Professionalism in freelancing

About a year ago, I wrote a post about professionalism in freelancing.  I definitely think the topic is worth revisiting, so I present (most of) the post for you here.  Enjoy!

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When many people become freelance writers, they fall into the pajama-dress-code mentality, which leads to being unprofessional in their business dealings.  After all, when you're casual at home while you work, it's easy to feel casual in all aspects of your work.

The Internet has only compounded people's casualness.  E-mails are often much less formal than memos, faxes, and phone calls, and even some of the most professional business people will add smiley faces at the ends of their e-mails.  So for freelance writers, who often work entirely online, there's one more element to combat in trying to maintain professionalism.

Freelance writers especially need to be professional.  Some clients see freelance writers as being less professional from the start because of the nature of freelancing, so it's important to show them that professionalism is still very much a part of your work ethic.

You may work from home, but you're still working, and you're still dealing with men and women who dress in business professional attire and go to an office every day.  That's the level at which you need to meet when you work with clients.

And yet, many writers have incredibly casual websites.  They use their pet's pictures as profile pictures on freelance sites, and their e-mail addresses are things like "turtleluvr316" or "princessgia."

That may be the image you want to portray with your friends and family, which is fine, but when you're seeking clients and networking contacts, it's not the best idea.  Since your online image is what you use to represent yourself, it needs to be as professional in appearance as you would be if you met with a client in person for lunch or for coffee.  (You wouldn't wear your pajamas to meet with a client, would you?)

How do you want potential clients to see you?  You never know who might be reading your blog or looking at your profile, wondering if you would be a good team member for a project.  You can work from home and still be professional.  You can work in your pajamas and still be professional.  The important thing is to think about the image you portray online.  Treat your business as a business.