It’s well known that lack of confidence and self belief is one of the biggest barriers to success. We were talking about this last week at the workshop and one person was saying that he was worried that big corporates wouldn’t pay for his services and he felt as though he couldn’t really justify his fees.
I said what you have to realise is that if you are a person who has 25 years experience in training in a corporate environment, someone who has built up a huge amount of knowledge in a specific industry and a unique set of skills you do not stop being that person just because you wake up the next morning and you are a freelance trainer. People were prepared to pay you a good salary when you were in your corporate job and the same should and will apply when you are independent. Buyers of training will want to buy you and your unique skills – if they had what you are offering they would do it themselves.
So be confident about what you have to offer. Believe in yourself and what you can offer to your client. If you’re not confident about what you are providing how can you expect other people to be?
One Response
Self confidence as a freelancer
I do agree. Potential clients can sense whether you lack confidence in your abilities, and will hesitate or not enagage you for work they had in mind at all.
It’s also not just about appearing confident. Continuing professional development will help with self confidence issues. So work out a good development plan for yourself, whether it be taking on a new qualification, or just keeping up to date on an industry forum and general research. Make this a regular feature of your working week.