Happy Friday!

We hand-picked these 3 action-packed essays full of great ideas for your consulting biz. Enjoy!

Passing the Holy Milestone: How to Meet Deadlines

Deadlines: they’re hard to love.

“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

— Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

And yet they’re essential.

This guide from Smashing Magazine (we hearts them!) is everything you could want in an essay about deadlines:

• no nonsense
• full of graphs
• full of concrete, actionable advice
• completely devoid of useless feel-better fluff

While you’re at it, click here to learn how to set up project budgets in Freckle so you can be on time and on budget. (It takes about 30 seconds!)

The Dark Art of Pricing

You may know Jessica Hische for her beautiful hand-lettering work, her illustration work, or her Dropcap a Day work.

But she’s also a biz smartie.

Check out her advice on The Dark Art of Pricing and stretch your financial muscles.

Aaaaand click here to learn how to calculate your true hourly rate. Because you’re missing out on money you should be earning.

(Hint: the trick is that you have to track all your time, including time you can’t bill for. Like prospecting, sales time, contract prep, and all those little changes you don’t bother to track. Cuz the money is just slipping through your fingers.)

101 Ideas to Get More Work & Generate Leads

Well, the title of this blog post on 101 Ideas to Get More Work & Generate Leads is pretty self-explanatory.

Once you’ve read that list, download & print out these handy dandy actionable self-promo checklists tailored just for you, you rogue agent you:

• Weekly Self-Promo ACTION SHEET for Indies
• Monthly Self-Promo ACTION SHEET for Indies
• Yearly Self-Promo ACTION SHEET for Indies

What Are YOUR Favorite Reads?

Let us know in the comments!

Photo CC redwood1 – thanks!

The post 3 Great Reads to Help You Price Betta, Hunt Down Clients, & Work Those Deadlines! appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

photo cc pasotraspaso

No, Summer…I didn’t mean it that way, come baaaaack!!

Just as quickly as the summer crept up on you, it’s already leaving. You can start feeling wisps of cool autumn air gliding in, and retail stores are in full fledged “back to school” mode!

So far this summer you’ve:

• Organized
• Processized
• Optimized
• and…. Visualized! (Close enough, cuz ‘readized’ isn’t a word…yet)

But all the fun of the Summer Series doesn’t have to end here!

We’d like to introduce you to the Institute of Awesome.

The IoA (for short) is a 30 day series of quick tips & tricks for injecting even more awesome into your freelance business.

And if nothing else, it has a sweet crest!

sweet crest

Check out Day 1 of the IoA, and sign up to get all the awesome interactive checklists, helpful ideas, excellent top 10 lists, and that rad crest delivered to your inbox everyday for the next THIRTY days.

The Institute of Awesome Summer School for Freelancers should keep you busy until we cook up our next seasonal treat. So go ahead and sign up for the IoA! It may be the best summer reading you’ve done since a Choose Your Own Adventure Novel!

The post Summer Series for Freelancers: Graduation Day appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Processizing the Processizing! It's fun & easy. (original photo cc alancleaver_2000)

Processizing is like Jazzercising for your business, only way more useful… and involving no leg-warmers (unless, of course, you like ‘em).

In Jazzercise! Processize!, we talked about all the reasons why you should Processize.

Today, we’re all about the HOW.

Step 1: Identifying targets for Processizing

What can you Processize? Anything that you do over & over again. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Talking points and questions for a potential new client
• Steps to take to create a solid estimate
• Rule sheet to help you decide if a new project fits your vision for your future
• Onboarding questionnaires for new client projects (all those angles you try to get inside their head)
• Checklist for all paperwork you need to create, sign, or have them sign
• Research map for when you need to gather materials, inspiration, or facts
• Flow chart for the basic segments of every client project you have
• Monthly (or other-ly) recipe for keeping in contact with old & new clients
• Recipe for handling mistakes, and/or angry or upset clients: If… then…

Yes, indeedy — there’s a lot you can Processize, no matter what type of biz you have.

This list is just the beginning. To find more Processizing targets in your biz, just ask yourself: What do you do over & over?

Especially if you ever happen to, you know, uh, slightly forg—I mean misplace—a step or two…

Step 2: Gather & Distill

A Processizing document can be as simple as a bunch of items on a checklist, and as complex as a flow chart with hanging dependencies.

To create that, though, first you’ve gotta know what to put in it. Here are some excellent resources to get you started:

• How To Create The Perfect Client Questionnaire
  Asking questions up front can help you avoid design disasters and functionality failures, but sometimes the wrong questions can throw a serious cramp straight to your creative hamstring. Like stretching before a workout, limber up by asking the right questions at the beginning of your next big project.

• 42 Questions Every Freelancer Should Ask Their Clients
  These questions include everything from basic contact info, project specs, work agreements, and possibly most importantly, work philosophy. These 42 questions help raise red flags, well before a potential project goes down in flames.

• How to Extract the Facts with a Web Design Client Questionnaire
  This checklist goes even further into the “why” of a project to better understand the “what”. Knowing your client’s motivators can make it easier for you to offer the best solutions, and ultimately a better end product.

• Using a Pre-Launch Checklist for your Website
  We live in a world of accountability, not checkmarks. Lists can also be used to keep track of who’s done what and when they did it, so you can see where there might be a kink in the pipe line before the project goes bust.

• The Ultimate Website Launch Checklist
  Cross your i’s and dot your t’s, mind your p’s and q’s, and validate, validate, validate, with a detailed quality control worksheet.

“Working with a new client is like the first couple of dates. Lots of personal questions and guarded fascination.” -@Cennydd

Step 3: Create!

This is where your particular Interpretive Jazzercise skills come in to play. Remember that you don’t have to answer to anyone but YOU when it comes to this process – go straight for the glitter pens if that’s what makes you happy

When you’ve done all the heavy lifting and fancy footwork before it comes time to start work on a project, you can sit back and enjoy a stress free start to any project. and what the hell, go ahead and enjoy an ice cream treat of your choosing, after that workout, you’ve earned it!

photo cc Jenn and Tony Bot

The Freckle Time Tracking Summer Series for Freelancers is better than the neighborhood ice cream truck (and without the annoying jingle, and line of clamoring children).

Subscribe below to get the Institute for Awesome Freelancers Summer Series in your inbox for absolutely free:

No spam, we promise

The post Summer Series for Freelancers: Process-ize in 3 Easy Steps appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Photo cc agiamba

Be productive when you’re energetic,
and relaxed when you’re not.

A hammock is meant to be calming, not a topsy-turvy ride of anxiety and possible motion sickness! Similarly, if you force yourself to be active when you are feeling lazy, it will not be fun or productive and you will only get tangled up in the details.

Finding the balance between work and life is tricky, but possible, if you’re wiling to take a minute to catch your balance, and figure out which way is up.

Taking a long hard look at your schedule is a good way to know what day or even times you are better suited for jobs that will melt your brain, or when you just need some mindless inbox cleaning. This way you can plan your schedule less haphazardly, and you won’t be stuck doing boring tasks when your time would be better spent creating awesomeness!

By tracking your schedule over time you will be able to see which days, weeks, and even seasons you are more productive!

Freckle does this through a visual map of your time tracking called the Pulse:

For example, it is easy to see here that in May you were the most productive in the beginning of the week, and especially on Tuesdays. You can also see based on the colors that you tend to to work on the same projects on the same days.

When are you the most productive?

You may find that you should get some mindless filing done while you are waiting for that morning coffee to kick in, and the afternoon is when your creative juices are overflowing!

You might be surprised at the reality of your productivity sweet spots: Rachel, a long-time Freckler, realized she “was only working an average of two and a half to three hours a day on things I could actually charge money for. It completely blew me away.” It’s easy to sit in front of a computer and feel like you are working when you are really just jumping the shark, headed straight for burnout beach.

It’s important to know when it is better to go on an adventurous snorkeling trip, and when you should give into an afternoon snooze in a hammock. Knowing the difference will better suit your mood AND your productivity.

We’re gonna need a bigger boat…

Don’t be the last one in the water – be the shark. Get the Freckle Time Tracking Summer Series delivered straight to the JAWS of your inbox.

Subscribe below to get the Institute for Awesome Freelancers Summer Series in your inbox for absolutely free:

No spam, we promise

The post Summer Series for Freelancers: Snorkeling or Sunbathing? appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Fire up that barbecue and spice up your summer with some sizzling tips and tricks about freelancing and consulting! Take advice from people who have been there before and who can help you add some zest to your biz.

Here’s a list of 10 hot freelancing summer reads:

These book recommendations come straight from Amy Hoy, our very own Freckle Pirate Queen (she rules with an iron fist!). And by “Pirate Queen,” we mean the progenitor of Freckle, the designer & our benelovent dictator.

Amy really knows her stuff, with over 14 years of freelance & self-employment experience, and a seriously scary business book habit.

So please… Read, grow, earn more & enjoy!

• Purple Cow by Seth Godin (“An inspirational and practical guide on how to find remarkability — and ergo word-of-mouthability — in your products, services, and in you.”)
• Linchpin by Seth Godin (“Do you wanna kick ass in life, or sit on the sidelines? Assuming you want to kick ass, this book will help you kick YOUR own ass, and get it done.”)
• Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead (“This book is a crash course in thinking about your work — even your employed or client work — as one big long self-improvement course. And an asset which can earn you more.”)
• Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port (“The best book for any freelancer who wants more work and/or better work. A real, solid, practical guide. You can’t go wrong with it.”)
• Beyond Booked Solid by Michael Port (“Once you have all the work you want, it’s time to start thinking about your growth opportunities. After all, you only have so many hours of work you can do per week. This book will help you take yourself to the next level.”)
• Rules For Revolutionaries by Guy Kawasaki (“So much about being successful is down to changing your mindset. From ‘Eat like a Bird, Poop like an Elephant’ to ways to keep slogging thru the hard parts of your own business… this book is inspirational and will teach you how to think, how to market, and how to make it.”)
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey (“Ever hear the saying, ‘Clients don’t pay for the design/the writing/the code, they pay for the relationship’? Well, 14 years in, I can tell you: it’s all true. If you’re struggling, wobbly relationships — and lack of deep-seated trust — may be the reason. This book will help you fix it.”)
• The Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg (“Nobody teaches about client relationships like Gerald. Have problems gathering requirements effectively? Do your clients not want to implement your changes? Are they constantly overriding you? Gerald will teach you what to do about it. And make you smile.”)
• More Secrets of Consulting by Gerald M. Weinberg (“More good stuff, just like the previous book — but MORE!”)
• The Back of the Napkin – Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam (“Thinking visually probably comes naturally to you, but how often do you use it to come up with ideas rather than simply implement them? Using the techniques in this book seriously upped my creativity quotient, and based on all the positive reviews from others, I bet it’ll do the same for you.”)

What did you think of these books? Share your favorite titles for freelancers in the comments below, we’d love to hear from YOU!

Want more awesome advice like this list?

Class is now in session with The Freckle Time Tracking Institute for Awesome Freelancers Summer Series, where glitter pens are completely optional (but totally encouraged).

Enter your email below to get the Institute for Awesome Freelancers Summer Series in your inbox for absolutely free:

 
No spam, we promise

The post Summer Series for Freelancers: Freckle’s Top 10 Summer Reads appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Photo cc kusine

Put those sweaters away!!

Sweaters are great, but even thinking about touching their heavy itchy wool fabric can make you break out into a sweat. Summer is here, and it’s time to shelve both the clothes and expenses that are making you lose your cool.

It’s also a great time to try out new business tools that you haven’t been able to learn and master when you’re buried under work (or sweaters). This way you can optimize your workflow and be more profitable by not throwing money away on useless expenses (or sweaters).

Out with the old, in with the new!

While you are reorganizing where your money is going out, it is also a good time to see where your money is coming in! Invoices tend to get messy very quickly.

• Do you have a good organizational system for your invoices?
• Do you have a stack of old, crumpled & unorganized invoices crowding up a junk drawer?
• Can you quickly see which are paid or awaiting payment?

Do your invoices look as happily organized as this?

Freckle will set you free! By eliminating the need for a paper invoice (though you can still print em if you need to!) you can create and share an invoice with a client by sending a private link or email a copy of the invoice directly to their billing department. You can also identify which invoices are paid or pending at a glance, sans file cabinets and invoice numbers. On top of all of that, the invoice templates are super customizable!

Once your invoices are organized, you should easily be able to tell where you can drop expenses such as clunky applications (or clients in sweaters) and where you need to make improvements! While it may take a while to get organized, the benefits greatly outweigh stewing in a sticky pile of paperwork and unnecessary expenditures.

Go go ahead, strip off that hot sweater and dive into the refreshing and crystal clear pool of summery organization

Photo cc redjar

The dog days of summer are here again, but you can keep your cool with The Freckle Time Tracking Summer Series for Freelancers.

Subscribe below to get the Institute for Awesome Freelancers Summer Series in your inbox for absolutely free:

No spam, we promise

The post Summer Series for Freelancers: Shedding Sweaters and Expenses appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Photo cc williamcho

Seems like yesterday we were pulling on our winter coats, doesn’t it? And a few days ago, the Summer Solstice just zoooomed past. Time, she is a-fleetin’.

If you’re like us, your biz s-l-o-o-o-w-s down over the summer. Clients are on holiday. Everybody’s feeling hot and listless.

But instead of just sweating to death, you are going to smartly take advantage of the slow summer months to retool, revamp, and re-sexify your business.

You’re going to take advantage of the slow pace of full-on summer. Try new things. Design and implement new professional processes. Spiff up your “company” web site, now while you’re not slammed with work. Try new tools that can save you time, money, and gnashing of teeth. Plan out your marketing campaign for the next 6 mos. Mine your old client list, reach out to folks in your network.

You know, the kind of work that you never get around to the rest of the year — cobbler’s children and all that! The kind of stuff that can increase your profits and happiness. Ripe, juicy stuff, just right for summer.

Sounds good, but you’re not sure where to start? No worries, we’re here to help! That’s what the Freckle Time Tracking Summer Series for Freelancers is all about.

And that’s why you should subscribe below to get the Summer Series in your inbox for absolutely free:

No spam, we promise

The post Summer Series for Freelancers: Holy Crap! Is It Summer Already? appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

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If you’re using Freckle, you already have it easy accounting for your time and productivity and invoices… but what about your taxes?

The tax year is wrapping up, which means it’s time to sit down over some contraband wine coolers and talk about Getting Our Tax #@(! Together for 2011.



But first things first: I, too, am a co-ed in the school of small business tax #@(!. I have a method that works best for me, which is what I’m about to share with you. But please remember, this is a case of collegial sharing of what works for me! Standard disclaimer: I Am Not a Tax Lawyer.

(Oh, and some of this advice only applies to Americans or people who do business (legally) in the United States!)

Without further ado, let’s Get Our Tax #@(! Together for 2011! I’ve broken down my first round of advice into four steps:

1. Are you having an identity crisis?
2. Say “yes” to bookkeeping without rats’ nests
3. Get your tax advice in meatspace or on the intarwebs
4. Speaking of estimated taxes…

Let’s get crackin’.

Step 1: 

Are you having an identity crisis?

Did you file the paperwork last year with the IRS to receive your EIN? Do you have to? Do you know what an EIN is?

If you do need it, and you know it, you’ve probably already secured your Employer Identification Number (EIN). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, now’s the time to find out:

• If you’re a sole proprietor, you don’t need an EIN. Your EIN is, in effect, your SSN.
• In other situations, though, like an LLC or bonafide corporation, you do need an EIN. That’s because your business is considered a separate tax entity from your own bad self.

Bottom line: Not sure where you fall? Check out this handy dandy guide from the IRS. And if it turns out you do need to file for an EIN, here’s how. You can even apply online. Not too shabby!

Step 2: Say “yes” to bookkeeping without rats’ nests



Bookkeeping: every freelancer’s Kryptonite.

Laws vary from country to country, but in the good ol’ US of A, you have a choice between paper receipts and digital copies. Either way, you definitely need a method of making sure every business-related expense is captured, collated, and collected for later retrieval.

And no, towering piles where “you know where everything is” don’t count. Sorry. You know you’ll just have to leaf through them come tax season, wasting hours better served actually making money (or reading The Oatmeal).

Good news: there are easier, less stressful, cleaner ways.

Got lots of paper? Try apps like as Shoeboxed and Neat — they’ll help you capture your paperwork with smart phones & scanners, then store digital representations of your paperwork in a virtual storage facility.

Other web apps like Xero and Indinero will work with your bank and credit card accounts directly to grab your whole statements in one go, and even automatically categorize them with shiny reports for your pleasure.

A small business credit or debit card is also a fine way to track expenses, if you use that card exclusively for business-related purchases. (And don’t forget cash expenses.) Be sure to download your digital statements regularly for backup, if your bank offers them.

Bottom line: There’s no reason to have crows nesting in your filing cabinet. (Or, as it may be, filing pile. Yeah, I know how it is.) Set up a system today and reap the rewards of relaxation this time next year.



Step 3: Get your tax advice in meatspace or on the intarwebs

One is definitely the loneliest number when it comes to filing your taxes. As a freelancer or small biz owner, your taxes are pretty complicated. You should call in professional help. Even if that professional help is a tool. (Software tool, that is.)

The first step towards practicing safe tax is to choose between a real live human Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or an online accounting & tax prep service.

Should you decide on a CPA, finding one through word of mouth is your best bet. Trust who your friends trust. When in doubt, call your local Small Business Administration office for recommendations.

Tax software (reviews) for the business owner abounds and can set you back up to a few hundred bucks a year, depending on how fancy you get. (But think of the hours it’ll save you freakin’ out.)

Online accounting services are great for tracking incoming and outgoing funds, and some will even file your taxes for you. If you’re already using QuickBooks or Quicken, you can switch to an online version. Other great, modern alternatives are Xero and Indinero. A new tool called Outright even helps you with your estimated taxes.

Bottomline: If you are at all shaky about how to handle your taxes, I recommend you use a CPA. Not only will you have someone to outsource your worries to, their numbers wizardry can help you save money with deductions and tricks you may have overlooked.

Step 4: Speaking of estimated taxes…

I’ll be writing about estimated taxes in detail in a later episode of Get Your Tax #@(! Together for 2011 but hey, we’re already here, so here’s the scoop in short:

If you’re even slightly successful, and you’ve been freelancing for at least a year, get your estimated taxes on your radar. Estimated taxes are just what you’d think: tax payments based on what you estimate you’ll owe for the year, broken down in 4 payments per year.

The goal, of course, is that the IRS gets money on the regular — and you don’t end up owing a giant lump sum when tax time rolls around.

The rules are fairly simple on the face of it: If you owed taxes in 2009 (as a self-employed person) of $1,000 or more, then you ought to have sent the IRS 4 quarterly checks in 2010.

Are you thinking, “OH, #)(!”? Don’t. It’s really okay. This is not the end of the world, and the IRS penalties are pretty minor.

Here’s how you handle missed estimated tax payments, and prepare for the future:

• Be sure to tell your CPA that you didn’t know you had to do estimated taxes, and they’ll help you out. (They may even be able to file paperwork so you don’t pay any penalties.)
• And ask them how to set yourself up to pay estimated taxes properly for 2011.

You might find these resources helpful: the IRS explains estimated taxes, the IRS guide for estimated taxes in 2010, and Do I need to pay estimated taxes?

Your action items!

Phew, that was a lot to get through. Well done. Consider this your to-do list:

• Figure out if you need an EIN
• File for your EIN, if necessary
• Turn your misshapen piles of paper receipts into digital scans, and/or…
• Sign up & set up an online bookkeeping tool
• Set yourself up with desktop or web-based tax accounting tools
• Find yourself a CPA and book an appointment
• Figure out if you should be paying estimated taxes
• Set yourself up with a system you can use to calculate & pay your estimated taxes for 2011, if necessary
• Kick back and relax!

And, if you haven’t tried Freckle yet, give it a whirl for 30 days for free. It helps you do a lot more than just track time in and time out. Freckle is built from the ground up to help freelancers earn more, charge what they’re worth, and generally have more productive, enjoyable businesses.

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BTW: This is part 1 in a series. Come back soon, or follow us on Twitter! @letsfreckle


Sarah Snyder Is a San Antonio-based freelance writer. She used a Certified Public Accountant her first year and now uses a free online bookkeeping service. She’ll probably go to a CPA again this year because he’s so damn cool. She uses a business debit card and online receipts/invoices to track her expenses, and brushes her teeth at least twice a day.

The post Get Your Tax #@(! Together for 2011, Part 1 appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Processizing: Like dance aerobics, but without the leg warmers! (unless you like legwarmers...) (photo cc Marshall Astor)

Screw singing for your supper — freelancers dance for theirs!

High-kicks and project kickoffs, dips and onboarding questionnaires. Tapping. The questions to ask. Jazz hands. The agreements to sign. Interpretive swanning around — the clarifications to clarify.

You’re a pro; you know all the moves. But you’re only human. Occasionally, you make a misstep: forget to ask a question; forget to clarify; forget to give ‘em something important… oooops, forget to have them sign something.

Those steps will get done — you are a pro, after all. But, alas, the order has been broken. Your groove has been stepped on.

By your own clumsy feet.

Ouch.

Sound familiar?

If this doesn’t sound even a teensy bit familiar, then bravo to you! You are a truly organized human being. But, for the rest of us, there’s a sneaky way to kick missteps in the can-can, for once and forever!

Jazzercise! Process-ize!

Yep, that shiny ray of hope is emanating from the realm of Process Management, the sexiest discipline alive!

Don’t be fooled by its humble, schoolmarm exterior — inside Process Management beats the heart of a harlot. A harlot that knows how to do every type of tango. Backwards.

Dudes and dudettes, I can sense your skepticism from here. But hear me out. Processizing is a beautiful thing.

Stupendous benefits!

If you create a process — just an ordered check list, really — you will reap the following delicious benefits:

1. Never accidentally forget a step.
2. Never accidentally do a step in the wrong order.
3. Stop wracking your brain wondering which steps you need to do, and save your Executive Function for other, better, more profitable things.
4. See your workflow explicitly — so you can improve it.
5. Gain the ability to easily track time for each step to see where the energy & time hogs are.
6. Feel shiny and professional, like on the first day of school when you organize all your subjects into their specially colored sections of your Trapper Keeper.

You’ve gotta admit: those are some wicked awesome benefits, for not a whole lotta work.

If you go a step further and create pre-made documents such as potential client interviews, “This is how we work” letters, and onboarding templates? Oooh, the possibilities are endless!

But, I love spontaneity! Won’t that take the joy out of it?

Nope, it won’t.

Think about it: Are you really more excited about spontaneity in paperwork… or spontaneity in creative work?

Executive Function is finite, remember? Giving yourself fewer decisions in the paperwork department means you have more brainpower available to make choices in the creative department.

And since you run both departments, this is A Very Good Thing.

Processizing doesn’t suck the life outta your little biz… it gives it CPR! And then an all-inclusive trip to Club Med.

Convinced? Or slightly curious?

In the next installment, processizing guru Kathleen Jaffe of Biznicillin is going to teach you how to create these delicious documents!

Previously: How Freelancers can Avoid Old Boot Soup, How to Avoid the Sales Funnel Swirly

The post Jazzercise! Processize! appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.

Ahhh, money. Freelancing can be feast or famine, what we call Steak or Stinky Sneakers… (cc kevinspencer)

PROBLEM: Cash-flow ouchies

You’re in the middle of a project that you thought’d be a snappy 2-weeker, but somehow it’s turned into a snippy 6-weeker. The end is in sight… but your pay day’s another Net 30 away.

It’s not quite time to start those old boots a-boiling but, all the same, it’s not exactly a trip to Disneyland. Or even a night club-hopping with 7 tequila-sopped dwarves.

SOLUTION: Payment schedules

Repeat after me:

I take a 50% deposit to begin work. I take a 50% deposit to begin work. I take a 50% deposit to begin work. (Unless it’s over $10,000, in which case, it’s 30%.)

A fixed payment schedule, including up-front deposits, is one of the biggest differences between a Serious Freelancer and a Seriously Cash-Strapped Freelancer.

To create a payment schedule just for you, follow this formula:

• Take an up-front deposit to begin work (30-50%)
• On large projects, take a payment mid-way (25-30%)
• Bill the remainder on completion (25-40%)

As long as those percentages add up to 100%, you’re golden.

If you do small, one-off projects — such as illustration, single-page designs, or telephone consultations — take 100% up front. Nobody wants to fiddle with 3 payments of $300 (unless they, too, are cash-strapped).

Won’t my clients run away screaming?

Well, they might if they’re really bad clients who look at your non-existent payment policies as a way to avoid laying out cash for as long as possible.

In which case, congratulations! You’ve avoided being screwed six ways til Sunday.

For bad clients, the deposit will either reform them, or force them to show their true colors before Net 60′s passed.

But, for good clients, you’ll find it’s a non-issue. They won’t mind paying your deposit. You might even find that they like it!

You mean good clients like to pay up front?

Many of ‘em do, yep. Not only is it nice for them to have a sort of 3-part payment plan (while you’re doing the work, instead of after), but many more experienced clients will find you more appealing.

Here’s why:

Anyone who’s hired freelancers has worked with a few unscheduled types — sad creatures too distracted by old projects and money woes to get the job done.

You’re not one of them. Your clearly defined, no-nonsense payment schedule proves it. Your deposit requirement is big honking sign that reads, “Hire Me Cuz I Am So Not That Guy.”

When a Good Client pays you some up front, they feel better about you getting a nice, firm grip on their project. They can rest easy, knowing you’re not wasting your time (and theirs) trying to rustle up fast cash.

And you, relieved of money worries, can do your best work.

Everybody wins!

The Twitter version?

I take a 50% deposit up front. I take a 50% deposit up front. I take a 50% deposit up front. And 25% at the half-way point. Thanks!

Previously: How to Avoid the Sales Funnel Swirly

The post How Freelancers Can Avoid Old Boot Soup appeared first on Freckle Time Tracking.