{"id":280,"date":"2021-04-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/?p=280"},"modified":"2024-02-12T05:14:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T13:14:57","slug":"time-zones-should-you-really-care-when-you-are-freelancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/time-zones-should-you-really-care-when-you-are-freelancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Time Zones \u2013 Should You Really Care When You Are Freelancing?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the best things about freelancing in the present day is that you can connect with clients all over the world. Wherever you\u2019re based, you will find people that require the services that you\u2019re offering and will be willing to pay for them. However, when you strike up a conversation with a new potential client, you need to pay attention to the time zones. For instance, if you\u2019re based in the UK and working for a customer in Australia, you need to be aware that you\u2019re not even on the same day! This makes it super important to be crystal clear when it comes to agreeing on deadlines, as you don\u2019t want to cause any confusion. Let\u2019s look at situations in which freelancers<\/a> need to be aware of time zones.<\/p>\n

Scheduling online meetings\/calls with your clients<\/strong><\/h5>\n

If you like to speak to your clients face-to-face before getting started on their project, you will have to arrange an online meeting at a time that is convenient for both of you. The likelihood is that your client will propose a time that is relevant to their time zone, so you will have to then work out if it\u2019s convenient for you (i.e. not in the middle of the night!). While you should be as accommodating as possible with your client\u2019s request, they will be equally understanding if you don\u2019t want to get out of bed at 4 am to jump on a call. Just be mindful of their work pattern and try and arrange a time<\/a> that is suitable for both parties.<\/p>\n

Agreeing on project milestones and deadlines<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When you agree upon a project brief with a client, they might be very specific about the time they need the project delivered (for instance, 5 pm (GMT)). This may well be due to the fact that they have their own tight deadlines to work around and are expecting you to do your bit and deliver the work on time so they can then meet their deadline. The best thing to do as a freelancer<\/a> is to convert all of the deadlines into your own time zone and then schedule them accordingly in your diary. If you leave the deadlines in various time zones, you will just get confused. Also, a good tip is to confirm the deadline with your client in both time zones, so they can double-check if they\u2019re so inclined. This further reduces the risk of any confusion.<\/p>\n

Telling clients about your availability<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Many clients want to be able to get in touch with their freelancers during their business<\/a> hours, which is understandable. However, before agreeing to work with someone, make sure you clearly articulate your availability. This means you should list your \u2018office hours on your profile or website. There\u2019s nothing more frustrating for clients than collaborating with a freelancer<\/a> that they can\u2019t communicate with because there was an initial breakdown in communication. You should also avoid telling people that you\u2019re available \u201824\/7\u2019 as this is totally unsustainable. Everyone needs their sleep and time away from work, so telling people you\u2019re always online is just going to disappoint them when they try and reach you and you\u2019re not there.<\/p>\n

Being specific about times and dates<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When you\u2019re working in an office, it\u2019s perfectly reasonable to say something like, \u201cI\u2019ll get that to you by tomorrow afternoon.\u201d Your colleague will be satisfied and will wait for your delivery. However, when you\u2019re working online across different time zones, this doesn\u2019t really mean anything at all! When agreeing upon anything with your clients (be it deadlines, meetings, or milestones), you need to get super-specific. Instead of saying \u201ctomorrow afternoon,\u201d you\u2019re much better suited to say something like \u201cFriday 3 pm (GMT).\u201d This way, there is little room for confusion or error, and your client will know exactly when to expect the delivery or communication.<\/p>\n

Travelling to different places<\/strong><\/h5>\n

If you class yourself as a digital nomad and are constantly on the move, you need to be careful with your time zones. While there\u2019s nothing more liberating than working from a beach hut in Thailand one day to working in the bustling centre of Dubai a few days later, you need to be aware that country hopping is likely to affect your deadlines. Make sure your platform and any related software are up to date with your new time zone, and it\u2019s also a good idea to communicate to your clients that you\u2019re in a new place. This ensures they will know how and when to get in touch with you.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Freelancers<\/a> today are so fortunate that they can connect with people from different parts of the world with relative ease. This opens up so many possibilities when it comes to new business and gives you the chance to attract clients from so many countries without leaving your home or current place of residence. That being said, you need to be aware of the different time zones in which your clients are based. If you don\u2019t consider this when setting deadlines and agreeing to meetings or calls, you will end up disappointing your clients, which in turn, could result in you losing their business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best things about freelancing in the present day is that you can connect with clients all over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,3,1],"tags":[14,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1333,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/1333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.radialhub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}