“This is overpriced.”
“You need a bigger budget.”
“This should only take you about an hour.”
“This had already been approved. I’ll need to enlist a kill fee and provide a new estimate.”
“Yes, I know we’re getting this to you three weeks late, but we still need you to meet your original deadline.”
“Once it’s handed off to your developers, it’s out of my hands. It’s unfair to make me await payment when I have already fulfilled my role.”
“Did you forget we had a meeting today?”
“Where is my file?”
“You’re so lucky to just be able to do anything you want, whenever you want.”
“This invoice is past due.”
Any of these lines sound familiar? Then you may possibly fall into one of two camps: You outsource, or you freelance.
I made the jump into full-time freelancing myself back in 2010. Until then, I had freelanced on the side, on and off, for about fifteen years. When I worked full-time for various companies, I was also in the position to outsource creative work and other services.
Having been on both sides of the freelancing coin, I have keen insights into the perils, misunderstandings, and frustrations that come with this sort of relationship; my professional experience has garnered quite a network of opinions, work styles, and personalities who can provide some great input. We’re going to address those familiar lines I cited above, along with much, much more. It is my hope that this blog may also serve as a forum for other freelancers and clients to send in their own experiences and questions.
Bear with me whilst I get my blog legs, and I will be posting at leisure. But hopefully, client/vendor, freelancer/contact, outsourcer/outsourcee will grasp hands and sing in harmony as I try to address this stuff.