Posts Tagged ‘freelancers’

Closing the store is the brave thing to do. …You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure. But you’re not. You’re marching into the unknown, armed with … nothing. Have a sandwich.

~ Birdie Conrad, from the film You’ve Got Mail, Warner Brothers , 1998

One of the things I find most annoying about the Internet is that it’s constantly changing.   Resources come, resources go, Google changes its rules, new social media appears, web services are created, and just as fast – things disappear.    I have lost count of the number of blogs, feeds, twitter uses I have subscribed to which have just…. faded away.

They don’t end, or stop, or conclude – they just…. fade.

In 2011 I made some big decisions.    I decided to end the development of two software products I had developed, I fired three customers (I tried to fire five but two gave me reason to reconsider) and I called it a day on two or three personal projects (which were not going anywhere).

As Birdie Conrad says (from the quote above), closure of anything can be a tough call, but sometimes it’s the brave (and right thing to do).

As freelancers and business owners, we are told we need to expand all of the time – more clients, better clients, more work, more projects.  Growth (we are told) is good.

But, sometimes all that is really needed is to call it time on the things that are holding us back – the bad customers, the waste of time projects, the pet activities which are distracting us.  When I have taken the difficult decision to make the brave move and cut these things off, I have always found that it creates a vacuum of time and effort which is quickly filled by new customers and new work.

So what are the things that are holding you back, that you need to cut off and close, in order to move forward?

It’s also useful to plan ahead, and know things that will also come to a conclusion at a future date.  This helps us know when we will have spare time and resource in the future which aids in planning.

As an example of this, this blog will end on the last day of December this year (2012) – that’s the date when I will make a final goodbye entry.   There is plenty of time between now and then, but I don’t want it to just fade… it will conclude.   Which will allow me more time to move forward on other things.   But plenty of advice from me between now and then.

And what about you.   Any brave moves you can make this year?

Late payers can kill your company.   There is nothing worse than having completed work, and having to nag, chase and threaten a client in order for them to pay their bills.  Whilst they sit back withholding your money, your own bank balance reduces and panic can set in.

There is lots of advice available on the web about what to do about late payers for Freelancers, Contractors and Small Business.  I myself have talked before about various ways of dealing with late payers.   But a lot of this advice is not being honest about the real world, and how business really happens.   So let’s all put aside the make believe situations, and talk about what you can REALLY do about late payers.

Do you still want them as a customer?

Everything boils down to this question.   Once they pay that outstanding bill, do you still want them as a customer for future work?   If the answer is No, then all the options are open to you because the relationship is already damaged, so it’s hard to make it any worse.  Once you have decided the relationship is over – you are free to send nasty emails, make nasty calls, and even turn it over to legal professionals to send them threatening letters.

BUT, if you intend to keep them as a customer, and there is a real chance of more work, and you don’t want to ruin the relationship, then in a REAL world, your hands are somewhat tied.

This decision even extends to the pre-emptive measures that are advised.   Tighter payment terms, full payment up front, payment on delivery – all of these options sound great – right up to the moment you are in the sales negotiation.    When you are struggling to land a new customer and a prospect is willing to award you the work but only if you agree to their standard 100 day payment terms – are you really going to say no?  Really?

What you can Really Do

So that’s assume we work in a real world full of recession, tightening of belts and late paying customers.   What are some of the options that you can do if you don’t want to kill the relationship and the prospect of any future work?

Late Payment Fees – This is my method of dealing with late payers.   When somebody is late, I give them a sting through an invoice for an ‘administration’ fee.  I make a small bit of money out of it, and they get nudged into paying the original bill.  If push comes to shove, you can always cancel the late payment charge to keep the relationship sweet for future work.
Money Up Front – A lot of customers will reject this idea – but it comes down to negotiation.  Where a customer is always late, you could threaten to start raising Pro-forma invoices which would need to be settled before work is started.  Full payment up front is one extreme of the payment cycle, with late payment after the deliver as the other.  So you have a wide width for negotiation for future work with an agreed percentage (10%, 30%, 50% or 75%) up front and the rest after delivery.
Put them on STOP – If they want additional work, you can put them on stop – which means that you are not allowed to do any more work for them until they pay.   I have a mean person appointed in my company (a person picked at random) who I can blame for the decision.  Putting them on stop and not being allowed to provide support or that new development is never my decision – no, I was instructed to stop work by Jo Blogs (who is not available and won’t discuss the situation whilst money is outstanding) – sorry.
Extended Payment Terms – The bigger the customer, the more power they will use against you.  I have one multinational client which sent all suppliers (including myself) a letter 3 years ago which said they were rejecting all supplier terms and replacing them with their own 90 day terms.  I had the choice to take it or leave it.  Guess what…. They provided me a fair chunk of work – so I took it.   In my situation, there was no room for negotiation, but in a real world, payment terms could be reduced for late payers through negotiation.
Check your customer history – For new customers, don’t forget you can do credit checks.  At the very least, it is worth Googling “Their Co Name Late Payment” or “Their Co Name Accounts” or “Their Co Name supplier problems” to see if anybody else is talking about them being a problem payer.   If an existing customer suddenly starts making slow payments, it is worth doing this for your existing relationships to see if anything has changed.
Protecting Yourself with a contract – When push comes to shove, you can only threaten your customer with what is in your contract.  So make sure your payment terms, late fees, the right to alter the terms and ownership rights are clearly detailed.
Resign to chasing forever – But at the end of the day, if they are an existing customer and you want the future work, you may not have any other option than to resign yourself that they have the final decision on when they will pay you, and that you just have to keep chasing without turning nasty in order to keep the relationship sweet.

For most freelancers and contractors, one of the things that customers want is regular status updates.   This may be to provide regular updates on project development, or support provided, activities completed or support/development time used.  Generally, I have 2 or 3 regular status updates that need to be sent every week or so.

Yesterday, I was given a great tip for providing easy status update emails.

Now whilst I am able to avoid having to send project progress status emails thanks to my cloud based project system, I still have to report support time usage for customers who have pre-booked some support days, or quick updates to senior company managers who insist on being kept in the loop but don’t want to go looking for the information.   This tip I was given has saved me lots of effort.

The tip is to simply set up an email with the status report, type a default template email (“Hello, this is how much support time we used…” etc) but before pressing send, use the “Delay delivery” option and set the date to the scheduled status date.   Then, include yourself in the blind copy (so you know when it’s gone, and have the template for the next week or month).

The email will then sit in your outbox, waiting.   Whenever I do an action which will need to be reported, such as do some support work, I just click on the outbox pending email, and add it to the email text.  Come the day of the status update, it gets sent automatically with the progress to date.  Effectively, I am using the outbound email as a notepad (so much easier than trying to remember it all).

When the status emails do get sent, I of course get a copy.  With this copy, I then simply hit “reply to all”, and I have the next template email for the next status run – just remember to change the “Delay delivery” option to the date that the next email is due and remove this weeks/months activities.

Note, with this system it is worth setting the status template email to initially say something like “This week, there has been no activity” so the email makes sense if not changed – this no activity can be removed and replaced with the activity once something happens.

Effortless status reporting.  Thanks for the tip Richard.

Here in the UK, there is a great divide between Freelancing and Contracting work.   Whilst there are a multitude of differences between the two types of work, for me, the difference is fairly clear:

Freelancing – Working with a customer, to provide a product or service.  This will consist of an agreed project, where the work if quoted, agreed, and fixed by way of a final delivery.  This delivery can be a product, a report, a site visit, a web site or anything else.  BUT, something agreed upon is delivered.  You get paid for the delivery rather than the time.

Contracting – A contracting role is where a resource is provided to a customer for a fixed length of time, and during that time, the resource works on the activities dictated by the customer which will typically vary during the contracted period.  You get paid for the time (normally paid by day at an agreed day rate) rather than upon completion of a delivery.

Now both of these activities can be carried out at a customer’s office, or can be carried out at your home/business office.   Both can be provided to the customer directly, or through a third party agency.  Both can be based on a hand shake, or can be nailed down with complex contracts.   Other than the product delivery Vs resource difference, the lines defining freelancing and contracting can be fuzzy.

Bread and Butter verses Meat

For me and my own business, the majority of the work I perform can be classed as falling into the Freelance category.

But here is a confession…… now and again, I love to do some contract work.   Generally, I like to do some contract work at least once a year.  More if time allows.

The way I view it is that contract work is the Bread and Butter of my business.   It pays pretty well (but no where near as good as a nice juicy freelance job), is nice and dependable, and the money is regular.  However, Freelance work is the Meat in the freelancing-contracting sandwich.   It is (generally) more interesting work, you have all the benefits of (generally) working from home (or a location of your choice) and you are the boss of your time and schedules.  Plus with freelancing, you have the option to run multiple freelance projects at the same time.

Given a choice, Freelancing for me is far juicer than contracting.

Why I love to Contract

So you may then ask, if I love Freelancing work, why then do I make sure that I do some contracting work at least once a year?   Well, there are many advantages to doing a contract stint for a few months for your average freelancer.  For me, the advantages outnumber the disadvantages:

1. Contracting for a short while forces me back to a regimented routine of 9 to 5.   It is terribly easy to fall into the easy working days that freelancing allows, so contracting reshapes my days
2. Contracting allows me to make more connections out in the field.   There is nothing better than picking a contract with a high flying company, and working with their teams for a solid block of time to build those connections for future work
3. Allows me to refresh my ideas of what commercial companies need.   As time changes, so the demands of companies change.  When sitting in an isolated environment of a home office, it is too easy to miss the subtle changes going on in the real world (such as technologies now being used, what products are starting to be shunned, etc)
4. Contracting can fill the void (time wise and cash wise) between freelancing work and so reduce the unpaid ‘sitting on the bench’ time
5. Whilst contracting, this for me is the perfect time to ramp up the freelancing marketing activities, and land freelance work ready for the end of the contract
6. I always find the mixture of ‘regular’ type office work when combined with a dynamic work approach (as demanded with a contract) together with working on new customer projects a way of ‘blowing out’ the cobwebs.   When I return back to freelancing a few weeks later, I am generally more energised and productive.

For me, a mixture of Freelance work, with some contracting thrown in from time to time is the perfect combination.

One year ago today, I evaluated a number of cloud based project management systems to help reduce my administration effort for my customer projects.  In the end, I boiled this down to 2 strong candidates (having discounted such products as BaseCamp as being very light on features for a typical freelancer or small business), and finally selected TeamworkPM as the solution I would use.

Having used this system for a year now, I thought it would be useful to re-review TeamworkPM, and explain why it has transformed my business.

Providing a Customer Project Portal
Initially, my main requirement was to introduce a cloud based project system which in turn would provide an easy to use method where my company and my customers could communicate whilst working on projects.  I wanted a system which would allow my customers to keep track of their deliveries, to be able to track progress, communicate any design/time issues and so ultimately reduce the amount of administration I would need to provide.  I thought such savings should lead to reduced management time, therefore reduce any risks and associated costs.

Whilst a number of project management systems provided a customer portal, I initially selected TeamworkPM as my preferred solution because not only did it tick all my client portal boxes, but the use of the client portal was crystal clear and could be fully branded with my company domain, colour scheme, logo and titles.   As far as my customers are concerned, the project portal is part of my own web site.  I even provide a link to my branded TeamworkPM login screen as part of my main company web site.

All of the customers who have used the portal have commented how easy it is to use, how clear the information is, and how they can find the information they need.  Most of these comments were given to me generally as part of a project wrap up process.  For customers to report this to me as part of general project meetings proves to me that TeamworkPM most definitely is an asset to my communication with my customers.

Clarity, Focus and Time Saving
Beyond my initial requirements, I have continued to find more and more uses for TeamworkPM when working both on internal projects (I have a marketing project in TeamworkPM) and with my customers projects.

Whilst initially intending to use it only for external customer projects, I found that the reporting, alerts and screens were so clear, it was actually easier to use TeamworkPM for tracking other internal projects within my business.  The whole process of having a clear list of tasks, with tracking, alerts if not completed, and a central associated file store ( for specs, designs, scripts, delivery files, etc) brings clarity and focus.   It really helps when juggling multiple projects at the same time.

Whilst I initially hoped that TeamworkPM would help reduce the amount of project updates my company would need to produce, I am happy to report that it virtually eliminated project based discussions.  In my last four fairly complex projects, once the project was defined and included in the portal, I cannot recall a single email or phone call regarding dates, status updates, slippage or next actions.  All communication could therefore be focused on the design and delivery, so administration time and costs associated with running the projects virtually vanished.   Customers could simply log into the portal and see for themselves what was being delivered, when, and what the current status was.

We also ended up using the TeamworkPM file storage system for delivery of all files associated with the project (designs, source and run-time).  All of my customers loved the fact that they were automatically notified when files were available, and that they could retrieve them at their leisure.  They also loved the fact that all previous versions of files were retained, and so they could go back to older versions should they be needed.

The only feature currently missing from TeamworkPM in regard to using it as a file store for projects is the ability to see when a customer downloads a file.  This would be a nice feature, but having checked, none of the other cloud based project management systems I originally looked at recorded or audited this information.

Real Benefits
There has been no doubt that using TeamworkPM has been a real boost to my company.   In terms of reduced administration for project management, it is equivalent to having an additional member of staff who is running the projects for me.   Certainly, the reduction of time spent updating customers on project status or emailing files has meant that TeamworkPM has paid for itself many times over.

But in addition to the time and money that has been saved, it has made my company look more professional and has made the flow of information between my company and my customers virtually seamless.  I cannot praise TeamworkPM in this regard high enough.

Summary
TeamworkPM is a near perfect cloud based project management administration system.   I say near perfect, as there are still a few options which I would like to see introduced.   Whilst it produces lots of nice reports and gantt views for project overviews, it still lacks project task gantt views – but this is only a small consideration as the task list works well enough and standard MS project files can be uploaded and viewed.  As I say, I would also like to see a flag (or get an email) to say that a customer had downloaded or viewed attached files – but that is just me being picky.

I am very glad that I took the plunge a year ago to start using a cloud based project management system.   I dare say that one of the others would have done the job equally as well, but TeamworkPM has proved itself to be the right choice for me.

In fact, two of my customers who used TeamworkPM to track the projects I did for them have now adopted it as their own project management system for their own customers.

If you or your business runs any form of projects, I can really recommend using a cloud based project management system.  And whilst there are many products out there, I can highly recommend TeamworkPM.

One tip that I was given many years ago was to start a project the right way.  It was suggested to me that the best way to do this was through an initial ‘Summary of Understanding’.

Generally, when you start a contract, or meet with a prospect or chat about a freelance job, the client will do a brain dump of what they need.   The term ‘Brain Dump’ is a good description, as in the majority of cases, they don’t have anything on paper – everything they explain comes directly from their brain to their mouth and into your ears.  Because of this flow, their thoughts, requirements and needs can come out as a jumbled collection which you need to put into order to create the project or proposal.

A Summary of Understanding
So before any quotation is produced, work started, or plan put together, it is worth investing the time to quickly create a Summary of Understanding.   This is a short (can be a single page) document which details your understanding of their needs and requirements.  This document can then act as a working plan that everything else is generated from.  Your client or prospect will undoubtedly find it valuable as it documents their muddled thoughts.  And with your branding (logo, name, web site, etc) all over it, your credibility is boosted even before the project begins.

But if you are clever, it can be used to also boost revenue.    Not only should it contain an outline of the project, but it can also be used to check with the client that there is nothing missing, and you can use it to suggest additional options that maybe they hadn’t thought about.  There has been many times that I have produced a summary of understanding, only to have the customer contact me to say that they had thought of 3 or 4 other items they needed (that they had originally forgotten about), or that they liked the sound of some additional options I had suggested and to include those as well.

Format of Summary
When I produce a Summary of Understanding (or Requirements) document, it tends to be either 1 or 2 sides of A4.   They all generally have the same basic layout which includes:

1. An overview (in descriptive text) of what the client is looking to achieve and why (new software because old software is out of date, new web site for a launched product, etc)
2. A bullet point list of the features that the delivery should contain
3. An overview of their dates as discussed (start date, expected delivery date, any other key dates)
4. A list of recommendations (from you) for additional items
5. A list of recommendations (from you) for first steps
6. A list of recommendations for stages (if the project is going to be large, and it is best ‘chunked’ up)

One Word of Warning
I have often found that the Summary of Understanding can lead a prospect to increase the scope of work by 25%, 50% or even 100% of the original requirement; prospects can get very carried away.   So when it comes time to convert this into a quotation or project plan (if already engaged on a T&M contract), it is best to provide figures and time based on the original core requirements, with the additional suggested items added as ‘optional’ extras outside of the original project totals.

It is far too easy to be called in and produce a proposal for a project only to find that the additional elements price you out of the market.    By listing them as optional elements in your cost or time proposals, the customer can select the elements they require based on their budget, and still allow you to keep within expectations where their vision goes beyond their spending limit.

One of the problems that can occur with the feast-and-famine cycle for contractors, freelancers and small business owners is the funny logic that begins when we are in the famine mode.   When we are sitting around, bored, looking for work, sometimes logic can fly straight out of the window.   This is especially true when it comes to maths.

At the end of the famine stage, it may be that a contractor or freelancer is sitting with a variety of paths open to them – with roads leading to different contracts, or with 2 or 3 potential new customers, not knowing which one to take or put the most effort into landing.

The boredom, the need to be active, but also the desperate need for money may cause us to jump in the wrong direction.

Let’s say that a contract or freelance job is offered which pays (for the sake of keeping things simple) a rate of £500 or $500 a day.  But, there is the prospect of another job or contract which pays £600/$600 a day, but won’t come in for another week.

In a world where the chances of getting both are equal, the obvious choice is the one that pays the more money.  Right?

But hold on.  If we have 5 days of unproductive time to wait for the higher rate work – that actually dilutes the value of the 2^nd job – the average day rate is reduced when we factor in the 5 days of unpaid time.

Assuming that the contract or job runs for a month, the immediate start contract pays a day rate of £500/$500 – as no unproductive additional time needs to be factored in.  However, the £600/$600 job is actually reduced to £490/$490 (1 month equals around 23 workable days, PLUS the 5 bench days = 28 days).

So waiting to take the higher paid work would actually cost you £230/$230 in lost revenue over the course of the month.  Whilst this figure may not be high, is still a reduction in earnings.   When you add in the week of sitting around, maybe the choice is not so obvious after all.

I am sure that by now, your twitter stream, blog streams and email inboxes are stuffed full of posts and articles telling you that now is the time to review all your freelance and small business achievements in 2011 and plans for 2012.  I know I have seen countless such items.

Well, I am here to suggest to you that now is not the time to do an annual review or plan setting exercise.

The reason for this stems from when I was employed as a senior manager in a software company.  I was told each year to carry out a yearly performance review of all my team (around 35 people) and review what they had done well in the last 12 months, and review any mistakes for areas to consider for improvement.

Well that instruction did not make sense to me.  Why would I review somebody once a year, and talk about things that had happened 11 months ago?

So yes, I did the annual review (as instructed), but I did it only for the purposes of a salary review.

Instead, my management style was to review every month – tell people there and then when they did a good job, and also pick up on mistakes as they happened.  After all, people should be told when they do a good job at any time, and why leave mistakes to fester until the next annual review before corrective steps are taken?

And that is why I suggest if you do go ahead and make plans, budgets, goals, targets or even new year’s resolutions this new year, do yourself a favour.  Go to your diary and pencil in the same reviews at the end of March, June and September 2012.  If you can manage it, also include mini reviews at the end of each month.

Trust me, you won’t regret it.  It will be worthwhile time working ON your company, rather than working FOR your company.

Oh, and a Happy New Year to you.  And I wish you, and your business, the best for 2012.

I am sure it has not escaped you that we are less than one month away from Christmas.

Whilst we are all cutting back this year (as the world teeters on the edge of yet another financial meltdown), Christmas still brings the awful few weeks of worrying about what to buy people.  What do they need, what do they want, what will not make us look like a Scrooge?

As a contractor, freelancer or small business owner, we have the advantage of needing gifts that can work both for us, and for our businesses.  So if you are fed up with yet more socks, bath salts or wall calendars, can I suggest a business Christmas list which you may like to consider and pass on to those stuck for something to buy you?

• Business Books – A little boring, but some can be very useful.  Ones I suggest include the Ultimate Small Business Marketing Book, The ultimate Guide to Google Adwords and The Wealthy Freelancer.
• Tablet Computer – If you don’t own one, a tablet can be very useful.   And tablets are coming down in price all the time (you can get tablets for just over £100).   If you don’t yet have one, it will revolutionise your world.
• A scanner – you can do away with all that paperwork and keep electronic files as described here.  Scanners can be purchased from as little as £30.
• A day at a spa – We all need a break from the day to day grind.  A day of relaxation can be used to rest, relax, recharge and most importantly, plan next year’s activities.  Spa days can be expensive, but a ‘trail’ day can be as little as £30.
• Stamps – Again, seems boring but… a) They won’t devalue, b) Purchased now they will be worth more when postage costs go up in the new year (in both the UA and UK), c) They are always needed and d) Can start you off with a new year mail shot campaign.  Much better than gift tokens.
• An extra monitor – If you use your computer a lot and you still only have 1 (or 2) monitor, an extra monitor will increase your efficiency.  Monitors can start from just £60.
• A better chair – If you spend a lot of time sitting and working, a good chair can make all the difference.  Chairs don’t have to be expensive, but avoid the ‘make it yourself’ variety as sold by Staples as these will be uncomfortable after an hour or so.
• An e-book Reader – one of the modern ebook readers (such as the Amazon Kindle) is perfect for catching up on your reading, whether it is novels, business books or blogs.
• A Love Film or Netflix subscription – DVD disks are becoming a little passé.  A much better option is the gift of a LoveFilm (UK) or Netflix (UK or USA) subscription which can allow rental of movies or streaming to your home.   Use it to catch up on movies which will motivate you to new business heights.
• A portable phone charger  - our mobile devices are the communication hubs of our businesses, so to have one low on power is a disaster.   With a cheap portable battery pack, a dead phone is never now a problem.

Every day, another social media cloud based application appears.  First there was Facebook, then Twitter, then all the sharing sites (like delicious) appeared and now we have Google+.  It’s a fair old mess out there, and if you are anything like me, keeping them all working as you would like can take a fair chunk of effort.

Well let me introduce you to yet another new service called IFTTT (which stands for “If This then That”).  What makes IFTTT unique is that it joins all the other cloud systems together and makes them work as a team.

As the name suggests, it’s a logic engine.  IFTTT allows you to join services together using IF logic rules – and the rules can be very complex.  As a basic example, if somebody follows me on Twitter, I can set IFTTT to DM them with a custom thank you message.  But you can do more clever things – such as if somebody tags a picture of me in facebook, download the picture to my dropbox account.

If This Then That

When you sign up, it asks you to create rules for what you want to do, what services you want to join, and how you want it to work.  I suggest you skip this and go directly to the recipes. Recipes (the option at the top of the screen) are predefined rules that other people have created.  Everything you can think of is already there – sort the list by popularity and take a look.

But if you want to create your own rule, you are free to do this as well, just create the rule (the IF clause) and the action you want carried out – it’s all very easy.  Once the rules have been activated, everything works like magic in the background.

Connected Systems

The power of IFTTT is the vast range of systems it can connect together.  It includes all the big guns (Twitter, Facebook, DropBox, Evernote, Google+) and many smaller cloud based services including lastfm, linkedin, sms, phone (for calls), RSS feeds, emails, calendars, diaries, weather services, Google Reader, Read It Later, Buffer and a whole host more).  There plans appear to include more over time – but there are already over 33.

I have been using IFTTT for a few days, and cannot say enough about it.   If you use more than one cloud based social or data application, you need this service.  Give IFTTT a try.   Oh, and by the way, it’s all FREE!!!