What most freelancers consider their best feature is offering a good service at a rock bottom price. While this has some merit, it is not always true. There are many buyers that only consider the price of what it will take to complete their project into consideration. They are also well aware of the dangers of this approach. In many cases that is you get what you pay for.
For many buyers that work for large corporations, this is good enough, but for the small marketer, it is not. They have to keep their cost low but maintain a high quality of work. The dilemma for many freelancers is that by lowering their prices to accommodate these employers, at times means comprising on the quality of the work. It is not on purpose, it is just that instead of making a fair amount of revenue on their work, they have to create more work. Being a volume producer to bring in a larger revenue stream unfortunately sometimes means the quality is not always there.
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The best freelancer knows how to balance these two attribute of their work to keep the quality high and maintain enough of a revenue stream to stay afloat. This is very important during this world wide economic recession. There is not a lot of money floating around. By keeping your prices as low as possible you will build a cliental list. In time you can raise your freelance charge, but only if you have consistently produced quality work.
With some employers, the rise in cost is prohibited in their budget and the loss of several clients is inevitable, but a necessary element of the business.
When looking to increase your cliental list, stay off the full time employment sites. This is only for non freelancers, unless full time employment with an employer is what you are looking for. Then again you will no longer be a freelance artist.
There are sites set up specifically for freelancers like Globfreelance. The membership is free and the work is there if you can attract the buyers to accept you bid. Do not confuse the buyers by making contradicting statements. There are some experts on that site that express their willingness to work for a dollar but in their average pricing it is over $100 an hour. This sends the message that either you are desperate or not sure what you are worth.
Confident freelancers are more likely to land a project than those that act unsure of themselves. Have your expected hourly rate as negotiable because this is true in all cases with the bidding process that occurs on Globfreelance. Being honest with yourself is the first step in showing prospective clients you are an honest business person.
For the year 2010, those freelancer that keep their prices down and their quality high will make it thru the year being one of the best freelancers. The year 2011 can be the year you raise your prices as long as the world’s economies start to recover.
