A year's worth of freelance wisdom nuggets
It's been a little over a year since my freelance journey began and I landed my first subtitling gigs, so I felt this would be an appropriate moment to reflect on what I've learned so far. In no particular order, here is a list of 10 key tips I'd pass on to anyone starting out:
1. Always be honest – this applies to pretty much everything, particularly when you know you've made a mistake. Nine times out of ten the client will respect you more for it; I once told a client I charged 0.08c/word for translation when in my head I meant 0.08€. They had already initiated the contract when I reluctantly admitted my mistake. Thankfully, they wanted to continue with the contract and the job was completed successfully.
2. Research rates – it's always good to have an idea of what to charge by having a nosey at other people's rates, whether this be asking freelance friends or literally googling ‘translation rates price per word’ (I did both). Even if you find a rate that you're comfortable using, it's good to be prepared for clients who may require a different format, ie. rate/word, rate/minute, rate/page, even if you prefer a different default rate.
3. Be as polite as possible – this is universal for any job involving liaising with customers. It's always better to be polite even if you think the person you're dealing with knows nothing about the service they're trying to hire you for. Even if it is early in the morning. Always think twice about sending anything you might be embarrassed about later, no matter how much you feel messed about. As a freelancer, most of your communication is written, and records of it will exist for some time to come, after all.
4. Don't dwell on the lows – as a freelancer who's still in the early stages of their career, I've experienced many moments of turmoil, panicking about where my money would be coming from. I would say this is the main challenge of freelancing. It's often hard to stay motivated when you've gone weeks with no prospect of work, but it's worth sticking it out and not giving up for the moments when you do get lucky…
5. Don't dwell on the highs either – it's not very mentally helpful to dwell on the highs either. Of course, it's really important to allow yourself some time to relax after a streak of hard work, but it's equally important to know when to get back on the horse, because before you know it, it's the first of the month and you're back to 0€ again.
6. Be open to accepting lower rates – I recall a situation when I was contacted about work that paid a euro less than my normal rate. It was after a dry spell and I was getting a bit desperate, so I decided to accept the offer. This led to more work and that client ended up paying over half my salary for the month.
7. Know when to say no – It is true that desperate times call for desperate measures, but it's good not to be too desperate. Even if you get a message after days of nothing, it's okay to say no if you think it's not worth your time. It's not productive to get stuck on a project you're being paid buttons for when you could be using that time to find something more suitable. People who are willing to pay for good work are out there! NB Do steer clear of any jobs ads that combine the words ‘entry level’ and ‘specialist.’
8. Always accept criticism – even when your pride gets hurt because you know you worked hard to create something great but the client doesn't like it. Just accept that there's still a lot to learn and take it on the chin. It's common for clients to ask for minor changes, so it's good to show that you are open to this from the start.
9. Ask for feedback – when starting out, don't be afraid to ask for feedback from as many clients as possible. Some jobs sites provide a feedback feature on their platform, but it's good to keep an up-to-date amalgamation of feedback in one place, perhaps on a professional website or a LinkedIn profile.
10. Read terms and conditions – literally no one does this, I know, but it's good to research how the platforms you're using work, so you never get caught out. Let's face it, reading the T&Cs is so boring that it makes them difficult to decipher. I found that a really helpful way to stay informed was reading forums containing stories of others' experiences. This way was definitely more interesting for me. I learned to approach freelance websites with a pinch of salt as well. Most of them will feature helpful pages explaining how to adhere to their terms and conditions, but don't be afraid to look into real life negative experiences either. I found it gave me a good idea of how to handle different situations and the sort of thing I was up against.
Voilà. Those are ten of the things I've learned since completing my first freelance projects a year ago. There are a lot of ups and downs to freelancing and it can be really tough, but I honestly wouldn't want to do anything else. I love the work I do (when I manage to find it) and after having occupied several full and part-time positions that mostly involved constant interaction with people, I can safely say that sitting at my desk alone, at home is my current happy place.
Of course, this venture for me wouldn't be possible without the support of my family and friends, and yes, I'm going to be soppy and thank them for all the encouragement they provide me with.
Happy quarantining!