Freelance Web Design Crimes You Should Never Commit

• January 6th, 2011
• Articles

In order to succeed and to be very successful as a freelancer weather you are a freelancer pursuing a career within design or maybe even web design, these are some crucial mistakes which are worth avoiding.

Not Pricing Design service correctly

It’s essential when setting up a design business or starting out as a freelance designer that a good pricing structure is setup. Most designers starting out pursuing a freelance career make this common mistake of overvaluing their design service which they offer charging big prices the same as what big commercial design agency’s may charge. Another pricing mistake made is working for peanuts some designers when starting out work for free or undervalue their design service by offering very cheap prices in order to land a design contract.

Only being good at designing

To survive as a freelancer your need be a jack of all trades you need to be an all rounder. You can’t just be good at designing and expect to have long and successful design career, because the reality is the complete opposite for the simple fact that freelancing there are several other skills you must be good at. In order to succeed you need skills such as project management, finance, time management etc in order to succeed you need to be strong in all of these areas or at least be knowledgeable.

Not being focused

Most freelancers peruse their freelance design career in from home office therefore some freelancers may find difficult to focus on their work because have other house hold tasks which need to be completed at the same time such as cleaning your house or maybe you have a young family which you have to look after.

Not giving the client what he really wants

If the client asks for a logo why give him a logo and a website don’t make more work for yourself just to impress a client or make more work for yourself because you are not clear upon what the client wanted exactly. Clarify if there’s something which a client requested and you’re not exactly certain about. Time for freelancers is like gold you cannot afford to waste time which could be spent working on another project.

Working 24/7

It’s typical that you will come across a project which will need more of your time and attention working on or alternative you juggling several projects at same time, which means a lot of your time will rapidly eaten up. Most freelancers approached in order to get the work done is to work constantly in order to complete the work which can lead to a burnout period where you are physically unable to continue working at the pace your currently working at because your exhausted and tired from working so hard. Working when you’re tired and mentally drained means you’re not working to your full potential, instead your sacrificing the quality of the work and potentially not getting payed because the client wasn’t in impressed with the quality of the work.

Treating your freelance lifestyle like a rock star

Waking up late and finishing early sounds like a great lifestyle but not the Wright lifestyle for any freelancer to be living. A as solid routine and schedule is essential in order to succeed and being capable of getting work done in order to pay the bills or provide for your family. Remember late starts and early finishes will have an effect on your productivity you’re a freelancer not a rock start time is vital and you can’t afford to waste it.

Wrapping up..

It’s always great to learn from other peoples mistakes so you don’t make the same mistakes which others may have made. I’m sure every freelance at some point has made these mistakes within their freelancing career these are crimes which no freelancer who wants to maintain or have a successful freelancing career should commit.

Time to confess to freelance crimes you’ve committed

Let’s hear your thoughts on the article and why not confess to a freelance crime which you may have committed in the comments below.