24.06.10  Guest columnist: Tiffany Markman  |  Part 3 - The Stable Door: 6 great admin habits for freelancers   |  This column started with a swinging stable door and you, the horse, escaping into your freelance life. Its first piece spoke to the different types of clients to look out for; its second examined the client-contractor relationship. This article looks at what should happen between the lines of doing the work; in short, how to run your un-stabled life so it’s more like a business and less like a hobby.

 Habit #1: Create job bags

You’ve had a client meeting. They’ve given you business cards, marketing collateral and a host of other stuff. You’ve taken copious notes. And now, two days later, your quote’s been approved and it’s time to get started. But where the hell are the notes? The business cards? The review materials? And heaven forbid the client calls and you must dash off without two hours to find everything.

My solution? Job bags, both analogue and digital. (This is not rocket science, mind you, but here you go…)

My analogue job bags take the form of coloured plastic envelopes, A4, available from CNA and its smaller facsimiles. They’re not cheap, but they are tax-deductible. Using my precious labelling machine – yes, I am that kind of nerd; it was an anniversary gift – I stick the client’s name onto the front and everything to do with that client goes into the envelope. Last-minute meeting? I grab my notebook and the job bag and off I go, calm and collected. Easy peasy.

Digital job bags are slightly different content-wise, but just as important. Like their tangible counterparts, each is labelled with the client’s name and everything on my computer to do with that client (quotes, notes, invoices, e-mailed review materials, testimonials, the actual work) goes into the job bag. And all of my job bags live inside a much bigger folder brilliantly titled ‘Job Bags’.

Habit #2: Use templates

This tip is so basic it makes job bags seem like quantum physics: use templates. For everything. Take an hour when you’re done reading this article and create simple digital templates for a quote, an invoice, a rate card, a half-page bio with a head shot, a CV, a letterhead, and maybe a terms and conditions document or a basic contract*. And if you’ve paid proper attention to the contents of this article, you’ll also make a one-page client feedback form [please see Habit #3].

Keep these on your desktop in their own folder (the eponymous ‘Templates’) and update them every year or as you stumble across new or better ways to do things. And – I’m really hoping this goes without saying – when you ‘Save As…’ the newly titled item should go directly into the relevant digital job bag.
 
Habit #3: Request testimonials

This important part of being a lone ranger is simpler and less skaam if you make it part of your overall process; namely, take brief, send quote, get approval, do job, submit work, send invoice, thank client, send testimonial request.

An alternative but equally good time to send it is just after they’ve signed off your work, and their memory of how great you are is freshest. Whenever you choose to do this, know that a focused one-page questionnaire is more likely to get a response from a busy client than a vague ‘What did you think of my work?’

So compile a standard client feedback form, with open-ended questions (‘How could I have done better?’) and statements that are linked to ranking scales (‘How did you feel about my time management on this job? 1 – Gobsmacked; 2 – Impressed; 3 - Okay; 4 – Underwhelmed; 5 – What time management?’)

Note: Maybe one in five clients will actually return the completed form. Don’t nag the others. Just make the most of the feedback you do get: on your blog/website.

Habit #4: Use online help

Correct me if I’m wrong: you entered the creative industry (writing, design, illustration, photography, etc.) because numbers weren’t really your thing. Because you didn’t want to be a book-keeper or a tax accountant or an administrator. Because ideas excite you. Well, sorry for you. Because, as a freelancer, numbers, books, tax and admin are realities of your world.

Yes, your day job is the sexy stuff…but after hours, at night or over weekends, you’re a part-time bean-counter. And the more organised you become, the more professional your offering. The good news is that you’re not alone…

There are hundreds of brilliant online resources dedicated to keeping your small business ticking over. Two of my favourites are Getting-Paid for Mac and PC users and Billings for Mac users only. Getting-Paid makes sure your invoices don't get forgotten, by sending a series of gentle automatic e-mail reminders to your clients when an invoice becomes overdue. Billings tracks the time you spend on a job, a project or a client, either in real time or after the fact, and generates (gorgeous) invoices that can be delivered to clients automatically.

Note: If, like me, you started doing your books in Excel and can’t seem to stop, that’s okay. But then be religious about everything to do with getting money in.

Habit #5: Keep everything

As a freelance anything (who operates, I hope, as a sole proprietor and not as a cursed CC), you’re in an interesting position tax-wise. Because absolutely everything is tax-deductible: from extortionate shopping mall parking (meeting expenses) to the odd quarter-pounder with cheese (mobile refreshment).

So get into the habit of keeping slips and writing down cash expenses with all of the diligence and passion of a Tudor England money-lender.

And at the end of every month, take the five minutes required to put those little bits of paper into a large envelope with [Month Year] written on it, because, come tax-time, it’s a nightmare from hell to have to recon six months’ worth of little bits of paper. Your accountant (or I) can give you a list of tax deductions.

Habit #6: Run a monthly budget

Genius veteran freelancer, admin queen and mentor, Niki Moore, puts it thus:

“You might think it strange to budget when you have an irregular income flow, but I have written down a list of my income and expenses. My expenses I can predict; my income I can't. However, I do have retainers and clients from whom I can expect a reasonably regular income, and I write that down. Then I write down the amount I need from one-off jobs to make up the difference between income and expenses.  

Then it works like this:

At the end of the month, I look at what I’m likely to make in the following month and what I’m likely to spend. If there’s a deficit, I market madly until I have enough extra work to pick up the slack. If there’s no work available to do that (or if the work is only in the future), I know I’ll have to tighten the belt and put off things that might not be urgent. This does not include costs I know I have to pay eventually - so I always put aside a little for tax, car services, medical bills, etc, even if things are tight. It is lovely to know that you’ll make your monthly target and can relax a bit...”

Bonus habit: Do one extra thing

This isn’t my tip; it’s Nick Usborne’s. But it’s good. So here you go. Enjoy.

“In addition to my daily list of things to do, I also have a general 'Needs to be Done' list. These are items that don't really have delivery dates or deadlines, but should get done. Maybe a follow-up email to a company I worked for a while ago but haven't heard from since. Maybe a note to myself to get back to a happy customer and ask for a testimonial. Perhaps a reminder to check out a particular website or new service. These are all things that are important, but not urgent…

Before you leave your computer, do that one extra thing. Often that one task will take just a few minutes. I'm not talking about spending another hour or two at your desk, but about tackling a non-urgent but important task…

Will it make a difference? Yes, it will. At the end of the month you’ll have completed 20-30 important things that otherwise would never have been done. Perhaps one of those things will lead to an extra contract. Now keep this habit going month by month, year after year. If just one in 50 of these extra tasks leads to a new job, think of what that means in new income over the next few years…”

* I hate writing conclusions. I’ve said this before. So here, in lieu of a conclusion, is a link to my Bizcommunity profile, where you’ll find articles on what should go into a quote, an invoice, a rate card and a basic contract. Enjoy. The end.

(If you’re interested in freelance coaching via a one-on-one online distance-learning programme that has changed the freelance lives of former delegates, drop me a line. There are special rates for Freelancentral members.)

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About the author

Tiffany Markman is a freelance copywriter, copy editor and writing trainer who has worked for over 180 clients in South Africa and abroad. She hates misplaced apostrophes and dangling modifiers but loves pizza and pina coladas, and can be reached on .