Being good at your profession is not enough

News 2025년 7월 08일

There are people who are very good at what they do: extremely beautiful designs, extremely clean code, extremely engaging content writing. But strangely, they struggle with freelance work. While others are only quite good at their profession, they always have clients and their projects are always full.

Freelance is not just “working”

Being a freelancer is not like working in an office, where you only need to be good at your profession and the team will take care of everything else. When you are your own boss, the story does not stop at completing the task.

Clients need more than just good skills

Clients do not just hire skills, they also hire the way of working. Are you on deadline? Are you responsive? Are you kind and responsible? Sometimes, the way of speaking is easy to understand, the way of sending files neatly, or just a timely thank you... can make customers appreciate you more than a sparkling design.

Value comes from comprehensive professionalism

And then there is the matter of price. If you don't know how to price, you can easily fall into a vicious cycle: working a lot but earning little, then getting exhausted without realizing it. Freelancing requires more sensitivity, negotiation skills, knowing how to say no when necessary, and not being afraid to learn more about things outside of your expertise such as finance, time management, and even... firefighting when customers change their minds at the last minute.

To go far, you have to mature beyond your skills

Being good at your profession is the foundation. But to go far, you need more than that. Perhaps that is also the reason why every freelancer, on their journey, has to learn to mature not only in their skills, but also in how to be a person.