Freelancing Tips - Don't Do It All Yourself

Today's tip is through inspiration by Suzanne James, one of my mentors. Suz talks about doing everything yourself. This advice is very worthwhile. Even if you're a jack of all trades, that doesn't mean you're a master of all of those trades. Sometimes you need to make an investment in a particular area and get someone to do it for you.

As a writer running your own professional business, you should definitely learn a bit about every aspect of running a business but that doesn't mean you shouldn't delegate or outsource some things you're not awesome at. Take the time to hone your skills on specialties but don't be afraid to ask for help with various aspects of running your business such as SEO, bookeeping or accounting, graphic design or web design.

I firmly believe in learning as much as I can about every aspect of my business but I'd much rather pay $99 for a kick butt logo or pay to get my book cover designed by a pro than toil for days to make it myself and get a result that is just so-so.

Suz's post:
http://writer-writer.com/2008/05/19/the-diy-trap/

Freelancing Tips: Organizing Workload

How do I organize my workload so that my writing assignments aren't all done at the eleventh hour? I spread them out. Some clients give me a few weeks to get work done. Unless the project has a really short turnaround time, I make a schedule to get it done in plenty of time. This way, I can plan my time in advance. For instance, my schedule today looks like:
3 x client X articles
check status of team project # xxx
2 x client Y articles

I allow myself time to spread the work out because it can help me significantly. Some projects work best if I dedicate a day to them where others might work better if I spread out the research time, the writing time and the editing time. Wherever possible, I always buffer in a few days in case I'm delayed or another project takes longer than anticipated which often reduces last minute midnight oil burning nights (although some of those are inevitably part of this writer's life) and helps me sometimes deliver early to the delight of my clients.

If you have several clients, spread the work around. It's also good to set flexible deadlines for other things like:
-self promotion
-your own blogs
-working on that novel
-reading up on news in your niche

Setting a schedule can be a big help, especially if you have a labour intensive or long project to do. By doing a bit each day or each week it lessens the stress and if you have several projects on the go, it can be helpful to break up your day and keep your mind fresh by only dedicating shorter bursts of time to a particular subject.

Freelancing Tips: An Admin Day

Sunday is my admin day. It's the day of the week I schedule a lighter load (usually) so I can have somewhat of a day of rest. Usually I spend the day tying up loose ends, dealing with paperwork and invoices and editing. It also gives me an opportunity to catch up on lower priority things from that week plus plan my schedule and team work for the next week.

Because freelance writing is often a 7 day a week job, it can feel like one day isn't much different from the next. You can set up specific days of the week for particular tasks. For example, if one client likes a weekly invoice, designating a day helps you remember and plan your week accordingly. If you try to keep on top of your own bookkeeping and other tasks, setting aside a day to organize everything once a week could do three or more things for you.

1. It helps you keep your workload manageable because you can stay organized.
2. A day with a bit less stress is nice as your workload is lighter that day.
3. Decluttering your desk and your e-mail inbox can do a lot for your productivity.