Often, people just breaking into freelancing scour the Internet for advice. They seek out experienced freelancers in their fields, visit forums, post questions on Quora…and come away frustrated.
If you’ve had that experience (or you’re just getting started and can still get off on the right foot), here’s the single most important thing you need to do to get valuable information that will help you build your freelancing business:
Ask better questions.
At first glance, that might seem equally obvious and fruitless. If you knew what to ask, you wouldn’t need so much input, right? You’re NEW!
Yes.
Experienced freelancers understand that sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. And, most of us really do want to help. But, your questions are often meaningless. You think we’re nitpicking, but we’re not. Well, most of us aren’t. We’re seeing more facets than you did…and, that’s why you’re talking to us, right?
Bad Questions about Freelancing
When it comes to questions without answers, there are some doozies in freelancing forums. But, I don’t want to single anyone out. So, I’m going to take apart a couple of questions I’ve seen this week that are so representative of the norm that they shouldn’t make any individual person feel sheepish.
What the freelancer asked:
What is the most rewarding type of freelance writing?
What I don’t know:
Do you mean financially rewarding, or rewarding in some kind of artistic, achievement-based, or altruistic sense?
Most rewarding for whom? The answer is very different for a newcomer v. seasoned professional, for a generalist v. someone with niche expertise, even for a talented writer v. an adequate one.
What is your background and your current motivation/goal?
Copywriting, for example, generally pays well–but only if you have true expertise in the area. And, even though it’s often lucrative, many writers don’t enjoy marketing work. So, that particular niche may or may not be lucrative, depending on your skills. And, it may or may not be rewarding in other ways, depending on your personal preferences.
I want to answer your question, but I can’t.
Other recent questions that fall into this same category:
Is it worth it to start blogging on Medium?
Do I need a website?
What are the best resources for freelance writers?
In public forums, this type of question often starts a downward spiral. Seasoned freelancers throw out a quick response to the effect that it depends, and the newcomer often feels shut down and shut out. Ideally, those of us who understand the nuances would come back and ask questions to focus in on what it is you really want to know, but that isn’t always going to happen.
You’re the one who needs information. You’re the one asking for a favor. To get the best information, you’re going to have to make it as easy as possible for the pros to understand what you’re looking for and provide a simple, one-shot response.
How to Formulate Questions that Invite Useful Answers
First, make sure that your terminology is clear. Understand that terms like “rewarding” and “worth it” can be interpreted in many different ways, and that the veteran freelancer who says “That depends on what you find rewarding” or “Only you can decide that” isn’t necessarily being a smart-ass. Define your parameters. Do you mean “worth it” in terms of gaining experience, gaining exposure, building a portfolio, making direct money, or…?
Tell us what you’re looking for. Do you mean the best resources for building a business, or for managing your work efficiently, or for honing your writing skills, or…?
And, tell us a little bit about yourself. No, I don’t mean that you should share your whole life story, why you want to go into graphic design, how you got inspired by your 8th grade art teacher… But, to offer you useful advice, I need to know your goals, priorities, and experience level.
Are you investing in building a business over the long haul, or do you need to generate some quick cash? Is this going to be a side hustle for you, or are you aiming to feed your family? What skills and experience do you have that are relevant and marketable?
Help us help you.
If you do your part, we’ll do ours. At least, enough of us will that you won’t need to worry about the ones who actually are just being smart asses.