Being a Better Freelancer
Simply speaking, Freelancer or freelance worker is a person who is self employed and is not committed to any employer for a long term. Freelancers can belong to an agency where they are employed to clients as contractors for a short duration. Once work is done, these freelancers or independent contractors as referred in the corporate, return to their agency before being part of another project.
In this discussion, we are going to focus on the independent freelancers only; Restricting our freelance profession as a UX designer. We will see what one can do to manage different aspects which a freelancer has to keep in mind and how to be better at this job i.e. Freelance UX Designer
1. Making yourself Visible
One of the most concerned part of freelance is how do you make yourself visible? You must make a choice as to what is the audience you wish to work with.
If you wish to showcase your work online and market yourself to win projects, creating a website with your name as the domain name is one of the best option. However, you can also accomplish the same by creating a Page on Facebook and Instagram.
If working with Startups and Corporate is your preference, you should strongly consider creating your profile/portfolio at job portals like Indeed and LinkedIn. Leverage these platforms to connect with like minded people and share your thoughts.
“Do not consider fellow freelancers as competitors; There is enough space for everyone to co-exist; Build a good rapport and learn in real-time”
Once you have established a decent portfolio online, start socializing with fellow freelancers. Do not consider them as your competitors but look up to them as a part of a large community of which you also are a part. By building a good rapport, you can learn a great deal in real-time.
Keep marketing yourself wherever you can; whether it is with face to face interactions, or any blogs online or any social media posts.
“If you don’t want to be noticed, no one will notice you”
2. Network with Potential Clients
This goes without saying, you need to connect and network with your potential clients. It would be to very foolish to assume that work is going to come and approach you. To get work, you have to be around work. Constantly keep looking as to what is the market demand and if you can fulfill it with your skill set.
It goes without saying; In order to find work, you need to be around work
Some of the better ways is to use job seeking sites were employers are looking for potential resources to get their work done. Connect with them and let them know your offerings. Even if they put you down for that time, they might connect with you when such requirement that suits your profile comes up.
3. Create a Perfect Pitch
Having connected with the client, its very important to create a perfect pitch with whatever you got. Every client has a different requirement. Your pitch needs to be as unique as the business problem the client is trying to solve.
“No structure has stood strong with a weak foundation”
Before making a pitch, learn everything about your potential client that you can; area of interest, accomplishments, nature of business etc. Do your homework well and build a strong foundation. Modify your content and make it specific to the client you are pitching to. Sending a default mailer of your offerings along with a link to your portfolios shows sloppiness and might be a big turn off for the client. Create problem specific content; it will make you visible among the other potential clients who are dealing with similar problems.
4. Estimate Better and be Realistic
How many times have you ever bought something which is not worth for its price? That’s right!! Very rare unless you got no choice. Remember that Clients do their groundwork before they approach anyone for work. Its not very often that they settle for the first person they meet with. If you are the first person they consult, you better be at the top of your game to win that client. Most of the clients look for other parties to work with due to poor and unrealistic estimation in terms of Time and Money.
“Mantra for better estimation — Be Realistic Period”
So how to not fail here? Mantra is Be Realistic. Keep a tab on what are the rates in the market and how are your fellow freelancers charging for this type of requirement. Socializing with your community has so many benefits. Create and maintain different estimation templates for every kind of project. Presenting a proof of estimation goes a long way in building your relationship with client and fetches more trust on you.
“Estimation need not be perfect and that is a reason its called estimate.. duh!!”
Sometimes, you also need to make a wise decision keeping in mind the future opportunities with the same client. And how do we know if any opportunities might come from the same client? Homework while pitching silly!
5. Follow Up
This aspect is the most under rated phase of the process. Never be ashamed of confirming if your client-in-talk has started off with other workforce. There might be times when the client is actually confused between you and other freelancers. In this difficult times, a simple message or a mail or even a call from your end to client increases your probability of winning the project. While most call this as a desperate attempt, I see this as a last sales opportunity to create ever lasting impression in the client’s mind. So next time you face this, go ahead and make it count!
Now following this process will definitely improve your chances to win projects, however you also need to deliver better results to keep the work coming. This will need you to be at the top of your game. Let us look at some of the things you should be doing as a UX designer on a daily basis.
1. Stay updated with What’s Trending
Every one likes contemporary work. Spend minimum of total 30 minutes per day on sites like Dribbble , Pinterest, Behance and try to mock up at least one UI style which you never did before.
2. Keep a Tab on Marketplace
Participate in webinars, socialize with others, keep constantly looking on job portals as to what are the latest design tools and expectations of employers. Take some time out to learn new tools and be equipped to make most of the opportunities to come.
3. Work on Personal Projects
Brainstorm to come up with a good idea to use your design skills and work on them. Working on personal projects keeps your creative mind active and boosts up confidence in approaching any task in project. In addition, it will also help you make client comfortable when you display how you solve business problems. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the design is bought as it is and your job is done!
4. Talent v/s Skill
There is a huge difference between being talented and being skilled. No matter how talented you are, your talent will fail you if you are not skilled. Take some time out and work out your skills day in and day out. The skills maybe different design skills and tools or even the presentation or writing skills.
Conclusion
It takes a desperate obsession to be a better freelancer and all you have to do is to maintain a proper work ethic. Everyone is different and has a unique work style. Find yours and make it a process; create a success formula out of it. All the best.
The views mentioned above are purely from my experience. Feel free to comment or respond with any points I might have missed. It might help someone needy.
Thanks for reading! Claps to appreciate.
