There’s an old saying in the freelance world, “It’s either feast of famine”. Inevitably a freelancer will find themselves either with no work at all – or with more than they can possibly handle!
Because of the piece work way that we get paid (no weekly paycheck, and some companies taking over a month to pay an invoice!), it can be tempting to be overkill and take on any project that comes your way.
Be careful — you don’t want to be rushing through projects (aka – this one won’t be on my portfolio!), nor do you want to be making clients wait past their deadlines for your deliverable.
Sometimes the professional thing to do is say no. Let the client know that while you hate to turn work away or let them down – you’d really be doing them a disservice by accepting the job because you just have too much on your plate.
Often times you’ll find that the client knows just where you’re coming from and appreciates your integrity. They just might be willing to wait! But if their project is urgent — be sure to have a colleague or two that you can recommend to them. Check back in with them the following week to see how its going and to let them know if you have some open time. I promise you, it does sometimes pay to say no!
