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How to Freelance

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Administrative Details

3:09 with Pasan Premaratne

The last set of questions we want to ask our client consist of administrative tasks that will help us finish the project smoothly.

Click here to download a list of possible questions for your questionnaire. These are a sampling of the possible questions you could ask your client, and they have been compiled from many sources around the web. There are by no means a comprehensive list and you should always include questions that are specific to the project if possible.

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    [Pasan Premaratne] We're almost done with asking questions. 0:00
    We just have one area left to cover, and that's the administrative stuff. 0:02
    Let's take a look at some sample questions. 0:06
    What is your budget for this project? First and foremost, you want to know if the project is worth doing. 0:08
    Are you compensated enough for the effort you're going to put in? 0:15
    Now the budget doesn't always mean that's the maximum you can charge. 0:19
    You can always convince the client that the features they want cost more. 0:22
    But knowing the budget gives you an estimate to start off with. 0:26
    For the first project you undertake, you can't be as flexible as you'd like to be with pricing. 0:30
    But as you grow as a freelancer and get better, you can always charge what you think you deserve. 0:34
    Next ask the client who the decision makers are on this project and what the turnaround time is. 0:40
    It's always important to know who the decision makers are and to work with them directly. 0:45
    If you have to go through a few layers to arrive at a decision, then there will be significant delays when getting feedback. 0:50
    This applies to your turnaround time as well. 0:56
    If you know there's going to be a day or 2 when hearing back, you need to build that into your timeline. 0:58
    The worst thing is to deliver the project late because you were waiting on assets or approval. 1:04
    Ask the client for all the people involved in the project and what they will be contributing to the project. 1:10
    But make sure that there's 1 point person for the project— 1:15
    1 stake holder who has a decision-making ability that you can coordinate the project with. 1:18
    And ask them what their timelines are like. Of course you want to ask them if they have any specific deadlines. 1:24
    Certain websites could be for specific marketing events that need to be launched by a certain date. 1:30
    You always want to make sure you deliver a project before a client's deadline date. 1:35
    But equally as important, you don't want to accept a project with an insanely tight deadline. 1:39
    Now these questions are just the tip of the iceberg. 1:44
    They might seem like a lot, but they serve a very useful purpose. So try and the get the client to answer as many as possible. 1:47
    Depending on the project you could ask different questions in addition to the set we've already covered. 1:54
    E-commerce sites have their own special set of functionality and goals, for example. 1:59
    In any case the purpose of this questionnaire is to get as much information as possible on the potential project 2:04
    to understand what you will be working on and to avoid conflict down the road. 2:09
    At minimum you should be able to walk away knowing at least the following bits of information. 2:14
    First, what are you doing? What is the project about? And what features has the client requested? 2:20
    Second, who are you doing it for? Who is the target audience? How do they feel when they use a client's product? 2:26
    And what do you want them to do when they end up on the website? 2:32
    Next, who are you working with? Are there any decision makers or other people involved in the project? 2:36
    And do you have the means to get in touch with them? 2:41
    Finally, when do you need to do it by? Do you have a deadline that you are working with or a rough time estimate? 2:44
    And have you taken into account turnaround times into this deadline? 2:50
    Once you have your questionnaire filled out, you have sufficient information to make all the relevant decisions for this project. 2:54
    That is, you can decide if you want to do it, how complex it is, how long it's going to take, and how much you're going to charge. 3:01

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