By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll have a good grip on what data entry freelancers do and the common mistakes they make. A strong understanding of these concepts will help you avoid making similar mistakes yourself.
Data entry is exactly what it sounds like: entering data into a computer system or database to keep organized records. This job can come in a variety of forms, so those who work as data entry freelancers will likely encounter many different tasks from compiling information for an insurance company to creating spreadsheets for a freelance writer. These are just two examples, but there are limitless possibilities when it comes to the variety of clients that need data entry services.
While data entry is easy enough to describe, some may wonder why certain companies don’t handle their data entry instead of hiring freelancers to do it for them. The reasons vary from business to business, but one thing is certain: any company that wants its employees to focus on its core competencies needs to outsource its data entry duties. If your focus is customer service and not tedious web research, then hiring someone with expertise in that area can save you time and money.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Pay attention to accuracy and avoid common data entry errors. |
| 2. Stay organized and develop effective data entry workflows. |
| 3. Double-check your work to minimize mistakes and ensure quality. |
| 4. Keep up with industry standards and best practices in data entry. |
| 5. Communicate clearly with clients to understand project requirements. |
| 6. Manage your time effectively and set realistic deadlines. |
| 7. Continuously improve your skills and stay updated with new technologies. |
| 8. Maintain professionalism and provide excellent customer service. |
| 9. Backup your data regularly to prevent loss or corruption. |
| 10. Avoid taking on more work than you can handle to maintain quality. |
| 11. Establish clear contracts and agreements with clients to avoid disputes. |
| 12. Seek feedback from clients to identify areas for improvement. |
| 13. Take breaks and practice self-care to avoid burnout and maintain productivity. |
1. Lack Of Research
As a data entry freelancer, you will have to make decisions about which projects to accept. If you lack research skills, it can be tempting to blindly accept whatever work comes your way. While that could be good for cash flow in the short term, the cons outweigh the pros.
Ignorance of the project or client (and their expectations) is no defense if you fail to complete your deliverables satisfactorily. You are not allowing yourself to seek out better paying or more interesting projects.
The client may not realize that they need to pay more for a high-quality service, and think all data entry freelancers are interchangeable widgets when really, you’re an independent professional with skills and experience!
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2. Failing To Specialize
Since data entry is a skill that’s in high demand, there are many different specialties within the industry. You should choose at least one specialty to focus on and become an expert in that field. For example, you could specialize in medical data entry, legal data entry (such as contracts), bookkeeping or accounting data entry, etc.
Several reputable companies are looking to hire skilled freelancers with these specializations every day:
- Vee Technologies: Legal Data Entry Specialist
- Survey Analytics: Accounting Data Entry Specialist
- Transcription for Everyone: Medical Data Entry Specialist
As you can see from these examples, successfully specializing in your field will open up new opportunities you may never have thought of before.
3. Not Using Templates Or Standards
Creating templates and standards is a simple way to make sure you’re maintaining consistency in your data entry jobs.
Just as you design a template/standard for how to enter data into your database, you should also have a template/standard for all of the other standard documents (e.g., invoices) that you send out to clients. Make sure these templates include all of the information your clients need and keep them updated so they are accurate, clear, and easy to read. And don’t forget that these templates should include branding elements like your logo, colors, and typefaces.
If you’re working with a client who doesn’t follow his or her standards, ask them questions about their preferences (or suggest some of your own). For example: “How do you prefer me to format dates? How many decimal places would you like for currency? Which symbols do you use for acronyms? What is the correct spelling for this commonly misspelled word? Do I need to translate this term from English into another language?”
Get others to help test your work by checking over what you have entered against original materials or by asking someone else to check an extract from the dataset against what has been entered
4. Not Properly Securing Your Clients’ Information
Data entry is a high-level job, and because of this, it means you are entrusted with the most sensitive information from your clients. Because of this, you must take all the proper precautions to ensure all your clients’ data is kept secure.
One key way to ensure security is by securing your computer so that only you have access through a strong password. If you plan on working in public places such as coffee shops, it’s recommended to have a strong virus protection system installed on your computer as well as a firewall.
You should also be wary of emails requesting data entry or documents containing links or attachments unless they are sent by someone who normally sends them or someone who has been verified. It’s also important that you don’t ever send any personal financial information through email!
Another way to protect yourself and your client is to have an established contract with the client before beginning work. This will outline what the job entails and help keep both parties accountable for their part in the process.
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5. Not Differentiating Between You And Your Client’s Work
You might be tempted to incorporate other people’s work into your own without permission, or even claim ownership of a client’s work. Don’t do this! The law is clear—if you created it, you own it. If the client created it, they own it. Any ambiguity creates the unnecessary potential for conflict. Don’t leave room for doubt by clarifying copyright ownership early on in the process. Make sure that you and your client agree on who owns what before beginning any project together.
6. Relying On Proprietary Software
The first thing to understand is what proprietary software is: applications that are owned by a specific company. In the case of data entry freelancers, this means programs like Microsoft Excel not open-source programs like LibreOffice Calc or Google Sheets, but ones that can only be accessed through a paid license.
The problem with this is simple: if you’re a freelancer who uses proprietary software for work, you’ll have to pay for separate licenses every time you want to work on a new client’s files. The cost of subscriptions can add up quickly, and even if multiple clients are willing to pay your subscription costs as part of your freelance rate, they’ll be less inclined to hire you if they know they’ll have to foot the bill.
If you find yourself relying on proprietary software for data entry work and it’s becoming too costly, it might be time to look into alternative programs. I usually recommend Google Sheets it’s free and easy enough for the most basic spreadsheet needs but other options like LibreOffice could also fit the bill depending on your needs.
7. Forgetting To Check The Data
Many freelancers make the mistake of checking only a sample of the data, or not checking it at all. This is dangerous because, since you’re working for yourself, you could be held liable for any mistakes in the data.
You should always check the entire dataset from beginning to end. Keep an eye out for:
- transposed numbers or letters (“84” vs “48”)
- typos (mixed-up words like “for” and “from”)
- duplicate entries (or sometimes triplicate entries, which are harder to spot)
8. Not Getting A Milestone Payment
When you take on a long-term project, you have to make sure that you get at least a deposit through milestones. Try to make the first milestone payment of no more than 25% of your total project. This will ensure that if the client disappears, then you don’t lose any money. Milestones are also a good way for the client to check up on your progress and let them know how things are going.
Be sure not to set expectations too high with your milestones. If they ask for a big milestone and you can deliver it, then they may set this higher standard in their mind and be disappointed when later milestones aren’t as detailed or polished.
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9. Waiting Too Long To Ask For More Money
Don’t wait too long to ask for more money. This is the most important point in this article. If you don’t charge what your work is worth, you are cheating yourself out of the wages you deserve. And that means that you will be stuck trying to scrape by on a paltry income when you could be making much more.
Don’t wait for clients to come to offer you more money: Make sure that every time you get a new project, you negotiate with them and get paid what your work is worth (remember, if you are doing data entry fast and accurately, then it is worth a decent amount). Don’t be afraid to make demands if they refuse and send the project elsewhere instead, then good riddance! There are plenty of other clients out there looking for data entry freelancers.
The average person needs over $2 million saved up before they retire to live comfortably. This means that if your yearly income as a data entry specialist tops out at $40k ($20/hr), then it will take 50 years of working full-time without ever getting any promotions or pay raises until retirement age just so that you can stretch your savings enough.
Don’t let this happen work hard now so that later on in life when it’s crunch time, YOU can retire comfortably and not have to continue working until the day they put you six feet underground!
10. Failing To Provide Progress Updates
The absolute best time to ask for more money is when you’re halfway through an assignment. When you hit the halfway point, email your client and say you’ve finished half of the work and that the quality of their data is good. You should also let them know what type of rate you’d like to start billing for that project moving forward.
Here are some example sentences:
- “I’m a third of the way through this project, and based on everything I’ve seen so far, it looks like we have a solid candidate pool here. I think it would be fair to raise my rate by $x/hour starting now if that works with your budget. Can we make that adjustment?”
- “Thanks for reviewing those profiles earlier this week! It looks like this is a high-quality group of applicants overall. When we started, I mentioned my rate was x/hour, but since I have more experience with data entry now, I was hoping to increase my rate by x going forward? Would you be open to that?”
11. Not Asking Enough Questions
The 11th mistake you can make as a data entry freelancer is not asking enough questions. If you don’t ask, you won’t receive. You’re the expert, they’re not. You want to be able to talk to your clients and friends about your work. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t feel bad about asking questions.
There are plenty of times when I’ve asked a question and had a client say “Sorry, I should have mentioned that before.” That’s great! They should have mentioned it before! It’s their fault, not yours.
12. Rewarding Those Who Flatter You Instead Of Those Who Reward You
Clients who want a discount by flattering you are not your friends. They are not paying for the service of receiving compliments from you, which btw is worth exactly zero dollars.
You can offer discounts for the work you will do. You can offer discounts if you don’t have to leave your house to get it. You can offer a discount if someone wants to hire you for 200 hours and pay upfront instead of weekly for over six months. But please, whatever you do, stop offering discounts in exchange for compliments or other useless things like referrals or repeat business or loyalty (because what’s loyal about wanting something 50% off that I would normally charge at full price?).
It doesn’t matter if they have hired you before and didn’t complain about the prices then either, because it is 100% possible they still thought they were too high but just didn’t say anything. After all, people tend to have anxiety about “I don’t like this part of our relationship but I don’t know how to say it!”
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13. Lacking Formal Business Training And Continuing Education.
When it comes to freelancing and the business world, many freelancers make the mistake of not being properly trained or educated. Freelancing is a highly technical profession that requires a lot of knowledge in multiple fields. It is important to be aware and understand how these skills fit into your career as a freelancer.
For example, it is important to know how to read financial statements, balance sheets, and income statements so you can monitor your profitability. Understanding marketing strategies will help you grow your client base and improve sales conversions.
With technology constantly evolving and the world-changing daily, there has never been more information available at our fingertips than today. There are many different ways to educate yourself with this vast amount of information on almost any subject imaginable.
This includes online courses, YouTube videos, paid educational programs such as Lynda from LinkedIn Learning and my favorite way is reading books! Reading books can offer valuable insight into business development strategies that will help you increase performance for increased profits for your freelance business.
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Final Thoughts
Avoiding the mistakes I’ve listed here is a good first step to success. If you take this gig seriously and treat your clients with respect, you’ll have no problem building a reputation for yourself as a reliable source of data entry work. And once the money starts rolling in, don’t get complacent. Keep working hard and keep moving forward.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources you can explore for further reading on the topic of freelancing and common mistakes:
The 13 Most Common Mistakes New Freelancers Make and How to Fix Them: This book provides valuable insights into the common mistakes made by new freelancers and offers practical solutions to overcome them.
Common Mistakes Freelancers Make: Check out this blog post that highlights some of the common mistakes freelancers make and provides useful tips on how to avoid them.
Data Entry Freelance Websites: This article focuses specifically on data entry freelancing and provides information on freelance websites where you can find data entry projects and opportunities.
People Also Ask
What Is Data Entry?
Data entry involves taking information from one source (usually a paper or electronic document) and entering it into another system (such as an Excel spreadsheet).
What Are The Skills Needed For Data Entry?
Basic computer skills, attention to detail, and the ability to accurately follow directions are the minimum requirements needed to become a freelance data entry specialist. You should also be able to work without supervision and meet strict deadlines. Being a fast typist is required for many jobs in this field.
How Do I Start A Freelancing Career?
Freelancing careers can vary greatly depending on your chosen field, but there are some basic steps you can follow to help get started as a freelancer: Find your niche — what will you offer potential clients? Create an online presence set up social media profiles and build a website. Start networking and connect with other people in your industry (preferably those who don’t compete directly with you). Get gigs through referrals or bidding sites such as Upwork or Fiverr; find projects by cold emailing companies whose services could benefit from yours.
What’s The Best Way To Find A Data Entry Freelancer?
Many online platforms connect you with freelance data entry workers, such as Upwork and Freelancer.com. You can also find freelancers through social media groups or on LinkedIn. Once you’ve found a few candidates, ask them if they have experience working in your particular industry. If so, ask them for references from previous clients and check those references out yourself before making a hiring decision.
How Do I Know If A Data Entry Freelancer Is Good At Their Job?
Ask for samples of their work before you hire them. This will give you an idea of how well they work under pressure and whether or not they’re able to follow instructions and meet deadlines successfully.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Data Entry Freelancer?
The answer depends on what kind of work needs doing, how much time it takes them to complete it, and how many hours per week they’ll be spending on your project (or projects). The hourly rate for most data entry jobs ranges between $15-$25/hour in most markets across the United States; however, some workers charge more.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.