A goal without a plan is just a wish. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
You might have noticed it already, but I really enjoy living the freelance life.  The freedom and the flexibility that I now have allows me to look at things differently.  I may not have the security that comes…

If you’re self-employed, you know how the daily tasks can pile up and overwhelm the bigger picture — if you let them.
But to work “on” your business, instead of just “in” your business, you have to make sure to focus on the bigger picture… even if it’s just for…

Running a business today is not as straightforward as it once used to be. This is primarily because one needs to maintain records of every transaction that has occurred. Because there are many transaction and of different types, organizing and managing them becomes difficult. To help business owners in this…

By definition, the word “freelancer” implies that you are self-employed take on several projects from multiple parties. Many freelancers find this sort of a glamorous life, but in a sense I have to argue against it. In fact, there’s not too much that is desirable about scraping for food. And…

Here on FreelanceAdvisor we make numerous references to freelancers, contractors and small businesses – after all that’s who we’re here for!

But what are the defining characters of each? What follows is a no-nonsense guide to who’s who and why. Beware: stereotypes abound.

Are you a freelancer?

A freelancer is…

The most obvious job for a web designer is working for a web design agency, but if you’ve never done that before… then how do you know what to expect? Is it even the right path for you?Setting foot in an agency for the first time can be daunting. It’s…

For the UK’s freelancers and contractors these are uncertain times. With fears rife of a double dip recession and the scrutinous IR35 legislation coming under intense scrutiny, it’s difficult for micro-businesses to know exactly where they stand.

The latest tax planning seminar for freelancers and contractors, hosted by financial planners…

First, let me share a little secret with you.  I am a master procrastinator.  I always manage to get the job done, and often to the best of my abilities, but if I don’t have that looming deadline, sometimes time slips through my fingers.  I blame YouTube, Twitter, FreelanceSwitch, WorkAwesome,…

Sorry for that cliffhanger of an ending in that last post, where I announced that I would be leaving Philips Design at the end of September. I like to be a little dramatic at times and I thought it would be a nice lead in to the story I’m going…

Galia Gichon from Down to Earth Finance says, “It’s hard to get ahead financially when you can’t even speak the lingo. We often get stuck in not understanding key terms and are not able to move towards seeing financial goals come to fruition!”

Fortunately, in her recent newsletter, which is…

Freelancers are given the opportunity to work for either clients within their respective areas or clients coming from abroad. Personally, as a freelancer living in Asia, I’ve worked only with clients who run their businesses a hundred miles away such as those in the US, the UK, and Australia. I’ve…

As freelancers, our biggest assets are our minds and bodies. If we get sick, we can’t do any work. If our minds are foggy, we can’t produce our best. Therefore, we don’t make any money or as much money as we could.
Unfortunately, the care of our bodies is not…

One of my main bug bears is poor customer service. It is absolutely vital to customer service right, particularly handling customer complaints. If you don't handle complaints well then not only are you likely to lose the customer who is dissatisfied, but they are more likely to tell others about…

We all need good time management skills but if you are feeling that there is too much to do and not enough time then it is especially important to take a good look at your time-management and productivity habits. Most freelancers could do with a little more time in their…

When there are many department involved in a company, then handling customer complaints can become quite complex. Recording a complaint, then forwarding it to the right department, and checking its status now and then can become very complicated. The best way to go about the issue is through a ticket…

As a freelancer, it’s sometimes easy to do a deal on a virtual handshake and feel confident that you know exactly what your client wants.  Usually, this is because they told you exactly what they “think” they want – but that’s a post for another day.  For the most part,…