Burning your candle at both ends burns others

I’ve been there: The client calls and says they have a deadline to meet, and it was yesterday. They aren’t the only client you have that is on a deadline so whom do you serve first? This is always tricky, because every client counts when you are a freelance graphic designer. First, tell the client who contacted you with a rush job that you can get back to them by the end of day or the next day; however, they will need to pay a rush fee to bump their job to the top of the priority list. Make sure to charge something that may be hard to swallow like $50 to $100. Nine times out of 10 your client will come back and say they can wait a couple of days for their project. So what do you do when they still want their rush job with the added fee? Check with your other clients who have jobs ahead of theirs and see if they can give you an extra day. If they say it would be an inconvenience, offer them a discount if they can wait, after all you are making more on the rush job. If they don’t bite at the discount, you may have to work into the night to get both done on time. Don’t make a habit out of pulling all-nighters, because, in the end, they really don’t help anyone out. Sure, you may have gotten the job done, but the quality of the design may have suffered. Worse yet, you could have made a costly typographical error that could lead to a reprint, which could cost more than just delaying the print schedule. Not to mention, you will not be 100 percent on your game the following day, in essence cheating those clients’ jobs you had scheduled for that day as well. The lesson to learn is that pulling 16-hour days will not just fry your creativity but your clients get the short end of the stick as well. Pace yourself: Your body and your clients will thank you for it in the end. They may not be instantly gratified, but they will see the value in quality work. Quality work will earn you quality clients, while your work volume you will get you more volume clients, which tend to be needier. It’s tempting to want to take every job that comes your way when you are self-employed, but you have to weigh if it is really worth it to everyone involved.