Mother Teresa’s examples have a service attitude to help clients with problems. Her mission focused on helping the sick, poor and needy. She gave of herself to these people, providing excellent Nobel Prize winning service for humanity. Even in her finest hours, there were limits to what she could provide.

Freelance business owners that adopt an attitude of service keep their focus on the client. Putting limits on our time gives us the ability to set up value for service offerings and ourselves.

If we have a service attitude, is it our responsibility to respond to anyone contacting us for help? I believe freelancers should have an ideal client in mind. I also believe that we do not have to cater to anyone who walks up asking for our help.

Mother Teresa’s vision of helping people went global, but it fits into a narrow section of people with specific needs.

Have a Picture of an Ideal Client

Mother Teresa’s ideal client was the poor, hungry and sick. She had such passion for these people. As a freelancer, coming up with your ideal client helps you attract more of them to you.

Attracting people who value your services, for instance, will help you align your goals with those who can help build your business.

Take a minute and write down qualities of your ideal client on paper. Write ten qualities that your ideal client has and would make it easy for you to work with and collaborate.

As freelancers, when starting out, we try to take on any client. I have seen many coaches that go through this and quit because their clients did not commit to the experience and goals. People are fickle even about stuff that could help them in the end for their business.

Protect Yourself

As a freelancer, you have to protect yourself while serving others. During Mother Teresa’s service, she received orders to bed rest for three hours each day in 1946, according to Kathryn Spink who wrote the complete approved biography for the accomplished nun.

Mother Teresa always had an attitude of responding overtly to situations instead of reacting. Orders for bed rest came about from disobeying orders set forth from the Muslim League in Calcutta. She went into the streets to bring rice to the hungry girls at a local boarding school. After doing this, she kept to the doctors’ orders.

When stuff piles up on you in your business, you can always seek retreat. Taking time for yourself in nature and for family helps you in your business. One mistake freelancers make often is not taking the time to exercise.

Having a daily routine of exercise will increase your energy, mental clarity and help keep you from having to see the doctor. With regular exercise, you can also decrease your health insurance costs. Did you know that you pay more for health insurance if you are overweight?

Not Being Accessible All the Time

In having to keep to the forced bed rest schedule, Mother Teresa retreated to her room. This gave her greater overall vision and time with her mission. As freelancers, we have the latest technology. The screen on the iPad or computer lights up with the latest headline from the New York Times. We read a section or two and before we know it, an hour has passed.

Email, cell phones and other ways to communicate make it easier to be accessible to anyone and everyone. With an attitude of service, freelancers want to please their clients. However, it is up to you to put a limit to how accessible you want to be.

Many coaches I know charge for thirty-minute increments of their time. Web designers budget in the consultation and mock-ups with the overall web design project. Writers include research into their freelance time for articles or copywriting clients need.

Unless you gave the client open permission to contact you with questions and support through email, ask for a fee to answer questions. Apple even puts limits on support they offer. With many devices, it comes free for thirty days, after that customers should buy the AppleCare protection plan to receive more support. Otherwise, customers have to pay per thirty-minute call.

While there are limits freelancers should communicate to clients that need service, there is a line between refusal and a service attitude of willingness to help. What do you communicate to your clients?

photo credit: Peta-de-Aztlan