Freelancefolder

When and How to Draw the Line When Everything Is an “Emergency”

Posted December 23, 2009 in Managing Clients, Productivity 14 Rockin' Comments »

Clients usually turn to freelancers because they prefer a more ‘personal’ approach than agencies or larger organizations can offer. The relationships and sometimes even friendships that come from working closely with clients to bring their vision to life are always a satisfying element of my business. Unfortunately, the expectations that accompany the client’s desire for personal service can grow to nightmarish proportions if not managed correctly.

Every client wants to be treated as though they are your top priority. This isn’t unreasonable. Striving to help clients feel valued and even “special” will almost always benefit your business reputation and inspire authentic word-of-mouth recommendations. But, there are some clients that appear to ‘forget,’ or never realize in the first place, that theirs is not the only project being worked on. This can result in unreasonable and outrageous requests, unachievable deadlines, and intense emotions for all  parties involved.

Some clients fail to grasp that for a freelancer to successfully serve all of their clients their projects must be carefully balanced. For various reasons these clients operate under a mentality that everything on their agenda is an ‘emergency’ and that the freelancer they hired should treat it as such. Their constant emails, impatient phone calls, instant messages, and so forth, can result in a terrible experience for everyone.

In this post, we share some suggestions for dealing with those so-called client emergencies.

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Seven Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Outsource

Posted December 15, 2009 in Business, Productivity 32 Rockin' Comments »

Do you outsource?

Outsourcing is a business strategy that has been drummed into my brain by my mompreneur mastermind group, freelancing books like The Unlimited Freelancer, and various other posts on FreelanceFolder (such as this one). “You need to outsource if you want to become more profitable,” everybody says.

After months of hearing this — and after a catastrophic episode that involved accidentally making a blog explode into virtual smithereens — I finally decided to grow my team.

In this post, we’ll examine outsourcing. We’ll discuss what I’ve tried and we’ll look at seven critical questions that you should ask before you outsource.

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50+ Free Resources for Writers, Bloggers, And Other Freelancers

Posted December 6, 2009 in Business, Productivity 65 Rockin' Comments »

Do you maintain a blog for your freelance business? Are you a freelance writer, blogger, or someone who writes regularly?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then this article is for you. From organization, to finding ideas, to doing the research — there are dozens of free resources that can help you write better. In this post, we’ve found 50 that we think will be valuable to you.

Here are 50 free resources to help your writing or blogging efforts:

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Five Useful Ways Dropbox Can Improve Your Business

Posted November 19, 2009 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 59 Rockin' Comments »

What would you do if something happened to your computer? Say, it caught fire, was stolen, or got drenched in your latte?

If you were using a good backup solution you could just keep on working, otherwise you could be in a lot of trouble. For those of you who don’t already have a backup and file sharing solution in place, you’ll want to learn more about Dropbox.

A computer-savvy client introduced me to Dropbox a few months ago as a way to share huge files without having to compress and email them to me. However, I soon discovered that Dropbox can do so much more — making me a much more productive and efficient freelancer.

In this article, we’ll show you five ways Dropbox can help your freelance business.

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Planning: The Not-So Secret Success Tool That Anyone Can Use

Posted October 15, 2009 in Managing Clients, Productivity 31 Rockin' Comments »

Some people love to “fly by the seat of their pants.” If they take a trip, they take it one day at a time and decide each day what they will do. If they start a household project (like painting the fence), they get up each day and if they feel like it, they paint. If they go into a store, such people don’t along take a list. I could go on and on. . .

There are “seat of the pants” clients too. You’ve probably worked for some of them. They’re the ones that contact you at 4:00 p.m. on a business day and ask if you can have a project done by tomorrow. They’re also the ones who assign you a deadline and then go on vacation because they don’t really mean it.

For the most part, I don’t fault the “seat of the pants” folks (much). I know that planning is just not part of their nature. They can be wonderful, impulsive, and fun folk.

However, working by the seat of the pants can also set you back if you’re running a freelance business.

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10 Productivity Tools for Computer Addicts

Posted October 14, 2009 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 53 Rockin' Comments »

Not everyone needs a computer to do their work, but those of us who do tend to be stuck to our computers like a strong piece of velcro.

With the amount of time we spend tapping away at our keyboards, it’s no wonder there are hundreds of tools dedicated to making that time more efficient. These productivity tools range from online web applications, to small desktop programs, to smartphone software, and everything in between. That broad range of programs, though, is just the problem — it’s tough to weed through all of the junk out there to find tools that are actually worthwhile.

So, to make your life easier, we’ve gone and done some of the work for you. Here are ten incredibly useful productivity tools for those of us who can’t seem to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner away from a computer screen.

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Does Your Business Have the Flu?

Posted October 6, 2009 in Business, Productivity 20 Rockin' Comments »

You’ve heard all about the real flu, but did you know that your freelance business could get sick too?

A person with the flu doesn’t feel very good. They ache all over. Their throat may be sore or they may have a headache. They typically don’t even really want to get out of bed.

Not only does a person with the flu not feel very good. Generally, they don’t look very good either. They may be pale or flushed, depending on their symptoms. If someone with the flu does manage to make it out of bed and into the public, their hacking and coughing is going to make others around them uncomfortable.

All in all, the flu isn’t really much fun for anyone.

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5 Game-Changing Project Management Tools

Posted October 1, 2009 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 54 Rockin' Comments »

Project management tools and applications are incredibly valuable to web-workers. Tracking time, tasks, people, and everything else is difficult, and the right project management tool can make all of the difference.

It’s been several years since the first web-based project management software debuted, and some of the best systems have gone on to become incredibly popular (I’m looking at you, basecamp). Some newer systems, like ActiveCollab and 5pm, have also joined the party and carved out their own segment of the market.

The market is still young, however, and new software and apps are emerging at a rapid pace. This new segment of applications is we’re going to look at today and, more specifically, we’ll be looking at some project management applications that are doing things differently.

In the ongoing quest for the perfect project management system, here are five tools that are changing the game:

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Your Business Backup Plan — Why You Need One

Posted September 23, 2009 in Business, Productivity 22 Rockin' Comments »

Many of you have been in this situation before: you have your workweek all planned out, you know exactly what you’re going to do and exactly when you’re going to do it. Everything is going right according to plan.

Or, so you thought.

Suddenly and without warning, a single event can change everything. Before you know it your entire week is turned upside down. What you thought you could do when you planned your week is no longer be possible.

It really doesn’t even matter what the event is. Many things can go wrong when you freelance. Here are just a few:

• You could receive an urgent phone call from a sick friend or relative
• The power and/or internet connect go out
• You could wake up in the morning as sick as a dog
• An accident could damage your car, your home, or (heaven forbid) you
• Your computer could suddenly quit working

You name it, and it’s possible (and even likely) that something will eventually go wrong and mess up your plans. I’m sure that you can think of disruptive events that aren’t even on my list.

This is where a backup plan comes in.

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