Comments on: SMART Freelancing: Are You Being Realistic?

By: Project Managment Planning Time | Men With Pens

Project Managment Planning Time | Men With Pens — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:02:34 +0000

[...] The intro to SMART freelancing The first key: Specific The second key: Measurable The third key: Agreed Upon The fourth key: Realistic [...]

By: Tweet Weekly Bulletin: I hope this pisses you off. | Code My Own Road

Tweet Weekly Bulletin: I hope this pisses you off. | Code My Own Road — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:02:00 +0000

[...] SMART Freelancing: Are You Being Realistic? – Men With Pens [...]

By: Eliza

Eliza — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:39:45 +0000

@kingworks – ah yes, the guilt about charging what we are worth because, well, it’s church or charitable organization. Trust me, I have worked for both churches and charitable organizations and they *know* they are running a business. Most are better at running businesses than for-profit organizations are! Family … friends .. churches .. non profits …. business is business. Charge what you are worth.
Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes

By: kingworks

kingworks — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:08:41 +0000

I must say, these SMART articles are really hitting home for me. I have a regular 8-5 job and moonlight as an amateur freelancer. I had client referred to me by a friend of a friend and suddenly find myself 1) underbidding the hours 2) not being specific enough (and loosing time & money because of it) and 3) working on this far longer than I ever wanted to – and for a charitable non-profit, no less! – so I feel guilty saying “Hey, my services are worth more than me just giving you work for free as a donation.” Suffice it to say that it has been a hard learning experience, and a has shown each and every facet of the SMART approach to be dead-on target. Take it from me: learn and live this advice now, or suffer later!!!

By: Eliza

Eliza — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:58:20 +0000

@Paul – when we go to a physical building as a client we have visual reminders about the biz hours. A sign on the door stating the hours. A locked door after hours. But when we do biz online we don’t have those clues, so just start typing or pick up the phone. Odd how we expect 24/7 service just because it’s online. We are all guilty of this to some degree. Interestingly, as clients we shouldn’t be doing biz 24/7 either. We also need our ’shut down’ tiime.
Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:39:42 +0000

As someone who is on the client side, this is a timely reminder to respect freelancer’s hours and stop calling them at five minutes to five! This often happens because we’ve got our own pressures but we always need to be mindful that freelancers also need to clock off for the day.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:31:22 +0000

Hyperfocus is not something I’ve been blessed with. Just regular garden-variety focus. If you ever bottle it, I’ll be first in line to buy some.

New! HyperFocus! You kids can set off bombs in the basement and your deadlines will still be met when you buy this little miracle-in-a-bottle!

Until later,

Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..Inspiration Points: Blessings in Disguise & T-day Hype

By: James

James — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:51:42 +0000

@ Kelly – For some things in life, hyperfocus is a blessing.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:47:56 +0000

Melinda,

Re: The difficulties of wanting to be with the kids while working at home—Very, very true. That’s contrarian realism that more folks should be prepared for when they choose to work from home. Having watched James work with childrens’ chaos swirling in the background, I can say that it takes not only a special breed of person, but a special breed of family to work like that.

Until later,

Kelly
Kelly´s last blog ..MCE Holiday Gift Guide—for you, for customers, and for special people on your list

By: Eliza

Eliza — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:37:36 +0000

@Melinda – thanks for the daycare response. I was trying to figure out how a stay at home business owner could do BOTH taking care of their children and a full time business. Raises the point that we all have to decide how we want to spend our waking hours based on priorities, needs and wants. It doesn’t have to be about children. We have to be realistic about all the things we want to, and need to, accomplish in a 24 hour period.
Eliza´s last blog ..The Mis(Adventures) of Mike: A tired business owner