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The Pros and Cons of a Freelancing Partnership

Lexirodrigo — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:55:31 +0000

Freelancers usually operate solo, but sometimes it’s a good idea for us to enter into partnerships.

As a one-person team, there are only so many clients you can serve, and so many skills you can deliver. A partnership can be a good way to expand your freelancing business.

However, as in all things, freelancing partnerships have their advantages and disadvantages. If you’re considering partnering with another freelancer, read this post to see if you really know what you’re getting into.

The Pros

Provide more comprehensive services

Sometimes it makes sense to partner with another freelancer, so you can give clients a complete package of services. For example, as a copywriter, a logical partnership for me would be with a web designer. That way, I can provide a total website package to my clients.

Accept more projects

Another advantage of partnering with other freelancers is the ability to take on a larger volume of work. This works whether you partner with a freelancer whose skills complement your own (as in my previous example of copywriter + designer), and it also works if you partner with a freelancer with similar skills.

In my case, I could partner with blog writers, email marketers, and other types of copywriters. We can divvy up tasks and accept more clients than I could ever do by myself.

More effective prospecting

When you partner with another freelancer, you’re effectively tapping into your partner’s network and promotional efforts. It’s like having another person doing the prospecting for you, and vice versa. This synergy is more powerful than simply adding up what each of you could accomplish individually.

Tap another freelancer’s expertise, experience, wisdom

A partnership benefits from the knowledge and wisdom of each party. You’ll have a wider pool or expertise and experience to tap into. Decisions are made from two different perspectives, which may lead to better management and results.

Be part of a team

Partnering can relieve much of the loneliness of freelancing. You and your partner will have each other to provide support and encouragement. You’ll have someone to share successes and failures with. This can make freelancing more satisfying and less stressful.

The Cons

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. While freelancing partnerships have their advantages, they can be difficult as well.

Finding the right people to partner with

The biggest challenge in a freelancing partnership is making sure you’ve picked the right partner. Aside from ensuring you complement each other’s skills, you also need to consider your working styles, ethics, communication skills, and other aspects. Because you’ll be working closely together, even the smallest annoyances can snowball into big issues later on.

Losing control

When you work with a partner, you have to be willing to sacrifice a little control. You need to trust that your partner will deliver their end of the deal. This can be very difficult to do, especially when your own reputation is on the line.

Increased logistical requirements

Partnerships require effective communication to work. This could include collaboration software, clear work processes, a means to track projects.

Longer, more complicated decision-making

With two or more people involved, decision-making will take more time. More points of view and opinions will have to be considered. Disagreements will arise. Compromises will have to be made.

Flexibility required

Here’s the bottom line: You and your partner have to get along. This means both of you need to be flexible, communicate well, and trust each other. This is also why partnering with the right person is of utmost importance. Not only must you work together, but you have to get along well, too.

Partnerships: Yes or No?

When the right people come together, set clear expectations and have effective work processes, freelancing partnerships can work.

What do you think? Would you ever partner with another freelancer to expand the reach and scope of your work? What would push or pull you from such an arrangement?

Have you ever partnered with another freelancer before? What was that like? What lessons did you learn from the experience?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image by buddawiggi

How to Find and Apply Vision to Your Freelancing Business

Lexirodrigo — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:49:13 +0000

Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and other “serious” businesses have them. Should your freelancing business have one too?

A vision, that is.

A vision is simply a statement (several paragraphs, actually) of where you’d like your business to be in the next x number of years.

Apparently, a vision is really good for any business, including yours.

The Benefits of Having a Vision

A vision helps you plan ahead. It provides a compass with which you can direct your freelancing business. Without a vision, you wouldn’t have anything to guide you in making decisions. Outside events and influences would toss your freelancing business this way and that.

A vision can also keep you motivated and committed to achieve your goals. The prospect of achieving the vision you’ve painted for your business will energize you and keep you moving through challenges and setbacks.

Have you noticed how people always say this line with admiration: “He’s a man of vision.” We heard that a lot about Steve Jobs. People meant, not that he could foresee the future, but he knew what future he wanted — not just for his business but for his customers and the rest of the world.

In short, a vision will help you have a successful freelancing business. And we all want that, don’t we?

How to Create a Vision for Your Freelancing Business

Formulating your vision is really a lot of fun. In fact, it doesn’t feel like work at all. You need some free, undisturbed time, a notebook and pen or computer to capture your thoughts, and your imagination.

Now, daydream. Close your eyes and imagine your IDEAL freelancing business a specific number of years from today.

It’s up to you how far ahead you want to dream. I think 5 years is pretty manageable. (You could create a vision for much farther than that, but being the age I am, looking ahead to 15 years only conjures images of retirement.)

Now give yourself permission to be completely impractical and unrealistic for the rest of the exercise.

Imagine what your freelancing business looks like 5 years from now, if it were absolutely PERFECT:

What are you doing?
How do you do it?
Who are your clients?
How much income are you making?
Who are your business partners and collaborators?
Where do you work?
What is your lifestyle?
What words describe your business?
What are your indicators for success?
What are you famous for?
How do you promote and market your business?

Be as creative as you want to be. Set yourself free and dream. Nobody’s going to slap your hands if you think of something that could never happen in a million years. This is a visioning exercise, not a goal-setting one.

Take notes, and when you feel you have dreamed up a complete scenario for your freelancing life 5 years from now, type out your ideal freelancing business. By the way, when you do this, write in the present tense, as if the future is already now. Don’t say, “I will be….” Instead, write “I am ….”

Refine as you go along.

Your business vision is not set in stone. Set it aside at least overnight. And then go back, read it, and refine as you see fit.

And then… you need to edit your vision while wearing the lenses of reality. Don’t destroy your original outlandish vision, because that has its own value (Often, these things eventually do become reality. Uncanny but true).

Make a different, more realistic version of your vision. Whittle it down to an ideal that’s more realistic for you to achieve. I don’t want you to look at your vision 5 years from now and feel like a total failure, just because you created an unrealistic, implausible vision.

By now you have two versions of your vision: the unrealistic one, and the achievable one. Keep the unrealistic one in a drawer. You can read that every day, if you like, if that inspires you (that would depress me, however).

Take the achievable one and use it as one of your business documents.

How To Use Your Business Vision

Use that vision as the starting point for planning for the next 5 years, then for the year ahead. Go backwards. Beginning with your vision, what do you need to do and accomplish for that vision to become a reality?

Whenever you’re faced with making a tough decision, use your vision to help guide you. Sometimes you have to choose between two seemingly equally good options. Your vision may make your decision easier.

Finally, don’t be afraid to regularly review and revise your vision. Do this at least once a year. Maybe you’ll find you’re moving faster or slower than you thought you would. Or maybe what is important to you now won’t be as essential 12 months from now.

A business vision is one of your tools. It’s not your master.

What’s Your Vision?

Do you have a vision for your freelancing business? If so, how have you been using it? If not, what do you need to be able to craft and use one?

Let us know in the comments below.

8 Metrics Every Freelancer Should Measure at the End of the Year

justindavis — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:03:06 +0000

It’s the end of the year, and you know what that means…end of year reporting! Now’s the time of the year to dig out the Excel sheets, budgets, expense reports and bank statements and start reconciling. A pain, yes…but incredibly valuable.

Freelancers and independent workers often skip this critical exercise. Moving from the end of one year to the next is approached with a somewhat oozing type of existence, only slightly punctuated by a couple weeks of either reduced or insane workloads (industry dependent, for sure).

One of the best things you can do for your business – whether you’re a solo shop or a multi-national concern, is to stop at the end of the year and take a look at how things went. For freelancers and independents, you should be looking at the following metrics:

Total Annual Revenue - how much money did you make? This is gross, before taxes, payroll, etc.
Year over year growth - how much did you grow from last year (as a percentage?) This is a great indicator of overall long-term health of your venture. To calculate this, use this equation: [(This Year - Last Year)/Last Year]*100. 100% growth means you doubled your business from last year, 50% means 1.5 times, and so on.
Average Project Size - how much did you make per project? This may need to be separated into different lines of business, to account for profitability differences among your offerings. Use this to help you understand what your average sale is, and work to improve it next year. (Hint: use this to help establish a minimum project size for next year – the dollar amount which you won’t go under for a project, which helps you raise your margins).
Revenue Per Client - this is a great metric that helps you understand the value of various clients, to establish where to spend your energy marketing in the next year – and to know which clients to show the door to. Check this metric against average project size. Those clients that are consistently below average may need to be upsold, transferred to a different line in the business, or sent packing altogether.
Profit and Loss Statement - This isn’t really a metric, but a complete tool full of all kinds of great data. Compile a full P&L for the year, month-by-month. A profit and loss statement shows you, monthly, how much is coming in and how much is going out. Use this to apply percentages to expenses and to look for outliers where you may be spending too much money. This is a great tool to use in establishing budget priorities for the coming year.
Revenue by Month - using your P&L, you can look at revenue on a month-by-month basis. Chart this on a line graph and look for the trends. Most industries will have periods of the year that are slower than others – for me, it’s July – September. Looking at these trendlines will help you plan cashflow next year to be more consistent in these down times.
Average Revenue per Month - taking an average of your revenue per month over a year gives you an idea of where you’re generally running, sales-wise. Knowing that you make, on average, $6000 a month, helps you to understand when you’re having a good or bad month, and gives you a meaningful way to set sales goals. I use this to set initial sales goals for the first quarter of the year, increasing them throughout the year to get to my annual goal.
Broad Categorized Spending - in addition to very specific categorization (budget categories like “Travel”, “Meals and Entertainment”, etc.) I create a generalized categorization to give me an overview of where money went in the year. I break this up into four categores: taxes, expenses, salary/payroll and retained earnings. Looking at these, percentage-wise, helps me assure that I’m budgeting appropriately on a strategic level. I like to retain around 15% of earnings on a yearly basis for business savings, so this quick report lets me know if I need to watch expenses, take a bigger salary or up my tax withholdings for next year.

Once you have these metrics in front of you, it’s time to set goals with them. I start monthly, choosing to think about what I’ve earned this year, and what’s a reasonable amount of growth to expect monthly. For instance, if last year I averaged $6000/month, I’ll set sales goals for the first quarter at $7500 or so. Doing this gives a realistic basis for your goals, and will feel both attainable but challenging (as goals should be).

Next, using the Broad Categorized Spending metric, it’s easy to figure out how that $7500 will be spent every month. Make sure to adjust those percentages to align with where you want to be next year – don’t copy them verbatim unless you’re happy with the past 12 months’ split. With those percentages applied to the monthly revenue goal, I’ve instantly got savings, salary, expense and tax goals for every month and the whole year. Cool, huh?

Between these 8 metrics, I get a great picture of my business on a yearly basis. As a year draws to a close, I pull these numbers together and use them to tell the story of the past 12 months, as well as give me a firm foundation on which to set next year’s goals. If you aren’t regularly looking at this information, I encourage you to give it a shot (and trust me, it takes time to organize everything) – you’ll be amazed at what you learn about your own business.

A Special Thank-You to Our September Advertisers

Laura Spencer — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:30:09 +0000

School has started. The leaves are starting to change colors and temperatures are starting to cool down.

Fall is a great time to explore the offerings from the excellent companies supporting the Freelance Folder blog. It’s the support of these advertisers that allows us to provide you with great information year-round. We definitely recommend checking them out.

Thank-You to Our Advertisers

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activeCollab lets you work with a team, clients, or contractors in an easy to use environment with full control of your data. It lets you plan and track projects while controlling your data. activeCollab is a great project management tool that allows you to work effectively with your entire team. activeCollab also has a thriving forum community.

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Thank-you to Our May Advertisers

Laura Spencer — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:30:50 +0000

The last few weeks have been stormy, at least where I live. We’ve had thunderstorms, flood warnings, hail, and even a tornado watch or two.

Well, I hope that you are dry and that your freelancing career is going more smoothly than my local weather. :)

We’d like to encourage you to explore the offerings from the high-quality companies supporting the Freelance Folder blog. It’s the support of these advertisers that allows us to provide you with great information year-round. We would definitely recommend checking them out.

Thank-You to Our Advertisers

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Thank-You to Our April Advertisers

Laura Spencer — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:30:01 +0000

Spring is really here, at least in my part of the world. Flowers are in bloom and the snow is finally gone! Spring is a great time to get a fresh start with some powerful new programs that really work–programs like those offered by our advertisers.

Each day our writers and guest authors strive to bring you the best information for freelancers–something that the high-quality companies supporting the Freelance Folder blog allows us to do. It’s the support of these advertisers that allows us to provide you with great information year-round. We would definitely recommend checking them out.

Thank-You to Our Advertisers

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Thank-You to Our January Advertisers

Laura Spencer — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:30:11 +0000

It’s a new year and for many freelancers, this signifies a fresh new start for their freelancing business. It’s a time to get things in order and get geared up.

A great way to start the new year is to explore some of the products and services offered by the high-quality companies supporting the Freelance Folder blog. It’s the support of these companies that allows us to provide you with great information year-round. Our advertisers provide excellent services and products that are vital to freelancing success. Trust us, these companies know and understand freelancing. We would definitely recommend checking them out.

Thank-You to Our Advertisers

activeCollab lets you work with a team, clients, or contractors in an easy to use environment with full control of your data. It lets you plan and track projects while controlling your data.

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Thank-You to Our November Advertisers

Laura Spencer — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:30:17 +0000

It’s starting to feel a bit like winter around here. Of course, that’s probably because it’s already November. Where has 2010 gone, anyway?

The end of the year is a great time to take stock of your freelancing business and make sure that you have all of the tools that you need…tools like those offered by the high-quality companies supporting the Freelance Folder blog. In fact, it’s the support of these companies that allows us to provide you with great information about freelancing that you need. Our advertisers provide excellent services and products that are vital to freelancing success. Trust us, these companies know and understand freelancing. We would definitely recommend checking them out.

Here’s the complete list of our wonderful November advertisers:

Thank-You to Our Advertisers

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Freelancing Competition–Friends or Foes?

Laura Spencer — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:30:47 +0000

Let’s face it. If you’re a freelancer, then you’ve got competition.

Competition means that there is someone else who is also targeting your ideal clients and prospects. They may be applying for the same projects. They may even be getting more of those projects than you are getting.

It’s very easy for a freelancer to get distracted by what their competition is doing.

In this post, we’ll discuss the three possible attitudes you can have towards your competition. We’ll also explain why it’s important not to get too sidetracked by focusing on your competitors.

Competition and Freelancing

Competition is a huge part of the freelancing landscape. So much so, in fact, that we’ve discussed different aspects of competition before on Freelance Folder:

Nearly every freelancer that I’ve ever met eventually deals with the issue of how to treat their competition (both online and in person). If you haven’t faced this issue yet–trust me, you will.

Your freelancing competition is everywhere you look. In fact, there are probably freelancing competitors working in your community right now. And, of course, the internet is filled with freelancers who are competing with you to get the same business.

Three Possible Attitudes

Faced with all this competition, what’s a freelancer to do?

There are basically three possible attitudes that you can have towards your freelance competitors:

View them as enemies–If you view your competitors as enemies, then you will probably treat another freelancer angrily or sharply if you ever have to interact with them. If you blog, some of that bitterness will likely bleed into your posts and color the image that both potential clients and other freelancers have of you.
View them as possible friends–If you view your competitors as friends, then you will probably enjoy interacting with them online and in person. You will treat them warmly and politely. Your blog posts and your online image will most likely be positive and upbeat towards all (which will tend to attract people to you).
Ignore them–If you ignore your competitors, then you will likely not seek out any interactions with other freelancers. This may be because you’re really shy, pre-occupied, just generally self-focused, or for some other reason.

Over the years, I’ve watched various freelancers exhibit all of these attitudes and I’ve also experienced some of them myself.

In the next section, we explore whether or not there’s a right or wrong attitude to have towards your competitors.

The Best Attitude to Have

When it comes to competition, is there a right or wrong attitude?

Personally, I think that there is a best attitude to have. I tend to view freelance competitors as possible friends.

In the long term, this perspective has really paid off for me. I have received referral work from competitors and, as their business has grown, I’ve even accepted projects from several of them. None of this could have happened if I had chosen to view my freelance competitors as enemies instead of as potential friends.

However, if for some reason you just can’t bring yourself to view your competitors as potential friends, then I think it is probably best to ignore them. At least that way, you won’t be caught up in the negative energy that comes with being too competitive with others and your attitude won’t taint your work.

Don’t Let the Competition Distract You

It’s all too easy to get caught up in gossiping or griping about your competitors–especially if your own business has slowed down. I’ve seen this trend lately on message boards and in social media. But, the truth is, gossiping and griping about other freelancers won’t actually improve your own freelancing business.

Even if what your competitor does seems unfair to you, taking the time to fret about another freelancer’s activities just means that you have less time to spend marketing your own business. Plus, if you make your comments where they can viewed by others, such as on a message board or through social media, they may come back to haunt you if you ever have the opportunity to work with (or for) that other freelancer.

While I do think that it is important to be aware of what freelancing trends are happening in your field, it’s just not a good idea to get too distracted by a specific freelancing competitor. Ultimately, what they do (or don’t do) will reflect on them and what you do (or don’t do) will reflect on you.

What Do You Think?

Which attitude do you take towards your competitors, and why? Have you benefitted by befriending your freelancing competitors?

Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

Image by theogeo

Thank-You to Our June Advertisers

Laura Spencer — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:30:20 +0000

It’s June. It’s hot outside. Many freelancers are thinking about vacation.

June is also a great time to update your freelance toolkit–you know, those resources that help your run your business effectively. Why not update your toolkit today by visiting one of our advertisers?

At Freelance Folder we have the good fortune to have some extraordinary companies supporting the blog. Our advertisers provide services and products that are vital to freelancing success. Trust us, these companies know and understand freelancing. We would definitely recommend checking them out.

Here’s the complete list of our wonderful advertisers:

Thank-You to Our Advertisers

IAC-EZ is both our premium sponsor and a truly great company to work with. Their online service is made for freelancers who aren’t familiar with bookkeeping or who dislike working with numbers and, between you and me, we really like their system. When FreelanceFolder opened up the premium sponsorship, the first company we approached was IAC-EZ–we had worked with their software and really thought they would be a good fit for freelancers. If you’re in need of a more efficient way to keep track of your books, we highly recommend checking these guys out.

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activeCollab lets you work with a team, clients, or contractors in an easy to use environment with full control of your data. It lets you plan and track projects while controlling your data.

FreshBooks is designed to deliver fast and simple invoicing and time tracking services. It keeps your data safe, secure, and accessible to you. Plus, everyone gets the upgrades.

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