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Are you a Freelancer?

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Isaac Thuku

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Are you a Freelancer?

If you are freelancer, respond to this question and we'll get back to you with all the resources you need to succeed online

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Freelanceers, article writers, gigs, online jobs, graphic designers, tech support, web designers, SEO marketers, php programmers, database specialists, Joomla, CMS, Wordpress, bloggers

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Isaac Thuku

What Resources Do I Need to Succeed as an Online Freelancer?

The resources each freelancer needs to succeed can be categorised based on the objectives of a Freelancer

Be Found Easily

Your clients need a way to find you and find out the services that you provide. You will also need a way to communicate new deals and offers to existing and prospective clients. The following web resources will ensure that clients can always find you:

- Build a professional website
- Start a blog
- Open a Facebook page
- Open a twitter account
- If you are graphics designer a Pinterest account is ideal for you
- Build an email list
- Register in local directories in your area

Manage Time Wisely and Avoid Procrastination

A freelancer's worst enemy is abundance of time and if you do not manage it properly most of it ends up being wasted on non-productive activities. Poor time management will lead to missed deadlines and poor quality of work delivered in the last minute. That's bad for business.

Create a to-do list at the beginning of your day and check them of at the end of the day. Carry forward any incompletes to the next day and note down the next actionable step to get them closer to completion.

You could also get a tool to manage your projects so that at the end of the day it gives you a report showing the status of each project. This will also come in handy when billing your client's per hour because you are able to track them per project.

Security and Convenience

Have you ever had one of those mornings when you can't seem to remember or correctly type in your password to a vital freelance work account? This used to happen to me all the time. It is even worse if you are used to the auto save password in the browser.

Get a free password manager application and most of them allow you to autotype the credentials.

Save Time on Repetitive Tasks

As a freelancer you will find there are documents that you have to send to clients often. They could be directions, payment transfer information, job requirements, project schedules or just an auto response when you miss a client's call on your cell.

Create templates of these documents or emails such that when you need to send one the only information that changes is minimal.

The same applies to text messages on your smartphone.

Bill and Pay Accurately and On Time

Have you ever forgotten to send the bill to a client after the work is complete, missed a payment because you missed the cut off date to deliver invoices or forgot to remit payments to your team?

This can lead to loss of trust.

Get a billing system that either automatically remits the bills and payments or at least sends you a reminder when they are due. Payroll system if you have a team

Show Them What it Looks Like

A part and parcel of freelance work is the requirement to demonstrate how stuff works or looks like without going to the client's location.

A good screen capture application enables you to do this effortlessly and enables the client to make informed decisions as well as provide feedback on work in progress.

Be Reachable

You'd like the client or teammate to easily get a hold of you without having to look for a phone or type an email.

Live chat make is easy to have a conversation directly with the client or have a chat room with your team to brainstorm a tough issue. The face that everything is in text, you can refer back and forth if any questions arise later on and share files with one click.

These are resources I use in my business as freelancer. I did not specify names because each entrepreneur works differently hence need different tools to achieve the same goals.

Thank you for reading and please leave us a comment on what tools and resources you use in your freelance enterprise?

2015-11-09