{"id":14132,"date":"2020-03-11T12:58:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T12:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/akpsi.org\/?p=14132"},"modified":"2020-03-11T12:58:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T12:58:02","slug":"freelancing-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akpsi.org\/freelancing-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Freelancing 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our cultural approach to and view of work has been changing rapidly over the past decade. Along with ideas like four-day weeks and remote work that have transformed internal company cultures, the opportunity for freelancing has become more and more prominent. According to Forbes, 56.7 million Americans do freelance work<\/a>, which can extend to nearly any profession or area of work. This could include programming, writing, videography, website design, financial consulting, and more. How can freelancers stay productive and deliver the same quality of work that companies would find from internal employees? Let\u2019s look at some basic needs in our Freelancer 101 guide.<\/p>\n

Workflow for Freelancers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>One of the hallmarks of a freelancer\u2019s career is often a busy workload. The more clients or contracts you have, the more you\u2019re able to earn. However, without a robust and reliable workflow in place, it\u2019s easy for things to get lost in the shuffle. There won\u2019t be an established system in place like an existing agency would have, so you\u2019ll need to create your own. Not only will a project workflow help you accomplish tasks, but it will also allow you to provide documentation and file sharing services for clients.<\/p>\n

There are many online tools that can help you track projects. Google\u2019s suite of cloud-based resources like Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Calendar is trusted and free to use. It\u2019s easy to set up shared folders for your work or a calendar that reminds everyone of established deadlines. These can all be detailed with unique permissions to prevent one contracted business from seeing the work of another. There are also paid options such as Podio, Asana, Trello, and Bonsai which can aid in project management. Whatever option you choose, make sure it\u2019s something that your clients can access and use easily.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Collaboration for Freelancers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Another big part of any freelancer\u2019s life is the need to engage and collaborate with stakeholders during a contract. This could include content editors, subject matter experts, customers of your client, and even other freelancers. This process is extremely important, as figures published by Bit.AI Blog found 86 percent of employees and executives feel workplace failures were caused by a lack of collaboration and communication<\/a>. If that\u2019s true for colleagues in the same office, you can imagine how much more difficult it is for freelancers working independently and remotely.<\/p>\n

One of the most important elements of collaboration for freelancers is an ability to handle feedback. It\u2019s not uncommon for people to recoil in anxiety and fear when critical conversations and critiques come down the pipeline. However, it\u2019s vital that this kind of insight is viewed from a place of positivity. Whether it\u2019s regarding creative work, like writing and video editing, or something more tangible, like how someone is handling business analytics, hearing opinions from the client will most often strengthen your work. Welcome these opinions with open arms and an open mind. Be ready to actively listen while building a strategy for revisions and changes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Invoicing as a Freelancer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Freelancers have the unique opportunity of varied projects, the chance to work from home, and the ability to call themselves their own boss. But, at the end of the day, we all still need to get paid. You\u2019ll need to be responsible for creating invoices that are easy to understand and enforce during your work. Though it might seem daunting, there are some basic components that go into invoices to ensure they\u2019re properly executed.<\/p>\n