5 Mistakes I Made When I First Started Freelancing

I made a lot of mistakes when I first started freelancing. I still make mistakes every once in awhile. That's just a part of life! You learn from them. I almost think it's essential to make mistakes in order to grow and learn to never repeat those mistakes. 

Today i'm sharing 5 mistakes I've made and what I've learned from them. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes as well! 

Mistake #1 -  Not always having a contract 

In certain situations, I wouldn't ask clients to sign a contract. For example, if I was doing work for a friend, or friend of a friend, I wouldn't have a contract. I never had any trouble until one of my past clients (who might be the sweetest woman in the world) put me in contact with one of her family friends who needed some design work done. He was in desperate need of a funeral program designed and memorial video edited. Because I completely trusted my client, I figured her family friend was a trustworthy guy. His wife had just passed so felt bad and a bit awkward bringing up a contract when this man was suffering and in pain. I spent hours and late nights working hard on this rushed project and delivered the final files before payment was received. He was thrilled with the results, but when the payment came through I only received half of the invoice, along with a note saying that he wasn't going to pay the rest because he didn't think that the total amount was fair. 

If you're in a situation where you feel weird asking for a contract, don't. I realized there's no reason to feel weird! It's business and a contract is absolutely necessary.

The word contract can sound scary and unfriendly. I refer to my contracts as "Letter of Agreements" instead. I highly recommend this! It sounds much more approachable and friendly. 

Lesson: ALWAYS have a contract. 

Tip: Call it a "Letter of Agreement" instead! 

Mistake #2 - Delivering files before the final payment is received. 

It's crucial to include in your Letter of Agreement that the final files will not be delivered until payment has been received. I clearly screwed this up in the story above, but I actually didn't fully learn my lesson until it happened again! This situation was a bit different because I did get paid in full, it was just 2 months late! To avoid late payments, never give clients your work until they have paid you. It's that simple.

Lesson: NEVER deliver your final files until you have been paid in full.

Mistake #3 - Charging an hourly rate 

Okay, this might not necessarily be a mistake, and it might be better for some people to charge hourly. However, in my experience, I have found that it's much more beneficial, on both ends, to charge a flat fee, and then charge by the hour for revisions.

Charging a flat fee has several benefits:

1. It fosters trust with your client. They know what they're getting from the get-go. 

2. It makes it simple to get paid. Have them pay a 50% deposit before the work begins and the final 50% right before the final files are delivered. 

3. It makes it easier to figure out your projected income. You're easily able to figure out how many projects/packages you need to sell in order to make the amount you want to make. If you don't currently package up your services, I highly recommend it because it makes it easier to predict income.

4. It saves time. You won't have to spend as much time emailing back and forth with clients about money.

Lesson: Charge a flat fee, then charge by the hour for any extra revisions 

Mistake #4 - Having clients print, sign and scan my letter of agreement 

How annoying is that?? I used to send my clients an email with a letter of agreement in pdf form. They would have to print it, sign it, scan it, and email it. That takes a lot of time and is just a hassle! What a bad way to start a relationship with a client. I did this for years and looking back, I'm embarrassed about it.

If you're currently doing this, stop immediately and start using an electronic signature platform. I use HelloSign. You simply upload your letter of agreement and send to the client. They can easily sign with their finger, on any device. It's so simple!  And simplicity is key with any client onboarding process. 

Lesson: Use an electronic signature platform

Tip: Try HelloSign!

Mistake #5 - Giving clients more than 4 design concepts to choose from

I seriously at one point gave a client 10 logos to choose from. That's crazy! I now offer my clients only 3 logos. The more logos you present to your client, the tougher the time they will have deciding on which one they like best. People have a hard time making decisions when presented with so many options. So if you have ten logo sketches, refine and select the best of the best.

Have you ever presented your logo concepts and had the client select your least favorite one? This has happened to me and it's frustrating. A simple solution is to make sure all of the logo concepts you present are strong and successful. 

Lesson: Less is more