“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”-Aristotle
If you have decided to work for your desired goal, you do not required to be pushed by somebody. Your goals will always motivate you for the work. However the path or the journey is not always free of thorns. There are always hurdles on the way. You have to face the situations and find your ways to pass from that difficult times just like water facing stones. Water of river never stops when it passes though stones. It finds it’s way and move further.
Following types of challenges may be confronted while you are working as freelancer or content writer.
1. Writing Skills
Business of freelancing or content writing is just like any other job. If you are fresher, you have to learn lot of skills. If you do not learn required skills you may get frustrated and may drop the idea of subject job. You may take up the course on specific skills. Whether the course is on line or off the line, a reputed institution may give standard learning skills for the job. You may not develop those skills over night. It is generally believed that if you do anything for 21 days it becomes your habit. But if you do it for next 21 days it becomes your mastery.
You may be working for diverse range of projects and therefore you require to be expert in subject skills. A series of said skills will pay you as per your standardised craft and unique technics. There is no greatness without spending time and money. Money loves speed. You may have to spend appropriately for learning your crafts and your grinding phase me teach you a lot for your expertized work.
2. Figure Out How To Get Paid
Your freelancing job may not be full time job like 9 to 5 or stereo type 8 hours working hours. The flexibility of your working hours with respect to time and place may be very good for your proficiency and extra-ordinary working style. As you are your own boss you may hate wisely and say no to some of the projects which you may not be suitable for you.
In number of cases freelancers get the problem of paying the fees in time. After lot of follow-ups the client pay the fees. It is therefore advisable to take considerable amount in advance, so that client is equally bothered for the fruitful deal. It is better to work for less money paid instantly rather than working for more rates and paid very late. Make standardise system and principles and tell the clients also for subject protocols.
3. Work-Life Balance
Although it is very much necessary to get earn as per the work you put in but it is not advisable to work beyond your limits and health deterioration. I have seen people working beyond their capacities and fall prey to ailments and later on the total money earned is spent on curing the diseases and incurred huge medical expenses.
The family and friends should be given priorities over the work. At a specific time you should leave the work and attend the family. People work till mid night and spoil there healthy relations with their near and dear and sometime results in separation. The money then earned is a wastage. Without happiness, there is no use of bank balance.
4. Landing Clients
The most realistic issue a freelancer gets is the landing clients. Acquisition of projects are most challenging aspect faced by freelancers. In this case, it is better to have good relationship with clients and make a system to retain old clients and inform about your rates, discounts and offers to your existing clients.
You have to be persistent for acquiring new clients so that there is always a demand of your work. Social media platform is the place where you can inform your old and new client with your ads and postings. A value added email at a set interval of time may keep your dealings alive with clients. Always ask for the feedback from your clients so that flawless dealings and mutual relationship can be improved for better service.
5. Ghost Writing Assignments
Ghost writing is obviously writing for somebody without your name. This is like digging well for somebody till the water is coming out from the well. The water in no way useful to you but the owner of the well. It is therefore advisable to dig the well for somebody but at the same time you must dig well at your place exclusively for you. When you dig the well for somebody and simultaneously you dig for yourself, one fine day you will get the water in your well and then immediately stop digging for somebody.
You are assigning your talent to somebody by sacrificing your name and fame for the mere sake of money. You are working for the dream of someone and drawing away your attention from your own worthwhile dreams and goals.
6. Your Static Rates
If your have static rates for your job, you may be miserable after long time. Since prices are increasing in every field, you may have paucity of funds if your do not increase your rates. Time to time if you increase your rates strategically you can cope up with your financial challenges. If you give the quality to your client, they do not mind if you raise the cost at least 10%.
Work with the growth mind-set and increase the price as and when it is feasible. A small incremental value will make a huge difference in long run.
7. Missing Deadlines
Whenever you have any project in hand, assign date of finishing the work. It will not only give you the boost for working for the project but it will also have positive effect on your client. Your customers can rely upon your promises. I have seen many clients who stop dealing with the writers who do not complete the work in specified time. It is not only financial loss but huge value diminishing effects and lost protocol and trust.
8. Lack Of New Skills and Digital Trends
Learn everyday something new. In todays era of digital revolutions, we find something new everyday. If you do not undergo change, you may be lost in the market. There are number of examples in the market, when company does not adapt the change they are lost in spite of huge infrastructures and large financial capacities. Adapting change is the leverage to growth.
Summary
It is advisable to learn from the mistakes. Observe the competitors, never commit the mistakes they have committed. Commit new mistakes but never repeat your mistakes or the mistakes committed by your rivals.
Take Away
1. “Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” — Socrates
2. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” — Muhammad Ali
