Being a freelancer is quite the frustrating gig – we can all agree on that! On the one hand, it’s a great way to stay in charge of your own career. You’ve got the chance to set your own course, gain the skills you’re truly interested in, and build relationships with the clients that align on your level.
But behind all of those benefits, there’s the innate job insecurity, the dry periods that can happen at any time, and the lack of traditional work benefits (such as sick pay or annual leave). And that makes freelancing quite the tricky thing to balance.
However, there are some frustrations you don’t have to deal with, not anymore! Here’s just three of the most common you can rid your freelancing life of today.
Cold Emailing
Since emails were first sent, cold emailing has been a reliable way to find new clients. It takes a bit of time (and some courage), but you can send out prospect emails to businesses, individuals, organizations, and anyone else who might be looking for your services.
That being said, cold emailing often takes a lot more time than many people think is worth it. Every email needs to be personalized to fit the client, and you need to show you’ve done your research, and have some kind of expertise, in just a few short paragraphs alone.
But you can set up templates, create an aggregate list of potential clients you could reach out to, and spend only one day per week actually doing your cold emailing.
Remembering to Invoice Clients
Client invoicing is the admin task from hell. At the end of the week or month, you’re there double checking that not only have the right invoices been sent, but that they’ve been paid too.
And if there are any outstanding, you have to check how long they’ve been that way, if another reminder needs to be sent out, or if you’re going to need to try something along the legal lines.
It can take hourly chunks out of your working schedule! But you don’t have to deal with client invoice worries alone. Invoicing software has existed for a long time, and they’re more than worth the price for any and all freelancers out there.
Automate your invoices, automate your reminder emails, and know just from a look what actions need to be taken. No more searching through your email inbox to find the details on the situation!
Revising for Free
Every freelancer has done more unpaid revisions than they really should have! And some clients do like to rely on this when it comes to paying for freelance work.
If they can ask for as many revisions as they like, they never have to stump up more money. It doesn’t matter how much of your time they’re wasting.
To avoid this, set some very clear, defined limits around revision amounts in your contract.
Got some freelancing frustrations? Knock the three above on their heads.
