FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2007Cooperative clients will enhance freelancers' experience
by Jeremy Schnitker |
| Kownacki |
Any freelancer knows that to become successful, he or she needs to know how to deal with clients. But not all companies that outsource to freelancers understand that in order for their projects to be successful, they need to know how to effectively deal with soloists.
Pittsburgh based freelance web video producer and writer Justin Kownacki realized this during his years working with clients who didn't quite understand his mindset.
Kownacki, who writes a blog titled
Cafe Witness, says there are some
guidelines a company should go by when dealing with a freelancer.
"Clients need to be able to communicate clearly," he said. "The longer the links around the communication chain are, the longer the job is going to take. Paying promptly is another one. You don't want to leave freelancers hanging dry, that leads to a cranky freelancer."
Beyond that, Kownacki said it's important for a client to have a clear vision of what a project is supposed to look like.
"Some clients don't always know the specifics [of what a project will look like], but there's a difference between being open minded and perpetually interested in changing your mind. Often times clients will be having a freelancer cycle through hundreds of options before their client chooses a couple ideas. That's being picky. It helps to have a few things crossed out in advance."
Since the majority of companies deal with in-house employees, Kownacki said they don't always understand how a freelancer works or thinks.
"Unless they do a lot of freelance work, it's impossible or them to understand a freelancer because they have different priorities," he said. "They're used to working with salary workers who are easy to contact. They [companies] often panic if they can't get ahold of a freelancer right away."
Often times when it comes to paying, Kownacki said clients aren't always empathetic to a freelancers needs. He cited, for instance, a client that pays only on the last Friday of every month.
"If a project goes past the first of the month, you have to wait to the end of that month to get paid. The client will think they have paid you, but really, they haven't paid you at all. That can frustrate you as a freelancer and lead to a tenuous situation."
Knownacki said it's always a good idea for both clients and freelancers to do a Google search on who they'll be working with to make sure they're reputable. This often times prevents working with a client or soloist who will cause headaches.
"If I'm looking to do work with a client, I'll Google them. That's good for prospective freelancers, to see if the company has a whole lot of negative publicity online, or if they have a solid reputation in their field."
Kownacki repeatedly cited the need to be proactive dealing with business development and making sure the relationship with your clients stays positive.
"You need to be able to see the objective more clearly than the client does," he said. "You need to take it upon yourself to be the artistic director of the project, though technically that's not your title. You need to be self-defensive and be able to think about their business from multiple different perspectives. That will help both of you."
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