On August 8, Freelance Switch started a contest asking their readers “What is the most important lesson you have learned from freelancing?” I answered, “Respect your boss.” While short, it is an important lesson for anyone who works for themselves, because, if you don’t respect yourself, then who will? Your clients won’t, nor will your peers.

I did want to win (the four best posts, according to the FSw staff, were the winners), but didn’t expect to, especially considering the quality of the other posts.

Yesterday when I logged on, I noticed that the winners had been announced, and I had been selected as one of those winners. They did end up choosing five winners rather than four, but that is fine by me. I can’t wait to get my copy of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferriss.

The winning posts/lessons were:

Unnikrishna
Whether it is a small job or a big project, before i start working on it i realised i have to get a written creative brief approved (bullet points will do). If the client does not know how to brief me then after the first meeting, i myself write a creative brief and ask the client to agree on it. If you start with out a creative brief approved then you are shooting in the dark!

Penny
Freelancing (or working for yourself) is the only career where you have the ability to say