Freelancing Do's and Don'ts For 2018

Freelancing is a tough job and there are many people out there who are just after your money and also your time but there are also great people who want to help you earn money. You need to be careful about where you go, who you talk to you, and also who you share your personal information with. You also want to be careful for who you work for and what their motives are. For example, be sure you have everything written out in plain English somewhere easily available on the web if no contract is needed. Smaller freelance jobs have a less likely chance of being refused money for a number of reasons but the most important is that it is a little-to-no risk gig, bigger projects have a better chance of something happening with payment. Now, the freelancing world isn't as scary as I just made it sound, but it's just to get you thinking, to be careful and realize not everyone is on your side. With that said there are people who want to help you and there are websites that are legitimate businesses so just keep your eyes open, as well as your mind.

Do: Good work and be kind to all your customers. No one likes a winy contractor who asks for more money and complains about work load, or alternatively someone who makes up excuses. Do good work and do it in a timely manner.

Don't: Work for someone you don't trust. If something seems too good to be true, 9 times out of 10 it is. If someone is offering you amazing money for little to no work, be skeptic!

Do: Be happy to edit or fix whatever your customer wants. In the freelance world final product is subjective sometimes so if a customer wants a 10 minute fix don't be argumentative, because 10 minutes isn't worth losing large profits in the future. Not that a customer is just a profit margin but you need to keep your money making method in perspective.

Don't: Work for someone who has no credibility. For example, if you are on oDesk and you see that someone has no verified payment method and you see they haven't paid someone but are offering you a lot of money for work, be cautious, ask for money up front, around half depending on the project size, if they refuse, carry on and look elsewhere.

Do: Know how much you are worth.

Don't: Work for pennies, this is the Internet, not a sweatshop.