I'm blessed of late with clients who pay very promptly. Early, for the most part! But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't keep on top of things. To this end, I made sure and to set up a project management and invoice/billing tool so that I could easily create invoices through it, mark them as paid through it, and more importantly be reminded when the invoice came due.

For the first time yesterday I got a reminder that an invoice was overdue. I looked and sure enough, it hadn't been paid, though it was for a client that tends to be early time after time.  -- Read more

Ask a dozen freelancers what business tools they use, and odds are you'll get a dozen different answers. Personally, I've used everything from just a text file, to spreadsheets, to just a paper notebook. Depending on the kind of work you do, any one of these may be sufficient. However, this method doesn't scale when your business grows past a certain point--meaning that one day, if things are going well, you're going to look at your system and and realize that you actually have no idea of if you sent invoices to certain people, or when you sent them, and whether they've paid, and whether you got in touch with Shirley last week. -- Read more

When I first got started in freelance writing, I got so tired of people talking about "networking." By networking I don't mean computer networks, which as a geek I find interesting, and without which we wouldn't have lovely vehicles like the Internet with which to find, deliver, show off our work. I mean the kind where you imagine standing around in stuffy clothes and uncomfortable shoes, talking to people you don't know and trying to find out what they can do for you while they try to find out what you can do for them. Sounds about as appetizing as the rubber chicken you'll probably be eating at the dinner later. -- Read more

When I first got started in freelance writing, I got so tired of people talking about "networking." By networking I don't mean computer networks, which as a geek I find interesting, and without which we wouldn't have lovely vehicles like the Internet with which to find, deliver, show off our work. I mean the kind where you imagine standing around in stuffy clothes and uncomfortable shoes, talking to people you don't know and trying to find out what they can do for you while they try to find out what you can do for them. Sounds about as appetizing as the rubber chicken you'll probably be eating at the dinner later. -- Read more

As I've mentioned before, and will mention again, freelancing is a business. Business requires customers, and freelancers who create content (writers, course developers, etc.) essentially have two types of customers: people who pay them to create, and people who read or use what's created. Sometimes both types are in the same entity, such as a company that hires you to create a course for their own people to use in-house around some of their own tasks. -- Read more

"Freelancer" is such a generic term, right up there with "Contractor" or "Consultant" for telling people absolutely nothing about what you actually do.

As many people would be happy to tell you, the term "Freelance" comes from "Free Lance," basically a lance (mercenary) for hire rather than belonging to this or that noble's guards or army. This definition leads to all kinds of jokes about cut-throat industries, etc., but it's basically accurate. A freelancer is self-employed, moving from one job to another as time and work dictate. At any given time a freelancer may be working solely for one client, or for many clients at once. The next day, they may have moved on. The next year, they may still be working for the same people. -- Read more