Optimize for Trust

Many freelancers work tirelessly to optimize their businesses for price. They cut costs and profit, searching for new ways to offer cheaper services to their clients.

Other freelancers optimize their businesses for speed. They create templates and workflows to save time every step of the way.

Smart freelancers know not to optimize for cost or speed, as this puts them in a race to the bottom. They don't want to have to be faster and cheaper than their competition in order to survive. These smart freelancers optimize for trust.

When a client trusts you, you can follow your vision to an interesting creative result.

When a client trusts you, they'll happily pay more to work with you, instead of your competition.

When a client trusts you, they'll buy you the time you need to do a good job, and even understand when there are delays.

Optimizing for trust is the way forward as a freelancer. Along the way, of course, if you want to try and cut costs and save time, you should do it. But don't do it at the expense of trust. Trust is the real commodity being exchanged. Not photos or videos or words or lines of code. Trust. One person with a job to do hires another person to help them accomplsh that job. Their own trust is on the line, with their bosses and coworkers and KPIs.

Sometimes optimizing for trust looks like getting it done fast. Sometimes it looks like taking one for the team and doing it for a reduced rate. But if those things are achieved without the gain of trust, it's a race to the bottom. The natural end of that strategy is working with your hair on fire for less than minimum wage.

Trust.