Every month we run through a series of questions to help you run your freelance business like a bigger business — “self-coaching” your way to better results and a better life.

 

Hey! Happy COO month!

 

Seeing as you’re the Chief Operating Officer of your freelance business, this month is a good one. We’re talking operations…what you do, and how to make it better. And this week, we’re covering quality control.

I’m going to talk about it from the perspective of writing, but how you do quality is going to vary depending on your skill set.

Making sure your quality is continually moving upward is important, but it’s not just how you keep existing clients happy. It’s how you differentiate yourself from freelancers who might not care as much and how you charge more.

Ready? Let’s go!

 

Are you keeping your quality high?  

 

For me, quality control mainly comes down to proofing. I never do this myself and make sure to tell my clients that I use third parties to clean up final drafts.

But getting there was a process.

At first, I sent documents over to my mother (Thanks Mama), then through electronic proofing. Now I use a combination of software and a paid human proofing service.

I’ve been able to gradually increase the quality and turn-around-time of my proofing services over time…and you can do the same. Start with the minimum possible and as you raise your rates, invest in higher quality control that brings in more objective perspective.

 

If you’re looking to talk out ways to improve your quality incrementally, come by the Academy boards and let’s talk it out!

 

 

Megan