freelancing | GigMistress

I don’t have any actual statistics, but I strongly suspect that at least 75% of freelancers reading this post have asked what I consider to be the worst question you can ask a client.

Many of you ask it every time you talk with a new prospect.

Many of you love this question. Many of you have been advised by trusted mentors to ask this question early. Many of you are suspicious of clients who can’t or won’t answer this question.

Here goes. I’m ready for the pushback (really…that’s what the comments are for. If you disagree, tell me why!)

The worst thing you can ask a prospective client is “What’s your budget?”

Of course, I’m not particular about the language. For example, it’s at least as bad to ask “What were you looking to spend?”

I know. I know. You need that question.

Hear me out. You can always Continue reading “The Worst Question a Freelancer Can Ask a Client”

Everything else I ever say to you must be understood in the context of this core idea:

There is always an exception. There is never a hard and fast rule.

Of course, there’s probably an exception.

On this site, in social media, in a book I haven’t written yet, when I run into you in line for the bar at a blogging conference, I will offer you advice about taking control of your freelancing career, increasing your income, cutting your hours, and loving what you do.

Some of that advice will be based on my experience, some on interviews with other successful freelancers, some on studies and data. Some of it will be right for you. But, some of it won’t.

One of the most destructive things veterans in virtually every field do to newcomers and those hoping to enter a field is to lay down the law, as if what worked for them is the only way.

Here are a few examples I’ve heard in the writing arena: Continue reading “Never Say Never (or Always) in Freelancing”