Don’t let the Zen masters fool you –
making a decent living from freelancing is a seriously tough gig.
Despite its intoxicating allure of
professional independence and moderate increase in the consumption of long
macchiatos, as a freelancer you’ll soon discover that the nature of dealing
with ambiguous clients, the constant mutual misunderstanding of expectations
and occasional succumbing to horrifyingly unreasonable rates are enough to
abandon the prospect of freedom entirely.
Fortunately, these can be mitigated.
As a freelancer myself and often sometimes an employer of other freelancers,
I’ve recognized that the freelancers who prosper the most are the ones who
recognize tailor their entire marketing strategy and personal brand around a
particular freelance ‘type’ – one that best encapsulates their personal
characteristics and abilities. Sounds logical right? Like most things, it is
easier said than done.
1. The Grinder
The grinder is your hardcore
workhorse. The guy or gal or who likes ticking boxes and can churn out large
quantities of output at a low margin or rate – it’s as if they live and breathe
volume. Grinders excel at low-end administrative/management like-tasks, working
to rigid structures and streamlining their operations so that the client gets
exactly what they asked for at the rate specified.
If you’re the grinding type you
should look for jobs where the expectations and task requirements are explicit
and straight forward – the scope should not be something that requires much
negotiation. Seek to set straightforward payment terms and establish rates
where efficiencies can be rewarded. The beauty about grinders is that the
funnel seems to always be full for them – there is always a demand for them in
virtually any industry.
Beware: creative types will tend to
lose their minds when stuck in a grinder-like role.
2. The Specialist
The Specialist is the master of his
or her trade who has grinded long enough to know what they are good at,
identified a professional niche and has taken the time to hone their craft.
Specialists are Grinders with expertise and clout – professional fixers who can
produce wizard-like solutions that their clients could only dream of doing.
With Specialists, it’s all about
‘the work’. They have the ability to set the bar for the quality of their
output, dictate the terms of their involvement and charge a premium on their
efforts.
If you’re the specialist type
however, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. In a world of self-proclaimed
‘experts’ and ‘specialists’ the only selling point you really have at the end
of the day is your history of delivering results that supersede client expectations.
Depending on your networks and
industry, specialists can have either a very narrow or deep pipeline of
potential clients as work can either be too specialized or too infrequent in
its requirement. You have to love what you do.
3. The Diagnostician
The Diagnostician is exactly how it
sounds. Diagnosticians love to take control of the room, diagnose a situation
and prescribe a creative solution that plays to their strengths and still
satisfy the client’s objectives. Examples of diagnosticians are high level
advisors, consultants and strategists. They are the ones people call when they
fear something bad might happen.
The chilling factor about
Diagnosticians is that they thrive on a customer’s pain. Whether a business is
bleeding cash, a website completely stops generating traffic (thanks, Google
Humminbird) or when customers simply disappear, the diagnostician should be
ahead of the curve – to know the client’s pain before it hits, or to be front
and center with a solution when the pin actually drops. This is particularly
useful for industries or fields that evolve constantly.
Diagnosticians should be wary of
over-diagnosing or over-analyzing a situation. Clients don’t really like
hearing about every little thing that is wrong with their product or business
and Diagnosticians should be wary of falling into the trap of seeing problems
that aren’t really there.
4. The Professional Polymath
The Professional Polymath is your
jack and occasionally master of all trades. Whenever a client has a project that
requires neatly packaged service all rolled into one, the Professional Polymath
is their answer.
Professional Polymaths often have
the ability to see the wider context – the big picture – to every task or
required job function which serves well in developing long-term client
relationships and establishing alignment with them.
If you’re a Professional Polymath,
chances are you’re naturally intuitive, creative and can help the client see a
breadth of opportunities beyond what’s merely on the surface. You can present a
myriad of creative options to a single problem thanks to your ability to see
related project dependencies and draw on abstract ideas.
Professional Polymaths can get too
caught up in the creative side of the relationship and avoid making decisions
that require immediate action. Being good at many things results in not being
‘masterful’ at anything and hence lack the ability to specialize. They should
work with clients who are entrepreneurial in nature and who are looking to
establish a long-term relationship from the outset.
Conclusion
Determining which freelancer type
you are is critical to both to your personal success and wellbeing. Once
discovered, you’ll start translating this newfound self-awareness into
literally everything you do. The skills you need to learn, the relationships
you need to build, whom you need to target as a potential customer and those
you need to simply say ‘no thanks’ to are all elements you can positively
affect.
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