How To Look Like A Freelance Expert
Before going any further, let me be as clear as possible. I do not recommend any cheating about your experience in any field. Besides the moral issues, cheating just does not work – ok, you’ll get a project that you are not qualified to do. And what will happen? You will fail to complete it, the customer will be unhappy and you’ll be unpaid. In addition to that the customer may spread bad words about you. So, no cheating is recommended.
The idea behind “looking as an expert” is to have your potential customers look with more respect at you and know better about your expertise. It’s not about praising yourself or your skills, neither about claiming to be a company with 200 employees when you are actually a one man operation.
So, how to achieve that? I’ve used a lot of ways to emphasize on my expertise and to be chosen for a project, to get more respected and paid well. Some worked better, some not so much. I’ll try to share the best of my experience.
Ask questions
It’s really as simple as that. Ask “smart” questions and the people will think you are smart (well, I know you really are, but they will now understand it too). Some think that asking questions make them look stupid. In fact not asking any questions is really suspicious and makes the buyer think you don’t understand the task. There is always what to ask about and you only need to do it in the right way. Hint: concentrate more on the business logic rather than on the technology side.
Example: client wants an application which sends advertising emails to users. He/she wants to track how many opened the mail.
Wrong question: “How much will I get paid?”. Come on, live this discussion for the end.
Neutral question: “Are we going to use an image tag and a script on your server or you prefer to link to a third party service?”. The question is not bad at all, but it’s more on the technology side. If you are a freelance programmer, you are supposed to suggest which is better yourself.
Excellent question: “Do you want to track only how many opened or also how many clicked on the link inside?”. This one shows that you understand the idea behind the application; the way to implement it; the way to offer even extra functionality – a true expert. At the end it shows that you really care about their project.
Don’t be the cheapest
Obviously the expert cannot work very cheap. Of course you can’t expect to be hired if your offer is very high. Just don’t be the cheapest. If you bid on a freelance site, be at leats slightly before the minimum budget and the lowest bidder. People will choose the lowest bidder only if price is the most important criteria for them. In all other cases they will prefer the expert – or the one who looks most like an expert 
Some clients want to negotiate the price and won’t agree with your initial quote. It’s ok to change it, just set a limit under which you won’t go. Also, if you want to look serious, you should not lower your initial quote too much (50% is already way too much).
Suggest alternatives
There is always more than one way to do something. Sometimes the webmasters who hire freelance help know about some product or technology and think they are the only way to go. For example I’ve seen buyers to ask for a CGI script to send mails because this is what they have heard about. But unless the buyer explicitly says he wants a CGI scrit and not something else, you can always suggest them easier alternatives. This will show that you are an expert in the field.
Just don’t go over the suggestion. Some freelance programmers start explaining the client how stupid the technology they have chosen is and how the thing can be done only if the technology liked by the freelancer can be used. Don’t do this – suggest, but let the customer choose themselves.
Warn about troubles
If you are a freelance web designer and a client asks you to use the picture from some URL for their site, let them know if it is illegal. You’ll be surprised to see how many people simply do not know that.
If you are a developer and the client asks you save user’s passwords in cookies, let them know about potential security issues. Some of them just don’t have a clue.
Well, you got the idea. Warn about potential problems. Show that you care about the project. Show that you know all the aspects of the business and you are not here with the only idea to get the payment.
Ask for reasonable timeframes
The experts do not complete huge projects for a day. Yes, it’s normal to work faster if you are good and experienced, but it is also reasonable to know that good job requires time.
Some freelances want to shine by promising impossibly short timeframes. While this can make some buyers choose you – especially if they look for urgent help – in most cases it will make you look not enough serious. In addition, the client will feel overcharged if you want to be paid well for short time. The real experts work in reasonable timeframes – faster than a beginner, but not too fast.
It’s always good to let the customer know how much each part of the job takes – not only it justifies your timeframe: it also shows you really understand what needs to be done.
Speak about other projects of yours
Careful with this one – basically the clients are not here to listen about you. Speak about other of your projects only if it is relevant to the current task.
For example if the client asks for ability to resize images on the fly you could say how would you do it and say “You can see this done by me at www.somesite.com”.
Give links to your articles
Sometimes to prove your expertise you can give links to articles written by you and published on some websites. Of course, the topics should be relevant to your expertise.
Offer several contact methods
It’s expected that any freelance expert communicates with a lot of customers. Offering several contact methods is a way to prove this. Give your freelance clients not only email address, but also instant messenger, phone or Skype. For more details on this check out 7 Channels to communicate with your clients and how to get the most of them.
Whatever you do, don’t forget that taking the project is only the first part of a successful freelance experience. Once taken, you must complete it and get paid. You must not only look like an expert – you must be one
Filed under: Freelancing