7 Big Mistakes That Will Wreck Independent Designers' Careers.

When you're a freelancer and start working directly with your clients, there's a very important thing you need to know.

Your Design Is Not the Sole and Most Important Aspect of the Transaction.

While presenting a great design to your client is the ultimate goal, there are many other things that can make or break your business deal.

There are 7 things that can ruin any partnership with a client, and they have nothing to do with your design style.

The Top 7 Mistakes Freelance Designers Make and How to Avoid Making Them

I don't want you to have to make the same mistakes I made when I was a beginner freelancer.

Today, I want to learn from my mistakes and avoid these 7 deadly sins of freelance graphic designers.

1. Poor Communication Skills

Poor communication is the biggest plague of all the freelance design mistakes you can make.

Everything you do and how you make your client feel will come back to how well you communicate with your client.

If you and your client don't tell exactly what they're looking for and what you can do, then you'll find yourself working all night to fix mistakes that could have been easily prevented if you had communicated.

Some clients are angels and some are the opposite.

Some clients will verbally express exactly what they're looking for, and others will give you the vaguest idea of what they want and let you try to figure it out, which is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse.

One way to avoid poor communication is to create a list of basic questions you want to ask each of your clients regarding their expectations of what your design will be.

Decide which platform you'll communicate over, and make sure you've established the hours you'll be available to discuss changes and have set your notification volume up so you don't miss a beat.

If you feel like a client is being rude, take a deep breath, decide whether to continue working with them, and then write them a calm message. Remember: things on the internet last forever! Don't let an arrogant client ruin your reputation.

2. Limited Number of Revisions

Nothing can be worse than thinking you've finally finished a design you're happy and proud of, presented it to your client, and they don't love it.

They want you to revise it.

How many times you agree to revise your project is something you need to discuss in advance.

Not everyone will be on the same wavelength, so it's important to decide how many times you'll change the final form of your design and what you'll charge if they request additional changes.

And you know what, all of this comes back to good communication.

Don't let people walk all over you, but at the same time don't be so proud that you won't make any changes. A nice and delicate balance.

3. Not Meeting the Client's Needs

Speaking of being proud, sometimes you have to suck it up and make a design you're not proud of.

Many clients have complained that some designers they've worked with kept only themselves in mind when creating their designs.

Needs and wants weren't met, so it led to a terrible conflict, and shortly after that, probably bad word-of-mouth.

Try to mute the vibe your client is looking for and see if their style matches yours. If yes, great!

If not, decide whether to do the job anyway and take that money or respectfully decline the offer to work with them.

4. Delaying the Deadline

When you're your own boss, it's easy to fall behind and not feel "work anxiety" or push yourself to finish your work on time.

But a good reputation is very important, and constantly missing deadlines is a terrible way to do things.

Set a deadline that you really think you can do.

Don't think Superman or Super Woman, and you can handle 10 projects that need to be completed next week.

Take what you know you can handle and discuss it with your client.

Everyone understands the pressure once in a while, but don't make it a habit.

People may eventually perceive you as lazy, and that's not what we want here.

5. Mispriced Work

Listen, you have to know your worth.

By saying that, you should know how much to charge.

Don't sell yourself short, because you're the bomb!

But don't overcharge, because people don't like it when someone takes advantage of them.

Give them an offer and negotiate from there.

6. Not Making Clients Feel Like a Priority

No one likes feeling unimportant.

And maybe you're not deliberately making your clients feel unimportant.

Sometimes we all take on more than we can handle.

But if your clients don't feel a priority, they may cut your business contract short or choose not to work with you again in the future.

This mistake goes hand in hand with missed deadlines. You can't take on so much that it makes people feel unimportant.

Everyone wants to feel heard and important, and some companies or clients are cutthroat and won't work with you again if you don't make them feel important to you.

Do your best to make sure your clients know they're important to you and that you're doing the best you can.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

7. Wasting Time

The last thing I want to mention is wasting time.

It's easy to get distracted while working from home.

Blame your pets or a messy kitchen, and then suddenly you're 5 hours behind schedule and things are getting out of hand.

There are a bunch of things you can do to stay productive while working from home and that will help you stay on top of your A-game.

Make sure you set a good schedule for yourself that works for you.

Don't spend too much time on things that aren't important. The dishes can wait. Or they can't. You absolutely should have a clean workspace. But get back to work right after that!

In conclusion

Everything is a learning curve, and as you start working from home, take advantage of all the freedom that comes with it, but make a good name for yourself and do the best you can.

What other huge mistakes do you think designers make that we need to address?

Let us know in the comments.

Stay creative, folks!