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I love helping others dip their toes into the pool that is known as the “freedom of freelance.” Whether people are looking for steady income or a side hustle, I am more than happy to help them with suggestions, tips and advice to get moving forward. Recently someone asked me why I do this. Why do I so freely give out the info and advice that took me years to learn.
Simple: When I was just starting out, I had many, many people say, “Let me help you.” Now it’s my turn to pay it forward.
As I continue to navigate the galaxy of freelance, I am always on the lookout for cool and useful information to share. When this killer infographic from Freshbooks was shared with me, I knew it was a hit. Here are the 9 Places you Will Encounter on Your Freelance Journey and my thoughts on each one.
Before You Embark: Get the gear. YES….not having what you need to do business would be like a lumberjack working with no saw. Get a decent laptop, a comfy office chair, some classy business cards, a PayPal account and a way to bill and collect money (Freshbooks).
Client Star Field: :Potential clients abound” is no b.s….however, you have to hustle for it. One of the many critical activities of being a successful freelancer is Never.Stop.Prospecting. Like, ever.
Land of Peaks and the Pits: The harsh reality of being your own boss and freelancing is that there will be some slow months and scary times. The key is to not give up, keep powering forward and know that when one door closes..usually an even better one opens.
Isolation Zone: I used to think I didn’t mind the peace and solitude of working from home. Then I started
experiencing signs of depression. No fun! I now know that I MUST get out of my office and my head at least once a day. That could entail taking a walk (I highly encourage daily exercise) or running errands. I try to also have lunch with a friend once a week and am active in a local writers group that meets once a month. I find I am a happier human this way and do better work as a result.
Time-Waster’s Black Hole: We all know how easy it is to get sucked in to time-sucking vortex called Social Media. Though social media is a healthy part of marketing our business, spreading our brand and locating new info, spending an hour hunting down apple fritter recipes on Pinterest is NOT. Do your best to keep yourself on task with tools like Bullet Journaling, timers and even apps like Carrot to keep you on task.
The Gray Area: Someone once asked me what was one of the best parts of working from home and I replied that my office is a handful of feet away from the rest of my house. The same person asked me what was the worst thing about working from home, to which I replied, “my office is a handful of feet away from the rest of my house. “When working from home, there needs to be boundaries. Work time is work time and family time is family time.
Period.
Planet You: One of the hardest things for me is sharing my successes. No one likes a braggy person and I never wanted to fall into that category. However, once I did start sharing my successes with family and friends, their outpouring of love and support fueled my fire and helped me be even better.
Accounting Alley: Honestly folks, I can barely balance a checkbook. But when you are a work-from-home pro, accounting and bookkeeping is a hugely important part of business success. I advise using something Freshbooks. Freshbook has been my wing-man since Day One and it helps me track my time with clients, create bills, gather payments and track my expenses for tax purposes. I true “must have” for the freelance business.
Corporate Temptress and Retirement Neverland: When you are your own boss, that also means you are your own IT department, marketing department and also your own savings, benefit and retirement manager. Don’t let these things slide just because you don’t have someone to do them for you. Retirement is just as important when you are self-employed as it is when you are employed outside of the home.
**Franticmommy was not compensated for this post
**Some of these links are affiliate links
