We spend a lot of time on Freelance Folder talking about marketing. That is because good marketing is very important to a free-lancer's success. It is important to get those clients in the door and signed up for your products or services if you are going to earn enough to really support yourself as a freelancer.

For some freelancers, though, that "in" door is actually a revolving door. If this is you, it may seem that no sooner do you get a client signed up for your products or services than they leave. You have no idea why you are losing clients, but you know that it has to stop.

This post should take some of the mystery out of why freelancers lose clients. It will also provide some tips for how to hang on to the clients that you do have.

Eight Reasons Why Your Clients Leave

There are many reasons why clients stop doing business with a freelancer. While we may never know all of those reasons, we can identify (and correct) some of the most common problems that clients have with freelancers.

Here are eight common reasons that clients stop working with a freelancer:

1. Missed deadlines. In general, clients like freelancers who meet their deadlines. They want to know when they can expect a completed project. While most freelancers occasionally miss a deadline, frequent missed deadlines give your client the impression that you don't care about them. If you must turn a project in late, contact the client and let them know when they can expect the work.
2. Lack of communications. While no client has the right to expect a freelancer to be "on call" 24/7, they do have the right to expect timely answers to their questions. No client should have to wait days or weeks to get a response from a freelancer. If you will be going on vacation or otherwise unavailable, let your clients know ahead of time as a courtesy.
3. Quality. Do you take shortcuts with your work? If you do, guess what? Your client can tell. The quality of your work demonstrates how thorough you are. If your work is poor or has to be redone, don't expect your clients to stick around. You can solve this problem by having someone else check over large projects or by double-checking your work yourself.
4. Talking too much. Many freelancers enter a project with a set agenda in mind–their own. Good listening skills are vital to the successful freelancer. Not only do you need to find out what the client wants, to do the best job for them you also need to find out why they want it. The only way to do that is through listening.
5. Not fulfilling instructions. Nothing makes a client more upset than a freelancer who ignores their instructions. Read the project assignment over carefully until you are sure that you understand what the client wants. If you have a question about something be sure to ask it. It's better to ask a question early than have to do rework later.
6. Not keeping up with your field. What year is it? Do your business practices reflect the current trends and knowledge? If your work is out of date, then clients may want to go with a freelancer whose skills and knowledge are more current. This is why it is important for freelancers to make time to learn new things.
7. Dishonesty. This should go without saying, but unfortunately there are a few dishonest freelancers out there (just as there are a few dishonest clients). My best advice to you: don't be one of them. Any so-called benefits that you may gain through your dishonesty will be far outweighed by the hit to your reputation.
8. Personality clash. Freelancers are people. Clients are people. Once in a while, they just don't get along. While a good freelancer should be professional enough to work with many different personality types there are a few times when a freelancer should just acknowledge that they aren't person to work with this particular client.

There's good news, though. You don't have to keep losing clients. You can stop the revolving door. To learn more, read the next section.

How to Keep From Losing Clients

The most important step that you can take to keep from losing clients is to recognize that you have a problem. Once you acknowledge that clients are leaving your freelance business you can begin to determine why they are leaving and take steps to correct the problem.

You can start out by reviewing the list above. Do one, or more, of these categories describe you? If so, you know what you need to do to solve the problem. Stop the offending behavior and you should start to retain more clients.

If you don't fit into one of the categories above, don't panic. It's possible that you are losing clients through a misunderstanding. You may have to ask your clients why they are dissatisfied. Conduct a friendly survey of clients who have been inactive for more than a specified length of time.

How Do You Retain Clients?

Share your experience.

Have you solved a client retention problem? What did you do?

Let us know in the comments.

Conversely, are you the client of a freelancer? What would make you stop using a particular freelancer?

Share your answers in the comments.

Credits: http://freelancefolder.com/why-you-are-losing-clients-and-how-to-stop/

What does your current social situation look like? Are you surrounded by people who bring the best out of you? Or are you held back by individuals who just drag you down? Do you have an abundance of connections? Or do you constantly feel alone?

Regardless of your current social situation, it's safe to say that one of the most important aspects of your life, is your relationships. Aside from perhaps your spiritual beliefs, your relationships have the greatest impact on who you are as a person.

Unfortunately, one area many people struggle with is their social life, and for much of my life I struggled to. Fortunately , I soon realized that we are in complete control of our social situation. I'd like to share with you some ways to drastically improve your social life.

Stop Fearing Rejection:
One of the main reasons people struggle to have the social life that they desire is because the fear of rejection is constantly on their mind.

"What if they don't like me?"
"What if I'm not good enough?"
"What if I'm different from everyone else?"
"What if they make fun of me?"

Have you ever had any of these thoughts? If so you're not alone. But here's the thing, everyone is insecure. Yes, some are more insecure than others but everyone has their faults. Don't waste a second of your time thinking you're not good enough. Drop those beliefs immediately.

When you focus your attention on what you lack, you can't see what you currently have. Realize that no one is perfect. No one has everything figured out. That's what makes you, well you. Remember not everyone is going to like you accept that. Embrace your differences and rise above the fear of rejection.

As soon as you make the decision to stop fearing rejection, your social life will dramatically improve.

Focus on Quality Not Quantity:
Which would you rather have: a ton of half-hearted-connections, or a small group of really good friends? I don't know about you, but I'd gladly choose the later.

Unfortunately, many equate having a ton of friends to having an amazing social life, which isn't always true. While it's certainly possible to have a large group of friends who you share a wonderful connection with, true intimacy generally occurs in small numbers.

I know plenty of people who have a ton of ‘friends' but at the end of the day they remain all alone. Don't fall into that trap. I'm not suggesting you can't or shouldn't have a bunch of friends, but rather you should focus on the quality of your relationships instead of the amount of people you can call ‘friends.'

As you develop more and more deep connections your social life will slowly begin to expand to the place where you want it to be.

Care:
While this tip may come off as common sense, so many people forget to do this. Instead of making their relationships a mutual source of happiness, it quickly becomes all about them.

It's important to make a conscious effort to be as understanding and compassionate as possible. Genuinely care about the connection you're creating.

When someone needs a friend, be there to listen. When someone needs advice, be there to give it to them. When you truly care about someone you'll often find that that person will soon begin to care about you.

The sole purpose of relationships is to care.

Don't Complain:
Do you enjoy listening to people complain? I know I don't. When you complain you do nothing but attract more negative thoughts. Instead of focusing on what's wrong, choose to focus on whats right. People like hanging around people that make them feel better about life, not worse.

Although complaining may seem like a good outlet of frustration, it radiates a considerably bad vibe to all those who notice. While a complaint every now and then isn't the end of the world, don't fall into the habit of becoming a chronic complainer.

There was once a period of my life that I would do nothing but complain. During that time I also found that very few people wanted to hang out with me. Coincidence? I think not.

Network:
One of the amazing things about being alive today is that we literally have the ability to connect with millions of people all around the world. 50 years ago that wasn't possible.

Thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter we can connect with virtually anyone we want to. We can establish relationships with people who share our interests and goals, as well as explore other types of belief systems and ideas.

Reach out to people. Share your story. Connect.

Over the past year I've literally made hundreds of new friends because of how easy it is to network online. If you're not actively using social media to mold a social life with an abundance of wonderful connections, you're missing out.

Take Responsibility For Your Social Life:
Take a look at your current social situation. Realize that you are responsible for each and every relationship you currently have in your life. Only when you take full responsibility for your relationships can you then begin to craft the social circle you desire.

Taking full responsibility isn't always effortless. Sometimes it's easier to blame other people for your relationship shortcomings. However when you do that you lose your ability to craft the relationships you wish to have. If you want more meaningful connections in your life it's up to you make them. If you want more friends in your life it's up to you to find them. Sitting back and doing nothing will get you nowhere.

As human beings we are incredibly social creatures and relationships play a large role in how we live our life. Are you happy with who you surround yourself with? Or could you use some work in this area?

Believe You're Worthy:
Perhaps the greatest thing you can do to drastically improve your social life is this: Believe you're worthy.

Don't walk around with your head down low thinking you have nothing to offer. Know deep down that you have something meaningful to share with this world. If you don't know what that is just quite yet, continue to search.

No matter where you are currently, know that you have the ability to change your social life. It doesn't matter if you're shy, or you're just trying to make a few more friends, you are deserving of the relationships you want.

You have nothing to prove to anyone, you're perfect the way you are, faults and all. An abundance of wonderful relationships await.

Credits: http://www.dragosroua.com/7-ways-to-drastically-improve-your-social-life/