Freelancers often think that they have to take anything and everything that’s offered to them. It comes down to a mindset of scarcity – “There’s only so many paying clients, and a seemingly unlimited pool of freelancers. If a client wants to pay me, how can I say no?”
Lets start by separating fact from fiction.
- Myth: There’s only so many paying clients. The number of potential clients is unlimited. If you can find a problem, a client will pay for you to provide a solution. The bigger the problem, the more they’ll pay to have it solved.
- Fact: There’s an unlimited pool of freelancers. That’s true – there are millions of freelancers out there. If you learn to reach out to clients correctly though (see here), then you’ll no longer be price-competing with other freelancers.
- Myth: If a client wants to pay me, how can I say no? Once you lose the scarcity mindset and understand that there are opportunities everywhere, you realize that you don’t need to be stuck doing work you don’t like or aren’t particularly good at, and you definitely don’t need to be working for clients you can’t stand.
What Makes a Bad Client?
There are a couple of different clients that, at this stage, I just won’t deal with:
- Bad attitude: Rude or condescending.
- Price obsessed: Fixated on getting everything as fast and cheap as possible.
- Lack of understanding: Has no idea of what he’s asking for or what’s involved. Not interested in learning.