Things I'm Good At When Freelancing

Freelancing is always a great option to earn additional income or even as a career. But with freelancing, there is no set of rules on how you should run your business. You have to figure things out as you go along and find what works best for you.

As I’ve started my freelancing journey, I’ve realized that these are the things I’m good at:

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Takeaways
1. Building a Productive Workspace: Creating a dedicated workspace can enhance productivity and focus, leading to better freelancing results.
2. Embracing Freelancing Freedom: Freelancing offers the freedom to choose projects, clients, and work hours, providing a sense of empowerment.
3. Nurturing Mental Well-being: Freelance writing can have therapeutic benefits, contributing to improved mental health and emotional expression.
4. Enhancing Time Management: Mastering time management skills is essential for meeting deadlines and achieving a healthy work-life balance.
5. Finding the Right Clients: Identifying and collaborating with the right clients ensures fruitful and satisfying freelancing experiences.

Table of Contents

Knowing When To Say ‘No’

When you’re freelancing, you’ll be asked to do a lot of things. Some of them will be easy and some of them will be hard to say no to. Here are the reasons why I know when it’s time for me to say no:

My schedule is full
The client has unrealistic expectations
The project doesn’t align with my values or goals (i.e., I don’t feel comfortable writing about something)
The request isn’t specific enough and I want more information before making a decision (I’d rather have all the details before committing)

Creating a Productive Freelancing Space is essential for maximizing your potential as a freelancer. Learn how to set up a dedicated workspace and boost your productivity by checking out our guide on how to set up a dedicated workspace for freelancing!

Being Punctual

And by “punctual,” I mean this: I’m always on time for meetings, deadlines, appointments any event that requires me to be somewhere at a certain time or date. For example, if I say I’ll meet you at the coffee shop at 3:00 PM on Tuesday and you show up at 3:05 PM and look around confusedly until I find you walking toward me with your latte in hand well!

You’ve just made my day harder by making me feel like my time is worthless. On the other hand, if you arrive exactly five minutes before our meeting time (which would be awesome!) then it’s easy enough for both of us to get situated before starting our conversation.

Focusing On My Strengths

You should know yourself, and you should know what you are good at. If there is something that makes your heart sing, or if there is a place where you feel comfortable and secure, then that’s probably the thing for which you were made.

A lot of people make it their mission to fix themselves so that they can do something different than what they were meant to do. But I’m here to tell you: don’t try to fix yourself! That’s an idiom for “behave unnaturally.” Let me give some examples:

Don’t try to be a musician if all that comes out when someone plays music near is an eye roll and a sigh of boredom (and then maybe an eye roll). Some people just need silence; other people need noise!

Don’t try going from introvert to extrovert if all it does is make your head spin every time someone looks at them while they’re talking (and then maybe an eye roll). Some people need alone time; other people need company!

Don’t try going against nature just because society says this is how things should be done (and then maybe an eye roll). Just because everyone else does it doesn’t mean everyone in the world should do whatever others do it’s fine not doing something just because someone else does without thinking about whether it works for them too!

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Staying Organized

While freelancing, it’s important to keep track of your time so that you can bill clients correctly and make sure they’re getting their money’s worth. To do this, use a calendar or planner: one where you write down appointments, meetings, and other engagements as they happen.

If you’re on the go and have no access to a computer or notebook, set up reminders on your phone for any upcoming events.

In addition to listing all of your appointments, try keeping a list of all the tasks that need to be done on each project. This will help keep you organized so that when an emergency arises (and God knows there will always be emergencies), there’s no fear that something won’t get finished because everyone involved knows exactly what they need to do with their time.

A few good options include Trello or Asana if using digital tools is more convenient than pen-and-paper or just good old note cards placed around your workspace for easy reference!

Writing ideas down is another great way for freelancers like us who are constantly thinking about new ways we could improve our business model or service offerings. The trick here is finding somewhere safe where those ideas can live until we can come back around again later like maybe under “ideas” in Dropbox?

Or perhaps even create an entire document titled “Ideas” with subheadings like “Website Redesign” and then further break these down into individual items such as “Make navigation easier,” which would then prompt us later while working through our regular tasks list.”

Pitching Ideas

Know your audience. You need to make sure that what you’re pitching to the publisher is worth their time and effort, so it’s important to do some research first. Read through the publisher’s website and publications, look over the work they’ve done in the past, and get a feel for what they might be looking for.

Know your competition. It’s always good to know what other people are doing with this subject matter it’ll give you an idea of how far out there (or not) your ideas can go before being considered too strange or outside-the-box by publishers.

Know what you want. Is there any particular topic or theme that appeals to you more than others? Are there specific writers whose work inspires yours? If so, try basing some pitches around these inspirations; if not, try pitching a variety of topics until something sticks!

Know what kind of content works best on social media platforms like Twitter or Instagram (and don’t forget about LinkedIn!) Most publishers will ask if their pitch can easily be adapted into an image captioned with text explaining its significance so keep that information handy!

Finding My Inspiration

As a freelancer, you will often find yourself distracted by the work you need to focus on and feeling discouraged. But if you can’t find inspiration in your work and life, where else are you going to turn?

Finding inspiration for my writing has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a freelance writer. Many times in the past, I’ve felt stuck when it comes to finding new ideas for my writing projects and blog posts.

However, over time I’ve learned that there are many different ways that I can connect with others’ ideas and emotions throughout my day-to-day life and these connections help me bring more creativity into my writing projects!

Here are some ways that have helped me stay inspired:

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Making Time For Myself

One of the most important things you can do for yourself as a freelancer is to create time for yourself. Even if it’s just an hour or even 15 minutes, make sure that you are taking care of your mental health.

When I’m in a rut, I like to take walks around my neighborhood and get out of the house so I can clear my head and not think about everything that needs to get done. Sometimes I’ll stop by Target on my way back home just because it feels good to be in there (and then leave with nothing).

I also try to have breakfast with friends at least once per week, even if it’s only for 30 minutes it helps me remember why this whole thing is worth it in the first place!

Writing Fast And On Deadline

Being able to write quickly and accurately. I’ve been known to produce 3,000 words in an hour or two, which is pretty good for a freelancer.

Writing on deadline. Is it due tomorrow, and do you want me to send it tonight? No problem!

Writing in multiple styles. I can write as if I’m writing a dialogue between two friends sitting at Starbucks talking about “Friends” (I have other examples too). Or I can do the more formal stuff with paragraphs and introductory sentences that guide readers through an article or essay.

Some clients want one style of writing; others like both styles mixed in the same project (see above). Whatever your preference, we’ll figure out how best to fit it into your project so nothing gets lost in translation!

Writing in different voices/accented English speakers is welcome too! If there’s an accent that isn’t American English then don’t worry–just let me know ahead of time so we can plan accordingly 🙂

Picking Up The Phone

As a freelancer, you’re going to have to make calls. Some of these calls will be for work and some won’t be for work but still require you to pick up the phone, like calling your mom or calling an old friend. But if you do freelance work, there are going to be times when making a phone call is the right thing to do.

There are two ways to approach picking up the phone: one is by preparing yourself beforehand so that it feels less scary and more natural; another way is just jumping in and doing it without much thought at all.

The first way is better because then it’s easier for you when it comes time for taking action on other things as well means less procrastination!

Being Persistent In A Non-Annoying Way

I’m great at following up with people. It’s not that I’m pushy or annoying, but I do believe in being persistent and polite. There are some things you can’t move forward without, and sometimes that means contacting someone repeatedly until they respond (and then following up again).

Sometimes it means asking questions when the person isn’t interested in talking to you anymore.

It’s important to remember that persistence doesn’t have to mean pestering someone until they lose their mind it just means doing your best when dealing with a difficult situation and keeping cool while still working hard on something important to you.

Nurturing Your Mental Health Through Freelance Writing is a journey worth exploring. Dive into our article on how freelance writing helps your mental health and discover the therapeutic power of expressing your thoughts through words.

Working Well With Others (Even If They Don’t)

It’s important to be a good collaborator because freelancing is often about working with other people. Even if you’re the only person in your team (which is not ideal), you’ll still need to communicate effectively and efficiently with others if you want to get things done.

Whether that means communicating via email or over Slack, figuring out how to collaborate on projects can be a challenge for freelancers who are used to working alone.

Being able to adapt your skillset. In addition to being able to work well with others, freelancing often requires that you adjust your skillset based on what clients need at the time and this can include everything from writing code in different languages down to basic research or data entry tasks!

Using Social Media As A Tool Rather Than A Distraction

I use social media as a tool rather than a distraction, and luckily, it’s free. I use Twitter as a way to connect with other freelancers and share my work. You can also use it for promotion by posting about your latest completed project or hiring announcement.

Facebook has similar functionality; many small businesses don’t know who their competition is or how they compare in terms of prices/quality/etc., but you can help them out by liking their page and commenting on their posts. If they respond positively (or even negatively), they may reach out to you when they have an opening in the future!

Saying ‘Thank You’

`Thank you is the most powerful word in the English language. It’s hard to find a better way to show gratitude than with a simple, sincere “thank you.”

Here are some tips for saying “thank you” in your freelance work:

Thanking people for their help is important. Make sure that every person who helps you gets thanked for their efforts and input as well. If someone gives you useful advice, give them credit for it in any public writing about the topic (if appropriate).

Don’t be afraid to acknowledge great ideas from other people if they’re relevant to what you are doing or interested in learning more about!

Giving feedback on something can feel difficult at first, but remember that everyone loves feedback even if they don’t say so! Receiving constructive criticism can help us improve our work and become better freelancers overall; while being able to provide good feedback helps others grow into stronger freelancers as well!

The act of giving constructive criticism itself shows appreciation for another person’s time and effort so make sure there are always some kind words involved when giving these kinds of messages out there online too!

Taking Criticism In Stride And Moving On, Not Dwelling On It

Criticism is part of the process, and if you want to improve as a freelance designer, you need to learn how to take critique in stride.

When I first started freelancing (and even now), I would get defensive when my mentor would critique me or tell me something wasn’t working well. Nowadays I try my best not to take it personally when someone critiques my work; instead of getting defensive, I try and look at their point of view.

This makes it easier for me to understand where they’re coming from and what they’re saying; most importantly though: why they don’t like something about my design/workflow/etc. Keep in mind that being constructive with your feedback goes a long way!

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Being Respectful Of Others’ Opinions And Ideas (Even If I Think They’re Wrong)

Respect Other People’s Opinions

I’ve worked on some projects where I was the sole designer on a project and others where we had multiple designers working on it together. In both situations, I’ve always tried to be respectful of the other designers’ ideas, even if I don’t agree with them or think they’re wrong.

It’s important not to get defensive about your work when someone else has an opinion about it even if you know that person is wrong! You don’t want to come across as rude or arrogant by making assumptions about what he/she might mean; instead, ask questions and make sure you understand their point before responding.

Don’t Be Afraid Of Other People’s Ideas

It can be intimidating when someone offers up an idea that seems like it won’t work at first glance (e.g., “Let’s have cats in space!”). But sometimes these kinds of things end up being fun and memorable parts of a project! The key here is not only recognizing this person’s passion for his/her idea but also his/her willingness to consider your ideas as well (which will hopefully lead him/her back around again). Remember: nothing says “no” better than silence!

Not Taking Things Personally, Even If It Looks Like I Do At Times (Remember, It’s Not About Me)

You’re going to get criticized. It’s part of the job, and it’s inevitable. I’m not saying that you should expect it there’s no need for negativity or doubt but if you expect that criticism is coming your way, you won’t be caught off guard when it happens.

It’s important not to take criticism personally because if you do, then the person giving the criticism will have all the power in their hands. They’ll be able to manipulate your emotions and make things difficult on purpose.

If they say something hurtful like “you’re lazy,” well then maybe we’re just lazy people! If they say something mean like “you don’t care about our work,” then maybe…we don’t care about their work?

Criticism is an opportunity for feedback; sometimes it can help us improve ourselves professionally and personally by offering solutions or strategies (or even just confirmation) when things aren’t working out as planned.”

Drinking Coffee And Eating Ice Cream Whenever I Want To; Forcing Myself To Get Outside Everyday

I have a lot of things I’m good at when freelancing. And what are they? Drinking coffee and eating ice cream whenever I want to; forcing myself to get outside every day, no matter what; and using a standing desk when I need to get out of chair jail.

Do you see that? Do you see how easy it is for me to be a freelancer? It’s not that hard! All you need is a planner, some post-it notes (for your schedule), and the willingness to do some hard work every day.

Conclusion

All those points I wrote about are important to me and have helped me become a better freelancer. They’re all things that I think about pretty often, but I still feel like it could be a good idea to revisit them once in a while, just to make sure that they’re still on track and working out well

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Hours Per Week Do You Work?

I usually work between 30 and 40 hours a week. It varies based on the project and my availability.

Do You Have Any Experience Working With [Company Name]?

Yes! I’ve worked with [company name] in the past, so I know how they operate and what they value in freelancers. If you’re looking for someone who can jump right into your team with minimal training, I’m your girl.

What’s Your Availability Like?

I’m available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but I can make exceptions if necessary just let me know!

What Makes You A Good Freelancer?

I’m a people person, and I’m willing to go above and beyond for my clients. I’m also very detail-oriented, so I can deliver quality work that will impress you.

How Do You Stay Organized? Do You Use Any Apps Or Software?

I stay organized by keeping track of my time using Toggl. It’s really easy to use, and it gives me the information I need to bill my clients correctly. In addition to Toggl, I also use Trello for managing projects and keeping track of deadlines, as well as Google Calendar for scheduling meetings with clients.

What Kind Of Hours Do You Work? Do You Take Breaks? Do You Ever Take Vacation Days?

I usually work 40 hours per week, but if there is a lot of work coming in from a specific client or project, I’ll work more hours during that period until everything is finished. My availability changes every month sometimes it’s better than others!

Costantine Edward

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.

Things I’m Good At When Freelancing