Here at Creative Content Company, we were freelance content writers once. In fact a lot of our clients are freelancers and some of our suppliers are freelancers too, such as our web designer. There are certain things that people can do to annoy a freelancer. We know that some of these you may not even realise annoy freelancers. However, others are pretty obviously annoying when you think about it.

When speaking to a freelancer try and avoid the following;

  • Do not start the conversation asking how much it will cost. This says you care more about the money than the quality of work and the freelancer.
  • Avoid asking for a free sample. As a freelance content writer we would offer the client the content. If they liked it they paid, if they didn’t they wouldn’t pay. Simple as that.
  • Don’t say that you would do it yourself but you’re too busy. The freelancer you’re speaking to is very experienced and by saying this you are putting them down.
  • Avoid telling the freelancer that the job will not take long. You are not the expert and therefore can’t be the judge of that. They will tell you how long it will take.
  • Never give the freelancer the deadline of yesterday. While you may want to use this as a way of stressing the importance of the task, it will make the freelancer fell stressed. Instead ask when it can be done by as it is urgent.
  • Do not question their prices. The freelancer works for other clients and has spent time getting their prices just right. Don’t continue questioning them to get a discount.
  • Don’t tell the freelance content writer that you can get it cheaper elsewhere. It’s likely you can. There are people out there willing to write a blog post for $5. However if you want a good quality blog post you’ll pay the expert.
  • If the deadline date isn’t passed or close then don’t phone to see how they are getting on. A good quality freelancer will meet the date they promised and tell you if they can no longer meet the deadline. You don’t need to keep checking up on them.
  • Avoid giving vague feedback such as “there is something I just don’t like about it”. They are not mind readers and won’t be able to guess what the thing you don’t like about it is.
  • Never miss the invoice date. Your freelancer made sure they met your deadline, now it is your job to meet theirs.
  • If something happens and you miss the invoice date (see point above – this should never happen) then definitely don’t ignore the invoice reminder email. They’ve done the work for you, now you need to pay.

If you think all of the above, or some of the above are wrong then we dare you to try them out yourselves. See how quickly you lose some incredible freelancers from your contacts. Freelancers can be amazingly talented people – make sure you treat them as such.

If you need a freelance content writer then give us a call. We would be happy to help – especially if you avoid doing the above points!