Freelance Folder writes that a successful freelance career requires reliability. Based on my own experience and others, it’s true. Sometimes I want to stop recommending freelancers to clients. I do this as a favor to the client and the freelancer, but I rarely see positive results. Often, the freelancer stops responding or responds when the mood strikes (one week later instead of within 48 hours) — an unacceptable timeframe for clients.
Freelancers wonder why they can’t make a full-time gig or grow their business. Perhaps, it’s because they have yet to prove themselves as reliable. Many tend to have full-time jobs with a corporation and do freelance on the side in hopes of going full-time. If the full-time job gets in the way of reliability, then maybe they shouldn’t be doing freelancing on the side.
For six months, I worked full-time at a corporation and with my business. This on top of managing a family of five — so it’s not like I had all the free time in the world outside a roughly 50-hour corporate work week.
It could also be a thing of fear. I’m guilty of it (rarely, thankfully). I talked to a freelancer who would use me as a writer with her client. She mentioned writing content would involve calling their staff and pulling information out of them.
Calling = fear. No… no… no…, I’m not scared of calling people. I’m uncomfortable with the method I use to make those calls as a person with hearing loss. Don’t get me wrong — I’m grateful deaf and hard-of-hearing people have a way to make phone calls.
When it comes to calling staff, executives, etc., I fear they’ll grow annoyed or impatient with the relay service. A relay call contains a lot of pausing while the operator types to me what the person said. Obviously, speech moves faster than fingers.
Currently, I’m in talks with an editor of a Web site and enewsletter. This opportunity involves interviewing executives and experience (his and mine) dictates that these would need to be phone calls.
These interviews can last an hour and call for grilling to get the nitty gritty. We don’t want “Our company’s success results from a great staff.” This leads to… What does your staff do? How do they make it possible? Can you imagine a relay operator grilling for me? Remember, relay operators are as neutral as Switzerland and don’t have personality in their voices.
The ball’s in my court. If I don’t take action, it’s my fault for not landing the gig. Thinking about this issue has compelled me to respond slower than I normally would. I like the editor and his Web site covers a topic in which I often cover.
