To be a good full-time freelancer, you need to be well-rounded. Whether it’s the technical side, the marketing side, the customer service side, and even the legal side, you need to be at least knowledgeable about every aspect of your freelancing. To be a freelancer that stands out from all the rest, you should consider using every tool at your disposal. If you want to be the best and most well-rounded freelancer you can be, you should heavily consider using electronic signatures.
What are electronic signatures?
Electronic signatures, or e-signatures, are the digital version of the traditional ink-on-paper signatures. They have just as many uses as their physical counterparts as you can use them to sign your emails, contracts, job orders, and other documents.
How can they help me be a better freelancer?
The logistics of freelance work like talking to clients, responding to emails, and signing contracts is done almost entirely through a computer screen. Using electronic signatures will make life significantly easier because you’re signing off on documents and contracts that require your consent.
These types of documents are what you would have to be dealing with almost on a daily basis as a freelancer. Adopting electronic signatures makes handling digital documents much less intimidating which would help as you would be met with a lot of them if you plan to take your freelancing seriously.
However, if you’re not yet knowledgeable about the many benefits that electronic signatures offer, you should know that they can give you:
Unmatched convenience
As most freelancers do remote work, going digital with documents and signatures brings unrivaled convenience. Through using electronic signatures, you no longer have to rely on courier services or fax machines to deliver your documents to your clients. Instead, you use a service or program that simply requires just a few button clicks to sign and send, making your life much less stressful.
The convenience that electronic signatures offer, especially in the digital age, should not be ignored. Remember that as a freelancer, your income depends on how much time you put into your jobs, and more time spent worrying about logistics and not actually doing your job means less income for yourself.
Electronic signatures also help give peace of mind because they eliminate the likelihood of human error. You no longer have to worry about having to erase your ink signature by crossing it out and risking it looking unprofessional as instead, you would be using a perfect copy of your signature.
By switching entirely to digital documents, you are opening yourself up to a whole new level of convenience. Gone are the days of having to manually file papers into folders and drawers as instead, you would only be using the storage on your own computer, as well as in cloud storage from these very e-signature applications. By switching entirely to digital, you could be opening, reading, and sending documents in a matter of seconds.
The sustainable option
The traditional way of sending documents and emails is costly. Not only do you have to factor in the cost of a courier service or fax machine, but you also have to consider the cost of having to use physical ink and paper. These expenses can add up and you could be making more money as a freelancer if you choose to continue hampering your revenue with them.
You also have to consider the labor cost of having to use the traditional method. Fax machines break down and some couriers can take hours or even days to deliver. By adopting the convenience of having e-signatures signed and sent in a matter of seconds, you could be saving yourself considerably more headspace.
Also, consider the other benefits that using electronic signatures can do not just for yourself, but for the people you work with. By using e-signatures, your clients will no longer have to go through the process of printing and preparing a document, booking a courier and waiting for them to deliver the documents, and then wait again for you to respond and go through the whole process all over again. You would not only be saving yourself time and headspace by adopting e-signatures but you’d also be doing the same for your client as well.
A way to look more professional
Adopting e-signatures also allows you to declare your identity. By affixing your electronic signature on outgoing emails, you are showing your clients that they are dealing with an actual person by proving your identity.
Your clients would want to know that they’re dealing with an actual person instead of being sent to an automated messaging bot. By using electronic signatures, you’re subtly sending the message that you’re trustworthy because you can sign your name on your own legitimacy. As a freelancer, much of your work will be communicating with clients, thus you should take every single step to ensure that your clients enjoy working with you.
Further, by using e-signatures, you’re showing your clients that you are a professional which helps separate you from the slew of other freelancers. In any industry, standing out from your competition is very important because this will mean that clients will remember you, choose you over other workers, and potentially return to you for additional work in the future.
Trust is invaluable to any business. Affixing your signature is a promise of quality and competence, even in online settings. By placing your electronic signature on your outgoing job orders, emails, and contracts, you are framing yourself as a quality worker that is ready to make good on your promise.
Remember that by having a regular client, you could potentially open yourself to your client’s immediate network. This would be helpful as a freelancer as you would instantly have connections simply by doing your job well, thus opening up more avenues for jobs in the future.
Start using electronic signatures today
The sooner you switch to electronic signatures, the sooner you become a better freelancer by taking more orders, satisfying your clients, and growing your network. If you have not already begun adopting electronic signatures, you should consider doing so immediately. If you don’t know how to start, try PDFRun’s very own electronic signature service.
