Off topic: My New year resolution Thread poster: marie-christine périé
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Learn to say NO to customers - even if they are nice and gratifying and the project is interesting - BEFORE being over-overbooked and having absolutely no other choice than saying no to the next customer who is nice and gratifying and has an interesting project...
| | | | Teresa Bento 
Portugal
Local time: 21:16
English to Portuguese
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That's so true. Sometimes it's really hard to say no and you wish you had a clone to do all the work for you. Other times, you have nothing to do and nothing interesting comes up... That's a freelancer's life!
| | | | Mats Wiman
Sweden
Local time: 22:16
Member (2000)
German to Swedish
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In memoriam | Say NO to low rates | Dec 12, 2006 |
Dear Marie and Teresa,
It is important - and profitable - to learn to say No to outsourcers, who won't accept your normal rate.
Every outsourcer is on a learning curve.
Teach them that your rate is (might be) a reflection of your competence.
If you accept a lower rate, you thereby might be perceived as saying: "Yes I am not good enough to charge a higher price."
This is freelancer psychological strategy.
For (some) further reference, see my lect... See more Dear Marie and Teresa,
It is important - and profitable - to learn to say No to outsourcers, who won't accept your normal rate.
Every outsourcer is on a learning curve.
Teach them that your rate is (might be) a reflection of your competence.
If you accept a lower rate, you thereby might be perceived as saying: "Yes I am not good enough to charge a higher price."
This is freelancer psychological strategy.
For (some) further reference, see my lecture (will be elaborated for Budapest in April):
http://www.proz.com/edinburgh/Mats%20Wiman_How%20to%20get%20higher%20rates%202006.pdf
Best
Mats ▲ Collapse
| | | | | That's not what I meant, | Dec 12, 2006 |
it's easy to say no when the rates are low. But saying no to outsourcers who accept to pay good rates is a different matter altogether!
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| Saying no/New Year resolutions vs. New Year wishes | Dec 13, 2006 |
Salut Marie-Christine,
About saying no to good/well-paying clients, I don't know if you have ever tried sharing your work with trustful colleagues.
In my case, I have had good and bad experiences in this respect, so I cannot say it works all the time.
But consider that if saying no to a good/well-paying client will make you "lose" the client in the long run, maybe you can try once sharing the work and see how that experience goes.
Again, the k... See more Salut Marie-Christine,
About saying no to good/well-paying clients, I don't know if you have ever tried sharing your work with trustful colleagues.
In my case, I have had good and bad experiences in this respect, so I cannot say it works all the time.
But consider that if saying no to a good/well-paying client will make you "lose" the client in the long run, maybe you can try once sharing the work and see how that experience goes.
Again, the key is how much you can trust the colleagues with whom you share the work.
About New Year resolutions, I always tend to mix resolutions with wishes, so I never know if when I make a resolution I am just "thinking wishfully".
Anyways, I will tell you one "resolution/wish" of mine: study the next level of German (in my case, intermediate). It sounds easy, but believe me, it seems "my hard disk" is too full to save all those super long German words (he he he!).
It would be good to check back at the end of 2007 if we both achieved our 2006 resolutions.
Take care and Happy New Year,
Ivette ▲ Collapse
| | | | | No to boring jobs! | Dec 14, 2006 |
I have learnt that it is always wise to say no to jobs I am not happy with for one reason or another.
If I don't, then just when I'm really fed up and overbooked, I have to say no to a far better job in one of my interest areas from a really good client.
I spend far too many evenings working, and I can always use half a day on tidying up my desk or the house, sending a mail or calling the family, getting some fresh air and exercise... and by then I'm always back in busi... See more I have learnt that it is always wise to say no to jobs I am not happy with for one reason or another.
If I don't, then just when I'm really fed up and overbooked, I have to say no to a far better job in one of my interest areas from a really good client.
I spend far too many evenings working, and I can always use half a day on tidying up my desk or the house, sending a mail or calling the family, getting some fresh air and exercise... and by then I'm always back in business.
My new year resolution is to put all this wisdom INTO PRACTICE 
Happy New Year! ▲ Collapse
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