I've been freelancing since 1993, and in my entire career, I've only missed a handful (less than five deadlines) – and two of those happened within the last couple of weeks. It made me sick to my stomach – but we'll get back to that in a minute.

I'm so fastidious about not missing deadlines because my first job in publishing was at a trade publisher in New York City. As a Pub Ops Specialist (Publication Operations Specialist), I got first-hand insight into how missed deadlines create a domino effect – one that cost publishers a lot of money. So when I started freelancing, I was keenly aware of what my role was in my client's schedule.

I think – especially starting out – that I felt more replaceable as a freelancer than a full-time employee too. So one of the policies I implement at my freelance (SEO) writing company is that if we miss a deadline, the content is free.

Talk about incentive NOT to miss a deadline!

Most Common Reasons Freelancer Writers Miss Deadlines

I owned an editorial staffing and outsource agency in New York in the late 90s and early 2000s. I've interviewed a few thousand editorial professionals and hired scores of them as freelancers (and full and part-time employees). Following are some of the most common reasons I've found that freelancers miss deadlines:

I. Overscheduling Projects:  This can happen to new and experienced freelance writers alike. The experienced ones who are good tend to be very busy. And hungry newbies tend to take on any and everything.

In both cases, it can cause a deadline to slip through the cracks.

Solution: Keep a project calendar – and always build in extra time – even if you think you're not going to need it. Life happens and trust me, the one project you think is going to go smoothly can hit a snag and create a domino effect – interfering with other deadlines.

II. Client Factor: This can be anything from a client changing the parameters in mid-stream, to a client not getting back to you and giving you what you need to get finished.

Solution: These "missed" deadlines I don't worry about because I tell clients right away that because of X, the deadline must be moved. Almost every time they won't have a problem with this.

III. Life: Aka personal problems/issues. This is what happened to me. It can be anything from a medical emergency, to home renovations, to childcare falling through.

Solution: Life happens, and the best thing to do in these cases is to immediately let your client know you're in danger of missing the deadline; why (without giving your life history); and what your new proposed deadline is.

Depending on what your track record has been and what your new proposed deadline is, you may or may not lose the client. Be prepared for either outcome and accept it graciously.

Apologize profusely if you lose them; let them know it was out of the ordinary for you; and if they ever want to work with you again you'd be delighted. You might even throw in a discount, either on the existing project if the stay with you, or on a future project to entice them to stay/come back.

IV. Laziness/Don't Care: Some freelancers don't treat freelancing like a business. They may have a full-time job they can fall back on, or some other type of financial support, or they just may not want to do the work.

I've also had freelance writers completely disappear on me for no reason at all, or who say – at the last minute – that they can't complete a project without giving an explanation why.

Whatever the case, these missed deadlines can be chalked up to laziness, or what I call an "I don't care attitude."

Solution: The only advice I have for these type of people is to stop freelancing. If you hire a freelancer who falls into this category, of course, strike them from your database – forever!

Conclusion

One of the things I'm most proud of as a freelance writer is that my clients can rely on me and my team. In fact, many have told me that they think of us as part of their team. And part of this is because we're very consistent – if I give my word, they know they can count on it.

This type of trust will go a long way towards making clients loyal to you. When you consider that it costs 6 to 7 times more costly to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one and that you can increase your profits by 5% to 95% just by boosting customer retention rates just 5%, the loyalty factor means thousands (tens of thousands) of dollars to your bottom line.

One way to look at it is this: a missed deadline costs much more than just the value of that one project. What are you losing in future sales by disappointing a client?

Something to think about.

Have you ever missed a deadline as a freelance writer? How did you handle it? Please share in the comments section below.

Author Bio
Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com, an authority site on how to start a successful freelance writing career. She says, "Online (SEO) writing is one of the easiest and cheapest home-based businesses to start because if you have a computer and an internet connection, you can start right away." Don't know where to start? Take Inkwell Editorial's in-depth online writing eCourse – in Jamaica! You'll not only learn how to help clients drive traffic to their sites via your SEO writing skill, but how to make money promoting your own products and services online as well.