My Relationship Status As a Freelancer
Strong Client Relationships And Foundations
This week marks the start of my journey as a full time freelance writer. One thing that I knew before traveling on this road was that if I were to be successful that I needed to build strong client relationships with each person that desired to hire me. If I did not do this, I would be doomed to fail. It is unwise to bite the hand that feeds you, and not building a strong relationship with your client is doing exactly that. However, here are 3 steps that I have found to have worked for me to create strong client relationships.
1. Proper Schedule Planning- Before you take the dive into full time freelancing it is essential to take the time to create a rough draft schedule of the days and time that you wish to give each client each week. I first sat down and figured how many hours a week I wanted to write, which was about 40-46 hrs. Next, I took each project that I had and estimated the amount of time that I would need to spend on each one to split my time up as wisely as possible. Finally, I took all of this info and put it into a spread sheet and also posted it on my Elance profile to give potential clients an idea of my availability. When planning your first week to two weeks of work you should keep in mind that it is likely to change many times. To avoid any changes that are not essential, I recommend lining up consistent jobs that you know will provide work on a weekly basis.
2. Communication- Anytime you are providing a service for someone communication is key. However, in the first two weeks of full time freelance writing it can make or break some contracts. Let your clients know that this will be a time of growing pains for you, that you appreciate their willingness to hire you in the first place, and reassure them that they can trust things will get better. I have already almost screwed up here a few times myself. Thankfully, I have some very understanding clients. To succeed though, communication is a top priority in building strong client relationships.
3. Keeping An Eye For Details- Having a keen eye for detail is something that is needing during any freelancing project. If you are sloppy in the beginning on client projects then many clients may decide not to continue with you as a freelancer. A strong client relationship and eye for detail extended beyond just your projects. Are you keeping an eye on the details of your own promotion on social media as a freelancer? What about the treasure trove of information available on the web about the freelancing trade? This may seem like you would have to have eyes in the back of your head, palm of your hands, and god knows how many more where else to be as detail oriented as possible. It is possible though to keep an eye for detail if you take the time to organize the details.
On What Terrain Are Your Client Relationships Built?
The idea for this post originally came to me when I was talking to my friend +Naias Kabir . We were discussing the aspects of being patient, hardworking, and consistent in our freelance writing work. One thing in specific that I would like to mention from my conversation with him is about the ground that we build the foundation of a relationship with a client on. If we build the foundation on a fault line, then we will surely experience earthquakes that could potentially rip a strong client relationship apart. If we build it on sand, then our relationship with our client will slowly sink away and be swallowed back into the Earth. However, if we build a freelancing relationship with our client on stone then it is sure to be a sturdy, stable, and a strong client relationship. This is My Relationship Status As A Freelance Writer
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Did Snap Chat Screw Up?
Did Snap Chat Screw Up?
Declining Facebook
There was much talk about SnapChat when they made a rejection of Facebook and their 3 Billion dollar buy out offer. Did Snap Chat screw up big time? With the talk comes many questions as to why their business would so quickly turn down such a large amount, especially during a time when other social media platforms such as Vine or Instagram were so eager to sell. However, a look at some of the facts we know and a bit of logical speculation may yield a feasible answer and shed some light on SnapChat and their marketing tactics. This is actually a subject that +George Forbes and I were discussing.
First, lets take a look at the current state of Facebook and their stocks. It is no secret that when the company initially went public that things were a little bit rocky. It did not take them long to balance everything back out and begin throwing around their muscle again with their 1 Billion dollar purchase of Instagram. However, any benefits that they might have gained from this purchase were quickly overshadowed in the fact the Facebook released data revealing that they were losing some of their most loyal and active users, teens and Millenial's. Where were all of these people migrating too? The answer, Snap Chat.
Second, lets look at where Facebook falls with its purpose of being a bridge for businesses to provide information and also a directory for them to post their contact information. Out of all major social media outlets, Facebook sits between websites (the largest social media & blogging platform) and Twitter ( a steadily growing platform with the added benefit of functioning as a micro-blogging tool). It is essentially the middle man in the whole concept, but you have to wonder if Twitter is capable of taking out the middle man and providing most of its services. I personally think that they are because the micro-blogging aspect of Twitter allows users to post short posts that would get the user to wherever they need to go. This is something that I feel the owners of Snap Chat recognize as well, not to mention they see that Twitter would compliment their platform more than Facebook. If my predictions on at least this aspect of Snap Chat are true then the question of "Did Snap Chat Screw Up?" may appear to be leaning more to an answer of no. That is until you take a look at a the recent changes that they have decided to create.
Snap Chat And Their Newest Feature
Recently Snap Chat added a couple of features to their service. The first, a feature to add filters to your photos is the less significant of the features added. The one that may very well break or make Snap Chat a bigger (or smaller) name than it is already is their replay feature. What this feature allows a user to do is to view a message a second time, but only once a day.
What made Snap Chat unique was how it handled the pictures. No other photo sharing app permanently deleted (well at least as close to permanent as you can get) photos six seconds after they were opened. For whatever reason, this provided a wow and entertainment factor for individuals and they flocked to the service. How will a feature that may allow for less privacy to Snap Chat users effect those that enjoyed the service just for that purpose? Did Snap Chat Screw Up with this decision? I feel like they may have as people greatly value their privacy.
Declining Facebook
There was much talk about SnapChat when they made a rejection of Facebook and their 3 Billion dollar buy out offer. Did Snap Chat screw up big time? With the talk comes many questions as to why their business would so quickly turn down such a large amount, especially during a time when other social media platforms such as Vine or Instagram were so eager to sell. However, a look at some of the facts we know and a bit of logical speculation may yield a feasible answer and shed some light on SnapChat and their marketing tactics. This is actually a subject that +George Forbes and I were discussing.
First, lets take a look at the current state of Facebook and their stocks. It is no secret that when the company initially went public that things were a little bit rocky. It did not take them long to balance everything back out and begin throwing around their muscle again with their 1 Billion dollar purchase of Instagram. However, any benefits that they might have gained from this purchase were quickly overshadowed in the fact the Facebook released data revealing that they were losing some of their most loyal and active users, teens and Millenial's. Where were all of these people migrating too? The answer, Snap Chat.
Second, lets look at where Facebook falls with its purpose of being a bridge for businesses to provide information and also a directory for them to post their contact information. Out of all major social media outlets, Facebook sits between websites (the largest social media & blogging platform) and Twitter ( a steadily growing platform with the added benefit of functioning as a micro-blogging tool). It is essentially the middle man in the whole concept, but you have to wonder if Twitter is capable of taking out the middle man and providing most of its services. I personally think that they are because the micro-blogging aspect of Twitter allows users to post short posts that would get the user to wherever they need to go. This is something that I feel the owners of Snap Chat recognize as well, not to mention they see that Twitter would compliment their platform more than Facebook. If my predictions on at least this aspect of Snap Chat are true then the question of "Did Snap Chat Screw Up?" may appear to be leaning more to an answer of no. That is until you take a look at a the recent changes that they have decided to create.
Snap Chat And Their Newest Feature
Recently Snap Chat added a couple of features to their service. The first, a feature to add filters to your photos is the less significant of the features added. The one that may very well break or make Snap Chat a bigger (or smaller) name than it is already is their replay feature. What this feature allows a user to do is to view a message a second time, but only once a day.
What made Snap Chat unique was how it handled the pictures. No other photo sharing app permanently deleted (well at least as close to permanent as you can get) photos six seconds after they were opened. For whatever reason, this provided a wow and entertainment factor for individuals and they flocked to the service. How will a feature that may allow for less privacy to Snap Chat users effect those that enjoyed the service just for that purpose? Did Snap Chat Screw Up with this decision? I feel like they may have as people greatly value their privacy.
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