The Lesser Known Red Flags Freelancers Should Watch Out For

You may recall a few months ago on social media there was a trend of naming the red flags freelancers should watch out for when looking for new clients. For today's topic, I'm going to expand on some of the more subtle red flags. I'll skip over the obvious ones (like late payments, or ghosting), and instead focus on some of the sneakier ones I've come across.

Let's go. 👇

🚩 Everyone is afraid of the CEO

If you're courting a large business and not working directly with the CEO, pay close attention to how your contacts talk about their leader(s). Are they walking on egg shells? Do they talk negatively about their boss, even subtly? If so, you can guarantee that you'll feel the CEO's wrath at some point, which is not worth it.

🚩 They have no concept of appropriate pricing

You already know that people who try to haggle your prices down are a big red flag. But you should also beware folks who are WAY off base with how much they think they should pay, before you quote them. If you're a writer and someone mentions they expect to pay $75 for a 2,000 word article, it's probably not even worth correcting them. Just walk away.

🚩 They talk negatively about other freelancers

We all know that there are freelancers out there who don't do good work. But if you hear a client talking about how "every freelancer" has been a problem for one reason or another, consider that there is a common denominator. It's far more likely that the client is the one who is the problem.

🚩 They send emails at wild hours

You know to set boundaries with your working hours, so you (hopefully) wont' let clients demand you work late or start early. But watch out for clients who are sending emails at midnight. Even if they don't expect you to work bad hours, the fact that they are working so late/early suggests there's a time management problem that's going to mess things up.

🚩 They have a bizarre sense of urgency

Unless you're a paramedic or a therapist, it's unlikely that your line of freelance work has any real emergencies. If your client is very anxious about starting ASAP and suggests they're already way behind, well, that's a them problem you don't want to get involved with.

🚩 There is a complete lack of diversity at the company

I can't think of a single business that doesn't benefit from diversity of thought and experience. If the company you're considering looks like this

👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️👨‍⚕️

They're not going to be successful in whatever they do, and they probably won't' give you the respect you deserve if you don't also look like 👨‍⚕️

🚩 They call you in to unnecessary meetings

When someone calls a meeting, they have three responsibilities:

1. Set and communicate the agenda/objectives
2. Give everyone the tools and info necessary for a successful meeting
3. Run the damn meeting by keeping people on track and saving time for questions/recaps

If they call you into a meeting and fail to do any of those 3 things, it's a waste of time and a big red flag.

🚩 "We're all a big family here, and we treat our freelancers like family too."

No, we aren't a family. We are colleagues. You can't fire your mom or withhold your sister's paycheck. Usually "we're all a big family" is actually a way of saying "We expect undying loyalty." And that's not something you should be offering.

🚩 The suffer from "scope creep"

Beware the words "Can you also help with..." unless those words come before you've given them a quote. Clients that add on new "little" tasks after they've already agreed to your SOW are going to eat up your time and never compensate you for it.

👆 These are some of my more subtle red flags to watch out for. I'd love to hear what other warning signs you've come across.

Share your big 🚩 in TOFU so we can all stay safe, happy, healthy, and fierce.