The rough statistics show that more than 90% of the freelancers give up in the first year of their online career. They just can't survive in the highly competitive world of freelancing. They are forced to get back to the corporate world and the "9 to 5" lifestyle.

You don't want to be one of them.

What is making these people give up? There are two main reasons which are putting them off:

- Inability to earn enough money - Too much pressure, too little free time

Almost every freelancer has to deal with such difficulties at different periods in their career. They can hardly avoided at 100%. But it is easy to minimize these low periods, simply by avoiding the most common mistakes that the freelancers, who fail in this business, are doing:

Always giving fixed prices

Freelancing is a business. You must be flexible. Many professionals have so high opinion about their skills that they will never go lower than their fixed hourly rate.

Let's face it, this is a business and it is regulated by the market. Sometimes the markets are low, sometimes they are high. Sometimes you may need to work for less - don't be arrogant, don't miss a good project or a good customer only because of that. It will pay off in the future.

If you are flexible enough, you will be able to charge more at the high times. This is the market - don't struggle with it, play it.

Slow/poor communication

Can you believe: more than half of the disappointed freelance service buyers are giving only one reason for their frustration - miscommunication or slow communication.

Don't let this happen to you, be communicative. Always provide several contact methods for your client and preferably one of them should allow instant contact (phone, instant messenger or Skype).

If English is not your native language, put some effort to improve it. It is used everywhere and you must be able to speak and write understandable. No one will require perfect language skills from you unless you are a freelance writer. But if your English is very poor, you will have difficulties understanding what your customer wants and asking them your questions.

Focusing on yourself

Of course you work for yourself. You are the most important person in this business. But your customer does not want to hear you saying that.

Many freelancers fail because they try to attract customers by impressing them with their skills and professionalism. Is that wrong? No, not at all, but it is not enough. It is not even the most important.

Your customers want to know that you care about them and about their projects. They want to see that you are interested in the task and that you understand that specific task. What is the use of your 3 diplomas if you can't solve their specific issue?

Your potential customers are looking for a solution for their problem. Offer them the solution, not a professional who may or may not solve the problem. Focus on your customer, not on yourself.

Putting the money at first place

It's a big mistake to start the discussion with the money related issues. When you go to a job interview, do you first ask about the salary?

The payment is important. But don't start the negotiations with it. Let the two sides first express interest in each other. Let you potential customer see that you are the professional who can provide what they need. Then only discuss the payment. You'll get much better results.

These four mistakes throw away 90% of the freelancers. If you can avoid them, you will be in the top 10%. If you want to perform better than that, check more free tutorials and advice about freelancing.