Although freelance writers are generally considered to be their own bosses, they have to confine themselves to the needs of their clients. This is because they have deadlines to meet and particular instructions to follow. However, the media is full of desperate writers who are continuously receiving rejection letters from editors, hence less work.

Working with agents presents certain challenges in that, there may be a communication gap between the free-lancing writer and the end-user.

Challenges are also posed by working with many different clients that have different work habits. Some clients may be particularly hard to work with since they are reluctant to trust you, keep sending tight deadlines, pay less, and provide ambiguous instructions, among other flaws.

These may affect efficiency but there are ways to handle these issues.
Do not lose your cool; it is important not to lose one’s temper by getting offensive with a client. Even when loaded with excessive work, one must speak calmly and maintain a rapport of trust.

Maintain a record of interaction with your client; this is vital so as to avoid arguments and lack of understanding in future dealings.

Give your client regular updates; ensuring that the client knows of and agrees with your progress every step of the way avoids the hassle of having to redo work that the client is not happy with. It also prevents the client from contradicting their earlier specifications.

Respond promptly; if faced with any difficulty in completing a task, one must immediately contact the client since he or she may also have deadlines, as in the case of a magazine editor.

Know when to say NO; if uncomfortable with a certain instruction, say so in a polite and proficient manner. It is a good idea to offer a workable alternative.

Listen; you should hear out your clients and never take their suggestions negatively. As in the case of magazine editors, they probably have more experience in the relevant field and know what they are talking about.

A freelancer’s success is highly determined by word-of-mouth and so, the better the relations with your clients, the higher you will climb in your career.

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