Never Be Too Busy to Market Yourself

March 19, 2009

Marketing is an intriguing business responsibility because if you are really good at it, you can turn nearly every opportunity in life into a marketing opportunity. It is from these sometimes random opportunities can end up being the bread and butter of your business. Marketing opportunities come in many different forms and as good business practice, it is crucial that you allot time into each and every day to market yourself and your business, if only for an hour at a time.

One of a freelancers biggest mistakes when it comes to marketing occurs when business is booming. Many will fatefully make the error of ceasing their marketing efforts when times are good. They either get so caught up in the work they are doing, they forget this aspect of the business. Freelancers also can have a tendency to enjoy the good times entirely too much and not take a broad look that the big picture and the importance of keeping work ongoing for months and months forward. Stopping contact with regular business acquaintances and potential new job prospects can hurt your chances for further communication when you actually need the work.

When you get to the point of needing more work, it can be too late to find any since it generally takes time to get a contract, complete a project and see a paid invoice. Instead you need to keep working on up and coming opportunities so the well essentially never runs dry. Even when you are at your busiest, you need to maintain a consistency in your marketing so people do not forget you exist while you tend to other work.

Here are some ways to actively pursue new jobs with basic marketing tactics:

Send emails to check in with past clients. Sometimes a simple “just checking in” email can trigger a new project idea with a past client and they will be glad you sent some correspondence.

Set up meeting with potential new clients. Even if you are overly busy with what is on your desk now, never refuse the opportunity to meet someone who is interested in you.

Keep an active list of ideas. Sometimes an idea for marketing your services or product will strike out of the blue. When you are too busy to seriously contemplate the ideas at the time, be sure to write them down for future reflection.

Don’t slack on communication. When you are working full tilt, it is still very important to continue answering new emails and return phone calls if you hope to keep work ongoing. By ignoring or forgetting to actively correspondent with people, you are showing disrespect and disorganization – two qualities that will no likely keep your calendar full.

Staying in the loop and on top of your marketing efforts is essentially to future success. Being busy now is no excuse to stop your marketing work, unless you plan on having your business fail. Be open minded about new ideas and keep current on what it is your customers and clients are looking for so you will stay relevant in your industry.

Posted in Freelance Life, Freelance Marketing, Freelance Success No Comments »

Tax Tips For First Time Freelancers

March 14, 2009

You’ve finally taken the plunge into the world of self-employment.  No more bosses, cubicles or co-workers cramping your space.  You have joined the ranks of people who have the pleasure of doing something they love for a living, you are free to make your own schedule and you can’t think of a single thing that you don’t like about being a freelancer.  That is until tax time.  Yes, with all things in life there are positives and negatives and when you are first starting out working for yourself one big negative can be dealing with taxes.  For people new to self employment the following tax tips can make life a lot easier when dealing with Uncle Sam.

Pay a professional.  Some people may say this is an unnecessary step when you are just starting out, however hiring a professional can take a lot of the guess work out of filing your taxes.  Your situation changes once you become self employed and it just makes sense to look for help from someone who is familiar with self-employment taxes.

Get organized to keep very good records.  Unlike your previous employer, you probably do not have a bookkeeper to track income and expenses.  The responsibility of keeping good records, saving receipts and being able to support your deductions falls on your shoulders.  Do not wait until the end of your first year to begin keeping track of these important items.  You can use a spreadsheet, a software program or even a simple notebook to track business expenses and income.  Remember to track all legitimate payments as freelancers often find themselves receiving small payments here and there that are easy to forget.

Deductions and business expenses.  If you have your own home office you can deduct the percentage of you home used exclusively for business purposes.  This percentage can be deducted from your mortgage or rent as well as home utilities.  You will want to keep receipts and track how much money you have spend on business travel, postage and shipping costs, office supplies and subscriptions.  Any business related expenses such as upgrades to your computer and computer software can be used as deductions but it is important that you can support these deductions with proper documentation.

Keep things legit.  Although few people will admit it, there are folks out there that sometimes try to include something that isn’t really business related and suffer the consequences if they find themselves targeted for an audit.  You don’t want to start your career as a freelancer by being under the scrutiny of the IRS, so only claim business related expenses that you can support with documentation.

If you take the time to set up a system at the beginning of the year (or your switch to self employment), keep track of all your paperwork, and educate yourself on taxes for the self employed, you will quickly discover that while tax season may not be fun, it doesn’t have to be something you dread.

Posted in Business Planning, Freelance Income, Freelance Success, Success Skills No Comments »