh equipment when starting, but you need an updated skill set.
Spend money updating your skills and networking.
Know the people already at the top of your industry, learn from them and source for paying clients.
You can now use the revenue proceeds generated to update your equipment when you get many paying clients in.
I still use my old computer to deliver work to my clients and will update my equipment when I migrate to the traditional freelance platforms.
13. More than work skill is required.
A freelancer should be committed to providing quality freelance services for clients, and the quality of work is 45% of the entire package.
Of course, you can deliver excellent work a client gives you, but many other things are involved.
And these are as follows: sales knowledge, professional relationship growth, leadership, marketing strategy, profit optimization, negotiation skills, charisma, integrity, quality, quantity, readiness and delivery pattern.
Dont only depend on or rely only on the work skillset, and do whatever you can to learn other entrepreneurial skills.
If you are looking for a freelance job, the following are freelance platforms where you can register and start making money.
Online freelancing platforms are as follows:
CONCLUSION
Freelancing is an excellent way to earn money.
Many freelancing platforms in this beginner’s guide will help you choose the best freelancing platform for your business.
If you need experience as a new starter, following these 5 action steps is vital.
It is crucial to avoid these 13 biggest mistakes freelancers make that make them lose money (best solutions).
If you avoid them, you’ll charge your work worth.
So, what’s the #1 challenge stopping you from succeeding as a freelancer?
Thank you for reading.
