Cindy Prosser on Freelancing
Jan 28, 2009 50 Words
Cindy says…
Be unique! Have that special something that will prompt your client talk about you to others. While you may be unable to compete with other freelancers or businesses on knowledge, price, etc., you need to have that special something that makes them want YOU. Even if your work isn’t spectacular, you’ll be spectacular to work with.
About Cindy
Cindy is visual designer & information architect who got into designing with web standards in Ottawa, Canada 8 years ago & currently has Attitude e-media in Mandurah, Western Australia. Our mantra is “build websites with the respect that the Web deserves”.
About this Post
This post is one of a series, written by various people within the web industry. They are responses to my request for a maximum of 50 words on the topic of tips for freelance success. You can use the 50 words category to see all the answers so far.
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Tags: freelance book, freelance guide, freelancer, freelancer tips
Establishing Goals and Milestones
Jan 26, 2009 Excerpts
This is an excerpt from the book, The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Sample chapters are available for downloading from this page.
All this talk of business-planning documents and SWOT analyses may be making your head spin, and you’re forgiven if you find yourself glossing over them in your rush to make a tangible start on your own business. However, I strongly suggest that you take a moment to write down some simple goals and then define some milestones.
Goal-setting helps filter all of the thousands of thoughts and ideas you have into a list that’s far more manageable. High achievers in every field from sports to business consistently suggest that goal-setting is an invaluable part of the process. Goals can help you define your objectives, help you to understand what’s important to you, motivate you towards achievement, and build your self-confidence.
I find goal-setting is most helpful in distinguishing what’s important and what’s irrelevant. This helps me concentrate on what really is crucial to me, and gives me the freedom to spend less time on the rest.
Many people use the acronym SMART when creating goals, as well as for other project management methods. SMART stands for:
- Specific: is the description of the goal precise?
- Measurable: do you explain how you will measure results?
- Attainable: is it possible to achieve, with some effort?
- Realistic: do you have the power to control the results?
- Timely: do you have a deadline for the goal?
The reasoning behind SMART holds that a vague goal is an almost useless goal. As an example, say I needed to win more projects; I could define a goal as, “Get more web site projects.” Sure, this is better than nothing, but how much more inspiring would it be if I changed it to say, “Win five more web site projects this quarter.”
See the difference? I’ve been specific (I want to win more projects); I’ve been measurable (I want five more in the next three months); my goal is attainable (who couldn’t win five projects in three months?); my goal is realistic (I know I can deliver five projects within that time); and it’s timely (it has a three-month deadline).
Setting a great goal should challenge and stimulate you. If I downsized my goal to winning one project in the next two months, I’d be more likely to slack off. It also needs to be realistic, though, so some impossible expectation of getting ten projects in three months would set up almost certain failure. It’s a good idea to limit yourself to just a handful of short-term and medium-term goals—writing an exhaustive list of everything you would like to complete prior to your death is a sure way to demotivate yourself.
Tip: Goal-setting Help
You may have heard of the popular Web 2.0 application, 43 Things. This site presents a great example of goal-setting at work—try listing your goals on 43 Things, or simply use a text file or whiteboard, and see how you go!
Now, when we think of milestones, we normally recall a large web project we’ve been involved in. Think of a milestone as a landmark towards your longer-term goals.
A typical milestone is to realize a situation where you’re earning more than your current salary within a year of going solo. There are some smaller milestones you can place along the way to see how you’re shaping up.
The first milestone would be having the ability to pay yourself enough to survive on. Let’s say that’s about half of what you earn today. Set a milestone based upon how long you believe it should take to reach this point—it may be a month, or perhaps three months, depending on your situation.
Now, let’s consider your return on investment, which is initially to reclaim all of those start-up costs involved in your transition to freelance life. These vary, of course, from person to person, but you should have an idea of how long this would take.
The third milestone is that of bringing home the same salary as you currently earn. Will this take six months, or nine months, or even longer?
Write down your milestones and refer to them over the coming months—you’ll be surprised how quickly you reach them, exceed them, and find yourself setting more goals for future success!
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Tags: freelance hints, freelancer, freelancing book, successful freelancing
Bob Sawyer on Freelancing
Jan 21, 2009 50 Words
Bob says…
Spend at least two to three hours a week on networking and relationship building. The relationships you make may not pay off immediately, but you never know when someone will pop up with a job or referral. Join LinkedIn, get involved locally, and always be willing to collaborate on jobs.
About Bob
Bob Sawyer is the owner and head bottle washer of Pixels and Code, a web development shop in Atlanta, Georgia. He has freelanced on and off for about eighteen years.
About this Post
This post is one of a series, written by various people within the web industry. They are responses to my request for a maximum of 50 words on the topic of tips for freelance success. You can use the 50 words category to see all the answers so far.
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Tags: freelance tips, freelancer, freelancing
Creating a SWOT
Jan 19, 2009 Excerpts
This is an excerpt from the book, The Principles of Successful Freelancing. Sample chapters are available for downloading from this page.
The planning term SWOT first appeared in the 1960s. A SWOT analysis is really just a simple strategic planning method that helps evaluate projects and businesses. It’s based around a four-square grid, shown in Figure 1, “The SWOT grid explained”, which covers Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. I’ve used it a number of times to help me make decisions around new products or service offerings under consideration, and it works just as well for business models.
Example 1. Business Planning Questions
summary
* What is the initial concept?
* What is your current situation?
* What will your key success factors be?
* What are your longer-term vision and goals?
market analysis
* What does the current market look like?
* What is your target market?
* What are the characteristics of your perfect client?
* What do your target clients require?
competitive overview
* What does your industry look like?
* Are there many competitors?
* Who are your five closest competitors?
* What products or services do they offer?
* What opportunities do you have to be unique? (Can you fill a niche or be different from your competitors in some way?)
* What are the risks and threats?
sales and marketing
* How will you attract clients?
* How can potential clients find you?
* What marketing activities would you consider?
plan of action
* What do you need to do in order to kick things off?
* What should you do in the medium term?
* What are some longer-term plans?
Figure 1. The SWOT grid explained
To start your own SWOT analysis, list all of your strengths and weaknesses—these can be thought of as the internal elements, over which which you have some degree of control. Continue by identifying all of the opportunities and threats that you can—these are generally external forces, such as competitors and the industry at large. Then, look for ways to use your strengths, improve on your weaknesses, exploit the opportunities available to you, and fend off the threats.
A SWOT analysis certainly doesn’t need to be as long-winded as it may sound; I have found some of the most useful SWOT analyses are those that fit onto a single page. By way of example, let’s look at our very own Jacob and Emily.
Jacob has put together the beginnings of a SWOT, which looks like this:
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|---|---|
| natural networker (great with people) | small savings, and has never run a business before | knows the industry, has a good understanding of market | many freelancers work nearby |
| fantastic portfolio of work | not proficient with code | has many contacts who may be prospects | larger firms offering a similar service |
Emily, on the other hand, has put together a SWOT that is more like this:
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|---|---|
| has a wide range of skills | not very good at planning | only web developer freelancing in her local area | other people becoming freelancers |
| very hard working | perfectionist; sometimes takes more time to complete projects than she intends to | has a contract or two already lined up | lack of clients in small city |
These examples are only a few lines long, but you can easily extend them to a page or more. The concept is really a succinct and useful method of establishing your pros and cons.
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Tags: freelance book, freelance business, freelance planning, freelancing guide
Drew Turney on Freelancing
Jan 14, 2009 50 Words
Drew says…
Doing the actual work once you get it is the easy part. Particularly in the early stages of your freelance career (the first few years, not the first month), every project you get is like going for a job interview and getting hired by a company over and over again. You¹ll be hired for who you are, not just what you can do, so sell yourself and be prepared to be ’switched on’ a lot of the time in order to do it.
About Drew
A graphic designer and web developer by trade, Drew capitalised on his knowledge of technology in the creative field to launch a freelance journalism career, also specialising in his other passions of movies and book publishing.
About this Post
This post is one of a series, written by various people within the web industry. They are responses to my request for a maximum of 50 words on the topic of tips for freelance success. You can use the 50 words category to see all the answers so far.
If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to the RSS feed!
Tags: 50words, freelance book, freelancer guide, freelancing tips
