You're more than just a paycheck to a Freelancer

Every person who’s ever chosen the freelance route had to earn his first client. Most are grateful for that first assignment, because getting a foothold as a freelancer doesn’t come easy.

If you hire a freelancer, realize that to that individual, especially the freelancer who’s just getting started, you’re not just a paycheck.

You represent the first success on what was most likely a long, angst-ridden, ups-and-downs, frustratingly-slow-to-fruition road.
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You provide a tremendous shot in the arm to that freelancer!

For the freelancer, yes, the payment for work actually performed for a legitimate client is awesome; that uptick in the bank account that calms the anxiety, and the chance to proudly display the work that you created in your portfolio or on your web site.

But even better than those are the intangibles. That sense of tremendous accomplishment, the “I DID IT!” factor.

All the prospecting, all the networking, all those potentials who just weren’t ready to hire.
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And then, finally, you get your first “yes”!

Once that first successful project is under your belt, going forward, the sky’s the limit.

The confidence level goes from zero to sixty, the belief in your own ability becomes real. No longer do you tell yourself, “I can do this,” while in your gut doubt your own words.

No, now you have a real client who’s confirmed what you’ve always believed but really needed to prove. A person who’s paid YOU for the work that YOU created.

Once that first assignment is landed and completed, the next time a potential client approaches you and asks, “Can you do this?”, you can assuredly respond, “Yes, I can.”
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The road to that first client can be frustratingly long with lots of dead ends. There’ll be times that you’ll wonder why you’re even bothering. But just remember the words of poet Edgar A. Guest: “Rest if you must – but don’t you quit.”