Why You Should Use a Virtual Assistant to Scale Your Freelance Business

Why You Should Use a Virtual Assistant to Scale Your Freelance Business

by | Nov 3, 2021 | Blog, Resources

Running a freelance business keeps you busy. There’s an endless number of things you could be doing at any given time, from client work to biz-ops to marketing to accounting. For many freelancers, the idea of growing their business stalls at the thought of hiring.

Taking a one-person operation to a multi-person operation sounds hectic. Finding someone? Training them? Paying them?! When you’re used to managing everything on your own, the prospect of bringing in outside help can be scary. But the reality is if you want to grow and scale your business, bringing in extra help is necessary.

Luckily, finding help doesn’t have to be a dredge—or cost an arm and a leg. Instead of hiring a full-time or part-time employee, you can use virtual assistant services to scale your business. Many virtual assistants are freelancers themselves and, no matter what you need support with, you can likely find a virtual assistant (VA) to help.

Here’s what you need to know before welcoming a VA into your business.

If you want to grow and scale your business, bringing in extra help is necessary.

Why Hire a Virtual Assistant

First and foremost, virtual assistants help you delegate simple tasks and get back precious time that you can devote to more profitable to-dos. Some freelancers spend 50% of their time on prospecting, marketing, and administrative tasks. Sounds unbelievable, right? But if you were to break down your day hour-by-hour, you’d probably find that you spend a whole lot of time on tasks that you’d hope would actually occupy just a fraction of your day.

In addition to taking work off your plate, virtual assistants can augment your skillset, adding value significantly. Are there any tasks that you’re not so great at? Maybe it’s marketing, invoicing, or calendar management. Imagine if you could hand that off to someone else and focus on what you really enjoy and excel at? (Good news, you can!)

How to Use a Virtual Assistant

There are so many practical ways to put a virtual assistant to work. You can use them for admin work, customer service, basic accounting, marketing, and even personal life tasks, like scheduling travel or researching restaurants for dinner. Many virtual assistants specialize in specific areas, like graphic design or bookkeeping, alongside admin tasks like email and calendar management.

The first step to finding the perfect VA for your business is breaking down exactly what you do every day; right down to the nitty-gritty. In other words, be as specific as you can. Then, use the exercise I’m about to share to figure out which of those things you can take off your plate.

First: make a list of each area of your business and the tasks that fall within each one. For example:

  • Finance: expense tracking, invoicing, monthly reconciliation
  • Marketing: website updates, social media posting, cold outreach
  • Client work: research, scheduling, proposal management
  • Personal: groceries, appointment scheduling, travel planning

Once you have your list (remember to include everything!), decide which tasks a VA could do for you by answering these questions:

  • What do I hate doing?
  • What is something I can teach someone to do?
  • What doesn’t require my presence to get done?

Get ready to be shocked. I bet there are dozens of tasks that you hate doing, you can teach, or that don’t require you to be hands-on! And exhale—this is where the good stuff happens. Now it’s time to find someone to take those things on.

How to Find a Good Virtual Assistant

There are so many great virtual assistants out there. That can make choosing the right person overwhelming. Instead of opting for no help to avoid the overwhelm of finding someone, let’s break your search process down into three simple steps. (We love simple and easy!)

Step 1: Get Clear on Your Tasks

Go back to the list of tasks you came up with earlier and write a job ad. Remember: you want this ad to help you attract your dream VA, so imagine who that person is and put it on paper! Be specific, clear, and outline each and every task along with the traits, skills, and qualifications you’re looking for. I.E. great communication, knowledge of WordPress, etc. Here’s an example from our Twitter community.

Step 2: Determine Your Budget

There are three areas to look at when nailing down your VA budget.

The budget you can afford: While some may say “you can’t put a price on good help” your bank account may feel differently. Step one is deciding what you can reasonably spend each month. Starting slowly with a smaller budget, if that’s what you feel most comfortable with, is a great first step.

Hours you need: Now go back to that (potentially large) list of tasks and break it down into two parts: “NEED” and “WANT.” Where do you truly need support—the things that are taking time away from client work—and what would be nice to have? How many hours of work is this each month?

Estimated monthly costs: Finally, determine an estimated monthly cost based on an average hourly rate. According to UpWork the average hourly rates for VAs range from $18-$35/hour (and some cost even less while some cost more—it truly depends on the VA). You can use this range to get a general idea of how many hours you can afford and what will work within your budget.

Step 3: Search for Your Dream VA

There are so many places to find a great VA, starting with your community and immediate network. Our Harlow co-founder, Samantha, tweeted about looking for a VA and got tons of comments with recommendations! Another option is to simply reach out to other freelancers and business owners to get recommendations.

Finally, if you want to browse for options or work with an agency that can pair you with the perfect assistant for you (this sounds ideal), there are a few websites I recommend checking out:

How to Manage (and Keep!) a Good Virtual Assistant

Once you get a great VA, don’t forget about the work you need to put in to retain them! A little bit of effort and empathy can go a long way. Here are a few ways to make sure that your VA sticks around.

  • Set expectations around communication, tools to be used, and workflows. You set the pace and culture, so go ahead—step into that leadership role!
  • Create an SOP for your business so there’s total clarity on how things work. An SOP (standard operation procedure) is a step-by-step documentation for how to do various tasks within your business like onboarding a client. This is helpful because, ideally, you can simply hand the SOP over to your VA and they’ll know what to do! This makes onboarding them a breeze. You can make it even easier by using Loom to record yourself going through various steps and processes so they have a written document and video.
  • Make space in your day for checking in and asking questions as they get started. You know what it’s like to onboard with a new client, and now it’s your turn to be an understanding client yourself.
  • Give them brand guidelines, messaging docs, or anything else they need to be successful in their role. Create a list of what they’ll need before onboarding so you don’t forget anything in the process. (Reminder: you’re managing A LOT, lists make life easier!)
  • Give feedback in real-time. Emilie Given, the founder of She’s a Given, says not to wait until your next check-in to communicate that you want something done differently. Do it at that moment so the task is still fresh in their mind.

Are You Ready for a Virtual Assistant?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with work or just ready to grow and scale your business, a virtual assistant may be the perfect addition to your team!

How to Figure Out Your Pricing

How to Figure Out Your Pricing

by | Sep 17, 2021 | Freelancer 101, Guides

As a freelancer, waffling on your pricing is practically a rite of passage. Unless you’re hyper-comfortable with putting yourself out there, valuing your own services is rarely a breeze. It can be hard. And scary. And uncomfortable. And that discomfort can lead you to lower your pricing over and over until you’re charging far less than what you actually deserve.

If that is where you are at right now on your freelancing journey, we feel you. We’ve been there too. Asking people to pay you for your work can confront you with all sorts of false (but convincing!) stories about your own skills, experience, and worth. And if you get caught up in those stories, you may undervalue your services so much that you end up working longer hours, taking on cheap clients, and, eventually, burning yourself out.

It doesn’t have to happen this way, though. We want to help you move through the sticky, scary stuff that comes up when you’re on the brink of professional growth. When you set your freelance prices according to the real value that you offer, you tend to attract clients who are willing to pay you what you truly deserve. And those clients are typically easier and more fulfilling to work with.

So… where do you start? Let’s walk through the basics of how to price your services correctly as a freelancer, so you set yourself up for success.

Step 1: Get to know the market.

When you’re setting freelance prices, it’s important to consider what the going rate is for other freelancers who offer comparable services. The easiest way to do that is to talk to the people around you. Chat with other freelancers on social media. Post a story on Instagram or tweet at the freelance community and ask them to chime in.

You can also explore online databases like Freelancing Females and The Freelance Creative, where people can post their rates publicly. This is a great way to compare rates by industry, service, and region in order to figure out what the ballpark range is for the work you’re doing.

Step 2: Set your salary goal.

Next, it’s important to decide how much you want to make annually. If you’re a sole proprietor, it’s easy to take this part lightly. But before you jot down a pretty number and move along, try pausing to consider how seriously you would take this step if you were paying someone else. Yep… It’s just as important when it’s you.

Setting financial goals as a freelancer isn’t just about intention. Your target income determines how many clients you’ll need and what prices you’ll charge them. So as you consider your freelance salary, be sure to account for freelancer taxes, business overhead, and any other fees or expenses that will reduce your take-home income. Make sure you’re happy with the number you see after you shave those off of the top.

Step 3: Calculate your working days per year.

What do you want your average week to look like? Will you take days off? (Please do!) If so, how many? Will you go on vacation? (Please do!!) If so, how often and for how long? Will you plan for sick days? (PLEASE DO!!!) If so, how many?

These questions are super important as you’re setting your freelance rates. Unlike a salaried position, where you can count on a consistent payment no matter how much you’re actually working, freelancing income depends on… how much you’re actually working (and, more specifically, how many billable hours you’re working. See Step 4 for more on that.). So, it’s helpful to first calculate your total number of working days per year before you can set your freelance pricing. Here’s the equation for that:

Working Days Per Year = 365 – weekend days – vacation days – sick days, etc.

So, say I plan to take two days off per week (104 days per year), 15 days of vacation, and 10 sick days per year… That leaves me with 236 working days per year (365 – 104 – 15 – 10 = 236).

Step 4: Calculate your billable hours per year.

How many working hours do you want to max out at per day? What commitments and personal time will you need to figure in when planning your weekly schedule? And how much time will you devote to non-billable work, like business operations?

Since you’re a business owner on top of a business doer, it’s critical to think about all of the hours (and dollars) you put in behind the scenes to make your freelance business run. That includes the work you’re not explicitly charging clients for (AKA your non-billable hours), like marketing your business, handling the bookkeeping, managing technology, and so on. Once you figure out your average non-billable hours per work day, you can then calculate your billable hours per work day. Here’s how to do that:

Billable Hours Per Work Day = Total Hours Per Day – Total Non-Billable Hours Per Work Day

For example, if I plan to work an average of 6 hours per work day, and 1.5 hours will go toward non-billable work, that leaves me with roughly 4.5 hours of billable hours per work day (6 – 1.5 = 4.5).

From there, you can multiply your total billable hours per work day and your working days per year to arrive at your billable hours per year:

Billable Hours Per Year = Billable Hours Per Work Day x Working Hours Per Year

Using the examples above, I would end up with roughly 1062 billable hours per year (236 x 4.5 = 1062).

Step 5: Calculate your hourly freelance rates.

Once you’re clear on the market rates, your yearly income goals, and your billable hours per work day, you can do the math to figure out exactly what you should be charging your future clients. Here’s what that looks like.

Freelance Rate = Yearly Income Goal / Billable Hours Per Year

For example, if I aim to make $100,000 per year, I would need to charge my clients around $94 an hour ($100,000 / 1062 = $94). Does that roughly align with the market rates for the work I offer? If so, great! I’ve just landed on my freelance pricing. If not, is it higher or lower than average? And is the rate I’ve come up with reflective of the real value of the work I offer?

If your rate is on the low end, consider upping it until you reach a number that feels genuinely uncomfortable. That’s probably closer to your true value! If your rate is on the high end, consider sleeping on it before you start reducing the number. You could run it by friendlies in your industry to see how they react, too. If the rate still feels too high after that, then try reducing it by no more than 10%.

Pitch clients on the true benefits of the work that you deliver, as opposed to selling the services themselves.

Step 6: Name your rate and sell your value.

Finally, when you’ve landed on a freelance rate that you’re (at least sort of) comfortable advertising, you can practice selling your value. What does that mean, exactly? It’s pitching clients on the true benefits of the work that you deliver, as opposed to selling the services themselves. When it comes down to it, this is all about simple and compelling packaging.

When you package your work up in a way that is attractive and easy to consume, you’re likely to convince potential clients that you’re more than worth your hourly rate. In practice, this means describing the true business value of your services. For instance, if you’re a marketing consultant, instead of talking in-depth about the technical improvements you’ll make to their website, try focusing on the improved user experience, increased conversion rates, and higher revenue that your work could produce.

If a prospect pushes back on your pricing, remember: You don’t have to negotiate if you don’t want to! Your prices are your prices. If you don’t feel comfortable lowering your rate for someone, then don’t. But if it makes sense for you and the client, you can consider decreasing the scope of the project to lower the overall costs, especially if they don’t have the budget to pay for what was originally outlined.

The Takeaway: Know. Your. Worth.

Of course, the monetary value of your work has nothing to do with your value as a person. (You’re priceless, BTW.) But those of us who work for ourselves know that naming our prices can easily get mixed up with our own sense of personal worth. So if you must put a price tag on yourself, make it a damn good one. Stand tall. Connect with other freelancers who cheer you on. Share your fears and your struggles. And most importantly, celebrate your wins—including the moments when you swallow back your discomfort and send a proposal with an hourly rate that makes you proud.

How to Create a Proposal

How to Create a Proposal

by | Sep 15, 2021 | Freelancer 101, Guides

You just nailed a pitch for a potential client. The wind is in your sails. You can already visualize the project plan, the deliverables, and the enthusiastic referrals after a job well done. You’re getting ready to draft a follow-up email outlining your pricing and suggesting next steps, but then you pause and remember the workflow: It’s time to create a proposal.

Ahh, the P word. So vague. If you’ve never created a client proposal before and you have no idea where to start, don’t worry. It’s not as daunting as it sounds. You don’t need to get down on one knee and ask your client for their business (although that would be funny). Creating a proposal is just about following a formula and showing off a little. In this post, we’ll break down the basics, offer pro tips, and show you how to create a proposal that lands you more business.

What is the goal of a proposal?

A proposal isn’t just a formality—it’s a critical step in the process of kicking off a new client relationship. And in many ways, it’s like an extension of your sales pitch, giving you another opportunity to sell your services and share what you’re all about. It demonstrates your professionalism and gives potential clients a true taste of what working with you is like. (Spoiler: It’s awesome.)

Beyond encouraging people to work with you, the primary purpose of a proposal is to align on expectations, detail the scope of work, and outline your pricing structure. It’s important to consider exactly what you’re trying to communicate and settle on a plan that is reasonable and achievable, because this is the final step before you move onto creating a contract.

A proposal illustrates your professionalism and gives potential clients a true taste of what working with you is like.

What does your proposal need?

The structure of your proposal will vary based on your industry, services, and project needs, but the general elements of a good proposal are:

    • About – An introduction explaining who you are, what you do, and why you’re great
    • Executive Summary – An overview of the problem you’re solving
    • Proposed Solution – An explanation of how you’d solve the problem
    • Pricing – Details on your rates and packages
    • Call to Action – A final invitation to do business with you

About

The About section gives potential clients a clear picture of who they’d be doing business with. Just like the About page of a website, this section covers your background, your experience, and your services. This is your opportunity to sell yourself again, so be sure to let your personality shine through. Unless the client’s vibe requires it, you don’t need to be hyper-formal or buttoned up here. You’re a human, after all. Giving them a sense of what you’re all about.

This is your opportunity to sell yourself again, so be sure to let your personality shine through.

It’s great to include extra tidbits in the About Us section that may convince someone to move forward too. For example, if you have client testimonials or portfolio links to share, this is the place to do it. Just make sure you’re offering relevant examples that will resonate with your client. You can offer briefs of work you’ve done for other companies in parallel industries, which demonstrates that you’re equipped to serve companies like theirs. Or, better yet, you can include client quotes that offer social proof of your abilities.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is the place to show clients you understand them and their needs. This is where you outline the issue or challenge they’re facing and explain how you can help them solve it. This is an opportunity for you to reiterate how you’d approach the project and demonstrate why you’re the best person to take it on. It’s the lay-up to the meat of the proposal (coming next). By establishing what’s needed, you can set up your unique solution.

Proposed Solution

Once the challenge is stated, you can move onto your offering. The Proposed Solution is where you go deep on the details, explicitly laying out the scope of the project, the deliverables, and what success looks like by the end of the project. This section is all about setting expectations. What exactly are you offering? What will they get by the end of the project? And how long will it all take to accomplish?

Creating a detailed outline helps you control the scope of work and align on what it is you’re offering, so it’s crystal clear before you move forward to creating a contract. Remember that a proposal is just that—a proposed solution, not a final offering. This section, in particular, may call for follow-up conversations to clarify and work out the details. The most important thing is that you and the client are totally aligned on what it is you’ll be doing for them, and when.

The most important thing is that you and the client are totally aligned on what it is you’ll be doing for them, and when.

Pricing

The Pricing section of a proposal is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the place for you to detail your rates. If you’re proposing hourly work, be sure to give rough estimates of the total number of hours you will work within a given time period (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, or over the entire course of the project). If you plan to charge a single project fee or a retainer, it’s important to clearly outline the costs and the time frame for completion. Remember: The terms of the agreement will be in the contract, so you don’t need to get super granular here.

Call to Action

Finally, the Call to Action (or CTA) closes out your proposal and invites the client to take next steps. Make sure you’re clear and confident with your directions. Explain exactly what they should do next. If they want to accept the proposal, should they reply back to confirm? And if so, how long do they have to consider it? If they have questions, can they schedule another call to discuss or should they email you? If they don’t want to move forward, how should they notify you? Lay it all out. Make it easy for them to say yes.

Proposal Pro Tips

If you’ve made it this far and you’re feeling good, hell yeah. Proud of you. Here are some extra pieces of advice to help you create a proposal that lands you work ASAP (without sapping your time and energy).

    1. Don’t recreate the wheel. Use a template!!! They exist for a reason. Templates are great. Templates save time. Templates save lives. If you’re a Harlow user, you can use one of our pre-built templates!
    2. Consider adding a cover page and a table of contents. Putting some extra TLC into your proposal can sell a client who appreciates the effort. It’s not essential, but it’s nice.
    3. Make it pretty and readable. A visually appealing proposal adds a lot. It’s also a neat way to show off your branding and give clients a sense of your style. Just make sure it’s easy to read and absorb.
    4. Keep the contract separate. Some people like to combine their proposal and contract, but we recommend separating these two documents. It’s better to take it step by step and hold off on sending a legally binding contract until you’ve settled on the details of the proposal. See our full post on this for more details.

Ready to propose?

To us?! Blushing. Seriously though, we’re committed to helping freelancers like you create awesome proposals and land new clients with ease. We know the whole pre-project process can be stressful, especially if you’re new to the freelancing game. But with a little time, experience, and great software, it’s easy and even… fun? You can use Harlow for all of your proposal needs by signing up here.

Time to Get Paid: How to Easily Create and Invoice Your Clients

Time to Get Paid: How to Easily Create and Invoice Your Clients

by | Sep 14, 2021 | Freelancer 101, Guides

You’ve launched your freelance business (YAY). You’ve booked your first client (double YAY). You’re well on your way to becoming a confident business owner and making the money that comes along with that. At the end of month one with your new client, you’re feeling great about the future. The work is fun. You’re getting good feedback. You’re DOING IT. You’re a REAL business owner.

But now… it’s time to create that invoice and get paid. Imposter syndrome sets in as you visualize yourself typing the numbers and hitting send. You don’t even know where to begin. Figuring out how to invoice a client can stir up lots of anxiety. We get it — it’s not always easy to ask for money. But it is necessary. And with a little time and practice, it gets easier and easier.

We’re here to walk you through the basics of how to invoice your clients, including tips and tricks that make getting paid as painless as possible.

What to Include in Your Invoice

Whenever you’re invoicing your clients, it’s important to include key information about the services you’ve provided so your client understands exactly what you’re charging them for. The more explicit you are upfront, the more likely you are to get paid in a timely manner, because you cut down on all the back-and-forth.

Here are the essential elements your invoice should include:

A breakdown of the services you are charging for (including a time period, if that’s relevant here). Some clients may want you to be more detailed than others. Additional detail never hurts.

Payment terms. Depending on the client and your service offering you might want to require some, or all, of the payment up front. This is something you definitely want to discuss with the client when you are negotiating the contract. If you are invoicing them after the fact, we recommend starting with net 15 payment terms (i.e. payment is due within 15 days of receipt) and then going from there if your clients push back. The earlier you get money, the better!

How you want clients to pay you. Think through how you’re going to accept money. Some freelancers accept payment through a variety of methods (ACH, checks, Venmo, PayPal, credit cards), while others stick to one or two methods for easier tracking.

  • If you plan on accepting credit card payments or using services like PayPal or Venmo, keep in mind that fees will be deducted from your payment. You can easily build the additional cost into your pricing if you account for it upfront. Just be careful to not ignore this — these transaction costs can add up to a meaningful chunk of change over time.
  • If you plan to accept payment through ACH, make sure you’re including your EIN and any necessary routing and account numbers.

Contact information. Invoices should always include your name, company name, business address, and email. Make sure that your invoice can stand alone, so that anyone at the company who sees it will know how to reach out to you. Oftentimes, the person paying your invoice is not your point of contact. Your invoice is likely to get sent from one person to another!

Once you have all of the necessary information in your invoice, it’s time to send or schedule.

Best Practices for Sending an Invoice

Before you shoot your invoice out:

Make sure you understand who the invoice should be sent to. Oftentimes, there’s someone from finance that will need to be included to get your invoice paid. Once you know who you should be sending it to, you can properly address it.

Determine when you’ll send your invoice. Are you generating it immediately or in advance? Is this a recurring invoice with the same line items and payment terms? Or will it differ month-to-month? Also, think about your billing cadence–will you send biweekly or once a month on the 1st of the month?

Be sure to write a quick note for the recipient. We suggest adding a little personality to your email so it’s not stuffy or overly formal. Make sure you say hi and let your client know that you’ve enjoyed working with them and look forward to future business together (as long as it’s in your and their best interest 😉 ).

Other Invoicing Tips and Tricks

If it works for your business, try to get in the habit of sending your invoices all at the same time. This will make it easier to keep track of who you’ve invoiced and who has paid. Getting money in the bank on a predictable schedule is the goal here!

Don’t be afraid to follow up on unpaid invoices. Payment terms exist for a reason — so enforce them. If you’re shuddering at the thought of sending a follow-up message or charging a fee for late payment, remember that you can always refer back to the contract they agreed to and signed.

Finally, be sure to use a methodical invoicing system that keeps you organized. It will save you a world of headaches on the daily and come tax season. With Harlow’s freelancing software, you can invoice your clients with ease, creating an easy and repeatable process so you get paid on time with minimal effort. Sign up for a free trial to see how it works.

Freelancer 101: Your Ultimate Guide to Launching Your Freelance Business

Freelancer 101: Your Ultimate Guide to Launching Your Freelance Business

by | Sep 14, 2021 | Featured, Guides

If you’ve landed here because you’re on the brink of launching your own freelance business, congrats! And welcome to the cool kids club. We’re fun, promise. You’re joining an eclectic population of dreamers and doers who have opted out of traditional work structures to run their lives a bit more creatively.

Freelancing is on the rise — and for good reason. This lifestyle offers flexible schedules, remote working, greater autonomy, and loads of opportunities to try new things and learn as you go. Plus, most freelancers make better money than they did at their previous jobs. So all in all, it’s a pretty great move. *high-five*

But… we know it can be intimidating to get started. You’re running a business, after all, and that comes with a whole new set of responsibilities, like sourcing clients, managing expenses, and filing your quarterly taxes (don’t forget). In order to help you breeze through the early stages, we put together this freelancer 101 guide, which walks you through the nine basic steps to launching a successful freelance business.

Chapter 1: How to Build Your Network

Our first piece of wisdom: Don’t do everything yourself. Look to the people who can help you get where you want to go. Building a juicy network of peers can lead you to tons of professional opportunities you otherwise wouldn’t have found. And since the best clients come from referrals, tapping into your network is a great place to start when you’re trying to find clients.

Keep reading.

Chapter 2: How to Structure Your Business

Sole Proprietorship, Single Member LLC, or S-Corp. Did those words send a shudder down your spine? You’re not alone. It can be tricky to understand how and why you should structure your biz a certain way. We walk you through the options in layman’s terms.

Get started.

Chapter 3: How to Figure Out Your Pricing

Before you land a client or even schedule a call with a prospect, it’s important to know your numbers. What is your hourly rate? Do you charge a flat project fee? How about a retainer? And when and how do you collect payment? Answering all these questions before you talk to your clients is key if you want to make enough to cover your expenses and live comfortably.

Let’s do it.

Chapter 4: How to Land Your First Client

It’s the burning question for most new freelancers: How do you find and attract the right clients? The trick is to get very clear about what you’re selling first. Once you have a complete picture of your offering, it’s a whole lot easier to figure out who needs exactly that — and where you can find them. Hopefully you’ve already done a bit of this work while figuring out your pricing model. If not, now is the time.

Here we go!

Chapter 5: How to Create a Proposal

On to the nitty-gritty. Once you’ve landed a potential client, it’s time to close the deal. For freelancers, that means creating a badass proposal that outlines the project scope and continues to sell the client on your services. This step-by-step guide will help you nail the landing and get one step further to a signed contract.

Dive in.

Chapter 6: How to Create a Contract

We recommend you never start working without a contract in place. A contract protects you from liability, outlines payment terms, defines confidentiality, and more. Here we walk you through how to create a contract and what it should include.

Learn more.

Chapter 7: How to Create and Invoice a Client

You’re off to the races doing great work for your client. Now, you gotta get paid. Here we walk you through the essential elements of a good invoice and share a professional Google Docs invoice template that you can copy and use to make your life a whole lot easier.

Get to it.

Chapter 8: How to Track Business Expenses

Finally, we’re onto finances. Keeping track of what you’re spending your hard-earned money on is a huge, important part of successful freelancing. The better your books, the easier your life will be when it’s time to pay taxes or to chart your business’s performance. Get on it early — you’ll thank yourself later.

Start tracking.

Chapter 9: How to Streamline Project Management

Trust us when we say that it’s very difficult to run a freelance business if you’re not organized. Don’t wait until the chaos gets out of control. Follow these key steps to make sure your project management and business is streamlined from the get-go.

Become a pro.