The Early Bird…
… Catches the Worm.
I had tried to stave off the urge to introduce this article with such a turgid analogy but it has stood the test of time for a reason. It is definitely appropriate in many situations when working as a freelancer. Another suitable analogy would be ‘Strike while the iron is hot’, either would suffice. Both stress the importance of pro-activity and time management which are central to your success (and even your basic function) in whatever field you operate.
In this particular instance another, less cryptic piece of advice also comes to mind which would be ‘Never assume anything’. Case study is last weekend whereby I had received word that an enquiry had come through on the Friday afternoon and that I was to follow up on the following Monday. Promptly at 9.30 Monday morning I called the client and introduced myself and was met with the unfortunate news that she had already contracted another videographer over the weekend.
Unfortunately, the situation came from having to regularly deal with clients who largely operate a 9-5 timetable and for whom, weekends are out of hours. It goes to show that sometimes ‘Shit Happens’ and that there is no small amount of luck involved in the freelance arena. All one can do lean and move on; ‘Onwards and Upwards’.
So in this particular instance, the early bird did catch the worm. Though it was only through luck that they managed to beat the rest to the job. It was not directly through a lack of proactivity that lost the project but rather an assumption that was made due to other experiences. If anything can be learned from this occasion it’s that sometimes things do go wrong and that sometimes your experience with one thing can affect your interaction with others. My experience working with 9-5 manufacturers caused my oversight when dealing with somebody who clearly operated all week round, likely another freelancer.
The silver lining was that I gained a Monday afternoon to head into the wilderness and shoot away.