10 Wise Lessons I've learnt from Freelancing

A simple presentation I've put together highlighting some important lessons I've learnt in my short time freelancing.

I hope these can help you with your own freelancing or business.

I had all these written down as Post-it notes stuck to my office wall and I thought I'd give them a new life.

Transcript

1. 10 WISE LESSONS   I’ve Learnt from Freelancing Presented by Illiya Vjestica
2. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time” Thomas A. Edison
3. IF YOU WORK FOR YOURSELF (Then you should pat yourself on the back)
4. AS IT TAKES COURAGE & GUTS (Not everyone has the balls to do it!)
5. I DON’T CLAIM TO BE A BUSINESS GURU These are just some simple lessons I’ve learnt
6. I’VE FAILED MORE THAN I’VE SUCCEEDED  
7. “Success is not final, failure in life is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts” Winston Churchill
8. THE LESSONS
9. #1 LESSON
10. ALWAYS WORK With the decision maker
11. ALWAYS WORK With the decision maker *They aren’t always who you think
12. #2 LESSON
13. BUSINESS IS WAR!
14. YOU HAVE TO FIGHT! To achieve your dreams
15. #3 LESSON
16. THINK! BEFORE PRESSING SEND…
17. YOU CAN’T UNDO A SENT E-MAIL   No matter how hard you may try!
18. #4 LESSON
19. ALWAYS GIVE 3 DAYS GRACE For actionable tasks you have to do
20. ALWAYS GIVE 3 DAYS GRACE The day you thought you’d do it
21. ALWAYS GIVE 3 DAYS GRACE The day you thought you’d do it The day you actually started it
22. ALWAYS GIVE 3 DAYS GRACE The day you thought you’d do it The day you actually started it The day you will actually complete it
23. #5 LESSON
24. NEVER DISCUSS PRICE INCREASES OVER THE PHONE
25. I say old chap, the new price for this will be £1,000,000.00
26. Blimey! I say old chap, the new price for this will be £1,000,000.00
27. ALWAYS DISCUSS PRICE INCREASES FACE-TO-FACE
28. #6 LESSON
29. DO WHAT YOU SAY! MEAN WHAT YOU DO! *This is quite a difficult thing to do
30. DON’T OVER PROMISE! BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DELIVER ON
31. #7 LESSON
32. DON’T! PLACE ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET
33. FOCUS ON CREATING MULTIPLE INCOME STREAMS
34. #8 LESSON
35. TAKE DEPOSITS UPFRONT $ £ €€ ¥
36. DON’T GET BURNT BY LATE PAYMENTS *Always get things down in writing – no matter how tight the deadlines or time constraints
37. #9 LESSON
38. IT’S NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS TO ASK FOR HELP
39. DON’T BE SHY YOU CAN EVEN MAKE SOME GREAT CONTACTS  
40. #10 LESSON
41. SAY… SAY… THANK YOU OFTEN!
42. IMAGE CREDITS Thank you to following people   Karin Dalziel – Slide 4 http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirak/ Daniel Zedda – Slide 9 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ astragony/ Brad Kozlek– Slide 13 http://www.flickr.com/people/ stopbits/ Mitch Barrie– Slide 1 http://www.flickr.com/photos/ simonov/ Bruce Guenter – Slide 16 http://www.flickr.com/people/ 10154402@N03/
43. THANK YOU Find more of my work over @ thepresentationdesigner.co.uk (Illiya) The Presentation Designer @illiyav  
44. WHAT SHOULD I DESIGN NEXT? TWEET ME YOUR THOUGHTS TO @ILLIYAV