Let’s look at the first concept we met at the very start of this chapter in more detail: operational cash flow. You may feel great sending out all those invoices; however, those sheets of paper won’t help pay your expenses. The proof is in the pay ments—and it’s when they actually arrive in your bank account that matters. As we’ll discuss, not all businesses...
Loans and Savings
At the very least, you should have a bank account created solely for your business use. Don’t blur the line between your money and your business’s money, as it can allow you to fall into the trap of spending everything that you make.Organize a main business bank account, and then draw on that account for your own wages—a weekly...
Calculating Your Rates
There are basically two ways in which most freelancers charge for projects. The traditional method of a “per project” fee is often referred to as a fixed price contract, while charging by the hour is often referred to as time and materials.In either scenario, it is very important to work out what your minimum hourly rate should be. This way, you can track your progress against...
Determining Your Costs
You’ll no doubt have heard the old phrase “it costs money to make money,” and as cliched as this may sound, it is overwhelmingly accurate when applied to freelan cing. No matter how tight a rein you keep on your expenses, you’ll find unexpected bills are a fact of business life. By providing your budgeted amounts with generous margins, you’ll be better...
Hiring Professionals
If I only had room for three words in this entire chapter, they would be hire a professional.An accountant or bookkeeper will bring your accounts under control much faster than you ever could, and they’re very likely to save you money as well. Let’s face it: we might be fantastic at with crafting standards-compliant XHTML, or designing very usable and nicely...
Accounting Basics
The following concepts may seem like common sense, but they’re often overlooked in the excitement of pushing your freelance business off the ground. And we all know what will happen if you don’t keep an eye on the finances—don’t we?cash flowThe ideal incarnation of cash flow is an amount of cash coming in that’s greater than the cash going out; to put it bluntly, this is...
Engaging Assistance
Early on in starting out on your own, you’ll want to make alliances and choose suppliers for those services or products that you don’t offer yourself.A word from the wise: be very careful when choosing a supplier. Using a third-party product or service for a client project is akin to offering a raving endorsement about them, so it’s important to consider your options before making...
Considering Your Business Structure
When setting yourself up as a business, you should consider the implications of different business structures. If you intend to take on staff within the first few years, you may wish to set up a corporation. If you plan to remain a solo worker, having everything set up as a sole proprietorship may be the best solution.Having said this, consider speaking to an accountant and possibly a lawyer to seek advice...
Creating Your Brand: the Preliminaries
We’ll talk more about branding yourself in Chapter 5; however, it’s very important that you carefully consider the business name you plan to use, when first kicking off your freelance career. There are two typical approaches: use your personal name, or create an entirely new trading name.Let’s look at these options in more detail.Using Your Own NameUsing your own name is a fantastic way to...
Taking Time to Plan
“Failures don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan,” says best-selling author and business motivational speaker, Harvey MacKay.
If you are planning to start freelancing part-time, you should have the time to put together all of the plans and start saving for the just-in-case rainy-day money. On the other hand, if you plan to move straight into full-time freelancing, remember...
Deciding How Far to Jump
Now that you’ve made the decision to become a freelancer, we’ve reached the point of short-, medium-, and long-term preparation. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to jump in running as fast as you can. However, it’s been proven time and again that to ensure the best chance of success, you should expend plenty of effort in planning and preparation. This raises the question...
oDesk Cover Letter TIPS & TRICKS
TIPS & TRICKS
* Make sure that each cover letter you send on oDesk, is personalize and specific, to each job, that you are applying for.* Never copy and paste your cover letters contents, as every project is different, and needs, to be tailored, to it’s own requirements.* Never Provide Email ID / Skype ID or any other Contact Info (This is Against oDesk Policy)* Keep your cover letter short in length.* Every single line...
oDesk Cover Letter Sample ECOMMERCE
Dear Hiring Manager,
Let me introduce me as a hard working data entry professional willing to go that extra mile to achieve the targets set forth. I have excel- lent English skills and proficiency in E-commerce site navigation. I hope would be the right candidate for the current position with you.
Awaiting an affirmative response from your end.
Regards,(Your Name Here...
oDesk Cover Letter Sample GRAPHIC DESIGNS
Dear Hiring Manager,
This is Your Name Here from India, I'm a professional graphics designer. I have 4 Years experience in graphics design. I have a site where I a website where I publish various graphics design tutorial.
I have excellent experience in logo and banner design. I can create high quality design in a few time.
I have confident that I will do your work very well. I hope you would like my work and...
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