Dont Try Half Measures In The Freelancing Economy

Competition in the freelance space is hotting up. Whether we feel it right now or not, the facts are indisputable — 35 per cent of workers in the US are freelancing.

The number is expected to jump to over 50 per cent by 2022. In the EU, the percentage has risen from 8.95 per cent in 2013 to 16.1 per cent in 2017.

Here’s the other really interesting statistic. In the UK, 69 per cent of all graduates are saying they feel independent work offers them a better work-life balance. Notwithstanding the totally delusional innocence inherent in that statement, it’s a real sign that the future of work is changing irrevocably. Here’s a humorous, but totally accurate, comment which sums up the freelance life: “Freelancing gives me the flexibility to panic about my job instability anytime I want.”

And the last bone-chilling piece of the puzzle: The pie is at best staying static, and probably shrinking, a little like the artic ice-cap in the middle of an explosion in the polar bear population. And it’s not necessarily the biggest bears that will survive. They require more food than the lean and agile ones.

Based on the evidence, the ability to stand out in a rapidly over-crowded market is rapidly shifting from a “source of competitive advantage” to a survival skill. This is the way the world is turning.

Anyone who runs a small business or freelances for some or all of their income needs to understand this threat and act now. So what are some nifty techniques to stand out? Here’s a synthesis of my ideas and snippets from a very informative blog written by Carrie Cousins for Designshack.net

Before you start:

• Be Your Brand. You must stand for something, and be recognised for it. Use consistent imagery, tone of voice, language. Our graphic designer, who is based in Scotland, is brilliant at this. Her company is called Limelite and everything she send us has a flash of lime somewhere.

• Build a library. Write short tutorials, blogs and posts that show you are an expert in your field. Keep adding to it after you have launched yourself. It’s what people will judge you on.

• Choose your customers: not everyone will naturally want your product. Pick the low hanging fruit first and get established.

Once you launch

• Dare to be different: I use techniques I learnt from Jon Buchan of Charm Offensive to write very catchy cold call emails. They really stand out in the sea of information which assaults your clients every minute. Back in the day, a business consulting company used to send potential clients a hospital envelope used for holding X-rays.

When the recipient-client opened it, they found an x-ray sheet. Holding it up to the light, they could read “Your Business is Sick! Contact Us Immediately!”

• Be accessible: Respond to all enquiries within one business day. No exceptions. This small point will propel you to the top of the pile, because so many freelancers don’t do it. Put all your contact information on everything you send out.

• Follow basic business processes: This is not the place to be creative. If your systems don’t match your client’s systems, you won’t get paid. Learn how to give a written quote.

Understand how purchase orders work. Specify very clear payment terms. Complete invoices correctly. Issue receipts on a timely basis.

In January 2017, a freelancer did some design work for me. She still hadn’t invoiced me. I reminded her ... and it turns out she’d forgotten.

So we went through her work over the past two years and found she hadn’t invoiced (or hadn’t collected) nearly $10,000 worth of fees. She’s not alone. In the UK, a 2015 study showed that businesses had forgotten to invoice for 2.3 billion pounds in one year.

• Honour your word: If you say you’ll deliver the finished article on Tuesday at 5pm, deliver it on Tuesday at 5.00pm. The most precious attribute a freelancer can have is to be reliable. I’d rather work with a reliably good supplier than an unreliable brilliant one.

• Serve your customer: Work with them to show them (gently) that there’s a better way when you’re heading for a brick wall at speed. Defer to them in unimportant matters. You don’t have to die in the ditch on every point.

At the end of the day, they want their version, beautified by you. Not your version.

• Every day is a winding road: Learn to smile at every curve and maintain an engaging attitude. No one likes working with a grumpy git, and when you’re not joined at the hip like an employee, it’s easy for your client to get exasperated and just not invite you back.

That’s about it. Notice I never mentioned the actual work you do. I’m assuming you’re totally brilliant at that bit.

But so are your competitors. What I’m talking about is “differentiation through determination”. It’s hard to copy, and even harder to maintain when you’re so busy juggling priorities.

But it is the difference between success and a long slow burn to failure.

The writer is the founder of Businessmentals.