There are a lot of things freelancers think they can get away with when it comes to their careers. They think because they work for themselves and work from home, they can do whatever they want.

If you think you can get away with absolutely anything when it comes to your clients, you couldn’t be more wrong.

When you take on a new client, you will be expected to play by their rules. You may be an independent contractor, but every company has its own policies and rules that you will need to abide by if you want to continue receiving work.

Read on to find out how to work with clients, keep your nose clean, and keep bringing in more work.

What is Company Culture?

When you work for yourself and you’ve never worked for a company or corporations, you may not be familiar with company Culture. What is it and how do companies enforce it?

Does it really matter? Should you care?

Well, that depends. Do you like money? Do you want to continue paying your bills? Sure, you can play by your own rules but it has its limits. Clients have every right to ask contractors to play by their own rules and sign NDAs.

So what is company culture? First and foremost, it’s horseshit. It’s a bunch of mostly ridiculous rules that strive to manipulate the ethics of employees. This is an effort to keep people who are not likeminded with upper-management out of management and preferably out of the company. What’s the trick to thriving in this kind of company atmosphere?

This is a two-pronged attack. The first thing you want to do is put on your pretend face. You’re self-employed. You aren’t technically an employee. But you need to pretend you’re a “team player” who is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the money rolling into your bank account. Secondly, keep your trap shut.

We aren’t kidding. Be polite. Be chill. But don’t chat about your life or offer to listen to others. And this brings us to our next point.

Act Like You’ve Been There

Everyone is different. There will always be people who want their job to feel like home. They want to treat co-workers and even management like they’re family. Check out this website for more information.

These people are not your family. No matter how much you’d like them to be. If you died today, your clients will have you replaced before your obituary hits the local paper.

Keep your eyes on the prize. That prize is your bank account.

Follow the two above rules. Even if you’re new to the freelancing game. Act like a professional and act like you’ve been in this situation before today.

At wfh office, we’ve seen a lot of content writers over the years and worked for a lot of clients. The most successful are the ones who keep their communication with their clients to a minimum and always keep it professional. Small talk is fine if management does the same to you.

“Did you have a nice weekend?”

“I’m doing well. How are you?”

Stuff like that. Play by their rules when they’re the ones paying you.

This can be difficult. Especially when you have a variety of clients.

It’s a good idea to keep files on each individual company’s culture policy. Whenever you need to, you can review the policies to make sure you aren’t breaking the rules. However, following the two above rules should keep you out of harm’s way. At least for the most part. That brings up our next piece of professional advice.

Company Outings

Corporations and even small businesses have parties and outings. Wfh office strongly recommends staying away from these kinds of things. There are simply too many variables here that can go wrong. If you live in the same city as your client and they put pressure on you to attend, you can make an appearance.

Stay for an hour, preferably less, and then come up with a reason to leave. Co-workers and alcohol don’t mix. So stay away from it.

You aren’t technically an employee, so you should be able to politely decline any offer they give you to join them for a company outing. However, if you do go, you have to act as an employee would. This means any misconduct could be considered a fireable offense.

The biggest issue here, other than the legal ones, are that you won’t be able to use this client for a reference in the future. For freelancers, references are a big deal. Your reputation is huge.

Being fired, regardless of the reason, is going to reflect poorly on your professional career. You’re self-employed. Your reputation should mean everything to you.

Be smart. Use your head.

For the Love of All That is Holy

Don’t tell your clients what you actually think. They don’t care what you think. Even when they say they do.

If they want to tell you what they think, that’s fine. But don’t fall into that trap. Don’t fall into any trap. Believe us, there are plenty of traps to fall into as a freelancer.

Conclusion

Remember, guys. Keep your mouth shut. Do your job and go home.

There are not many instances where working from home and traditional employment have the same rules, but this is definitely one of them.

Do any of our readers have any opinions on this subject? Let us know in the comment below!

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