If fast food and instant noodles are not good for your health, one thing that will sure have a good effect on your freelance career is to be quick, be fast. Don't be just on time. Be early. Be an efficient freelancer. And I will guarantee you'll see a big difference in many aspects of your freelancing.
- Your clients will be amazed and you'll most likely get another project from them
- The wow experience will get you a bigger chance of referral
- Your client will likely keep your service even if you increase your rate
- You'll get rave reviews of how awesome you work
Isn't that great? It sure is. But of course, you'll have to do the work. Here' are some areas where you can start being quick.
1. Be quick to submit your proposals
If majority of your projects come from sites like Elance, oDesk, Freelancer, you most certainly have experienced how a certain project get's a swarm of proposals just a few minutes after it's been posted. And if you're the snail type of person, you might end up losing possible business by simply being slow in submitting your proposals.
My personal goal is to be always the first to submit. And based on my personal experience, if I'm at least one of the first three freelancers to submit a proposal, I can have a better chance at nailing it. The idea is, again, if the client is looking to get something done, quick, he most likely won't waste time looking at other proposals if you have already provided a concrete solution to his problem.
2. Be quick to send your updates
Email, Skype, Google Hangout, Smartphones, you won't run out of options on how you can communicate with your client. So there's no reason why you can't send out updates. Some would probably require end of day reports, but if not take the initiative to send your update each time you close for the day.
3. Be quick to submit output
Don't get yourself and your client the unnecessary stress and anxiety of waiting. Make sure to turn out those outputs early if not on time.
4. Be quick to say no
Got a task that was assigned to you that you're not comfortable or don't have the skill to complete it? Don't wait two or three days, let your client know right away that you can't do it. Better yet, make suggestions on where on who can probably help them with it.
5. Get a fast internet
If you work online then getting a fast internet is a MUST. Invest in fast and reliable internet and you won't regret it.
That's it for me. Do you have any other tips on how to be fast and which areas to be quick?
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