Comments on: Keep the Freelancer Clock Ticking

By: 10 Freelancer Mistakes that Damage Your Success | Men With Pens

10 Freelancer Mistakes that Damage Your Success | Men With Pens — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:01:55 +0000

[...] haste to get the project complete, which means you deliver less than your best. Know yourself and your schedules. Make a to-do list to help you manage your time. Also, work with your calendar when projects come [...]

By: Eliza

Eliza — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:44:13 +0000

@SiteBooster – agreed. And particularly challenging in a ‘Dilbert Cube’ environment. People can look over the walls of your office or walk right in. In my 9-5 world, I am very strict about batching my email reading and actioning, and letting my phone ring if I am talking to my staff or heads down busy (that’s what voice mail is for). We need to move away from the idea that everything needs to be responded to RIGHT NOW. When people get too reactive at my 9-5 instead of proactive, I calmly say “It’s a tax system, people. Nobody is going to die.” This tends to put things in perspective
.-= Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes =-.

By: Website Promotion Blog

Website Promotion Blog — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:06:51 +0000

@Eliza – I agree with you that home-based businesses could have such issues. Also, at offices, where phone rings, someone knocks on the door, a client wants to talk to you, because she’s come across some unprecedented problem, etc this can become a problem too. It’s at such cases, where planning and management could somewhat reduce the hassle.

If clients have a weekly time with you, if customers call and your phone ring isn’t that loud and someone else picks up the phone, and so on, we can get rid of those issues to some degrees.
.-= Website Promotion Blog´s last blog ..How to Participate in a Tweetchat =-.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:17:44 +0000

@SiteBooster – this is especially true when you work from a home office. You need to be even more self-disciplined about time management, because you don’t have the structure of a corporate office setting.
.-= Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes =-.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:15:23 +0000

@Marlene – that’s a very interesting dilmena, and one we have discussed here at Make Way. Marc, Make Way’s business advisor, is that your policies state how long the client has to do their ‘homework’. If they pass that time then you are still paid in full. If they then want you to complete the job, you re-negotiate a price. You might want to consider coming up with this type of policy. Does anybody else have any suggestions?
.-= Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes =-.

By: Website Promotion Blog

Website Promotion Blog — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:20:57 +0000

As a matter of fact, there are so many clutters around you when you’re sitting at the computer that time management could be a challenge these days, BUT one must overcome it.

… and this is done only through the “T” expressed so well at this post. I appreciate it and fully agree with it.
.-= Website Promotion Blog´s last blog ..Get Google Ranking Position via Fresh Content Marketing =-.

By: Marlene

Marlene — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:31:20 +0000

I do apply all of the principles you’ve described. However, right now I’m struggling to keep a project on track because the *client* is not living up to her side of the timeline. I’ve been doing as much reasonable prompting/nudging that I can. She simply doesn’t seem to care about completing the project on time…or any time soon!

At least I invoice upon submission of draft copy, so that’s not a worry. But I’d still like to get it done!

By: Eliza

Eliza — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:18:45 +0000

@Gillian – ah, your comment warms the cockles of my heart. If I am able to help just one person improve the efficiency of their business I have done my job
.-= Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes =-.

By: Gillian - Google SEO

Gillian - Google SEO — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:46:40 +0000

Thanks Elizabeth – I’ve enjoyed these posts. My goal setting has improved dramatically since I discovered the SMART system. It’s time to set more goals for the New Year!

By: Eliza

Eliza — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:31:38 +0000

@Hal – glad SMART sums it up for you

@Mary – you don’t necessarily have to focus on 1 project at a time. As a matter of fact, that is often not possible. However, you need to know how many projects at a time you can realistically juggle. Quite often projects overlap, in that you are winding one down, while starting one up. It’s still a matter of applying all the principles to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

@Chris – excellent point. Not to mention overhead like cleaning up emails, invoicing, etc.

@PM Hut – I don’t disagree that it is an oversimplified definition. But as James pointed out, it is based on the intended audience. You and I understand the term stakeholder, but to someone running their own copywriting business, they could conjure of images of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These articles put the basic concepts out there for people to ponder, and hopefully have an ‘ah ha!’ moment or two. Then we can move onto more indepth explanations. And to be honest, I still wouldn’t use the word stakeholder with my clients. I tried to pull the term ‘resources’ (staff) on James and he blew raspberries at me
.-= Eliza´s last blog ..The (Mis)Adventures of Mike: Mapping out business processes =-.