Create a compelling headline

With a case study, you are telling the story of your client’s transformation, so, just like a traditional story, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But first, you have to get people invested in the case study; why should they read it? You can do this by using a compelling headline that answers the question, ‘What’s in it for them?’. In other words, your headline should make your reader want to read the rest. 

For example, instead of heading the case study Case Study for Client X, you could use the result, How Client X Went From Zero Leads to Six Figures in X Months, so it is results-driven, or, if it’s a good one, you could even use a short quote from the client as the headline.

Following the headline, the case study can include the name of the client, any team members involved, and the goals of the project.

The case study is more of a collaboration between you and your client than a solo achievement, so the more you can get your client involved in the case study, the better.

Paint the picture

Your intro starts with what your client’s life was like before they hired you and what problem they were trying to solve. Here is where you really dig into their pain points. Include their own quotes if you have them. You can also include any relevant stats and figures here, too.

Paint the picture of the vision the client was after, why they came to you and how they found out about your services. What were they expecting to resolve as a result of hiring you?

Also, what had Client X tried before, and what was the outcome? By laying down the foundations of the client transformation story, you are also talking to the reader so they can envision themselves in the story.

Whatever their specific problem is, you want them to recognize themselves in the customer journey, so they are nodding their head and thinking, “Yup, that’s the exact same issue I’m dealing with” or something similar.

Highlight your processes and ways of working

The next part of the story is how you identified and solved your client’s problems; this is a great way to showcase what it’s like working with you, your unique approach and processes, and how you solved the issues better than anyone else.

Also, include if there was any deadline you needed to adhere to, how you dealt with any potential roadblocks, any eureka moments, how you communicated with your client, and how you ensured everything went smoothly. 

In short, you are showing off your working methods, highlighting what a joy it is to work with you and how you are the safe pair of hands your next potential client is looking to hire.

Show results and client transformation

Part three of the story is where you relay the positive, quantitative results you achieved and the client transformation.

Again, it’s good to include any relevant stats and figures here, i.e., time and money saved or increased sales. You might also include a quote from the client.

It would be helpful to list the key takeaways here, too; this could be in the form of a bulleted list—an ‘at a glance’ that readers can easily skim over.

You can also have a Call To Action (CTA) here where you direct the reader to what they need to do next if they want to hire you/get a quote, etc.

Have a client-friendly format

To make the case study as reader-friendly as possible, break up the text with subheadings and images where applicable so it is easy to digest. You can also use sound bites from the text in the layout/design (which you can then use as memes/posts for social media).

If you are creative, this is an excellent time to show off your creative flair with an appealing template that includes your logo and brand colors. Even if you’re not a professional graphic designer, you can think of ways to deliver the message in a format that suits your ideal client.

The format doesn’t have to be written either; you could create a video case study. However, the video case study should still follow the story format, compelling headline, and transformation story.

You can also create case studies showing different aspects of your work. For example, one could highlight a specific product, and another could be an add-on service. Or highlight different elements, such as turnaround times or a particular methodology you applied.

Case studies show the value of your work to potential clients and can be included in your proposals or even when asked for a sample of your work. They can be made into blog posts or even used as lead magnets as part of your email marketing strategy.

The key is to make your case studies as compelling, relevant (cut out any fluff) and appealing as possible.

And, of course,  once you’ve got yourself a great case study and are using it to win your ideal clients, you’ll want to have some equally good software to streamline your invoicing and make it easy for clients to pay you.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoices, fast online payments, expense tracking, and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.

It’s perfect for freelancers and small businesses.

Try it for free here.

Here are some common scenarios and what you can do to help mitigate them and even turn them into positive growth opportunities.

1. You’re not getting paid enough

Pricing is probably one of the most common challenges new freelancers struggle with. Not setting your rates correctly, charging inadequately for the value you provide, or offering discounts just to attract new business can have a detrimental impact on your freelance cash flow.

On top of that, when you are working hard for little reward it can also affect your output, mood and motivation.

While it can be challenging to increase your prices for clients once you have set them, you should review your rates regularly to take into account increases in the cost of living (and, therefore, any materials you might need to perform your work and other overheads) and the added value you provide as your skills and services grow.

One way to earn more as you gain more experience and fine-tune your skills (and therefore increase your value to clients) is to raise your prices for new clients. It doesn’t have to be by a huge amount to make a difference, either.

So take this opportunity to review your prices and get paid the amount you deserve.

Lemon – You’re not getting paid enough.

Lemonade – An opportunity to review and increase your prices.

2. You’re working too much

If you find yourself strapped for time as you try to do everything in your business, now is the time to stop and take stock. Working too much can also manifest as poor-quality sleep, fatigue, and lack of focus.

Now is the time to review your business processes and identify anything you can outsource, automate, or even hire a VA to do instead—all those things that take up your valuable time.

Not being productive with your time can lead to freelancer burnout, so if you are feeling the stress, nip it in the bud before it takes a serious hold on your business and your health.

Counter-intuitively, now might be the time to take a well-earned break. Either way, you need to prioritize self-care.

Again, you could be working too much because you haven’t set your prices correctly, and therefore, you are doing too much work for the amount you are invoicing. You need to recognize when you are overextending yourself—it’s perfectly okay to turn work down.

Lemon – You’re working too much.

Lemonade – An opportunity to outsource, automate, or take a well-earned break.

3. You didn’t get the gig you wanted

It can be disappointing when your pitch is rejected, and there may be a myriad of reasons why it wasn’t successful, but the key is not to take it personally. It may be that the gig wasn’t the right fit for you, or it may even be a blessing in disguise, opening the way for a better opportunity.

In any event, you can use this time to improve your pitch or client acquisition skills. Perhaps improve your cold-calling strategy or refine your written client proposals. View the time you’ve gained as an excellent opportunity to work on your business rather than in it. Whether this is by focusing on your marketing efforts or improving internal business processes, use the time wisely to turn the perceived loss into a positive win.

Lemon – You didn’t get the gig.

Lemonade – An opportunity to work on your own business and skill sets.

4. You didn’t get paid on time

There are many reasons why you might not get paid on time, from not agreeing on payment terms in advance to not sending off invoices on time or even errors and inaccuracies in the invoice itself.

One way to help mitigate these scenarios, as well as having a written agreement in place that sets out your payment terms and conditions, is by making use of invoicing software.

Invoicing software with multiple payment options enables faster payment. Clients get their invoices on time and can pay at the click of a button. Good invoicing software providers also include email reminders and auto-payment options to reduce the risk of being paid late.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.

Try it for free here.

Lemon – You didn’t get paid on time.

Lemonade – An opportunity to streamline your payment processes and take advantage of Invoice Ninja.

5. You got ghosted

Ghosting is when a prospective (or current) client ignores all your correspondence and doesn’t respond to messages, calls or reminders – hence the term!

Being ghosted is no fun, especially when it involves not getting paid for work you’ve already performed.

That said, there are things you can do to lessen the chance of being ghosted, and one of them is recognizing client red flags. These can range from being asked for low-priced or unpaid work in exchange for more work down the line to vagueness and flippancy in your initial dealings with them. If you feel that something isn’t quite right, trust your intuition.

Other ways to mitigate ghosting include asking for a deposit upfront and/or adding an expiry date to your quotations. Adding an expiration date to your quotations means that even if they ghost you, the quotation has expired in any event.

It’s also advisable to have an invoice reminder system in place.

The Invoice Ninja Pro Plan allows you to create custom email reminders based on the invoice date or due date. Define date parameters to remind your clients before or after invoices are due to ensure you get paid!

Putting anti-ghosting ‘checks and balances’ in place will undoubtedly improve your business processes and help make your freelance business more streamlined and efficient.

Lemon – You got ghosted.

Lemonade – An opportunity to improve your processes to prevent it from happening again.

6. You received negative client feedback

Negative client feedback can impact self-confidence and, if not dealt with effectively, can even lead to a bout of impostor syndrome.

However, whether perceived as good or bad, feedback presents excellent learning and growth opportunities.

When you receive unfavorable feedback, it’s important to try not to take it personally and look at it objectively. It’s also probably best not to react straight away when emotions might be high. Instead, go through each of the points and, if you can, review them with the client. View this as an opportunity to get some deep insight into what your client wants and what you can deliver. It could be a misunderstanding that can easily be rectified.

Feedback is part of the learning journey and can be an excellent personal and business growth tool.

You’ll also be in a better position to implement processes to mitigate the possibility of it happening again.

Lemon – You received negative client feedback.

Lemonade – An opportunity to learn, improve and grow.

1. Start with what you know

Before you make a list of your ideal client’s demographics, think about your past clients. What do they all have in common? Are they all within a specific age range or gender? Do they work in a particular industry or share a profession or a location?

Furthermore, have you enjoyed working with them – have the projects turned out well? 

While defining your ideal client, you should also consider who you would prefer not to work with. If you’ve worked with someone and it didn’t go well, it might be because your product or service wasn’t a good fit for them.

If you have yet to have any client experience, now is the time to think about who would be a good fit for your specific product or service. Who would you bring the most value to?

Demographics is a good starting point, but don’t stop there.

Which brings us to the next step.

2. Understand challenges from your ideal client’s point of view

When defining your ideal client, it’s important to know what problem you are solving for them. As many a great marketer has said, ‘What keeps them up at night?’.

Try to view the world from your ideal client’s perspective.

So, for example, if you are a weight loss coach, your ideal client might be women in their 40s who want to lose, let’s say, 10 kilos within a specific time period. What keeps them up at night might be health-related issues, or they could want to lose weight for a future important event, such as their son or daughter’s wedding. 

Once you understand your ideal client’s goals and motivators, hopes, dreams, lifestyle and the challenges they face (psychographics), you’ll be better able to serve them and get them the desired results. You’ll also be able to target them better with your marketing as you’ll be speaking their language (see point 4).

While it may be tempting to spread the net wider (in the above example, market to anyone who wants to lose weight), you’ll lose the potential clients who are looking for specific results and want an expert who understands their unique challenges.

3. Find out where they hang out online

Where can your ideal client be found online?

For example, if you sell high-ticket performance coaching services to C-suite executives, LinkedIn would most likely be a better place to market these services than posting videos on TikTok.

Once you know where they hang out, you can create content your ideal client is looking for and position you as an authority in that subject matter.

In the weight loss example mentioned earlier, you could create content that includes helpful weight loss tips or create food planners as a lead magnet to get people to sign up for your email newsletter. (You can read more on email marketing in our blog post here.)

For C-suite executive coaching, you could share case studies showing how you’ve helped other executives achieve their goals and discuss what is going on in your specific industry—all the while showing a deep understanding of the challenges they face.

Discovering where and how your ideal client spends their time on social media is also a great research opportunity to assess their hopes and fears and deep-dive into the problems they are facing.

4. Take note of the language they use

When researching your ideal client, whether via surveys, speaking to past clients, online research, or social listening, as mentioned above, take note of how they express themselves and the language they use.

How do they talk about their problems and challenges?

If you use the same language as them, you’ll be better able to communicate and build trust and connection with your ideal clients. You’ll know what to include in FAQs.

By using their language in your marketing and copy, they’ll know that you understand the challenges they face and solving them will become synonymous with your brand, so you attract even more ideal clients.

5. Know when to say “no”

Who isn’t your target audience? Who don’t you want to work with? Who isn’t a great fit?

Knowing who isn’t your ideal client and who to say “no” to is also part of the equation.

When starting your freelance journey, it can be tempting to take on all the work offered, but this can be detrimental if you take on clients who aren’t a good fit.

That’s why it’s important to market only to your ideal clients. Attracting your ideal client also results in repelling those who are not for you, which will save you time, money, and stress down the line.

If your intuition is trying to tell you something, listen to it. It’s not a sin to turn down work. In fact, if your prospective client is not the right fit, you’ll be doing both them and yourself a favor by saying no.

Work on attracting the right clients for you so you can do the work you love, work with great clients and get even greater results.

~

Once you’ve nailed your ideal client persona and are winning clients you love to work with, you’ll want to have good software to streamline your invoicing and make it easy for clients to pay you.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoices, fast online payments, expense tracking, and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.

Perfect for freelancers and small businesses – whoever your ideal client is.

Try it for free here.

1. Make your office space work for you

Even if you don’t have a separate office in your home, it’s advisable to separate your workspace from your living space with a specifically dedicated working area.

To personalize your space so it’s an inspiring and comfortable place to work, you could consider adding a house plant, a memento, or a photo that inspires you nearby – even a daily mantra on the wall or as a screen saver. The more clutter-free, the better. The key is to make your space work for you so that when you sit down to work, you know exactly where to find the tools, files, and general paraphernalia you need and that your workspace is as efficient as possible.

(On the subject of efficiency, if you are looking for efficient time and money-saving invoicing software to get your invoices sent fast and you paid on time, look no further than Invoice Ninja. You can try it for free here.)

To enhance your wellness and help your posture, consider investing in an ergonomic office desk and chair. If you work at your desk for long periods, you could invest in a standing desk or an adjustable stand so you can decide whether to sit or stand.

Another wellness practice to consider, where your office equipment is literally supporting you, is the increasingly popular chair yoga. This can be very beneficial and help reduce stress, increase flexibility and improve strength.

2. Incorporate movement into your day

While taking regular breaks is important, what you do during those breaks can also positively contribute to your well-being and boost your energy and mood.

Walking has many benefits, and a simple short walk around the block or up and down your yard can be just as beneficial as a walk in nature. 

You don’t need to go to the gym to incorporate movement into your day, either. You can exercise at home with little to no equipment by incorporating stretch breaks into your day. Or try some calisthenics, Wall Pilates, or even, if possible, a short dead hang—which is great for decompressing the spine, improving body alignment, and increasing overall strength.

All these require minimum to no equipment and make for the perfect ‘movement snack’.

3. Set proper boundaries

Boundary setting is a must for freelancers when working with clients. You need to set out from the get-go what your work boundaries are, when clients can contact you, and via what medium. This is especially the case if you have global clients who may be in different time zones.

When you work from home, you also need to ensure other people in your household are aware of your office space and your working hours and set clear boundaries between work and personal life.

And don’t forget to set boundaries and work schedules for yourself. When you are working on your own, it can be easy to get carried away and work all hours. If you overwork, this will impact on your energy, mental health and overall productivity and can even lead to burnout.

4. Socialize online and offline

No one is an island. We need people in our lives to connect with on many different levels, and freelancing is no different. Networking for freelancers, whether online or in person, is an excellent way to get your brand known and attract more clients. It’s also a chance to connect with other freelancers and like-minded folk with whom you can brainstorm ideas, refer clients, and foster long-term business relationships. Consider joining business groups online and attending industry events.

You can also arrange regular chats and check-ins with business buddies. The key is not to feel isolated or alone – and when you do, talk to someone about it. Knowing you have business buddies who are there to support you does wonders for your resilience and can pick you up when you are feeling down.

And remember to physically leave the house and socialize with friends and family too!

5. Have a routine (and a ritual)

Having a daily morning routine can really set you up for the day. Whether this is writing a journal, meditating, or simply contemplating the day ahead over a coffee, having a clear and calm mindset can do wonders for your productivity. You may find that physical activity works for you, so going for a run or a dog walk might be the thing that sets your day off to a good start. Do what works for you.

In addition to having a morning routine, consider marking the end of the working day with a transition ritual. It could be as simple as setting a specific time to end your day, going for a walk or to the gym, reading a chapter of the business book you are currently reading, listening to a short ten-minute podcast in the foreign language you are learning, or playing a musical instrument! It doesn’t matter what it is – just something that tells your brain to switch off from work mode. You’ll be surprised how effective (and satisfying) this can be.

~

All the above are just a few ideas to get you thinking on the right track, but there are many other practices you can incorporate into your day to enhance your well-being when working from home. These include but aren’t limited to making sure you stay hydrated throughout the day, getting quality sleep, having digital detoxes, and consuming nutritious foods, drinks, and snacks.

In short, it’s about being kind to yourself, self-aware, and mindful of self-care.

1. Send invoices on time

This may sound obvious, but if you don’t send invoices on time, payment will be delayed, which will impact your cash flow.

If you are not paid in advance, then as soon as the work is completed, send your invoice. If not, you could forget.

Alternatively, send all your invoices out at the same time, such as on the last working day of the month. Setting aside a specific day to send your invoices will mean you are not sending out invoices on an ad hoc basis, making you less likely to miss one.

It also helps to send one invoice per client as opposed to multiple invoices for various different projects and tasks.

2. Keep track of payments

Ensure you know what is due and when, and keep track of any late payments. You can do this by using invoicing software that sends automated reminders before and after payment is due.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It can help keep track of payments with automatic email reminders and can even automatically include late fees on overdue invoices.

You can sign up for Invoice Ninja for free today. It’s easy to use, can help you get paid faster, and maintain a healthy cash flow in your business.

3. Get paid upfront

It’s not unusual for freelancers to ask for a deposit upfront before starting work on a project, especially for larger projects with a long duration. It could be a 50% deposit, or you could apply milestone invoicing, which means you are paid at set milestones throughout the duration of the project.

Some freelancers ask for 100% upfront payment for smaller paid projects. Getting paid, or at least partially paid upfront, is common for new client projects and helps build trust.

With Invoice Ninja, you can easily convert your client quote to an invoice. When you email quotations to your clients, once they are happy with the details and want to proceed, they can “Click to Approve” the quotation, which converts it into a payable invoice.

4. Seek retainer clients

A retainer client is one that pays you a set fee for a set amount of work each month.

Some retainer agreements work on an ‘on-call’ basis.

Freelancers like long-term retainer clients as they can provide predictability of income. Knowing the income you will receive each month and when also means you can better plan ahead.

This works both ways, i.e. not just for income but for outgoings.

If possible, agree to pay professional service fees, such as accountants, payroll, etc., a set amount for a specific set of deliverables. If you know professional service fees in advance, there will be no hidden surprises or ‘add-ons’ when it comes to settling your bill. 

5. Review contracts

Before you enter into any long-term or annual contracts with suppliers or subscriptions for software, tools or equipment you may use to carry out your business, check out their notice terms.

Can you afford to be stuck with their rate for a long period of time?

Subscriptions and uncompetitive pricing can all cumulatively add a heavy toll to your cash flow, especially if you have to give notice to cancel.

It’s worth reviewing the contracts and plans you currently subscribe to to see if you could get a better deal elsewhere or adopt a pay-as-you-go pricing model.

In business, as in life, it’s the seemingly inconsequential things that can turn into the big things.

6. Productize services

If applicable, consider productizing your service or an element of it. 

Productization involves standardizing a process and selling it at a set price for a set deliverable. It also breaks you out of the charge per hour or per project model.

For example, a personal trainer could sell an online course or pre-recorded training sessions in addition to their day-to-day in-person training.

A copywriter could sell a LinkedIn bio optimization service at a set price. You could even productize your service and sell it as a subscription model. The only limit is your imagination.

Productization allows you to grow and scale and is a great way to optimize cash flow.

7. Discount for fast and early payment

As an incentive for clients to pay you quicker, consider offering a small discount for early payment.

If your payment terms are net 30, which means the payment is due 30 days from the invoice date, you could offer a 5% discount if paid within 10 days. 

Being paid early can make all the difference in periods of negative cash flow. Likewise, you might want to consider adding late payment fees to your freelancer payment terms and conditions.

~
A large part of maintaining a positive cash flow in your freelance business is being organized and planning ahead, especially for any potential slow times. Knowing what’s incoming and outgoing and keeping track of your spending are all key factors that will significantly contribute to keeping your business bank account topped up and buoyant.

1. Know your audience (and yourself)

Before you begin marketing your art, you have to know who you are marketing to, as your art won’t be to everyone’s taste. Will it appeal to a certain demographic, such as age group, location, or culture, or people with specific tastes, interests, or backgrounds? More importantly, where are these people most likely to hang out online?

In addition to knowing your audience, you also need to know your art style. In other words, what makes your art different? How do you stand out? Is it the materials you use, the subject matter, provenance, or something else entirely? 

If you are unsure, ask friends or loved ones what it is about your art that’s different; what do you do well?

Now is a nice time to create an origin story for yourself and your art that your audience can relate to and addresses the question of what inspires you. This will make talking about your art easier and will also appeal to your specific audience.

2. Have an online portfolio/website

To market online, you need your own online presence. 

Having an SEO-optimized website where you can display your portfolio is a great idea, as this will be the first port of call for people interested in your art. You can also keep an art blog to attract traffic and add a shop to it so visitors can buy your art.

This is where you can include your origin story and why you do what you do.

In the absence of this, there are art platforms that will host your portfolio and act as a storefront, but they usually charge a fee, and you are not in full control of your brand.

There are also print-on-demand sites where you can sell your artwork. You simply upload your artwork once, and they do the rest.

How and where you choose to add your portfolio will depend on your circumstances and what works best for you.

But to sell online, you need to be online.

3. Make good use of social media

Social media platforms are an excellent way to get your art seen by a wider audience. 

Platforms such as Instagram, which favor images, stories, and reels, are great, but there are other platforms that are good, too, such as Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube. 

Your choice of platform will depend on where your ideal audience hangs out.

In addition to displaying images of your art, you can show behind-the-scenes video content and tutorials, which you can then turn into online courses and sell.

You can also affiliate with the art material suppliers from whom you buy your supplies and promote their products on your social media platform to earn extra income.

Follow other artists on social media platforms and identify what content is successful for them. While not copying them, note the content strategy they are applying, which may work well for you, too.

It’s probably best to choose just one platform to begin with, master it, and then move on to others as your following grows; otherwise, trying to be everywhere can lead to being overwhelmed.

The key to social media is to be consistent.

4. Have source(s) of recurring income

In addition to selling your one-off unique pieces and attracting client commissions, you’ll also want to have some form of passive recurring income to keep your bank account buoyant in the slow times.

You could offer a subscription service to an online community where your fans get early access to your work or discounts, or alternatively, you could offer coaching or teach art. You could even consider licensing your art so other people can use it on their products, and you get a commission each time they do.

If you have clients that need to be billed on a fixed schedule (weekly, monthly, etc.), Invoice Ninja offers auto-billing via the world’s favorite payment gateways.

Auto-billing (AKA “token billing”) is a feature that enables the payments system to capture your client’s credit card details and store them for billing at a future date. Token billing enables auto-billing, which means future invoices can be issued automatically.

Invoice Ninja integrates seamlessly, so you can enjoy all the advantages of token billing via your Invoice Ninja account.

5. Email marketing

An email newsletter is a great way to communicate and connect with your fans and share your latest work of art, offers and promotions.

You can give subscribers a more behind-the-scenes look at how you create your art and relay the stories behind each piece. The advantage of email marketing is that you have a direct connection to your subscribers. Followers on social media don’t automatically get to see all your posts, whereas an email goes directly to their inbox for them to read at their leisure.

You can add newsletter subscriber forms to your blog and use them as a Call to Action (CTA) on social media sites.

Read more about the benefits of email marketing at our post here.

6. Use the right tools to get paid

Along with your slick online presence, you’ll also want to make it easy for clients to pay you for your work.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software developed for freelancers and creative businesses like yours.

It includes professionally designed invoices, multiple payment gateways, client-side portals, quotes, recurring invoices, time and task tracking, and lots more to ensure you get paid quickly and hassle-free.

You can even get paid in Bitcoin.

Try Invoice Ninja out for free here.

~

Once you’ve established yourself as an artist online, the sky really is the limit when it comes to self-promotion and marketing. By using both online and traditional marketing routes, you can have your artwork reproduced on merchandise, displayed in galleries, and sold at art fairs and other events and exhibitions.

Happy creating!

1. Plan in advance

It makes sense to plan ahead and know what needs to be done in your business for it to run successfully on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Knowing what needs to be done and when and planning ahead accordingly is a simple but effective time management strategy that can also help you visualize your goals.

You don’t need any fancy tools to plan ahead, either. A simple calendar or wall planner will suffice, although there are plenty of free and paid online tools you can use, too. 

At the beginning of each week, simply plan out what you need to get done in the following days and schedule time for it.

You should also ensure you plan for chores outside your work schedule that need to be done, such as doctor or dentist visits, school runs, and grocery shopping trips, as these will all impact your available time.

2. Know how much time a task takes

In addition to knowing what needs to be done and when you’ll also want to know how much time is required to perform each task.

When first starting out freelancing, you might not know how long a specific task takes, so make sure you track time spent on each individual element within a task or project and write it down for future reference. 

You can also map out each task to form your internal business processes. Having a checklist of all the things you need to do to perform a task will save time in the future.

Remember to add buffer time for unexpected events, project overruns or scope creep.

The key is not to be running up to the wire on every task, as this could lead to freelance burnout and impact the quality of client work. Instead, give yourself plenty of time to work on essential tasks.

You can track time spent on billable work with Invoice Ninja. Our task time-tracking feature allows you to accurately record every second spent on each individual task and quickly transfer timed data to the relevant invoice. When you’re done with a task or series of tasks within a project, simply click and send your work time to an invoice with 1-click!

We’ve even got a helpful Google extension so you can manage all of your tasks within Chrome.

Check it out here.

3. Prioritize tasks (and avoid multi-tasking)

You want to work on tasks that make a noticeable difference for your business. So, make a sensible to-do list of your most important tasks. It can be tempting to do the ‘easy’ tasks first or multi-task, but generally speaking, this isn’t an effective use of your time. 

You may also want to block out time on your calendar each week to dedicate your time to work on specific tasks. This helps stop multi-tasking, and if you have a shared calendar, it means others can’t book you into meetings at inconvenient times.

Likewise, you might want to perform certain tasks on specific days or batch tasks in advance. Having a solid schedule and work routine will mean you get a lot more done without distractions, being pulled off into different directions, or firefighting.

If a task or project seems too big or daunting, break it down into a series of smaller tasks. You’ll achieve your goal much quicker and without the overwhelm.

If there are tedious and time-consuming tasks that need to be done, such as invoicing, consider outsourcing or automating these types of business processes as much as possible.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software developed for freelancers and small businesses like yours.

It includes professionally designed invoices, multiple payment gateways, client-side portals, quotes, recurring invoices, automatic invoice payment reminders, time and task tracking, and lots more to ensure you get paid quickly and hassle-free.

And now, if you prefer, you can even get paid in Bitcoin!

Try Invoice Ninja out for free here.

4. Work out times when you have the most energy

When planning your schedule, it makes sense to identify your optimum working times.

It might be that you are an early bird who is most energized and productive in the morning, or you might be a night owl whose creative juices really get flowing at midnight and into the small hours.

Work out when you are at your most productive and set your schedule accordingly.

Likewise, be sure to schedule regular breaks into your day to boost productivity, get some healthy exercise, or just get some fresh air. And don’t forget to plan time off for vacation.

You can read more about taking time off work as a freelancer here.

5. Minimize distractions and learn to say “No”

Perhaps one of the biggest time stealers nowadays is social media, so minimize your time scrolling or have a set time duration to use social media and stick to it.

It can be challenging if you are using social media platforms to market your business, but even then, you can make use of online social media schedulers and create posts in advance directly from the scheduling tool.

Likewise, if you work remotely from home, ensure you have a dedicated workspace, let other people in the household know when you are working, and set appropriate boundaries. If your household is busy or you lack adequate space, consider co-working at a local co-working space or even at a local library.

And finally, it’s perfectly okay to turn work down as a freelancer. If you haven’t got the capacity to perform work to your best, let your client know that you are fully booked but will let them know when your schedule is clear. Or refer them to another freelancer. They’ll likely appreciate your honesty and hire you in the future.

~

Of course, there are other effective time management strategies and tools, such as the Pomodoro Technique, to name just one, that you can apply, and some are more advanced than others. Throughout your freelance career, you’ll likely come up with your own efficiency hacks that suit your way of working, but we hope you found these simple time management tips helpful and a useful starting point.

1. Go for a daily walk

You’ve probably heard this before, but going for a daily walk, preferably in nature (or simply around the block if that’s not an option), will do wonders for your productivity, brainstorming, and idea generation. Many notable characters and philosophers have sworn by the benefits of walking, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Henry David Thoreau, and Aristotle, to name just a few bright sparks!

There’s something about walking that is almost meditative and allows you to explore new perspectives. You’ll be surprised at what a fantastic thought-generating process walking can become.

In addition to the physical exercise aspect of walking as a daily practice, it also gets you out in the fresh air, where you can benefit from a hearty dose of vitamin D.

2. Disconnect to reconnect

This sounds counter-intuitive because if you’re not consuming content and ideas, how will you get inspiration for new ones? After all, we are all standing on the shoulders of giants.

But taking time out, having a digital detox, or taking a well-deserved vacation or break can do wonders for allowing our conscious brain to relax and our subconscious to figure things out.

Even if it means taking an hour or so before bedtime to switch off the Wi-Fi and digital devices and contemplate the day, using some time in the morning to meditate, blocking out some hours in the day to focus on deep work, or just time to play—with these practices alone, you’ll reap the rewards, not just from a well-being aspect but also to get clarity and generate fresh ideas and perspectives.

3. Mix things up

Trying new things and doing stuff you’ve never done can spark your creativity and reveal aspects of yourself you might not know existed.

Breaking state and mixing things up doesn’t need to be significant or involve much effort, either. It could simply be taking a different route to work, getting off at a different subway, reading a different genre or listening to a podcast you previously didn’t think you’d enjoy.

Just flipping out of our usual routine and exploring other avenues can open up a whole new world. Inspiration can come from places we least expect. Random conversations with strangers or people we’ve just met (another reason networking is so important for freelancers) are another excellent source of inspiration that can lead to great ideas.

4. Look at new ways of doing things

While there’s the saying that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ – and there’s a lot of truth in that, there is always the ‘we’re doing it this way as it’s the way we’ve always done it’ argument to counter it.

When it comes to business ideas, are there processes you can improve on that you might not have considered before and are now just doing as that’s how you’ve always done it? For example, are you sending manual invoices when you could be using invoicing software to seriously speed things up, or are you getting paid in a traditional currency such as US dollars or euros, where it might be better for you to get paid in Bitcoin?

Are there client onboarding processes that could be reviewed and improved upon? Even thinking about these aspects of your business could lead to better ideas that, in addition to being implemented for yourself, could inspire product ideas.

5. Be mindful of what you consume

If you find yourself mindlessly scrolling on your smartphone for hours a day, try to find a way to reduce this and only consume content that is meaningful and relevant to you and your goals. Social media can suck up your time, and there is a lot of negative stuff you might be inadvertently slipping into your subconscious.

Instead, be your own curator. Curate content intentionally and schedule time to watch or read it.

By being mindful of your content curation, you’ll likely find lots of food for thought and inspiration for ideas you can implement.

6. Take note of your dreams

While keeping a full-blown dream diary may take some getting used to, noting any memorable dreams you have can be a great way to inspire ideas.

In fact, if you need to problem-solve or make a big decision, it’s often worth letting your subconscious mind take over when you sleep. There’s a reason why the saying’ sleep on it’ exists – it’s because it is good advice.

Often, problems that seem insurmountable the day before can have a whole new, fresh perspective the next day after a good night’s sleep.

7. Write down ALL your ideas

Finally, make sure you write down your ideas as soon as you have them – and be as specific as you can. If you just write down one word out of context, you’ll likely not remember why you wrote it in the first place. You can jot them down with a pen on a notepad or use a digital device to store your thoughts.

If you want to go a step further, separate them by themes and categorize them. Looking at your idea thought stream and old ideas is another good way to refresh, renew, and create even more ideas!

But whatever you do – write them down as soon as possible – even that business idea you had in the shower! Yes – or you will forget it!

Happy ideation!

1. Take time out and exercise

If you’re feeling stuck or in a rut, it’s incredible what a burst of exercise can do to alleviate that feeling and provide you with more energy.

As well as the obvious health benefits of getting away from your desk or work setting, it can also provide you with the creativity boost you need. 

By taking regular breaks, whether to do your favorite exercise or sport or to simply break state by walking around the block, you are working smarter because when you return, you’ll feel refreshed, energized, and more focused.

2. Stick to a routine

Having a routine that you stick to and being organized is far better than tackling things as and when they crop up. 

Things can go pear-shaped quickly when you are constantly firefighting. Projects can go off the rails, and invoices are not sent or paid.

Of course, life happens, and there are times when you can’t stick to your normal routine. But if you have a backup plan, get back into the routine as soon as possible, and avoid multitasking, you’ll find you get a lot more done and will avoid starting something and not finishing it.

Naturally, adding some daily exercise to your routine (as per point 1) will be even better.

3. Adopt the Pareto principle

The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is where 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. 

So when it comes to business tasks, you focus on the 20% of your tasks that give you 80% of your results (or profits).

Likewise, identify and remove the 20% of activities that take up 80% of your time without contributing to your desired results.

For example, time-consuming admin tasks that eat into your day but don’t directly add to your profits, such as invoicing. Invoicing needs to be done if you want to get paid, but you don’t want to be spending an inordinate amount of time processing invoices manually when you could be servicing clients and doing other profit-making activities.

4. Plan ahead

Of course, no one knows what the future holds for sure, but throughout the year, you can be reasonably confident some things will happen, such as bills coming in, suppliers who need to be paid, invoices sent, and taxes to be paid. Your business may also be cyclical, so certain things need to be done at specific times of the year for you to make a profit.  

The more you can prepare in advance for known future events, the better.

For example, keeping good records of income and outgoings as they occur throughout the year instead of having to scramble to get all the details to your accountant by a deadline at the end of the company year. These things come around quickly!

There are plenty of apps and online tools that can help you automate and record these things automatically, which nicely leads us to the next tip.

5. Automate business processes

You can save lots of additional time in your workflow by simply automating many of your business processes, especially those that are tedious, take up a lot of your time, or you are not an expert at.

These can range from simple automation, such as an online meeting scheduler, to good invoicing software so you can get paid fast and on time.

Fortunately, Invoice Ninja is a leading invoicing software for small business invoicing, online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks.

What’s more, Invoice Ninja lets you connect to thousands of apps via our platform integrators, such as Zapier, Make, Pabbly and more – further speeding up your workflows.

Take a look at some of them here.

And try Invoice Ninja for free at the link here.

6. Repurpose content

If you are creating content to market your business, regardless of the medium (i.e. email newsletters, social media, video content, direct mail, etc.), you can repurpose it so that one piece of content goes a long way. 

For example, you could write a long-form email newsletter. Snippets from the newsletter could be used as social media posts. You could then use part of it as a script for a YouTube video, which could be repurposed for other platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.).

Repurposing content gets it out to a potentially much larger audience than it would if you were just to send out an email newsletter and never use that content again. It also takes up less time than constantly creating new content.

Obviously, the content would need to be tweaked to be suitable for the medium you are using, but it can still result in a much more effective use of your content (and time) and will free you up so you can focus on running your business.

~

The key is to make your daily workflows as frictionless and streamlined as possible and outsource or automate tedious and time-consuming tasks.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that if a shortcut is taking up your time, then it’s not a shortcut.

With that said, here are some of the more typical pros and cons of remote working for freelancers.

PROS

You can work while in the flow

For some freelance creatives, such as artists, writers, and musicians, working within the rigid framework of a typical 9-to-5 can prove problematic, especially if their output heavily relies on them getting ‘into the flow’.

The muse might strike at midnight or when out on a walk. It could be that they work at their best in the small hours or feel constrained in the office, so they have to be somewhere artsy, inspiring, and creative to work at their best.

If this sounds like you, remote work probably suits you better, or at least a hybrid option.

It can be convenient (and cheaper)

Working from home can definitely slash expensive commuting bills.

On top of that, in some jurisdictions, you can claim tax deductions for working from home if you are self-employed. And there’s not just the travel expenses, time saved, and potential tax benefits to think about, but also, when you work from home, you’re not tempted to drop into the local coffee shop on the way to work for a Caramel Macchiato and Danish. And that’s before we even talk about lunch and post-work drinks. Instead, you can save money (and your waistline) by preparing healthy home-cooked food and beverages. From these perspectives, working from home is convenient, time-saving (and healthier).

The key is ensuring you have all the right tools and resources to hand so you can work remotely with ease.

When it comes to invoicing, you can save time and money by using Invoice Ninja. Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for small business invoicing, fast online payments, tracking expenses and billable tasks. It also includes attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors.

Perfect for freelancers and small businesses – wherever you work.

Try it for free here.

It can boost productivity

Assuming there are no distractions at home or your desired place of work, you can probably be a lot more productive. Working to your own schedule and having increased flexibility to work when it suits you can skyrocket productivity. 

Also, there is less risk of having to attend unnecessary meetings that can suck up your time. This, in turn, can result in much more job satisfaction.

Working remotely doesn’t necessarily mean working from home, either. You could be anywhere: a coffee shop, a co-working space, a library or an exotic beach! You work when and where you feel best.

CONS

Can result in a lack of team bonding

While there’s no reason why teams can’t get along great remotely, in-person meetings are more memorable. You tend to form a more meaningful relationship once you’ve met someone in the flesh. 

Team bonding is an essential ingredient for successful projects. If you manage a team remotely, you may even find motivation and productivity become an issue, especially if the team has never met in person or is located in different parts of the world (and, therefore, in different time zones).

The opportunity to brainstorm and the accountability you get from working closely with a team is often missing when you’re a solopreneur, especially if you work on your own.

No one present to bounce ideas off

Innovation and serendipity flourish when minds get together and people bounce ideas off each other.

If you work remotely, you can certainly have online ideation sessions with your team, but if you are actually on-site working side by side with them, you’ll be better able to share your flashes of inspiration and benefit from the energy and the general ambiance of a good team. 

This is especially the case in a fast-paced work environment. Things move quickly, and you need to have your finger on the pulse and have everyone aligned in their thinking. This is harder to achieve if everyone works remotely, and some things can be miscommunicated or even lost in translation.

You’ll also benefit from a second pair of eyes on your work. When you work remotely, you’re often alone and might miss errors or mistakes. 

You can feel isolated

Even self-confessed hermits can suffer from loneliness and feelings of isolation. So, if you are a social butterfly and like to constantly be in the company of others, you’ll likely not enjoy (or benefit as much from) remote work – especially if you are the only person in your household and are working from home. 

As well as the innovation and team bonding mentioned above, when you work as part of a team in an office or even in a co-working space, you can also form friendships – some that go on to last for years and even result in more and better clients.

If you work remotely, you can miss out on the camaraderie,  face-to-face interaction, and enjoyable chance encounters that come hand-in-hand with working in an office.

~

Whether you work remotely, in a traditional office, workspace, or a flexible hybrid, freelancer burnout is real. And if you haven’t got someone around you to help you notice the signs, you might not pick up on them. So remember to take time out for self-care and plan time away from work.

The key to a profitable and rewarding freelance life is getting the right balance – wherever you work.