How Do You Get People to Take You Seriously as a Freelancer?
To many people, freelancing is code for “unemployed”. But for freelancers, their business is serious, quite possibly their sole source of income. Getting that bit of respect from those around you saves a lot of frustration.
While the freelance writer is most notoriously considered to be unemployed by outsiders, other freelancers also feel as though their work is not respected by various family and friends.
Changing this attitude takes time. It also takes deliberate effort on your part.
1. Talk about what you do in business terms.
It’s fun to talk about your flexibility, and sometimes that’s relevant, but if that’s all you talk about, people are going to give you the unemployed or hobbyist treatment.
This of course means that you need to be treating your business as a business. If you’re already serious, you’re doing this. You probably know what your expenses are, and you set your hourly rates to ensure that you would earn enough.
2. Spend money on your business appropriately.
Businesses cost money, even if all you do for advertising is networking. There are business cards to buy, and these days often a website to maintain. You may need more software than you previously owned, an upgraded or new computer, printer, fax machine and so forth.
3. Set yourself up professionally.
Working at the kitchen table may be the easiest solution, but it’s not going to bring the idea that you are serious about your business to other people’s minds.
When space is tight this is a hard goal to achieve, and you may well have to set yourself up in a less than ideal way at first. Do the best you can in the space you have.
4. Keep working hours.
If you’re always taking random time off and people know about it, how are they supposed to take you seriously?
While most freelancers can take time when they need it, having regular business hours is a really good idea. Not only does it look more professional to clients, family and friends, you will feel more professional as you keep such hours. Having times that you know you will be working can improve your focus and make it easier to maintain a good family life.
5. Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn.
I found that I got the most respect for what I do as a business when I started doing really well at it. If you’ve landed a big project, tell people… while keeping appropriate details private. There’s nothing wrong with showing people that you are really working and succeeding.
There can, of course, be a difference between talking about your successes and bragging. Be delighted about what you do, but don’t talk down to others about what they do.
Stephanie Foster runs http://www.find-freelance.com/ as a resource for people who want to start running a freelancing business. Get more tips on being a freelance writer at http://www.find-freelance.com/writing/
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