Every freelancer that has some experience worked at least once for a client they wished they never accepted the job offer, to begin with! If you are just starting freelancing in your chosen field, be prepared that out there are a lot of offers that are just trouble in disguise!
But the good news is, there are clear signs you can recognize these potential pitfalls before you fall into their sticky traps.
The reliability of the client’s account
Most popular freelancing websites as UpWork, Freelancer, and Fiverr allow freelancers and clients to create an account that can help to present yourself and your company to potential business partners. Check thoroughly the client account for potential risk factors.
An example of a risk factor is an unverified account. The verification process of a client account usually requires the validation of their identity and payment method. If the client has an unverified account, well, this is a red flag.
The age of the profile is another factor to consider. If the client just joined the platform, this does not necessarily mean this is a bad client. But if you see the client has been on the platform for quite some time but has only a few jobs posted, this means he is either not dedicated to what he is doing on the platform or is experimenting with something. Usually, these clients are not very reliable.
You may want to add an extra layer of protection for yourself by increasing your usual rates just to make sure they are committed to what they are doing and never start working before the project has been funded.
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Another red flag to spot a bad client is negative feedback on their profile. If more than one person says that they had a negative experience with the same client, very likely there is something fishy about them, so it is better to stay in the clear.
When you are reviewing your potential client’s account, it is a good idea to look at the average paying rate. If the average paying rate of this client is below the usual pay rate for your field, chances are this client is a cheapskate and you will find yourself in a position of negotiating your rates with them.
Factors that can signify the client is not reliable
- Unverified account
- An old account with few jobs posts
- More than one negative feedback
- Paying rate that is below average for your field
Working for free is not fun, and you should take all necessary precautions to guard yourself against such scammers.
The job offer itself – stay on the watch for red flags!
When you first eye a job offer, its language, and style are usually tell-tale signs of the experience you will have with the project!
If it is written in poor language, bad grammar, inappropriate slang, and is lacking vital details concerning the project this definitely is a red flag. If a potential employer is failing to explain clearly what he requires from a freelancer in proper language, stay on the watch! Big chances are the communication with them will be as filled with ambiguity and uncertainty as to the job offer.
Apart from the language of the job offer, you definitely should pay attention to the actual content of the job offer. Does it sound reasonable? What kind of expectations does it set from the very beginning? Does it have deadlines, quantity, and quantity requirements that make sense to you? Is the payment in proportion to the amount of work it is needed?
If you agree to an offer that sets very demanding requirements and offers a low amount of retribution, how will this affect your energy levels and well-being? Does the style and tone of the offer sound as if it is written by an archetypal slavedriver?
The whole point of being a freelancer is that you can have the free choice to work for people you would like to, so maybe you would like to avoid subscribing to the troops of a drill sergeant!
Red flags for a bad job offer
- written in poor language and grammar
- inappropriate slang language
- job offer is missing essential details
- sets unreasonable expectations
- the payment is not proportionate to the effort it takes to complete the job
- the tone of the job offer suggests the author (your potential client) shows an overly demanding attitude
The “free-sample” jobs
Jennifer (the name has been changed) was a newly graduated from university and was having her first experience in the field of freelance copywriting when a client proposed a good long-term contract with remarkably good pay and conditions. He only wanted her to write a free sample for him – an article of considerable length. It sounded fair to her, so she agreed. When the free sample was ready, the client started asking for reviews, some of them sounded odd and unreasonable. Then he said she was not good enough for his project and turned her down. When she did thorough research on the client, she found out that other freelancers have had a similar experience with this client, so she spoke up about it on a freelancing forum.
To avoid being scammed in such a way you can do several things. First of all, provide your own sample – your portfolio should illustrate your skills well enough! If a client insists on receiving a sample, it should be a really minimum piece of work. If you are a writer – not more than 2 paragraphs. Otherwise, you should insist that the client funds the sample beforehand.
Working for free is not fun, and you should take all necessary precautions to guard yourself against such scammers.
Trust your intuition!
When you are reviewing a job offer and a client’s profile, usually you get an overall idea of how it will be working for this client. So, trust your guts! Try to envision the atmosphere it creates and ask yourself how you would feel in such a work environment. Will you be stressed out? Will you feel creative and driven to productivity?
Developing your freelancing instincts will make you more and more sensitive to spotting out when something is genuinely wrong with a client and steer clear from troublesome job offers and employers!
The good news is there are a great lot of good clients and awesome projects so avoiding the negative ones drives you one step closer to finding your soul clients faster!
So hurry up and find the right good clients for you, and when you find them, make sure you build a strong and lasting relationship with them!
