Freelance Bootcamp #2: Finding Your First Clients, What To Charge, And Dealing With Deadlines…

Welcome to the second addition to the freelance bootcamp series! Last week we asked if you were really ready for full time freelancing. Many of you weren’t quite ready to take the full leap so instead you may have decided to do this safely and securely as a part time job. Smart move hotshot! In this episode we explain how to land your first clients, what to charge them, and how to handle the deadlines your client(s) set!

We figure the best way to gain experience as a freelancer in the beginning is to get your feet wet right away. Once you have a couple clients under your belt, you will have the right mindset when you begin to set yourself up as a legitimate freelancer. Once you have example work to show, you can then begin to build your online portfolio and begin to gain exposure to find a steady client stream.

Finding Your First Client

Finding your first legitimate client can seem daunting for some. The truth of it is that there are many various ways you can find your first client, and many without a penny in your pocket, or very much work at all! Go a head and give some of these a shot and you may just see how simple this can be.

Freelance Job Boards

Job boards are an easy way to find your first project. Many times the price is already set right there in black and white and you don’t even have to worry about pricing! There are many job boards out there depending on your industry. Many popular choices are:

• Elance
• GetAFreelancer.com
• FreshWebJobs
• Authentic Jobs
• Guru
• Coroflot

You can also try some job aggregators to get a birds eye view of multiple job boards:

• JobPile
• JobFloat
• MostHired
• JobAgg

Promote Your Services

Promoting your services will usually lend the most opportunities. You can print out advertisements on your home printer and place them at local collages, stores, and businesses. You can also promote your services online in many ways. You can try places like Sitepoints Marketplace and TalkFreelance, and Digitalpoint to get started.

Ask Around

If you are well networked (or well liked!) then people can be your greatest resources. Ask your friends, your friends friends, and everyone in between! If you have a suave sales persona as well you can go a head and call up local businesses to try and snatch that first client!

Now What Should I Charge?

This is a popular question among beginning freelancers. There are different factors to consider when it comes to what to charge for the project and exactly how to charge for that project. Should i charge an hourly rate? What rate should that be? What about per-project billing? How do i know how much the project is worth? For your first step out in the freelancing world, we’ll make it easy as possible for you.

First, When it comes to the question of hourly vs. project-scope/per-project billing it comes down to your personal preference and personal situation. While hourly seems to be the easiest and maybe the most obvious choice, it may be more hassle then it is worth when your first starting out in my opinion. When billing by the hour you must consider what hours you can actually bill, how you will keep track of your time, how to communicate to the client the hourly breakdown of the work. This may be more then you want to handle with your first freelance job.

I tell most beginning freelancers to begin with per-project pricing before accepting hourly jobs. It is usually easier for you and many times easier for the client. Per-project billing works simply by quoting the client one flat rate based on the projects scope. The more required for the project, the higher the price. Easy as cake!.. Right? Well then how do you know what the project is worth?

If you’re not experienced in the industry then you may have absolutely no idea what to charge your new client! Finding the answer may be much easier then you think! Try some of the following methods:

Ask For The Budget

If your client has not disclosed a budget to you then you can simply ask if they have laid out a budget for the project yet, and what might that budget might be. Most clients will actually have a budget set aside either on paper or have a ballpark figure floating around in their head. The trick is not to charge the client 100% of their budget but to take their budget, knock off around 10% and send that number back to them as your price for the project (if of course the price is worth it!).

Sometimes 10% less than the budget might not be a price your comfortable with. If it seems too low for the work involved and more hassle then it might be worth then you can try to work with the client by telling them that, for quality work, the lowest price you can offer them is $xxx.xx amount. Sometimes clients will low-ball you and especially if they know you are just starting out! Don’t fall into this trap! It all comes down to whether the work involved is really worth the price. You have to walk away with something right? Right!

Look Up Similar Jobs

Many times clients will tell you that they have no budget and ask you what you charge. This is not unusual. The client probably still has a ballpark figure of what they expect you to charge but are hoping you are going to do it for much less.

How do you know what to tell these conniving type of clients? Just do a little research! Use the same job boards listed above to find similar projects… find the average price for these projects, and if it seems reasonable to you then use that to set your price… Nothing too complicated or profound but it works!

Ask The Competition

If your services are similar to many other freelancers out there then you can simply ask your competition what they would charge for this type of project. Of course just don’t go emailing everyone in your field asking them “Hey, what would you would charge this guy if you were in my shoes?” You can just request a quote from them as if you were asking about the project yourself.

Do this with at least three different fellow freelancers and you should have an average price. Remember, you might not be as experienced as those you asked so you may want to cut it down by 10% or more! They may be able to offer a quicker turn around than you. This should however give you a good idea of the average price of the project.

How To Handle The Deadline

When you have little to no experience dealing with deadlines it may prove to be a little tough to handle! This may also be a problem to those who work a full time job on the side. The stress of deadlines can sometimes eat you alive if you don’t handle them correctly!

One At A Time Please!

In the beginning, handle one project at a time. Handling multiple deadlines is for those who’ve been doing this for awhile. Start out with one project at a time and then move on to two projects at a time and move on from there. Never try to take on more then you think you can handle! This will most certainly lead to missed deadlines. Over time you will get better and quicker at what you do which will allow you to take on more and more work at one time.

Schedule Your Work Hours!

Yes I know, this may be one of the things you’re running away from at your corporate job! The truth is, especially if freelancing is still a part time job for you, that you should set aside hours out of every day that you will be sitting down and working on your clients project. In the beginning you probably won’t know your work habits at home. Most of the time they are much different then those at your other job. While learning these work habits and dealing with deadlines at the same time, you’re going to need to set your own schedule! Do everything in your power to stick with it. Go out and buy yourself a brand new planner or agenda and pencil in your new clients deadline! Stick to your schedule and you should hit that deadline with absolute precision!

Don’t Procrastinate!

It’s easy to procrastinate. You’re probably doing it right now aren’t you? Procrastination will destroy your chances of hitting those deadlines! Most of us procrastinate because we fear that we cannot complete the work on time or with the set amount of quality that we are required to accomplish.

The truth is that once you face the project and your work, that it isn’t nearly as hard as you thought it would be! Start out with the smallest part of the project. Once you start accomplishing even the smallest task on the project list you will then suddenly have the confidence to go a head and knock the entire thing out!

Go a head and try it… Works every time! Next time you find yourself procrastinating, do the smallest task and you may find yourself hours later with half or more of the entire project complete.

How To Get Paid?

The work is done, now how does the client pay you? Many clients prefer the use of PayPal. Many bigger clients may want to do a bank or wire transfer. You will need some info from your bank such as your IBAN number if so. The process is rather painless and your client will be taking care of almost all the work.

If you have required a deposit or are holding on to the project files before the client pays, be aware of e-checks… wait for them to clear before sending off the final project files (if that is part of the agreement). While I have never had an issue to date with e-checks (knock on wood), it is possible the clients check may not clear.

Now What?

So you’ve caught that first client, charged him a reasonable price, hit your deadline and got paid. Now you should have some new found confidence in your freelancing abilities! It wasn’t so hard was it? Now where do you go from here? Your next steps will include setting up and establishing your freelance business, creating a professional portfolio, dealing with the paper work, staying organized and oh so much more… which we will be covering over the next few articles in this series. Just sit tight and check in again soon