As a freelancer, feeling anxious every now and then when it comes to your clients is normal. Sometimes, clients can be unresponsive or they might be incredibly busy and don’t offer much feedback. All of this is very common, though. As a photographer, you won’t hear feedback from every single customer you have. As a writer, you might even get more hate comments than positive ones. Freelancers have to not only develop thick skin to deal with negativity, but they also have to develop a very strong sense of confidence. This confidence should come from the pride you have in your work. When you don’t get feedback you think you deserve, you have to have the confidence to move forward anyway.
Here are some more tips to help if you find yourself feeling anxious from time to time about your work:
No News Is Good News
If you’re turning in your projects on time and your client is paying you on time, chances are you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. If you submit a lot of work for a client, they might not have time to go through and offer praise on every single project or item you turn. This can be hard at first and might even cause some anxiety wondering if you’re doing the right thing. The truth is, though, that no news is good news. As long as you aren’t getting negative feedback and are receiving compensation on time, you can rest assured that you are likely doing the right thing.
Check in Regularly
If you’re worried about your client’s happiness, you should check in regularly. It doesn’t have to be once a week, but maybe once a quarter might work well for you. What you can do is ask the client for any feedback and ask if you can do anything better. They might write back and tell you that everything is great and to keep doing what you’re doing. They also might write back and tell you thank you for asking and include some things they want you to improve. I’ve even had clients give me additional work when I’ve asked how things are going. For example, they might ask me if I can create video content or if I know how to create a newsletter. So, it’s always good to keep in touch and ask your clients if they have anything else they might need help with. You could be on your way to earning a higher income from them!
Ultimately, when it comes to your clients, it’s up to you to keep in touch with them because you are providing a service to them. They hired you to make their lives easier or to improve some aspect of their business. You’re going to connect with some of your clients really well and there will be others you don’t like as much. What you want is to cultivate strong relationships over time with all of your clients and narrow down your client list over the years until you’re extremely happy with who you work with. This can take time, but remember, your ultimate goal is to have a client list that doesn’t cause you anxiety at all; instead, they make you happy to work and do your job well.
