Whether you’re a comedian for hire, a landscaper going from property to property, a professional writer, or anything else, when you’re selling your services out to a wide client base, it’s important to make sure that you set your own standards for how you work. Otherwise, you can often find it getting set lower and lower by clients who want to get away with paying as little as possible for as much of you as they can get. Here, we’re going to look at how you can set your own professional standards to make sure that your work is always worth the energy that you put into it.
Define Your Value And Expertise
First of all, you should take the time to really think about what it is that you offer and what value it has to your clients. Consider your skills, experience, qualifications, and the results you provide for your clients, and they should give you a better idea of how to position yourself professionally. For instance, if you’re able to solve niche problems that few of your potential competitors can, then you might use that to charge a little more than they do. Similarly, you can make sure that you’re able to thoroughly communicate your strengths to find clients who can benefit from them, and to avoid taking on work that doesn’t align with them.
Set Your Rate Of Pay
With the above in mind, you need to think about how much you’re willing to ask for from your clients. Your pricing should reflect the time you spend on the service, but it should also reflect your expertise, experience, and the value you deliver. Remember, your clients aren’t just paying for the direct results you provide, but also the experience, education, and work that you’ve put in to be able to deliver those results. Research average pay rates in your industry, and be sure to consider your own costs like taxes, equipment, and unpaid time between projects. Avoid the temptation to lower your rates to secure work, as this can lead to a serial habit of being undervalued.
Decide How You Get Paid
How and when you get paid is just as important as how much you get paid, as it can determine your cash flow while running your business. Setting payment terms establishes a more professional air for your services and helps to avoid any confusion. You should decide in advance which payment methods you’re willing to accept, be it bank transfers, cash, online payment platforms, invoices, or even getting paid on-site for lawn care services with mobile point-of-sale card readers. The type of payments you accept should align with your type of work and the services you provide, as some higher-cost services, for instance, might not work as well for those using direct, immediate payments and might be better broken up into invoices that your client can pay when they’re better able to. Just make sure that any invoicing terms like deadlines and late fees are made clear before you start your work.
Always Use A Written Contract
When you’re working with others, you might operate on the assumption that you both have the same understanding of what you’re going to provide and what you get in return, but that assumption isn’t always safe to make. A written contract provides both clarity and protection for both you and your client by outlining what has been written. It should define the scope of the work, any deadlines, the terms of payment, as well as responsibilities on both sides, and should serve as the authoritative document in case any misunderstandings come up along the way.
Include Key Terms In Every Agreement
A good contract goes beyond the basic details and ensures that your time and work are protected by key details. This can include specifics on deliverables, timelines, payment schedules, and revision limits. If you’re a comedian, musician, or any other kind of live performer, you might want to use a contract rider to ensure that any venue or event organizer you work with provides any extras you require to be able to work. If you’re providing any marketing or media materials, you might also want to include causes on intellectual property and confidentiality agreements.
Set Boundaries Around Your Time And Availability
While you might be able to reach a potentially wider audience of clients by making yourself available literally 24/7, it’s not the best for your health to do that over the long term, as it’s a very easy way to burn out. Decide on your working hours and communicate them clearly to your clients. This should include setting firm boundaries about when you can be contacted, or when they can expect to hear back from you if they send a communication outside of your working hours. You may decide to leave a little wiggle room for important clients or those who are willing to pay a little more for that extra level of accessibility, but you should avoid making it too common a compromise.
Communicate Clearly And Professionally
If you want to be able to maintain and reinforce the standards mentioned above, or any others that are important to you, then you must take the time and effort to communicate clearly and consistently with your clients. Be polite and aim to please, but be direct and transparent with any boundaries, limits, or expectations that you set along the way. It’s especially important to be proactive with any timelines, deliverables, or progress reports that you provide. This is especially important if any delays, changes, or issues might affect the final result of your work. Good communication builds trust and confidence, making clients more likely to work with you again, and reduces the chances of conflicts developing along the way.
Sometimes, you might have to consider the difficult question of adjusting your standards to fit the reality of the market. However, in other cases, it’s important to know your worth and stand firm. Taking the time to consider the above tips and how they apply to you can help you find those standards.