Professional Skills Every Freelancer Should Have
As a freelancer, you are a professional in your field and in your industry. You should expect to be treated professionally, with the same respect that any employee would have – after, just like them, you are hired to do a job! However, sometimes it’s easy to forget that “doing the job” involves more than just, well, doing the job. You won’t only spend your time creating the video, or writing the script, or providing a design: you’ll also need to speak to people, ask questions, seek for clarification, suggest edits, update your timelines, and more. In other words, you need to have the skills to manage the relationship with your client. These aren’t the skills that tend to be listed when the company posts an opportunity, but they are, in fact, the most important skills you can possess to succeed to develop your freelance career.
The skills below will help you build happier and longer term relationships with your clients, which, in turn, helps you build your reputation for being a competent professional in your field!
1. Communication
Where creative works are concerned, dialogue and clear expression of ideas, differences, and opinions are essential to achieve results. Your job is to ensure you have a clear concept of the project, and enough information to complete it well, and the way that a client requires it, so being able to communicate well and consistently is fundamental to your work.
2. Time Management
Freelancing requires organisation, organisation and organisation. You need to have your schedule under control and to deliver projects on time. Of course some flexibility does play into it (see the next point!), but ultimately the clients’ goals must be met according to the schedule which you have agreed to beforehand.
3. Flexibility
There will never be a project that has gone perfectly according to the plan. The plan changes, the timeline shifts, stakeholders swap and the goals narrow. Therefore any freelancer has to be prepared to do and redo parts of the project, all while actively keeping updated as to any changes to the plan coming down the pipe. Of course this can’t be without limit – and of course your charges may apply. However some degree of of re-working, editing, and fixing should be built in your agreement.
4. Interpersonal Relationships
It may be true that we work alone, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to deal with other people on a daily basis. Operate with the utmost respect, consideration for others, patience, and kindness. Not only will it keep you happier, but you’ll develop a reputation for being great to work with!
5. Ability to negotiate
This one may seem obvious, as the setting of your rates always requires a little bit of negotiation. However this also applies to your timeline, your ideas, and changes you may suggest. It’s important to know how to clearly and respectfully make your case.
6. Ability to solve problems
A good freelancer knows how to solve problems creatively and quickly. Being proactive is key: the best problems are those that don’t arise! But when they do (and they will), address it quickly, fully, and calmly.
7. Ability to Research
You are an expert in your field, to be sure. However, there isn’t a professional in the world who knows absolutely everything, even about their own work (and no matter what they tell you). A freelancer, no matter how talented and intelligent they are, must keep up to date on the current state of their field. Get to know what others are saying, and what the responses are to new ideas. And if your task requires you to go a little out of your comfort zone, research what you don’t know! You’ll become more knowledgeable, and more effective, and able to give your work more depth. Additionally, seeing what others are saying and doing keeps you humble, as you look at the great work being done in your field.
8. Patience
Working with people you don’t know requires lots of patience, and it’s important that you practice it every step of the way. Sometimes what seems obvious to you is information that your client doesn’t have. Be prepared to back up, and spend the time to explain what you need, why you need it, and what it will do for them.
9. Stress management
It’s useless to have a freelancer that gets to the point of feeling so overwhelmed that they give up and quit half way through the project. It also doesn’t do any good to your reputation if you become stressed and either leave, or start snapping at your clients. Make sure that when you negotiate your timelines, that you consider your workload, and don’t overload yourself. What may seem like a good opportunity can become detrimental to your career if you simply can’t manage it. You need time for yourself – make sure you take it.
And of course you’ll bring your “Hard Skills” to the table for each client, operating with the utmost competence and producing high quality work. But in addition to the project itself, you must have the above “soft skills” in order to work well and be known as a professional in your field. That’s how you get more work, and it’s how you rise above the competition. One trick is to ask yourself “how can I make my client’s life easier?” Because really, that’s all they want. Ultimately, we are all working for a living, your client included, and we all want to work with clear-eyed, pleasant people who know how to get the job done. Be one of those great people that others love to work with.
The list above is long, we know! Feeling overwhelmed? Want to learn how to develop these skills? Come and talk to CreativesAtWork, and we can help you learn more about what these elements of professionalism look like in your field. Do subscribe to our podcast at The Freelance Creative Exchange to hear from successful freelancers on how they cope and build up their freelance career.
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