This past summer, I made the
It was a decision born out of necessity, as I had been laid off from my teaching job, and we were also expecting a baby, so it allowed me the opportunity to be at home and help my wife.
It's been a rough ride. Most of the people I've worked with have been awesome. I've made some friends and met some really cool clients in the process.
However, I've also come across some not-so-spectacular human beings, and I've had to bite my tongue on more than one occasion.
But, I realized the other day, these people just don't know. They're not jerks on purpose. They're just ignorant.
I don't want you to be ignorant, so I decided to develop a list of things that freelancers, such as myself, which you knew.
Here they are:
1) We're doing this for a living!
It seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised how many people treat freelancers like college kids who are merely earning a few extra credits by helping them out with their project.
No. I can't design your website for $50. No. I will not develop a branded, customized logo for $10. You get what you pay for, people.
What's that? You know a guy, who has a friend, who has a neighbor whose son dates a girl that has a cousin that just got Photoshop? And he'll do your project for $20?
Good. Use him. Keep me posted on how it turns out.
2) When we take the time to give you a quote on a project, we do expect you to be courteous enough to respond.
Over the course of the past few months, I've had a ridiculous amount of inconsiderate people send me emails or Facebook messages, asking if I can help them out with a website, logo, header or e-book cover. I'm always prompt in emailing them back as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. I give as much information as I can, and I'm upfront about how much things cost and why they cost what they do.
More than half of these potential clients have simply chosen to not respond. Not at all.
If you found someone else, that's cool. But don't be impolite. It's not the end of the world if we're not going to work together, but if you can't even email me back, it's going to be awkward.
Plus, a lot of the time, my prices and other details are open to being moved a little bit. I'll work with you, but I can't do that if you won't even email me back. It really is rude.
3) Please have some kind of clear direction before we get started.
Designers are creatives, so we don't mind helping you think outside the box a little bit. But, I've actually had clients who essentially say: "I don't know what I want. Surprise me!"
The problem is that the clients who claim to have the least amount of an opinion on things are almost always the ones who ask for 5,000 revisions because it just wasn't what they had in mind.
YOU HAD SOMETHING IN MIND?!
Just tell us. We're designers, not mindreaders. It makes life easier for everyone when we communicate.
4) If the product is not up to your standards, give us the opportunity to make it right.
For the most part, all of my clients have been forthcoming enough to be frank with me about what they liked, and more importantly, what they didn't like.
However, I've had a couple of clients who were not open with me, said everything was good, only to later find out that they were unhappy with my work (and probably mentioned this to other friends and colleagues).
That simply isn't fair.
If I have to spend extra time on something, I will. I've never told a client "too bad" when they said they didn't dig what I delivered. I'll always do my best to make it right, but I can't do that if I don't know it's not what you wanted.
5) If you enjoy working with us, TELL PEOPLE!
Referrals are our life-blood! Most freelancers either can't afford to or choose not to spend a lot of money on advertisements.
You are our commercial.
If you liked the website or book cover we built for you, please tell as many people as you can. Also, be strategic. The mailman probably isn't going to care that KR Graphix built you a sweet new Wordpress site. Tell people in a similar industry who can actually use our services.
Thanks!
If you're a Freelancer, can you think of anything I left off the list?
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