Top 5 Tips to Emotionally Prepare Yourself for a Freelance Career

Why prepare emotionally?

Working freelance can be very liberating. Finally - you can be your own boss, set your own rates, and do something that you truly love to do without paying an arm and a leg in start-up fees. In fact, thanks to viral marketing sites such as Twitter and Facebook, you really don't have to pay much money to even advertise or market your services.

But freelance work is stressful and can be very emotionally trying.

Taxes are always a headache - but taxes as a freelancer can be a migraine. Finding consistent work while completing existing projects, keeping money in your bank account balanced and in the positive, working around unreasonable or downright bad clients... And what if your computer - despite your best efforts - contracts a virus?

So many headaches.

Before you decide to dive in and start a career in freelancing, make sure that you are prepared to handle the stresses emotionally and constructively. It won't do you (or your client!) any good if you throw that computer with the annoying mouse out the window in a fit of stress and rage.

1. Thicken Your Skin.

Being a successful freelancer requires having a thick skin. If you don't already have one, you're going to need to start growing a layer of thick skin.

Family and friends may sneer at your announcement that you want to start a freelance career. They may even try to talk you out of it with stories about how hard it's going to be. And while some of them (hopefully!) have the best of intentions, it can still add to your stress level.

You will also be dealing with clients of all types. Sure, sometimes you will find that dream client who knows exactly what he wants and knows how to convey his vision to you without a problem. But more often, your client will not know how to describe the scope of their project to you - and will blame you if your ESP is turned off that day. And let's not forget the name calling that can come with delivering a final product that your client is not happy with.

And let's not forget that you will be rejected from some jobs for any number of reasons. Rejections are just a part of freelancing - and you'll have to get used to it.

Learn to take the name calling, snickers, complaints and sneers in stride and with grace. Remember not to take any of it personally. Instead, learn to take criticism as inspiration to do even better.

2. Remember You're not Alone.

You may fancy yourself a loner; or maybe you even just like to keep to yourself. But when launching your new career as a freelancer, you will also be launching yourself into a whole new level of loneliness.

There's something to be said for working within an organization - teamwork and brainstorming sessions, potlucks and birthday celebrations... All of them help to bring the employees closer together while also developing each person individually. When you decide to work as a freelancer, you'll have to say goodbye to many of these functions. And finding the advice you seek or inspiration you need will no longer be as easy as walking down the hall to another coworker to ask your questions.

But that doesn't mean that you'll be alone. There are plenty of other ways to get the feeling and support of working with a great team even if you are working alone. There are networks and support groups available all over the Internet that can help you get over those times when you just need to talk to someone else. There may even be a local networking group in your community where you can meet other professionals in person. Seek out these support groups and get involved before you dive into freelancing, and you can be sure you will always have a vent to rant at and a shoulder to lean on as and when you need them.

3. Learn to be Flexible.

Sometimes your client will give you all creative rights over their project, and other times they will shoot down your input and your ideas in favor of their own. Some clients will be happy with your first draft while others will request (or sometimes demand) constant revisions until the project meets their standards.

You have to remember that you will sometimes have to bend over backwards to make your clients happy. If you're not comfortable with this level of flexibility, then chances are you will not enjoy a freelancing career.

4. Learn to Separate Confidence from Arrogance.

Part of being able to sell your services to new clients means having confidence in your abilities. It's not good enough just to be a great writer - you have to know you're a great writer and you have to convince potential clients of this.

However, confidence can easily turn into arrogance - and in the world of freelance, there's just not enough room for an ego. And believe me, I have met plenty of people who don't deserve the ego they strut. Make sure you know where your confidence ends and arrogance takes over... Draw that line, and then cut out anything that crosses that line.

5. Remember - There's a Job to Do.

Working from home means having the ability to set your own hours - which means more availability to be with friends and family. No more missing out on baby's first steps, missing out on dinners or parties for the sake of work.

But it also means opening yourself up for more distractions than ever. Family members may forget that you're really at work when you're sitting in front of your computer. You may get caught up with a great show on television or a sale happening at your favorite department store; or maybe even starting to enjoy some of the other hobbies and crafts that you didn't have time for before...

Even with all the new freedom that working from home may offer you, it's still important to remember that the operative word is working from home. The project still has to be completed and up to professional standards - there's no room for error or slacking when you're a freelancer. If you're not able to separate your work from the other aspects of your life, not only will your income suffer, but your reputation and your ability to find future work will suffer as well.

That said, the idea of keeping home and work separate goes even further. If you're the type of person who always brings the stress of work home with you, then adjusting to working from home will be even harder to do.

Before you launch into a new freelancing career, make sure you have the supplies you need to do a great job; but don't stop there. Start to prepare emotionally and mentally for the changes that are going to come about. Failing to prepare yourself in this way could make getting started in your new career much harder - or worse - may ultimately lead to your failure as a new freelancer.

Working Around the New oDesk Terminology

oDesk recently changed it's terminology around. I have to admit, I do like most of the terms that they've chosen - some for good reason and others just because of preference.

For example, "Providers" are now called "Contractors" and "Candidacies" are now called "Job Applications". These terms are a little more clear than the previous terms and as a result help keep the role of a freelance professional well defined.

But, they also made what - in my opinion - is a very bad choice with these new terms. oDesk chose to change the term "Buyer" - the person who is seeking to hire a freelance professional - to the term "Employer". Although they believe that this term is more clear to new members, the term itself is not accurate and has already led to some problems with existing members.

If you currently get a lot of projects through oDesk, you may need to check with your tax advisor to see if this new terminology will effect you. So far, it seems to really only have legal implications for people who have extenuating circumstances such as disability pensions or certain school loans. Check with your tax advisor to be sure that you don't run into any problems regarding this new terminology.

If you find that you are in a situation that this will affect you legally, there are some steps that you can take to help work around this new terminology.

First, set your oDesk profile to private to keep new "employers" from being able to find you. I know - this limits your potential for finding new projects; however, if you need to protect your current tax standings this is an important step.

Second, use other means of finding clients yourself. Personally, I have several methods through which someone can find me, and I often write proposals to various sites regarding possibly submitting content. You can do anything from a simple link on your blog or Facebook profile that says "Hire me on oDesk" or even go so far as to print out business cards to hand to people in your area.

Third, once you've found the clients and set the terms for the project, be sure to have a written contract detailing the terms of the project (include a clause that you are not an employee!). Then have them set up their "employer" account on oDesk, post the job as a private posting, and invite you to the interview. Once they hire you, be sure that the rate is set as you've already agreed.

Following these steps will, effectively, turn oDesk into little more than a payment gateway for yourself. These are steps that I have already started to implement, myself. The nice part about going through these steps is that it takes away the need to bid on projects or write countless cover letters yet still gives you that really nice payment guarantee for hourly work.

If you do decide to follow these steps, there are two very, very important things to remember:

1. oDesk is not responsible for any contract you sign or write up between you and your client. They are responsible only for their own contracts and user agreements. oDesk will not mediate any disputes regarding the contract you sign with your new clients.

2. oDesk still does not offer any guaranteed payment for fixed prices through their system, even with an outstanding contract. Although, having this contract may entitle you to some legal course of action should something go wrong with your payment - you will not be able to use oDesk's dispute options.

Additionally, you can choose to skip step 1 and continue to allow oDesk's "employers" to find you. However - it becomes more important than ever to have an agreement written up and signed that states that although oDesk has chosen to classify them as an employer - they are not your employer. They are your client and have chosen to hire your services on a freelancing basis via an outsourcing venue.

Again, this new terminology may not even affect you - and if it does not affect you, then continue bidding and working as you always have. However, if it is effecting you, hopefully these tips will allow you to continue to work through what is still one of the best freelancing sites without suddenly falling into legal problems!