20 Tips For Freelance Success

Robert Dempsey
http://www.itinerantentrepreneur.com

20 Tips For Freelance Success
20 Tips I Wish I Had When I Quit My Job Many Years Ago

By Robert Dempsey

http://www.itinerantentrepreneur.com

20 Tips For Freelance Success - Robert Dempsey - Itinerant Entrepreneur 2

Table Of Contents

You Can Have The Lifestyle You Want And Deserve 5

Who The Heck Am I And Why Should You Listen To Me? 8

Tip #1: It's All About The Marketing 11

Tip #2: Know What You're Selling 12

Tip #3: Get The Messaging Right 13

What Are You About?! 13

Tip #4: Get To Writing 14

Tip #5: Position Yourself Against The Competition 16

Tip #6: Find Where Your Customers Live 17

Tip #7: Choose The Right Online Method To Meet Customers 18

Forums! 18

Social Media! 18

YouTube! 19

Other Sites! 19

Tip #8: Talk With Friends And Family 20

Tip #9: Talk With The Boss 21

Tip #10: Hit Up The Social Medias 22

Tip #11: Online And Offline Networking 23

Tip #12: Relationships Take Time 24

Tip #13: Ask for Introductions 25

Tip #14: Easy Icebreakers 26

Tip #15: The Single Most Awesome Networking Strategy 27

Tip #16: Find A Great CPA Or Accountant 28


Tip #17: Find A Simple Accounting Package 29

Tip #18: Keep It Simple With A Spreadsheet 30

Tip #19: Crazy Just Might Work 31

Tip #20: Just Do It 32


You Can Have The Lifestyle You Want And Deserve
Hey future freelancer!

If you told me 4 years ago that I’d be running my own business, making a full-time
income, and doing it before I had business experience or a college degree, working with
clients all over the world, I would look at you and go...
“Yeah, right.”
Seriously, 4 years ago I was working as a project manager in a small IT company in
Florida. I was driving from customer to customer installing software, setting up large
computer networks, and fixing whatever they had broken or had broken itself.

It was a cool job with only one problem - I hated it!
Why?
Three reasons:

1. First, I was working my ass off so that someone else could make the money
and take cool vacations.

2. Second, it felt like I was beholden to this company just to have a steady
paycheck.
3. And third, no matter how hard I worked, it always felt like I could do more but
was being held back.
So, it’s not hard to imagine the utter frustration I felt being tied to a job I had spent hours
driving to and from every day, wasting precious time during the day due to “necessary
processes,” and making someone else rich doing it.
If you’ve ever been stuck in a job where you feel more like a tiny cog in a huge machine
than anything else, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

• You’ll know what it feels like waking up every day, dreading a long commute to
work, just to face another day of heads-down, thankless work.

• You’ll know what it feels like having a boss take credit for all of the great work you
produce, only to ask you to do it over and over again.

• And you’ll know what it feels like to only get paid a fraction of what you’re really
worth.

Now that I run my own business, I realize just how much I was missing out on by
staying at that dead-end job.
The fact is that I knew I could do more.


I wanted something much, much better.

I wanted to run my own business where I could call the shots. A business where I could
own all of my successes, and learn from my failures, without fear of being yelled at or
put down publicly for it. A business where I could branch out into other areas I was
interested in and be given the time to do it. A business where I could choose what to do
and when to do it, where my hard work turned directly into my benefit.

And today that dream is a reality. I have the freedom I’ve always wanted, and the
lifestyle I want to lead.

I now run a six figure income business from where I
want, working my own hours, and on the projects I
choose.

Every day I get to hear the stories of successful
freelancers, and help others achieve that same success.

I get to spend time with my wife and daughter, traveling to
far off places, and never skip a beat with my business.
I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people on earth.
I love what I do, and can’t imagine doing anything else.
Robert Dempsey without his tea

That’s how I look at my business - it’s less business and more just a part of my life and
who I am. Every day I wake up excited about what the day will bring, who I’ll get to
meet, and the people I’ll be able to help.
And it’s unreal that I actually get paid to do this!

How freaking awesome is that?
But all of this would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the Internet...and more
specifically web-based applications and social media.
I’ve found my passion and turned it into a business that allows me to support my family,
travel, meet tons of cool people, and gives me the freedom I’ve always wanted. And the
thing is I’m not alone in this! I’ve interviewed hundreds of people living their dream and
making really good money doing it.

In my view, doing what you love isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity. There is so much more to
life than slogging away at a job that you hate, and coming home so exhausted that you
can’t spend quality time with those you care about.

There is a much better way.


Inside this report, I want to share with you 20 huge tips that I wish I had when I started
my first business in early 2001.
I want to share with you the exact same tips I’ve put to work to make a comfortable 6-
figure income while working from many cities in throughout the world. These simple yet
powerful tips are part of what I’ve learned over the past 6 years running multiple
businesses, and I want to reveal them to you so that you too can enjoy the same
freedom, the same happiness, the same vibrance for life that I experience on a daily
basis.

Here’s what you can expect inside this report.
What freelancing is really all about, and how you can be successful from day
1.
An extremely fast way to get a solid business foundation in place.
And much MUCH more

If you’re serious about entering the world of freelancing, creating the lifestyle that you
want, making great money, and having more fun than you’ve ever had, I strongly
recommend you sit down right now, and read this important report from cover to cover.

The information and tips inside this report are proven, and extremely powerful. The
sooner you get started, the sooner you can be successfully working for yourself.
Here’s to your success!

Robert Dempsey, Entrepreneur
Itinerant Entrepreneur


Who The Heck Am I And Why Should You Listen To
Me?
Before I share my secrets, let me share with you how I got to where I am today, and why
I am qualified to reveal this information to you.
So let’s go back in time a bit...

In 2004 I had a pretty decent job. I was a project manager for an IT company, having
been hired to set up a program that later became 30% of their total revenue. I was
making a fairly good salary, and my bosses were the best I ever had.

But I was still unhappy.
I was unhappy for two big reasons:

1. First, I was unhappy because I was
building an asset for a company that,
regardless of how well it did, didn’t
increase the amount of money I was
making. No matter how well the program I
built did, or how much better the
processes improved, I would still be
making my small salary.

2. Second, I was unhappy because if I stopped working, by salary would
immediately drop to zero, and I would have to get back out there, find another
job, and who knew how long that would take.
I really didn’t want to take directions from others for the rest of my life, doing what I was
told and helping them get rich, while I was always working to ensure that I didn’t get
fired when their business turned sour.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against having a job. In fact I’ve had
many, and my first business failed because I up and quit a job without any savings, any
business experience, or any plan. Having a job and investing wisely is one path to
happiness, it just isn’t mine.

I wanted more. I knew that if I had the correct knowledge, was smart about how I spent
my money, and worked smart, I could build an asset that I could leverage. I would have
something that I could grow, that I couldn’t be fired from, and that gave me the freedom
and independence I really wanted.
Before getting an MBA in 2009 and building a successful business, I learned the
lessons of business the hard way - by trial and error - something I’ll help you avoid with
this report.


You see I had been self-employed before. In 2000 I had quit my first computer job to
start my own company. I had a few clients, and slowly got a few more.
I took out ads in the Yellow Pages, and started adding services. I wanted to be the one-
stop IT shop for everyone. And what a mistake that was!
Now, I was making good money. But to do that, I was working 18 hour days, driving all
over three states installing computers, fixing computers, talking with potential clients,
and looking for partnerships to make it happen.
I also spent a ton of money on advertising, including $10,000 on a website, logo,
stationary, business cards, and folders (boxes of which I later threw out).
And after driving all day, billing 1/3 of my time or less, I had to
do all the business-ey stuff that kept things going, stuff like
sending invoices and following up on leads.
After a few years of that, getting sick at least once a month
from burnout, I started learning software development. I also
met a number of software guys and learned that they often
worked from home.

But by then it was too late for that business. After a few years
and building a $30K mountain of debt, my wife and I moved
to Florida where I got a full time job.
So fast forward a few years and a handful of jobs to the project manager job.
I had been driving to and from work for months, thinking about those software guys and
how they lived. I thought about how I could be billing hours and building products rather
than wasting my time driving around.

I had been going to school for computer science (which is all about software
development) and learning about web development on my own. And I knew that by
getting into software, I could work with customers all over the world, without ever
leaving my house.
So I started building products and finding clients, all while working at my full-time job.
After about 6 months I had built up a critical mass of projects, and after talking it over
with my wife, I quit my job to do my business full-time. That was April of 2006.
In April of 2007 I was so busy I started hiring full-time employees. I had effectively used
Google AdWords, and the business was flooding in. I also started building a few online
products.

By the end of 2007 I had 6 full-time employees working for me my company grossed
more than $500,000, all without ever meeting a client in person. It was a great year.


In 2008 my daughter was born and I started an MBA. And I was working more than
ever, somehow keeping it all together. But it burned me out, and I wasn’t happy.
Something was going to break, and it was looking as if it would be me.

So I reassessed what I was doing, and came up with my rules for working (more on that
later).
Over the next year I scaled back the business and either subcontracted work to my
employees, or helped them to get other full-time jobs. I started learning a lot more about
online marketing, online video, copy writing, and selling.

In addition, I started working with more freelancers (some here in the U.S. and some
offshore), ramped up the consulting side of the business, and leveraged social media to
reach even more customers.

Fast forward to today.
I have a six figure income from my web development
business, and choose which clients I want to work with
from a steady flow of leads. I’ve gotten to travel to
many countries without ever missing a beat, I’ve
spoken at a number of software development
conferences in different parts of the world, and I spend
more time with my family. I have the time to read as
many books as my Kindle will hold, and learn more
about the things I want to learn about.

And I’m helping others take their freelance businesses to the next level so they can truly
obtain the lifestyle they want to have, doing what they love.

And their success makes me happier than I ever thought I’d be.
It’s been an incredible journey to say the least, and I’m now in a position to share with
you what I’ve learned over the past 10 years in business, and the past 4 operating
completely online, creating a lifestyle that allows me to work from wherever, on
pretty much whatever I want.

Inside this report I want to give you the exact same strategies I used over the past 4
years. A business formula that you can easily implement to help you achieve the
lifestyle, the freedom, and the success that you want and deserve.

If you’re interested in making a real income doing what you love, taking full credit for all
of your success, I know you’re simply going to LOVE the information I’m about to
share with you inside this report.


Tip #1: It's All About The Marketing
After a number of very good years running a web development business, the leads
started to dry up.

My main method of advertising - Google Ads - stopped working. The cost had gone
through the roof thanks to increased competition, and due to a focus on business school
and a bad hire rather in my business, things started to slow down. Needless to say, I
needed help.

That's when I hired a marketing consultant to help me out, specifically Anthony
Richardson. It was when I started working with Anthony that I realized that marketing is
where it's at, no matter what business you're in.

Today is seems like common sense. After all, how do potential customers find out about
you if you don't tell them? Sure, advertising is one way, but as I said that had stopped
working, and became quite expensive. I needed something else. And that something
was marketing.

So how do you begin?

The first thing to do is to get into the marketing mindset, because not only is it all about
marketing, everything you do is marketing - every tweet you write, every Facebook
update you send to friends, every blog post you write, every time you tell someone what
you do.

Remember that everything you do is marketing.

Over the next 4 tips we'll put this marketing mindset to work and start laying the
groundwork to getting found by customers, and helping ensure that the lifeblood of the
business - a steady stream of leads - continues to flow.


Tip #2: Know What You're Selling
If you're going to tell the world about what you're offering, be it a product or service, you
need to know what it is you're selling. And I mean what you're really selling.

As an example, with my software company, you could say that I'm offering custom web
application development. But then you might be thinking to yourself, "What the hell does
that mean? What's custom web application development and how does that help my
business?"

Yeah, that's what I thought I was selling. At first.

When I looked back at the clients we worked with, started creating profiles for each of
them, and looked at what they all had in common, I found a few interesting things.

First, they came to us because we were seen as experts in our field. Every where you
went online, when you saw certain keywords or conferences or forums, there we were.
We were everywhere. So why does someone want to work with an expert? Because
they believe that what they need will get done, without issues (or perhaps just a few little
ones).

Second, we worked with a lot of entrepreneurs. These were folks that saved up their
money or were working at a full-time job to fund their dream of having a company. And
they needed our help to make that happen for them.

Third, they were looking for freedom, in many forms. They were looking for the freedom
that having a business brings; they were looking for freedom from a long commute; they
were looking for freedom from worrying if their boss was going to be on their back due
to a failed project.

So, we were really providing three things:

Piece of mind due to our expertise
Help with fulﬁlling a dream of having a business
Freedom

Nothing about custom web application development in there.

So what benefits do your products or services provide to your clients? That’s what
you’re really selling.


Tip #3: Get The Messaging Right
Now that you know it's all about the marketing, and you know what you're really selling,
it's time to tell the world about it. So how do you do that?

This is where messaging comes in.

Now I'm going to assume that you have something that someone is willing to pay for,
something of value. With that in mind, let's dig into messaging.

Using our example from before, we determined that I was selling three things:

Piece of mind
Help fulﬁlling the dream of having a business
Freedom

If I told people I was selling freedom, they'd look at me like I was high on something
pretty strong, and most likely laugh. Or would they? Let's think about this for a second.

What do you want to be known for? What words are used to describe that? What is your
potential customer into and what appeals to him or her? Now do you really care about
what anyone other than your potential customer thinks? I don't think you should. Worry
about all those other people and what they think won't help you connect with your real
customers, the people that are going to give you money. So let's not worry about those
people.

So take a moment and write down what it is you're all about, and then see how that can
tie into what it is your selling. The combination of those two will help you get your
messaging right, so that you can really speak to what's underneath your customer
coming to you for help. If you can speak to them at their core, you've got them.

What Are You About?

Take a moment to write down what it is you’re really all about.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Once you have that down, it’s time to start creating content. Let’s look at tip #4 for that...


Tip #4: Get To Writing
Alrighty still with me? Great. It's time for tip #4 - get to writing.

So you've crafted your messaging, or at least have a draft of it, and now you're ready to
start broadcasting it to the world. Excellent. I have one word for you - blogging.

Oh you've heard this before? Great. Because your blog is going to be the center point of
everything that you do. Why? Well there are a number of reasons:

Search engines love blogs for their fresh content and SEO friendliness
Having a blog will give people a better idea of who they're purchasing from
Blog content is super easy to share
Blog posts can easily feed into social media
Almost every successfully self-employed person I've spoken with has a blog

You get the point.

So, if you don't have a blog set up yet, shame on you! Head on
over to Page.ly (yes I'm an affiliate and that's an affiliate link - a
guy's family has to eat) and sign up for an account. I host a ton of
sites on Page.ly - their service is fantastic, their uptime is solid, and
they make keeping a WordPress blog up to date a snap. No
technical know-how needed.

Ok go on. I'll wait. Done? Great.

Now that you have the beginnings of a blog, and your messaging, write down 10 things
that you can write about that have to do with your core messaging. I'm not talking about
full paragraphs here, just bullet points. Use these lines for brainstorming.

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________


Once you have those, start putting some talking points underneath each item. Then,
add more detail to each of these talking points. Before you know it, you have the basis
of a great blog post.

Now, go write these 10 but don't publish them just yet.

Schedule one to come out each day for the next two weeks.
Unless your audience works on the weekends (something
quite rare), schedule them for Monday through Friday. This is
something I learned about called core content. Great stuff.

Once you have all of that complete, start thinking of more
topics you can write about that connect with your core
message. When you're first starting out you don't have to
post every day, though I've seen that recommended.

Core content is like little seeds

Frankly, the advice here is all over the place, and the only way to know what will work
for you is to try multiple strategies - posting a few times a week or every day. Test,
measure, and test some more.

Now don't get discouraged if no one comments on your posts. I've been posting on a
daily basis for months with very few comments to show for it. Something I'm working on
for sure, but remember not everyone comments, though they may thoroughly enjoy
reading what you have to say. So keep at it. Test, measure, test some more.

That's is for this tip. Next we'll continue by learning about positioning, and specifically
how to position ourselves against our competition.


Tip #5: Position Yourself Against The Competition
So I bet you thought you were in for another long page of stuff and then took a look at
this little one and wondered what the hell was going on. Well my friend, that's because I
have only a little advice to offer in terms of competition.

Many of the people I interview know about their competition. They know that the
competition offers, at what price, who uses them, and generally what moves they are
making. However, that's it. They don't dwell on the competition, trying to keep up or
outmaneuver them. And for a freelancer, it's pretty pointless. You've got to spend your
time hustling and getting customers so you can bring in the cash and pay your bills. And
if you have a family (as I do) then that's even more important. My daughter only likes to
eat noodles so many days in a row.

So the advice here is forget the competition. Take a look at what
they're doing sure. Find out what price they charge so you can be
competitive. However, the goal isn't to try to grab as many
customers from them as you can, the goal is to get the customers
who are going to connect with you at the core and hand over their
cash in return for the valuable product or service you're offering.

So one more time - do your research, but leave it at that. Revisit
them once a month to see what's new, but don't spend any more
time than that.

Get out there and find clients, and crush your competition.

Leave the turkeys alone.

Next it'll get even more fun - we'll start looking at finding clients, the lifeblood of every
business.

Let’s get going!


Tip #6: Find Where Your Customers Live
No I don't mean literally find out where they live and start following them around. That
would be illegal, and creepy. What I mean is find out where your customers live online,
and where do they go to network.

Since you know who your ideal customer is, let's start searching. There are a few super
easy ways to do this.

Use search.twitter.com and use keywords to ﬁnd out who's talking about your
area of expertise (AOE).
Type in the keywords relating to your AOE on Google, and then add other
words like "forum" or "social network."
Just ask.

That last one can be tricky, but it gets easier with every customer you get.

Now the above 3 recommendations do assume that you know the keywords related to
your AOE. If you read that and wondered to yourself why I didn't mention creating a
keyword list for your AOE you may be cursing me.

But here's a resource for ya that will hopefully
put be back into your good graces: Market
Samurai.

Now I'm not suggesting you run out and purchase this product, though it can help to
make your research, both keyword and competitive, much easier. However they have a
ton of videos that can help you understand how to do all of it, whether or not you choose
to purchase their product. Ultimately keyword research is something you want to do as it
will give you content ideas for your blogging, a major tool in the online marketing and
relationship building arsenal.

Now we'll continue by choosing the right online methods to meet customers.


Tip #7: Choose The Right Online Method To Meet
Customers
So in the last tip we did searches using keyword for our area of expertise (AOE) adding
"forum" and other location style words to the search. So if you have a number of places
on your list, let's see which might be most effective.

Forums

I like forums, mainly because I can build credibility over time with people interested in
my AOE, as well as put a link to my site in my forum signature. If you go the forum
route, be sure to not sell anything, and simply be helpful. Also pick and choose the
posts that you respond to. Not everything is going to fall under your AOE, so be choosy.

Social Media

There is no doubt that you have to be involved in social
media. It's helped me get in front of more people than I
ever could simply by going out and meeting people.
And in social media, there are 3 big sites - Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn. However, not all of these
might work for you, and could end up in a big waste of
time. So let's find out how to narrow down our choices.

For this there is a single site that will give you all the
goodies and tell you where to spend your time. And
that site is Quantcast. Quantcast is awesome because
you don't merely see the traffic a site gets (we both
know that Twitter and Facebook get a crap ton of traffic, der), but we see demographics.

Now that's what I'm talking about.

Here are the links directly into Quantcast for the "big 3":

Twitter - http://www.quantcast.com/twitter.com
Facebook - http://www.quantcast.com/facebook.com
LinkedIn - http://www.quantcast.com/linkedin.com

Spend some time on Quantcast digging into the demographics and see if they match
your target customers. This single site can save you a ton of time wasted on incorrect
social networks. If anyone tells you "your customers are on all 3 of these" they would be
right due to sheer numbers. However you want to spend your valuable time where your
customers congregate, not just where they "might be."


YouTube

And if you're considering getting into video marketing, YouTube is the place to be. Using
YouTube for marketing is a course unto itself, so needless to say, start seeing how other
people are using YouTube, and if anyone in your AOE is using it to any great effect (by
looking at the number of views their videos are getting).

Other Sites

Look at the big blogs in your AOE and subscribe to the RSS
feed. Commenting on blogs (when you have something of
value to add) can be a great way to get more traffic to your
site and get you in front of potential customers who are
reading the same stuff.

That's enough homework for this tip. We’re going to move on
now and discuss another potentially scary way to get in front
of potential customers.


Tip #8: Talk With Friends And Family
My Dad, I think, is the typical Dad. He grew up in a different generation than I did, and
frankly has a hard time grasping why it is that I don't want to work for anyone else. He
sees my passion though, and is supportive. And that's where today's tip comes in.

The hardest thing for someone just starting out in freelancing can be finding that first
client. One way to do this with the least friction is to talk with friends and family. So my
Dad, while not understanding of my mental state and why I'm unemployable, realizes
that I'm not going down that road and will tell all of his friends what I'm doing. This was
especially great 10 years ago when I was younger and stupider, and had just quit my
job to go off on my own.

Friends and family have a lot of connections that we can use to help us find customers.
Who knows what business these folks might be in. Can they use our help? Maybe not
all of them, but I'm sure one of them can.

Whip out your phone and start making calls

So, suck it up and start talking with your family and friends. They like you, and that
counts for a lot when they're recommending you to others. Be sure to tell them why
you're striking out on your own, and make it as easy as possible for them to refer you.

Got it? Great. Ready? Awesome.

Now pick up the phone and start making calls.

I promise not to tell you to go talk with Mommy or anything like that. However, there is
one more scary source that can bring you some business. But that's next, so keep
reading!


Tip #9: Talk With The Boss
If you currently have a job, then that job could become your first client.

Assuming that your boss isn't a complete ass and that you have a good working
relationship, and that you've been a good employee (showed up on time, gotten your
work in, not killed any co-workers), you can turn your current employer into your first
client.

Now this isn't the easiest thing on earth to do, and can take getting over some fear. First
you need to have that difficult discussion about you leaving. To soften the blow, you can
offer to help find and train your replacement so they aren't SOL when you leave. It's
very important to not burn that bridge, regardless of whether you're going freelance or
just quitting.

Either way, be sure to tell them that you can help
them out until they find someone new. I've heard
a ton of stories where employers didn't hire
anyone new, but rather just started working with
the freelancer on a contract basis, a potential win-
win especially if things have been getting a bit
slow at work. If that's the case, you can turn this
into a win for your boss, and make them look
good at the same time. And that will make them
love you, if they don't already.

Break the chains but don’t burn the bridge

Alrighty, so that's two hard conversations out of the way. Well perhaps just one - this
one. Either way you want to find that first client, and the easier we can make it, the
easier the rest will come.

Let’s wrap up this "finding clients" portion of this tip factory we've got going on and dig
into networking.


Tip #10: Hit Up The Social Medias

Rounding out our 5 tips on finding clients, we get back to the social medias, mainly
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Once you go freelancer for real, meaning no more full-
time job, start telling everyone you know everywhere you know them. Go onto Twitter
and tell people you are available, and provide a link to a list of the services you provide,
making it easy to share and tell everyone they know about you. Do the same on
Facebook. Then do the same on LinkedIn.

So that wraps up our discussion on getting clients. Next we'll get into networking, which
indirectly is about getting clients, but is more about building relationships. And good
relationships lead to a steady flow of clients, the lifeblood of every business.


Tip #11: Online And Offline Networking
To begin this 5-part series on networking, I want to talk about online and offline
networking in general.

First off, out of the 100 people I've now interviewed, almost 100% of them said they get
business via word of mouth referrals - either actively asking for the referral, or just by
doing awesome work and networking. Everyone has said that networking is
extremely important, keeps them in front of their target customers, and helps them to
get third-party referrals. By third-party referral I mean this: if you and I met at a party,
and the next day a friends of yours asks if you know anyone that can spew content like
a volcano, you might say yes and mention me :) That's third-party. Second-party I guess
would be if you hired me to spew forth content for you. I'm not familiar with all the
terminology.

The bottom line is that networking, both online and offline (people like to meet people -
some "social thing" or something) is extremely important for developing business
relationships.

A few places you can start meeting people, or finding events to meet people at are:

Meetup.com
Upcoming.org
Groups.Google.com (some groups actually meet in person)
Local tech calendars

So find a meeting or two, mark your calendar, get out of your house and go meet
people.

Now let’s get a bit mushy and talk about relationships.


Tip #12: Relationships Take Time
And as you read the title of this tip I'm sure you're thinking, "oh crap what is he going to
talk about now." Well surprise! Well no surprise, just a quick tip on relationships for
today.

Building any relationship takes time. Right? Yeah, that's a "duh" kind of statement. It's
the same in business. Sometimes though, business relationships take even more time
to develop. No one signs a contract worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a
hand shake and a smile anymore. That might work in "Mad Men" but not in my world
friend.

So, as you're going about networking with people
don't try to turn them into a customer on the first
date. That turns people off, and quite frankly when
people do that to me, it pisses me off.

It’s all about building trust.

As with many things, relationships take time. So, if
you're going to go freelance, start building those
relationships today. And if you're already freelance,
get out and start finding more friends.

Next we'll talk about some more ways to find more friends, because we can all use
more friends. I want more friends...


Tip #13: Ask for Introductions
One of the easiest ways to meet more people is to ask for introductions. This is how I
get to meet and interview so many cool freelancers for the site. After each interview I
do, I ask the person I'm interviewing to introduce me to two other self-employed folks. I
started by interviewing people in my direct network - my friends (interestingly pretty
much all of my friends are independents) - and they introduced me to two more people,
who introduced me to two more people.

In less than 3 weeks I interviewed 100 people. Pure fun.

So, start asking people you know to introduce you
to others, not as a business referral, but more for
the "someone cool I can talk with" reasons.

Also look for opportunities to be connected to
people you really look up to. For instance, I was
introduced to Chris Brogan through a mutual friend
of ours, and got a chance to interview Chris. For
me that was huge, and his interview has gotten a
ton of views, listens, and hits.

This tip was short and sweet. Next up we'll look at some ice breaking strategies that can
help you if you feel a bit awkward in social situations (and no I don't mean chugging
beers or doing a few shots).


Tip #14: Easy Icebreakers
Now don't worry, I'm not trying to get you into speed dating or anything like that. My wife
would probably kick me hard in lower areas if I tried to give advice of that kind. I'm not
qualified - just ask her :P But I've met a number of people who don't feel, how can I put
this, the most confident about going up and talking to random people. Personally, this
took me years to be okay with. Sure I can interview people on video, but sometimes in
more social situations I don't talk with anyone. So take this advice for what it's worth.

I've found that people like to talk about themselves. I know I do! But all kidding aside,
when you want to get to know someone are you going to blab about yourself for 10
minutes as the eyes of the poor sucker you've cornered glaze over? Of course not. So
here's a few things you can ask. Prepare to say "duh" a few times.

Hi I'm [your name here]. [They intro them]. What do you do?
So, learned anything good today? (good at conferences)
So what do you think of that last speaker? (again good at conferences)

Basically the key is to keep your opening hello relevant to the situation you find yourself
in.

It's pretty much as simple as that. And yes, easier said than done, but the most simple
things are the most effective.

Let’s now round out our series on networking with some additional networking tips, and
then start talking about everyone’s favorite subject - money.


Tip #15: The Single Most Awesome Networking
Strategy
Alright. Are you ready for the single most awesome tip to kick ass networking? Really?
Ok, here it is. Sit down and prepare yourself.

Once you've gotten past the initial hello, it's a matter of asking open ended questions
about them and listening, picking up on interesting things they say and asking for more
info about that subject.

Yep, that's it. The more you listen the more they
will like you. Sounds like bullshit doesn't it? But
yeah buddy, it works.

Think of a time when you talked with someone
and all they did was blab about them. Still talk
with that person? Toss their unwanted card in the
trash? Pull their shirt over their head and smack
them hard in the face (or consider doing it but not
want the jail time)?

And how about someone who listened to you and kept the conversation going.

Right.

So that's it, the biggest key to networking.

So far we've looked at 5 tips for marketing, 5 tips for finding clients, 5 tips for
networking, and now it's time to get to the cash with a few tips on managing finance and
then we'll wrap it up.

We'll start that next. Keep going!


Tip #16: Find A Great CPA Or Accountant
Let me make this plain - I suck at finance anything. I have no problem saying that if it
wasn't for my wife, I'd be broke and homeless. Ok so it's not that bad, but it's pretty bad.
It's taken me years to figure out a system that shows me the complete picture between
my business and personal stuff, as all of the personal stuff is paid from business
income.

One thing that I've done from the very beginning, and
the financially impaired people I speak with suggest
doing, is to find a good CPA or accountant that can
help you with your taxes. It's recommended to ask
your colleagues if they work with someone who is
good.

Regardless of how awesome your CPA or accountant
might be, you want to be able to read tax forms. I
have a great CPA and found small mistakes that
ultimately had to be corrected.

Know what this means? A CPA does.

In those cases, my CPA filed an extension with the government, something that is 100%
necessary and something I don't know how to do. Then there's the issue of
depreciation, and I can't keep track of all that. He can. And they know the current laws
and can be an advisor on how to structure your business, and other financial matters.

So hit up your networks and find a great CPA. Interview a few and find out how else
they can help you.

Let’s look at how you can set up a simple financial system that will work for you.


Tip #17: Find A Simple Accounting Package
The first thing to get this financial stuff under control is to purchase some type of an
accounting package. At it's simplest, you want to be able to do the following:

Manage income and expenses
Run a proﬁt and loss statement (P&L) for your CPA
Run a balance sheet report

As a one person machine, that's all you need. Even if you have contractors, you can
enter that as an expense too.

Many people use Quickbooks. Frankly for me it's a bit much. But then I use a Mac. And
on my Mac I use iCash. It's a little app that does everything I need, including budgeting,
which I don't do :P.

There are a ton of online and desktop apps, so find one that suits your fancy, get a 30-
day free trial if you can (be sure you can export your data), and try a few out with a few
sample transactions and report.

If all of that seems like a bit much, fire up a
spreadsheet and create one tab for income and
another for expenses. You'll want to be able to
see if your income is greater or less than your
expenses for the month (hopefully greater
otherwise it's another week of ramen). I highly
suggest the app route though as it will make
providing the information to your CPA, and really
see where your money is coming from and going
too MUCH easier.

Moving on then! Let’s discuss creating a little spreadsheet that can help you keep your
stuff straight between the income your business creates and the expenses your
household generates.


Tip #18: Keep It Simple With A Spreadsheet
The one thing I've found with a number of small business accounting packages I've tried
using is that they don't do a very good job of showing me the big picture, namely my
personal and business finances all on a single page. I need reports for my business,
however I don't need anything formalized for my house (though now that I think about it
might not be such a bad idea...). Regardless, I don't really like dealing with finances,
and I'm not good at inputting budgets into these applications and keeping them up to
date.

So it is after many, many years that I finally went back to using a simple spreadsheet to
look at the income/expenses for home and business, and create a simple budget. The
resulting spreadsheet is what I call the Revenue Distribution sheet. Essentially it helps
me to keep track of the main business and home expenses (and what I use to pay for
each) I have, along with the income from my business. I then show the income
distribution for each of my expense categories, which for me are:

Subcontractors
Taxes
Business ﬁxed
Personal (home)

At the end of the row I then see how much I have remaining for business use. So as I
add more expense items to the list over the course of the month I can see how much
money I have left to spend.

The main reason I created this spreadsheet is that I would treat all of my income as
usable for the business, which is very, very wrong. The money to pay for personal
expenses comes from somewhere, and that somewhere is the business. The phrase
"out of sight out of mind" really bit me hard in the ass many times thanks to that. So I
created this simple spreadsheet to help keep myself accountable.

So enough explaining. Go and grab yourself a copy of the spreadsheet here:

http://www.scribd.com/full/38321256?access_key=key-1r3u7kfqei9vnn04frbq

I changed the numbers around so you have an easy to understand example.

I hope it helps.

That's it for the finance tips.

The final two tips will wrap things up, so don’t stop now!


Tip #19: Crazy Just Might Work
So we've discussed a lot these past weeks and I hope you feel like you're in a better
position to get out there and kick some freelance butt! Seriously, I want you to be as
successful as you want to be. And it's all up to you.

And that's where this tip comes in.

Many of us were raised to do things in a certain order, namely go to school, get a job,
stay at the job, raise a few kids teaching them the same thing, continuing to work, and
then retiring to Florida or some other warm place.

Well to me that's the old way of thinking. A full-time job is no longer secure, home
ownership is dangerous, and there are so many opportunities out there for those that
will seize the day. Seriously.

So, I want you to go out there, break the mold, do the unexpected,
and gain the freedom that you are looking for. Need some ideas of
how to do that? Check out this book by Jim Kukral named Attention!
This Book Will Make You Money - a book that Chris Brogan highly
recommends. And as Chris says, you gotta act on it. Forget what
people tell you will and won't work and just find out for yourself. The
only failure is that of not trying.

For me this book is a must-read if you think that doing something off
the wall won’t work. Believe me it will, but keep it clean, unless your
audience likes to get a little dirty that is.

Now we'll end our tip series on a positive note and I'll give my final advice for freelance
success.


Tip #20: Just Do It
My last and final tip is to get out there and just do it.

Really, that's it.

There are so many people out there that want to work for themselves but just don't
know how. You now have a solid foundation in place to become successfully self-
employed. Now it's a matter of getting out there and doing it.

I started my first business when I was 22 with no business training and a ton of attitude.
Sure I fell on my face a number of times, however you don't have to. There are now
many resources to help you out, including the interviews I've done with successfully
self-employed folks at Life Of The Freelancer. Listen to their stories of how they did it,
take notes, come up with ideas, and then take action.

The only failure is that of not doing. I can't say that enough.

Put aside your misconceptions, put a plan in place, and go go go!

I hope you've enjoyed these tips and I hope they've helped you out. Please be sure to
visit Life Of The Freelancer for interviews, and more resources to help you be
successful. If you want to be interviewed or do a guest post there's links for that on the
top. And if there's anything we can do to help you please let me know.

Here's to your success!


20 Tips For Freelance Success

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (19)

En vedette

En vedette (6)

Similaire à 20 Tips For Freelance Success

Similaire à 20 Tips For Freelance Success (20)

Plus de Robert Dempsey

Plus de Robert Dempsey (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

20 Tips For Freelance Success