10 Rules for Freelance Success – Business Tips for Freelance Graphic and Web Designers

Get Your Design On!

The secret to a successful long-term career as a freelance graphic or web designer has little to do with design itself – it’s how you handle your business. I’m not saying that your design skills don’t matter, they do, but if you don’t get your business end together, it won’t matter how good you are. People simply won’t want to work with you.

It’s with this in mind that I offer you my top ten list of the most important business practices for freelance designers. This is not a theoretical list, this is how I run my business, so I know they work.

1. Never Leave a Client Unhappy Even if it Means Losing Money

This one hurts but you just need to suck it up, wrap up the job, and send them on their way. Happy clients will tell a few friends how awesome you are – unhappy clients will tell the whole world how much you suck.

2. Apologize Even if it’s Not Really Your Fault

You’re hired to solve problems not assign blame. An unresolved hurt will eat away at a client designer relationship. You need to nip it in the bud. If that means apologizing for something that is not your fault then so be it.

3. Take Ownership of the Problem Even When the Problem is Not Yours

Does it matter that your client’s website is down but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it because it’s hosted on a shared server two thousand miles away from your office? No, it’s your problem now because it affects your client. Clients are counting on you to take control of a situation, even if it means just placing a simple call to tech support to find out how long a server will be down. Will that get their website up any faster? Probably not – the hosting company already knows their servers are down and are working on it as fast as they can. But telling your client that you called tech support, and they are working on fixing the problem as fast as they can, assures the client that they have someone on their side who will take control of a situation and get things done. You need to be that person.

4. Remember to Use Your Phone Voice

Before you pick up the phone, take a deep breath, smile, and then answer. This assures that you always sound cheerful and refreshed. Nobody wants to hire someone who sounds frazzled and stressed.

5. When Trying to Land a Client Act as if You Don’t Need the Work

Don’t be rude, aloof, or difficult – just behave like all successful people behave. Winners are generous, polite and helpful because they are confident and secure. They have nothing to prove. You need to behave as if your business will be just fine whether they hire you or not. However, enthusiasm is good. So is asking lots of questions and kicking around ideas. There is a big difference between showing passion and interest in the client and their ideas and showing interest in their money and their connections. The former is about them and the latter is about you. The more you want the job the more you need to keep the focus on them and control your impulses to push things too quickly. Clients can sense desperation and it turns them off. If you’ve done you job correctly, the client will make the first move in closing the deal. They want to feel as if they got lucky when you took them on as a client.

6. Freely Give Away Advice

Don’t hold back a good suggestion until they hire you. Just say it. Quite often it’s that great suggestion that seals the deal. The good clients will be impressed and will hire you even after you already explained everything that they need to do. That’s the way serious business people behave. They delegate authority to professionals that know more than they do. They don’t feel the need to do it themselves or micromanage. Nothing screams authority and trust more than someone who freely gives away a “million dollar” idea to someone they just met. Conversely, bad clients will take the info, hang up, and you’ll never hear from them again. They’ll then do a half-assed job trying to implement the suggestions themselves on the cheap. They won’t know the difference and will feel as if they got the upper hand over a naive designer. And that’s a good thing. It saves you a lot of headaches that come from working with a wannabe who will never be a real player.

7. Always Ask for a Down Payment Before You Start a Job

Fifty percent is good. If they bail on you, at least you got paid decently. This also weeds out the tire kickers. The only exceptions are larger established companies that invoice at the end of a job. You don’t ask for fifty percent down when The Discovery Channel or Google hires you for a contract job. Most media agencies (print, television, radio, web, etc) also work this way. You just do the job and invoice at the end.

8. Buy the Best You Can Afford

Good equipment pays for itself very quickly, bad equipment costs you everyday. Good equipment is cheap, bad equipment is expensive.

9. Remember to Invoice

Nothing fancy, they just can’t pay you until you invoice. Accountants and payroll departments are funny that way.

10. Get a Client Testimonial for Your Website

After you’d wrapped up a great project ask for a client testimonial. Don’t wait for them to offer it. You can even give them suggestions on the types of points they could cover or include an example of a previous testimonial to get the ball rolling. Not only does this help land future work it also gives you insight into what your client valued most about their collaboration with you.

File Under – Business Tips for Freelance Graphic Designers – Business Tips for freelance Web designers – How to Run a Successful Freelance Graphic or Web Design Business