Being the face of your freelance business, you’re not just the person who designs or handles the creative parts of the project – you’re going to have to handle the client relations (emails, phone calls, etc), accounting and invoicing & project management.

You’ll really be the jack of all trades to a certain extent because you’re not able to turn to your boss and ask for help anymore – you are the boss.

If something goes right in your freelance business, you’re going to be able to take the credit for it. While on the flip side, if something goes wrong with your freelance business, you’re going to catch all of the blame because everything is on your shoulders.

The weight of the world

It rests on your shoulders, especially if you have a family to take care of. You’re not waiting until Friday for a paycheck and you’ve got no job security as a freelancer. The one thing you do have though is resources like this blog which help point you in the right direction.

You’ve also got the skills to pay the bills & with the right amount of hustle, you’ve got a winning formula for freelancing.

But on a positive note, if you’re an introvert and choose the freelance life, you will actually thrive because you’re going to need to put a lot of time and energy into your hustle when you begin freelancing (or decide to ramp up your freelance efforts from part time to full time).

You make the rules

As a freelancer who runs their own solo freelance business, you get the benefit of being able to make all of the rules. This means you’re able to come to work in pajamas if you want, you can take a lunch break whenever you feel like it and you get to choose which clients you work with & which ones you don’t.

You’re also able to decide on if you want to have the phone as part of your freelance business (I don’t use the phone). You might also choose to not video chat on Skype (I don’t do this either).

Beware though that by choosing to not have your voice heard or your face seen in chats, you’re going to lose out on some clients (I have).

At the end of the day though you chose to be a freelancer because you wanted that freedom; the freedom to choose what you will and won’t do. Just remember that as a solo freelancer, all eyes are on you and it’s up to you to make things work; nobody else can hold that responsibility but you.

Photo credit: laverrue

Special Note: Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow because we’ll be posting about how you can get a special discount code for the new One Man Army book that we’re releasing on Friday.

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Today though, I am going to shine some light on 7 things that freelancers (that means you) should back up but probably don’t. I can almost guarantee you that there’s 3 or more items on this list that you personally aren’t backing up properly – if you are, leave a comment and prove me wrong

1. Newsletter Lists – If the newsletter lists are as important as everyone says, why aren’t you backing them up more often? Yes, newsletter services like Aweber & MailChimp are awesome and I’m sure they’ve got systems in place so you don’t lose your data, but the truth is – you never know. I use MailChimp and it has an option to export your lists, which helps keep me peaceful at night
2. Phone Contacts – I’ve seen a lot of articles lately on phone data being lost, so this seems like a no brainer right? Especially if you keep client contacts and friend contacts stored in your phone.
3. Email Contacts – Similar to the phone contacts, if you’ve got a huge contact list setup in your email provider, why aren’t you backing it up every week or two? This way, if anything happens to your email account and you’re locked out of it, you can still contact all clients.
4. Source Files – DUH! With external hard drives being relatively cheap and services like Dropbox being so hot right now, you should be backing up your client source files as often as possible. You’ll kick yourself the first time your computer crashes and you lose everything – I had it happen and it sucks.
5. Client Usernames & Passwords – When working with clients over an extended period of time, having numerous emails piling up from them can make it harder and harder to find the emails where they send you the username & passwords for their websites. Keep these backed up as much as possible so you never lose them and they’re easy to get in touch with.
6. Legal Documents – These should be the first thing on your back up list. The files that you have in order to incorporate your business and all of your bank and financial/tax information should not only be kept in a nice folder in your office, but also scanned and photocopied so you can place them in a different location. You should also keep the scan copies on your hard drive and back those up on an external hard drive and/or service like Dropbox.
7. Client Contracts – Another item that should be backed up in more than one place, the contracts you and your clients sign should be kept, even after you’ve finished your business relationship together. You never know when a client will pop up 3 months later trying to get their money back by initializing a credit card charge back, and you want to be as fully prepared as possible with proper documentation.

What are you forgetting to back up?

Like I said before the list of items, you’re probably forgetting some of these items – so leave a comment and let me know what you’re currently forgetting to back up, and then go back it up!

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Why would you want to read this article and get a better understanding of marketing with pleasure and pain? It’s simple – people react to two things 99% of the time more often than they do any other kind of marketing. When you market your business with pleasure or pain, you’re pulling at the intended buyers heart strings. You’re not making them think about your marketing message, you’re making them think about a time in their life that resonates with them and that gets them pulled in way more often than a generalized marketing message.

Marketing With Pleasure

If you’re in the business of helping people generate more money and start their own business, you can market to their pleasure sensors by telling them how much money they can be making, how nice of a house they’ll be living in and what a better lifestyle they’ll have by using your product or service. It doesn’t stop there though, you’ve got to dig deeper. Make sure that the marketing message is pulling at their insecurities a bit, be it the lack of funding they have or something else, and make sure they they’re drawn in with that and then BAM!, you hit them with the hope that there’s a better life for them if they hire you.

Marketing With Pain

The same goes with marketing to someones painful memories or their emotional heart strings. How many times have you seen a commercial for adopting a pet that seemed so sad? They use slow, almost depressing music, show slow motion clips of the animals and really pull at the viewers emotional cords. By marketing your business through pain and getting someone to actually feel, you’re going to get a much better response rate.

Overview

With either method of marketing you choose, pleasure or pain, you’re going to want to aim at pulling at their emotions and then letting them know that no matter what may be going on in their lives at the moment, you’re the solution to their problem. In the same way that most people won’t go to a dentist until they cannot stand the pain in their teeth any longer, most people won’t react to marketing unless it pulls at their emotions, so when you can understand this and use it to your advantage, you’re guaranteed to get much better results.

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Dale Carnegie was a genius who wrote the “How to win friends and influence people” – a book that I personally read while riding an exercise bike every day for a week, but that’s not really the point. The point I’m trying to make is that when Dale Carnegie wrote the book, he knew there was a specific set of things you could do to win friends and influence people.

Bringing things into the foreground for todays freelancer, there’s a specific set of ways that can help you win clients and influence people simultaneously. Some of these techniques can be found below – make sure to leave a comment if you have a special way you like to win clients and influence people.

Social Validation

If you go to someones website that has a section (or page) full of testimonials from happy clients, what happens? You instantly feel a little bit more comfortable with the person and gain a bit of trust in them because you see that others have worked with that person and are happy customers. The same goes with blogs that showcase their RSS subscriber count when it reaches a high number. It gives you instant validation in the eyes of the person viewing your website.

Instant Results

By providing the client with some form of instant result, they will feel more intrigued to work with you. For instance, if you’re a website designer, let them know that you’ll set them up with a hosting account as soon as the project is started. This will peak their interest and have them instantly thinking about a fully functional website instead of the (sometimes) long process of designing it and getting it live.

Up front and center

There’s been studies on e-commerce websites that show most visitors pick the first item in the list 2.5 to 3 times more often than others. People associate the first item with the best item so they’re instantly drawn to it more often than other items in a list. When you’re listing your services, try putting your favorite service or package at the top of the list and see what type of results you get from it.

Share your knowledge

I’m doing it right now. By sharing your knowledge for others to read/see/use, it allows the potential client to see you as an authority and highly skilled person in your line of work. Writing this blog will showcase my knowledge of business to potential clients, letting them get an inside look into my head and how I view business which instantly increases my value in their eyes. The same can be said for writing tutorials or giving items away for free.

Personalization

When you’re writing your sales copy to entice visitors to buy from you or hire you, you should be focusing your writing on YOU instead of a generalized statement. For instance, instead of saying “our services are guaranteed to raise your website traffic 100%” you can utilize the power of personalization and write something along the lines of “your website traffic will increase 100% when hiring us”.

What methods do you use?

Do you use any specific sales tactics that help you win clients more often? I understand if you don’t want to let loose of your closely guarded secrets, but here at Guerrilla Freelancing, I think the best way for all of us to learn is to share and work together to better our businesses, so go ahead and drop us a comment and let the world know how smart you really are!

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However, there are a few more important things you should think about when starting your freelance business and that is what I’ll be covering in todays article on Guerrilla Freelancing.

The feast or famine cycle is very, very real

A lot of ‘marketing gurus’ will tell a very different story, but I am here to tell you from first hand experience, the feast or famine cycle is a very real concept and you’ll end up going through it as well. Planning properly for these situations will help keep your business and your sanity afloat during the trying times.

For those who don’t know what the freelancers feast or famine cycle is (and those of you who haven’t clicked through the link above to read more about it), it’s a cycle that freelancers inevitably go through where there are really high pace times with tons of clients and a great amount of cash flow, usually followed by a good solid month or more with little-to-no work whatsoever. You live on the high horse during the happy times and then get crushed.

But, by understanding that this will happen, you’re able to plan better and keep better control of your money and spending.

You don’t need venture capital to start your business

No matter what people tell you, or what you read, you do not need venture capital or back up funding to start your freelance business. For instance, if you read the previous article we wrote here on starting your design business for $25.00 you’ll see that start up cash is not a huge burden on your freelance start up success.

Getting your freelance business set up can be a quick and painless process if you know what you’re doing – and by reading this article, I hope you’re well on your way to knowing what steps you need to take.

You don’t need a portfolio full of client work in order to land your first client

This doesn’t mean that you need to jump into the crowd sourcing sites and design contests either.

Starting your freelance business doesn’t require you to have multiple client projects under your belt. If you like a specific type of design, writing, illustrating or programming, spend a bit of time building things that play off your strengths and use these as your base portfolio. You won’t be getting paid for them, but you also will have the creative freedom to make it your best work ever.

Put together 4-5 pieces and hit the streets running. There are numerous job boards out there that you can contact potential clients through once you get your portfolio together (here, here and here are just a few - get a mega list from freelance switch here).

Invoicing and Accounting is easier than ever

In the past, these two things were a brain killer and would put a lot of fear in potential freelance workers. Today, there are a vast array of invoicing and accounting apps/websites out there that will help take the pain out of keeping track of the books. I was one of the people who hated the idea of invoicing and keeping track of these things because, at the time, I was highly unorganized and very green to the idea of running my own business. I was amazed at how easy it actually can be.

For instance, if you were to sign up for an account at Invoice Machine to send your invoices (which is super easy by the way) and then check outOutright for your accounting (which is also super easy to use), you can be done with this step of your business in a matter of minutes – without any of the extra headaches.

On a side note, I would recommend looking for an accountant in your area to go over your books on a yearly/bi-yearly basis just to be on the safe side. You never know what extra savings they can get for you because, after all, this is what they’re best at.

Your clients will (almost) never pay you quickly

With a lot of freelance businesses, there are net 15-30-60-90 payment plans set up, so you’re semi-aware of the fact that the client will be paying during a certain time period. From the sounds of the payment plans above, you’d think that you can plan ahead for 15-30 days and know when you’ll be getting cash after you’ve submitted your invoices, right? Wrong.

Clients will pay on their time. So, having a back up plan together for cash (remember the feast or famine cycle from above?) is a great idea. You should also make sure you’ve got things on record properly and that you’re emailing reminders out a day or two before – and after – invoices are due. If you’re not in the clients face, reminding them that they’ve got cash to send you that you’re owed, they’ll forget and move onto something else.

You’re only worth as much as you charge – or allow yourself to charge

A classic mistake that freelancers will make happens right when they start out, or when cash is unusually low. Reducing rates is a big no-no, as well as allowing yourself to be talked down from your original rate you quoted. These are clients you’ll want to avoid at all costs because they’re just ‘looking for something for nothing’ and will (almost) never be of any good use to your business future.

Also remember that your rates will dictate what type of clients you attract. If you’ve got bottom end rates of $10-15 dollars an hour, then you’ll be attracting bottom end clients. If your work is worth more than that (and I would assume it is), you need to bump your rates up to a respectable number. Don’t know what to charge? Thats ok. Try a price on for size for a month or two and adjust it accordingly.

In the first year of my freelance design business, I jumped my rates up 3 times – almost tripling the original rate I was charging. As I jumped up, the quality of clients jumped up as well.

Not everyone with a computer can do it

A hard truth that people will try to avoid is that freelancing isn’t built for everyone. Just because you have a computer, read the biggest freelance advice blogs out there and know what to do and not do, doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to cut it. Spending 1 hour a day working and 23 hours goofing off isn’t going to get you anywhere. Downloading photoshop and reading sites like Tutorial9 will not make you the worlds top designer.

Some people have it and some people don’t. It takes discipline and dedication to build a freelance business. Keeping track of clients, payments, open jobs and potential leads can be a daunting task. Add that with the work involved with each client, the countless emails you’ll receive as well as keeping up with the industry you’re in and you’re looking at some solid work days. Can you handle it? I think you can, but you should make sure you can beforehand.

It is the greatest feeling in the entire world

Your freelance business will be fun. Working from home (or your own office) will be great and feel awesome. The freedom that comes with freelancing is amazing and something I would never trade for anything in this world. You’re going to have a blast, and you’ll be able to go as far as your mind can imagine.

Remembering the things above and keeping a level head about yourself, you’ll be able to accomplish anything you set out to do, and do it on your own time. It’s a fun ride – enjoy it to the fullest.

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In this article, my aim is to show you what apps you’ll more than likely need and how you can get by in your business with little-to-zero dollars spent. I’ve always been someone who bootstrapped as much as possible (I used to run Bootstrapping Blog and wrote numerous articles on the subject) so I think it’s only right to show some business basics knowledge here on how you can do the same with your business.

Don’t go broke trying to make money

First things first, you do not need apps from 37 signals. I know everyone talks about them and makes you feel like you’re not a part of the in crowd if you don’t use them, but face it – spending $25-$100 per month on apps you (more than likely) will not use is a bit much for the beginnings of your business. You’re going to want to focus on making money first – if you don’t make money, you have no business and there is no reason to spend money on it and could end up having to get payday loans. 37 signals offers a bunch of awesome products, but it’s not something required in order for you to start your business.

How you can manage clients and money for FREE

I was speaking with Jon Phillips from Spyre Studios about this topic earlier today and I think we both had a good grasp on what was needed for business management. When you’re a one person show, just starting out, there’s no reason you can’t build your business without putting money into it. A couple of the things you can do to manage your clients, projects and money are as follows:

• Client Details: Utilize gmail (or gmail for business and the labels you can apply to emails. Have your clients emails automatically labeled by creating a filter for it, and it makes managing your clients emails/notes/files a breeze
• Money Management: You can check out some of the free invoicing pdf or doc files around the web (or even make your own). And for up to three invoices per month, you can even get a free invoice machine account. If you’re after a free app that does all of this for you, there’s an open source version called siwapp which looks promising.
• Project Management: Vanilla Forums is a great way to set up a project management section of your site quickly and pain free. It’s also minimalist at heart so it makes everything run smoothly. *thanks to Jon for this tip – I’ll be utilizing it on future projects.
• Accounting: I haven’t done much on the accounting side of things, but the one app I have tried out and really enjoy is Outright. If you want to keep records of your money spend and made, see graphs and charts of it on a monthly/quarterly/yearly basis, Outright is perfect for you.

How you can manage your clients for a little bit of cash

After you’ve built up a bit of a client base (5-10 clients) you may want to grow your management a bit. Again, at this point, there’s no need to jump into the expensive apps that you don’t need for a one or two person show. Below are a few things you can check out to manage your money and manage your clients for a little bit of cash each month.

• Invoicing: As mentioned above, Invoice Machine offers up to three invoices per month to be sent and after that, you can jump up to their $12.00 per month plan which gives you up to 30 invoices (the plan I am currently using). You can also check out Freshbooks, which Jon highly recommends. I haven’t tested them out myself but I’m told it is a great app and it’s fairly cheap as well (as low as $19.00 per month).
• Client Management: Six Central is a company that has really caught my eye and seems like a really great fit for the budding freelancers out there. If you’re on a guerrilla mission, their very low $10.00 per month price for unlimited Invoices, Proposals and Clients is perfect!
• Project Management: One of the best project management apps out there is definintely Basecamp. So, if you’re dead set on spending a bit of cash, you can check them out and see that their lowest priced plan is only $24.99 per month which honestly is not that bad (if your business is in need of this much growth).
• Accounting Management: Less Accounting is a great app built by great people who really understand what freelancers need. They offer a limited version for free and have a low cost ($12 per month) plan that would suit you very well.

My personal opinions on the subject of managing clients and money

It’s taken me some time to find the right fit for my business. I’ve tried many (I mean, many) apps and have cancelled the majority of them. For now, I’m sticking with the following for my business.

• Invoicing: Invoice Machine
• Client Management: Gmail for Business
• Project Management: Currently I utilize Gmail for Business for this as well but will be checking into Vanilla Forums more
• Accounting Management: Outright

By no means am I saying that you should use what I use. Get in there, try a few out for a month or so and see what works best for you. And most of all, remember, if you’ve got questions about anything, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help you out (and so will the other awesome readers of this blog).

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Well, if you can’t sell your product/service then why would anyone else be able to? If you don’t know the ins and outs of what make your target market tick and what makes them open their purses and wallets, how is someone on the outside looking in going to be able to do that for you? You know your product/service better than anyone, because hey, it’s yours! So lets take a quick look at some of the pros and cons of hiring a sales staff and then I want to open the floor to everyone to share their thoughts on the subject in the comments.

Pros to hiring a sales staff right away

1. You can focus more on the creation side of your business. Whether it be designing, coding, drawing, writing or some other form of freelance work, this is where you’re at your best, right?
2. You can potentially generate more sales because you can have multiple people bringing in leads/sales, which in turn allows you to earn more profits and potentially hire more employees to design, code, writer, draw, ect.
3. Lets face it – having a sales staff hitting the streets for you makes people look at your business as a large company and look at you as the head cheese, right?

Cons to hiring a sales staff right away

1. You do not have the first hand knowledge to teach your sales staff what works and what doesn’t.
2. You lose the ability to be a personable company and interaction with your clients/potential clients becomes harder to maintain
3. You might have sales staff who know how to speak well and sell, but what happens when you’re having a conversation and you don’t have your elevator speech?
4. If your product/service is a bust, you just spent unneeded expenses on hiring out that sales staff when you could have easily tried selling yourself, found out it isn’t an indemand enough product/service and moved on without wasting money.

My personal thoughts

I personally do not feel that hiring a sales staff is the right direction to go when you first launch. I believe that with information products like e-books and other forms of product similar in style (ie: wordpress themes, scripts, ect) yes, a sales (affiliate) staff is a good idea, but since the majority of us reading this blog are all Guerrilla Freelancing, getting our feet wet and hitting the full time hurdles, I think that selling yourself should be priority #1.

I will be touching on the sales subject again in some upcoming articles. If you’re interested in learning how you can make more sales, I wrote an article over at the Bootstrapping Blog titled 10 steps to making that first sale and I think it’s worth the read. It will definitely help you get your focus together on how to go about selling your services and products to your niche markets.

So what do you think?

For those of you who are freelancing full time, what do you think about this? Do you hire a sales staff right away or do you learn the ropes, hit the pavement and put in some hours selling your product/service before you even think about hiring a sales staff? For the part-time and/or “thinking about jumping in” freelancers reading this, what do you think you should do after reading the above information? Will you be hiring a sales staff or pushing the product/service yourself?

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