While a lot of people have a tendency to think that working as a freelancer is easy, this is not the case.  Working as a freelancer is difficult because you are responsible for finding clients to work for and making sure that you have enough clients so as to be able to earn a decent income.  Herein lies a lot of unique challenges, with the main one being the aforementioned.  Of course, you also do not want to have so much work that you cannot properly manage it all.

As you can clearly see, proper client management is of great importance for those who are working as freelancers.  Thankfully there are some tips that can help freelancer manage this area of their business better.  These include:
1.Whenever you are talking about a project and providing a quote for that project to your client, it is important that you be as specific as possible.
2.Once a project is undertaken, you need to make sure that you communicate with your client on a regular basis.  You should never leave them in the dark as to what is going on.  It is important that you let them know whenever you reach a milestone so that they will know that their work is being completed. Of course, it is just as important to let your client know whenever you encounter any unanticipated delays as well.
3.Whenever you are dealing with your clients, you should do your best not to use email.  This is because it easy for your email box to become way too messy and then you will be wasting valuable time searching for important documents.  A good option to this is to use a ticketing system.
4.Remember that contracts are extremely important and valuable.  You need to have one in place before you ever start any work.  Herein you need to make sure that all of the important details are included.  This will ensure that your pocketbook and your client’s project are both protected.
5.Not only do you need to have a contract in place before you start any work, but you also need to have a downpayment that has cleared.  This downpayment should be 30 to 50% of the project’s total cost.  While you may feel uncomfortable asking for this to be paid before you ever start any work, this will help you safeguard yourself so that you don’t end up working for a lot of clients who will do nothing more than waste your time.
6.You should always maintain a database with all of your clients’ contact information in it.  Herein you should also keep any other information that is vital.
7.Whenever you are communicating with a client, you must always remain professional.  Of course, you do not want to use a lot of big, technical words though.
8.It is a good idea to make sure that you have a signature line on all of the emails that you send.  Herein you will want to include your contact information and a link to your online portfolio.
9.Any invoices that you send out need to contain your contact information as well as a brief overview of what work you have done.
10.Take a moment to set up 2 different emails for yourself: 1 for whenever you are establishing initial contact with a client and 1 for those who are already clients and may need some type of support.  It is important to do this so that you will be able to stay organized.  Of course, it is equally as important to ensure that you reply to messages that you receive in either of these accounts in a timely fashion.

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