How to pick freelance clients without sabotaging your indie projects

Let’s be honest.

Few people make enough from their indie projects in the early days to live without worrying about their finances. It can take significant time to gain enough traction to be self-sufficient.

You don’t just have to suffer in the meantime.

Freelancing can be a great cash cow to keep your bank balance healthy while you work on your product. I initially quit my job with enough income coming from my own brand but spoilers ahead. Indie income is volatile! I’ve freelanced for over 50 startups and founders since becoming my own boss.

This income has allowed me to invest in my brands and take them to heights I couldn’t have done otherwise. The BAE HQ podcast is all filmed in person at a cost of more than $100 each pre-revenue. Freelancing gives each project runway to grow strong enough to stand on its own.

Yet don’t be naive. Don’t go only for who’s paying the most because you might end up sabotaging what you truly care about.

Stand up for yourself

Remember by definition, you’re an outsider when you’re contracting for a company.

They need to care about their staff but they don’t need to have any loyalty to you at all. You’ll find some internal employees treat freelancers like dirt because you’re a means to an end. They have no respect for your time and your effort. They won’t understand how complex your project is especially if it’s highly technical.

Are you okay with being treated like this?

There’s no point complaining to your friends about your clients if you’re choosing to continue working with people who couldn’t care less about you.

I always have at least one call with a client before I start working with them so I can gauge their mindset. Negative clients suck your energy and motivation even if they pay well.

No Championship rounds

When you fight for a world championship in boxing, the matches are scheduled for up to 12 rounds. Some clients think each piece of work is a prize fight and it’s tiring.

You shouldn’t be so entitled to believe all your work is perfect and take offense to feedback. The brutal truth is you might be getting so much feedback because your work sucks. The most frustrating scenario is where the client keeps changing their brief or punishes you for their lack of clarity.

Make sure you set the boundaries at the start and pre-empt any issues you think will come up in the build later on that the client might not have considered.

A big mistake newbies make is pricing their work based on the first iteration rather than the final product. The economics stop making sense if you need to spend hours going back and forth with your client before you’re paid every time. You’ll underestimate how much time a project will take and it will get in the way of your own projects.

The best clients are the ones who only give you valid feedback even if they pay less. You can’t pay me enough to take on projects which will give me a headache.

Sound the alarms

Unless you’re a freelance doctor, it’s unlikely anything you do is urgent.

Some companies are in constant high-alert mode though. A boss somewhere has a bad day and gives their staff stupid deadlines who then scramble to farm out the work to contractors to get it done in time. Do you want this stress?

My biggest pet peeve is when a client tells me a task is needed as soon as possible and then doesn’t look at what I send for several days. They’ll say sorry and how busy they’ve been. I tell them if they do that again, I won’t take them seriously in the future.

Depending on the client, setting boundaries like this can damage the relationship. You’ve got to ask yourself is such a toxic relationship worth staying in?

If you’re willing to accept the extra anxiety, jack your rates up to compensate you for it.

Warm fuzzy feeling

I’m freelancing for a philanthropic foundation and it brings me great satisfaction. It makes a welcome change from the other organizations I’ve sold my soul for.

I dropped my rates significantly to win the project because I believe in what they are doing. I want to work for them because I help people when I do. Yet I’ll be real with you. In the longer term, if I dropped my rates anymore, I’d start to resent my decision especially if my own financial situation takes a turn for the worse. I dropped my rates to a level I am sustainably happy to continue with them without it taking too much time from my own projects.

When you start freelancing, it’s surreal that people will pay you but the grind of it wears off fast for most creative people. It’s a different game if you find a mission you care about and can get paid to help though!

The tentacles

Some client relationships are as simple as doing the work and getting paid. Others are so much more.

My favorite clients have opened doors for me and recommended me to their friends. This has won me more projects and even podcast guests. I’ve chatted with billionaires because they’re friends with a client of mine.

As someone who was just a normal technology consultant three years ago, my network today is ridiculous. I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me I’d have spoken to the people I have.

I’m loyal to these clients who’ve chosen to help me with my own projects when there are no obvious benefits to them. I will keep them even if others are offering me more money because what they’ve given me is priceless.

These are the factors I look at when choosing which clients to keep. Is there anything I’ve missed?