Get the Ball Rolling: Preparing Your Freelance Web Design Business

Nowadays, the internet has created a plethora of opportunities for individuals to make a living based on their passions, skills, and abilities. What was once a trying concept of developing a business, marketing locally, and making a living can now all be done from the comfort of your own home. If you just so happen to love the art and technology of website design and/or development, then it might be lucrative to become a freelance web designer. Working solely for yourself, you have the opportunity to create trending websites that millions of users visit on the daily basis.

However, you can’t just put up an open for business sign and hope the clients start rolling in; it’ll take a bit of planning. Below are a few tidbits of advice on how to get started:

Develop a Iron Clad Contract

Before you ever get your first customer, it is extremely important that you have a contract in place that protects you and your work to the fullest extent. There are plenty of tools that you can invest in that will allow you to create your own business forms with ease. While you hope that every customer you come across will be an honest and reliable one, this is not always the case. As such, you want to protect yourself against potential lawsuits.

Create a contract that clearly defines what your assignment is, how long it may take, and how much you should be compensated for the work you’ve completed. Also, ensure that before completing any work that your client has completely read, understood and signed the agreement.

Don’t Be Afraid to Invest

As a freelancer, you won’t have the financial cushion of a boss to invest in the company needs. This responsibility now falls solely in your lap. While you might be anxious to begin making a profit from your services, it is important to always remember to invest in the betterment of your business. After all, the world of website design is constantly evolving, and if you can’t keep up with the latest trends, you run the risk of losing customers left and right. Ask yourself a few questions to make sure that you’re ready to get up and running:

• Do I have the right equipment?


• Do I have the appropriate business contact information (i.e. fax, phone, email address)?


• Do I have reliable internet services to effectively market and communicate with clients? (This step also requires that you have the right internet service provider. To gain the attention and respect of potential clients you must first showcase your skills and abilities. Having adequate internet service to effectively communicate with your clients is essential. Click here for more info on internet service providers and the various options you have for your home based business.)


• Am I up to speed on the latest trends so that I can give my customers the best services possible?

Create a Comfortable Working Space

As a freelancer, finding the appropriate space to work will be completely up to you. While it can be fun having the means to work wherever you want, you do need a place in which you can work without distractions from the outside world. Find a space in your room that you can designate as your home office space and begin creating an environment that is fun to work in on the regular basis, but also free from the many distractions in your home (television, young children, or even the fridge).

Network Every Chance You Get

The key to getting the word out about your business is effectively networking. You will need to make your presence known both online and in person. You can start by creating an effective website which will act as your business card. You will also need to develop professional social media pages on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. Marketing and networking online is an ongoing process that will require several different strategies. Lastly, you will need to get out and greet people. Find out about local business conferences and attend, and just stay relevant within your community. Word of mouth is still the biggest form of marketing and you want to make sure that what’s being said about you is positive.

The life of a freelancer is certainly one that is filled with peaks and valleys. However, if you’re really passionate about web design and/or development and want to earn a sizable living, working on your own is certainly a choice worth considering. By creating a contract, investing in your business’s startup needs, designating a space to work in, and networking on the regular basis, you will soon start to see your hard work pay off.

Get the Ball Rolling: Preparing Your Freelance Web Design Business

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Going Full-Time Freelance

If you’ve been considering chucking in your day job in favor of the freewheeling freelance lifestyle, you’re in good company. There are currently 53 million Americans participating in some form of freelance work. And of those who are currently freelancing part-time (moonlighting), 1 in 3 are seriously considering going full-time in the near future.

It seems that economic conditions are right for an increased freelance workforce. The question, though, is whether your conditions are right for you to make the transition. Here are five questions to ask yourself before jumping into the full-time freelance lifestyle.

How Much Savings Do I Have?

Before venturing out on your own, evaluate your cash situation. Your on-hand cash situation. Chances are there is going to be a ramp-up period between working part-time freelance and working full-time freelance. You won’t immediately be at maximum capacity, so you won’t be at your full earning potential either. You’re probably going to bleed a little cash at first.

Image Source: Project About Business Growth via Shutterstock.

Most financial advisors would recommend you have enough in your savings account to cover about six months of living expenses. But we’ve seen people venture off with as little as two months’ worth in the bank. If you have less than enough to cover two months of living expenses socked away in savings, you’re not ready to make the transition.

How Much Do I Need to Earn?

It’s time to get realistic. If you’ve been earning a salary up until now, it’s easy to go on autopilot and stop thinking about what exactly you’re bringing in and what exactly you’re spending. Venturing out on your own will not only mean that your income is more sporadic, but it also means you’ll need to earn more. Your income taxes will be higher. You’ll need to pay for your own healthcare, dental care, and vision expenses.

Plus, you will be running your own business — you’ll need money for business expenses: marketing, equipment, supplies, maybe even office space. Figure out at least a ballpark amount for the actual dollars you need to bring in.

Am I Getting Referrals?

One of the best indicators I’ve seen for whether or not someone is ready to go full-time with their freelance work is whether or not they’re getting work through referrals. Drumming up new clients takes an incredible amount of time, effort, energy and money. It’s work you’re not getting paid for. This is why most full-time freelancers get a significant amount of their work through referrals.

Image Source: Customer Service Target via Shutterstock.

Their clients find them more clients because these freelancers are good at their jobs, and they know how to make their clients happy. If you aren’t getting consistent referral work, you might not be ready to make the leap.

Am I Getting Long-Term/Repeat Clients?

Similar to that last question, you should ask yourself, Are my clients coming back for more? Are they offering me long-term projects that will keep me busy for a few weeks or a few months? In an ideal situation, you could jump to full-time freelance with at least one long-term project waiting for you — that’s income you won’t have to pull out of thin air.

Image Source: Customer Loyalty via Shutterstock.

But getting recurring clients is important for another reason: It means you’re doing a good job. You’re communicating well. Your prices are good (or at least low). If your clients aren’t coming back, you need to figure out why before you’ll be ready to venture out on your own.

Do I Have My Business Organized?

You don’t have to be a business expert to make it as a freelancer, but you do need to be organized. More than ever, your time is money. Nobody will pay you to send out invoices, track expenses, follow up on payments.

So for your own sake, get a system. Keep things organized. Be extremely efficient when doing unbillable tasks. There are a lot of great tools out there to help freelancers with this type of stuff. For example, web design software that makes invoicing super easy (shameless plug). Shake makes an app that creates contracts for you. Trello helps you keep your projects organized.

Whatever tools you decide to use, getting a system in place ahead of time will save you a lot of stress later on.

Concluding

So let’s regroup. How are you feeling? What’s your confidence level? If you answered yes to most of the questions above, chances are you’re in a good position to make the transition into full-time freelancing. Or at least you’re as ready as you’ll ever be. If you answered no to most of these question, don’t be discouraged. You might need a bit more time to hone your craft, build up your client list, or refine your business skills.

Even so, you could be just a few months away from the freedom, exhilaration and absolute terror that is the freelance lifestyle.

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5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Going Full-Time Freelance

7 Things to Think About Before Setting Your Freelance Rates

For a freelancer, time is money, so what do you say we get right to it?

1. Know Your Numbers

If we assume 8-hour days and only 5 days in a workweek, then there are 2,080 potential work-hours in a year. But unless you plan to work on Christmas, never take a vacation, and never get sick, you’ll want to cut that number down to about 1,920. Still, of those 1,920 hours, most likely 30 percent of them will be spent doing nonbillable work: admin tasks, invoicing, client negotiations, etc.

Now you’re looking at 1,344 hours a year — or just 26 hours a week. So as you calculate your rate, keep in mind how many hours you’re actually going to be paid for.

2. Know Your Lowest Price

There are two rates you should always have in mind: your absolute lowest rate, and the rate you’re going to charge for a particular job. Knowing your Minimum Acceptable Rate (MAR) will give you the confidence that you aren’t pricing yourself out of business.

There are a couple of formulas you can use to calculate your MAR:

1. (Personal Expenses + Business Expenses)/Hours Worked + Taxes


2. Divide your on-staff yearly salary by the number of hours worked

Both of these results will land you juuuust above the break-even line and should only be used as a basic guideline. These are the rates you should never go below.

Image Source: business evolution via Shutterstock.

3. Work Backwards from a Goal

Before you can make a good decision about your hourly rate, you need to decide how much you want to earn this year. It sounds obvious, but most freelancers work the other way around. And then they’re surprised at the end of the year by how much they did (or did not) earn. Make the call right now: How much are you going to earn in 2015?

Using the above 26 billable hours per week average, here is the hourly rate you’d need to charge to make your desired amount of annual income:

• K/year: .20/hour


• K/year: .80/hour


• 0K/year: .40/hour

For a more nuanced calculation, try Your Rate.

4. Time Is Your Most Valuable Asset

Selling yourself short costs you money. As tempting as it might be to undersell a project when a client balks, it’s in your best interest to stick to your rates. Your time would be better spent improving your skills, taking a class, or learning a new coding language than stooping to charge a rate beneath your MAR.

5. Know Why You’re Worth What You’re Worth

Why do you deserve an hour when your competitor charges only ? As nice as it would be to pull a salary from thin air, even in the freelance world you have to earn what you’re worth. Have you won awards? Been published in respectable publications? Made measurable improvements for your clients?

When you quote a price to your client, know why you are quoting it. Your client doesn’t care how many hours it takes you to do your work. They care about results. Price for the results you know you can provide, and then as your skills improve, raise your rates accordingly.

Image Source: Tramp Sitting on the Floor with Laptop via Shutterstock.

6. Sometimes a Lowered Rate Is Worthwhile

There are instances when it’s worth it to you to reduce your rate:

• If your client has clout and will improve your portfolio


• If your client is doing a good deed and your work is philanthropic


• If your client can send a significant amount of traffic your way


• If the project is such an interesting challenge that you can’t help but accept

In these circumstances, though, it is important to work as if your client is paying premium. The only thing more devastating than underselling yourself is creating bad word of mouth.

7. Your Rate Is Not Set in Stone

Setting your rates is important — but it’s not permanent. Rates are constantly in flux based on your clients’ situations, your situation, and the market’s situation. So don’t panic. It might take you a few tries to dial it in.

Concluding

Setting rates is one of the hardest parts of being a freelancer. So don’t beat yourself up if you find it difficult at first. Often, freelancers have a hard time knowing what they’re actually worth. Or they don’t like the added pressure that a hefty invoice adds to their work.

But if you’re going to make a living as a freelancer, being honest about what your time costs is step one. It’s a form of humility to be honest with yourself about what you’re really worth. And when you find the right clients, they will be happy to pay it.

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7 Things to Think About Before Setting Your Freelance Rates

Freelance Photographer PSD Theme

This unique Photographer PSD Theme is designed especially for photographers looking to make an impression on their audience. With clean typography and a smart design concept, the theme is not limited to photographers – any freelancer with a portfolio or business to display can use it to create an attractive, professional look. Give it your own personal touch by editing the customisable layers.

Screenshots

Freelance Photographer PSD Theme

Is Working Freelance Really Worth It?

Are you tired of working for clients you don’t like? Want control of your time, location, and projects you work on? Then perhaps you should consider freelancing.

Freelancing is basically being self-employed and not committed to any one company or firm. You’ve heard those seemingly perfect freelance stories. Some designer quits his jobs and starts freelancing – and now he’s making more money than he was while at a firm. All the while traveling the world and working for himself. Not to mention he gets to choose what kind of work he does.

However, there is no such thing as perfect – and freelancing is no exception. While the above paragraph might make being a freelancer out to be an ideal gig, it has its drawbacks. And some of these can be deal breakers for you.

So should you freelance? Let’s weight the pros and cons:

Pros of Freelancing

Image Source: Working People via Shutterstock.

1. Choose When You Work

When you don’t have to come into an office each day, you can really be in control of your time. You get to choose when you work. You’re working for yourself, after all. Are you a morning person that wants to stop working at lunchtime? That’s cool. Or are you a night owl that loves to sleep in? Go for it. As long as you get the work done, that’s all that matters. When you freelance, you get to choose when you work. Or at least be more flexible with your schedule (with the few exceptions that involve time-sensitive clients).

2. Choose Where You Work

Since you’re not reporting to a stationary office every day, you can choose where you do your freelancing work. Whether it’s at home, at various cafes throughout the cities, or traveling—or even moving—to different cities, it doesn’t matter. Like with being in control of your time, as long as you get the work done then it doesn’t matter where you’re located. When you freelance, you get to choose where you work. Or again, at least be more flexible with your location (if you have location-sensitive clients).

3. Choose What You Work On

The biggest drawback of working for a company or firm is you usually don’t get to choose what projects you work on. You design based on what clients are brought to you. But when you are a freelancer, you find your own clients. Thus, you get to choose what you work on. Notice the pattern? Freelancing is about choice – freedom.

4. Potentially Make More Money

If you have the drive in you, you can stand to make more money freelancing. You’re not throttled by working for someone else. You can take on more clients or more projects than if you were working for a company or firm. And more quality work equals making more money.

5. Fire Bad Clients

Similar to #3, if you get stuck with a bad client while working for someone else, you either suck it up or quit your job. And there goes all of your work and income. But with freelancing, each client is a separate source of income. So if you come across a bad client, you can freely fire them. Why waste your precious days working on something that’s annoying you? Drop that client like a bad habit.

Cons of Freelancing

Image Source: Hardworking People via Shutterstock.

1. Incoming Work Isn’t Guaranteed

At a company or firm, assuming it doesn’t go out of business, you’re pretty much guaranteed work. You come in, there is always work for you to do, and you’ll never be at a shortage. As a freelancer, since you’re finding your own work, it’s never guaranteed. Sometimes opportunities can be plentiful, and other times there could be less.

2. Inconsistent Monthly Income

With inconsistent incoming work comes inconsistent monthly income. Some months you can be rolling in a steady stream of quality work. Other months your clients might not need you, or you don’t find enough work. And your income suffers as a result.

3. Potentially Make Less Money

A continuation of #2. If you aren’t finding quality clients, you could potentially make less money than if you were at a company or firm. Ditto if you’re lazy. If you aren’t a self-motivating type and need someone else to kick you in the butt, then with freelancing you could potentially be making less money than at a company or firm.

4. You Have to Find New Work On Your Own

With freelancing, you don’t just spend time creating, you also need to spend time finding new clients and work. At a company or firm, the incoming work is taken care of for you. You just need to design and that’s it. (However, if you absolutely hate finding clients but still want to freelance, one remedy is partnering with someone that can find work for you – a designer manager of sorts.)

5. You Have to Do Your Own Accounting

Similar to #4. At a company or firm, you don’t need to worry about accounting. You design, you get paid, you pay yearly taxes, and that’s it. Not so with freelancing – since you are your own company, you need to handle your own accounting. (Again, if you hate accounting then you can use software to make it easier or hire/outsource to someone that can do it.)

So, Should You Freelance?

So is freelancing ultimately worth it? Yes. Yes it is. You won’t get a wishy-washy “it depends” answer here. If you’re considering it, then you should freelance.

Of course, you have to be driven, confident, and independent. You should be willing to take matters into your own hands. (So it really does depend, huh?)

But the benefits of being in control of your time, location, and work you do is worth it alone. That’s true freedom right there – something we all desire as human beings. Add to that the potential to make more money—totally up to your drive, of course—and the pros of freelancing outweigh the cons. Just make sure you aren’t lazy and find actual work for yourself.

So if you are already freelancing, even if just on the side, then let this be confirmation that you made the right choice. And if you haven’t been a freelancer yet, give it a try – you’ll be hooked by the freedom and control you gain.

To recap, here are the pros and cons of freelancing:

Pros:

1. Choose when you work


2. Choose where you work


3. Choose what you work on


4. Potentially make more money


5. Fire bad clients

Cons:

1. Incoming work isn’t guaranteed


2. Inconsistent monthly income


3. Potentially make less money


4. You have to find new work on your own


5. You have to do your own accounting

Do you freelance, even if just on the side? How are you liking it compared to working for a company or firm, and would you recommend it to others? Share your positive (and negative) experiences in the comments below.

The post Is Working Freelance Really Worth It? appeared first on Speckyboy Web Design Magazine.

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Is Working Freelance Really Worth It?

Is Working Freelance Really Worth It?

Are you tired of working for clients you don’t like? Want control of your time, location, and projects you work on? Then perhaps you should consider freelancing.

Freelancing is basically being self-employed and not committed to any one company or firm. You’ve heard those seemingly perfect freelance stories. Some designer quits his jobs and starts freelancing – and now he’s making more money than he was while at a firm. All the while traveling the world and working for himself. Not to mention he gets to choose what kind of work he does.

However, there is no such thing as perfect – and freelancing is no exception. While the above paragraph might make being a freelancer out to be an ideal gig, it has its drawbacks. And some of these can be deal breakers for you.

So should you freelance? Let’s weight the pros and cons:

Pros of Freelancing

Image Source: Working People via Shutterstock.

1. Choose When You Work

When you don’t have to come into an office each day, you can really be in control of your time. You get to choose when you work. You’re working for yourself, after all. Are you a morning person that wants to stop working at lunchtime? That’s cool. Or are you a night owl that loves to sleep in? Go for it. As long as you get the work done, that’s all that matters. When you freelance, you get to choose when you work. Or at least be more flexible with your schedule (with the few exceptions that involve time-sensitive clients).

2. Choose Where You Work

Since you’re not reporting to a stationary office every day, you can choose where you do your freelancing work. Whether it’s at home, at various cafes throughout the cities, or traveling—or even moving—to different cities, it doesn’t matter. Like with being in control of your time, as long as you get the work done then it doesn’t matter where you’re located. When you freelance, you get to choose where you work. Or again, at least be more flexible with your location (if you have location-sensitive clients).

3. Choose What You Work On

The biggest drawback of working for a company or firm is you usually don’t get to choose what projects you work on. You design based on what clients are brought to you. But when you are a freelancer, you find your own clients. Thus, you get to choose what you work on. Notice the pattern? Freelancing is about choice – freedom.

4. Potentially Make More Money

If you have the drive in you, you can stand to make more money freelancing. You’re not throttled by working for someone else. You can take on more clients or more projects than if you were working for a company or firm. And more quality work equals making more money.

5. Fire Bad Clients

Similar to #3, if you get stuck with a bad client while working for someone else, you either suck it up or quit your job. And there goes all of your work and income. But with freelancing, each client is a separate source of income. So if you come across a bad client, you can freely fire them. Why waste your precious days working on something that’s annoying you? Drop that client like a bad habit.

Cons of Freelancing

Image Source: Hardworking People via Shutterstock.

1. Incoming Work Isn’t Guaranteed

At a company or firm, assuming it doesn’t go out of business, you’re pretty much guaranteed work. You come in, there is always work for you to do, and you’ll never be at a shortage. As a freelancer, since you’re finding your own work, it’s never guaranteed. Sometimes opportunities can be plentiful, and other times there could be less.

2. Inconsistent Monthly Income

With inconsistent incoming work comes inconsistent monthly income. Some months you can be rolling in a steady stream of quality work. Other months your clients might not need you, or you don’t find enough work. And your income suffers as a result.

3. Potentially Make Less Money

A continuation of #2. If you aren’t finding quality clients, you could potentially make less money than if you were at a company or firm. Ditto if you’re lazy. If you aren’t a self-motivating type and need someone else to kick you in the butt, then with freelancing you could potentially be making less money than at a company or firm.

4. You Have to Find New Work On Your Own

With freelancing, you don’t just spend time creating, you also need to spend time finding new clients and work. At a company or firm, the incoming work is taken care of for you. You just need to design and that’s it. (However, if you absolutely hate finding clients but still want to freelance, one remedy is partnering with someone that can find work for you – a designer manager of sorts.)

5. You Have to Do Your Own Accounting

Similar to #4. At a company or firm, you don’t need to worry about accounting. You design, you get paid, you pay yearly taxes, and that’s it. Not so with freelancing – since you are your own company, you need to handle your own accounting. (Again, if you hate accounting then you can use software to make it easier or hire/outsource to someone that can do it.)

So, Should You Freelance?

So is freelancing ultimately worth it? Yes. Yes it is. You won’t get a wishy-washy “it depends” answer here. If you’re considering it, then you should freelance.

Of course, you have to be driven, confident, and independent. You should be willing to take matters into your own hands. (So it really does depend, huh?)

But the benefits of being in control of your time, location, and work you do is worth it alone. That’s true freedom right there – something we all desire as human beings. Add to that the potential to make more money—totally up to your drive, of course—and the pros of freelancing outweigh the cons. Just make sure you aren’t lazy and find actual work for yourself.

So if you are already freelancing, even if just on the side, then let this be confirmation that you made the right choice. And if you haven’t been a freelancer yet, give it a try – you’ll be hooked by the freedom and control you gain.

To recap, here are the pros and cons of freelancing:

Pros:

1. Choose when you work


2. Choose where you work


3. Choose what you work on


4. Potentially make more money


5. Fire bad clients

Cons:

1. Incoming work isn’t guaranteed


2. Inconsistent monthly income


3. Potentially make less money


4. You have to find new work on your own


5. You have to do your own accounting

Do you freelance, even if just on the side? How are you liking it compared to working for a company or firm, and would you recommend it to others? Share your positive (and negative) experiences in the comments below.

The post Is Working Freelance Really Worth It? appeared first on Speckyboy Web Design Magazine.

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Is Working Freelance Really Worth It?

Simplify Your Freelance Tasks With Motiv

As a freelancer, you have a lot of things to take care of. Not only do you have to work on meeting your deadline and communicating with your clients, there are also various other tasks that you need to complete to ensure that your business runs smoothly.

If you’re tired of those tedious tasks that comes with freelancing such as contracts, invoicing, timesheets, and proposals, then why not give Motiv a try? Motiv is a revolutionary app that simplifies all of those tasks and will re-invent how you work. Let’s take a look at what Motiv can bring to the table.

Recommended Reading: 17 Essential Tools To Better Manage Your Freelance Business

Starting Out With Motiv

When you start out creating with Motiv, it comes with a 5 step process. You begin by choosing of a template from the dashboard: a contract, invoice, project, proposal, form or quote.

I have chosen the invoice template and I can now create an invoice by filling out simple fields like the client name, price, project, and date on the Motiv invoice creator.

After we are finished filling out the necessary information for an invoice, we now have the choice to either download the invoice PDF, send it to an email, or print the invoice. This page also has a discussion section and invoice creation history section which displays the changes and additions you make on the invoice.

Motiv invoices can be set up for payment to be made via Paypal. One of my favorite features is that Motiv will display stats showing you whether the invoice was viewed, how many times it was viewed, and whether or not the payment has been sent.

Building Contracts

When creating a contract with Motiv, there are 4 simple steps:

1. Basic Information


2. Contract Sections


3. Fee Schedules


4. Contract Design.

With these 4 steps, the developers of Motiv have made contract building a simple and organized task. You can also add your own custom sections to the individual steps to create a contract that would suit you best.

After we have created our contract, we can then send out the contract to a new client and have them sign it electronically. Similarly with invoices, the contracts have stats that show when and how many times they viewed it or if it has been signed by the client.

Time-Tracking

You can set up a timesheet to log hours and generate invoices instantly. The Motiv time-tracking function is available on the web app and you can also install it for Windows and Mac. This feature saves a lot of time and you never have to log your hours outside your invoicing app again!

Extra Features

Client Dashboard

Clients can often forget or lose documents you send them, but with Motiv, clients can easily log into their own dashboard and access any documents without the need of having you re-send it back to them or the hassle of sending documents back to you via scanning and emailing.

Custom Domains

Along with the client dashboard, you may want to use a custom domain name with your business document solution. With Motiv, you can easily setup a custom domain to go along with your account thus helping to improve your overall branding strategy and company reputation.

Pricing

If you’re interested, you can try it out for 30 days for free. After that, you can sign up for the plan which applies to all users.

What I Liked

Time-tracking feature to make invoicing a breeze.

Pay invoices via Paypal.

Integrate your own website domain with your Motiv account.

Ability to see if a client has opened your documents.

Clients can create their own accounts and login to view documents which require immediate action.

Brand your Motiv site and documents with your own logo.

Contracts include important terms and clauses to protect freelancers.

What I Didn’t Like

• No Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, or SkyDrive support.


• No messaging between freelancer and clients (Other than using e-mail contact forms).


• No Stripe payment support.

Conclusion

Motiv truly re-invents keeping your invoices, contracts, proposals, and quotes in line with its various features. It allows you to easily build professional and relevant contracts that will keep businesses protected all for a reasonable flat price. I recommend Motiv for any freelancer or business (small or large) to centralize your invoicing and business document management.

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Simplify Your Freelance Tasks With Motiv

Simplify Your Freelance Tasks With Motiv

As a freelancer, you have a lot of things to take care of. Not only do you have to work on meeting your deadline and communicating with your clients, there are also various other tasks that you need to complete to ensure that your business runs smoothly.

If you’re tired of those tedious tasks that comes with freelancing such as contracts, invoicing, timesheets, and proposals, then why not give Motiv a try? Motiv is a revolutionary app that simplifies all of those tasks and will re-invent how you work. Let’s take a look at what Motiv can bring to the table.

Recommended Reading: 17 Essential Tools To Better Manage Your Freelance Business

Starting Out With Motiv

When you start out creating with Motiv, it comes with a 5 step process. You begin by choosing of a template from the dashboard: a contract, invoice, project, proposal, form or quote.

I have chosen the invoice template and I can now create an invoice by filling out simple fields like the client name, price, project, and date on the Motiv invoice creator.

After we are finished filling out the necessary information for an invoice, we now have the choice to either download the invoice PDF, send it to an email, or print the invoice. This page also has a discussion section and invoice creation history section which displays the changes and additions you make on the invoice.

Motiv invoices can be set up for payment to be made via Paypal. One of my favorite features is that Motiv will display stats showing you whether the invoice was viewed, how many times it was viewed, and whether or not the payment has been sent.

Building Contracts

When creating a contract with Motiv, there are 4 simple steps:

1. Basic Information


2. Contract Sections


3. Fee Schedules


4. Contract Design.

With these 4 steps, the developers of Motiv have made contract building a simple and organized task. You can also add your own custom sections to the individual steps to create a contract that would suit you best.

After we have created our contract, we can then send out the contract to a new client and have them sign it electronically. Similarly with invoices, the contracts have stats that show when and how many times they viewed it or if it has been signed by the client.

Time-Tracking

You can set up a timesheet to log hours and generate invoices instantly. The Motiv time-tracking function is available on the web app and you can also install it for Windows and Mac. This feature saves a lot of time and you never have to log your hours outside your invoicing app again!

Extra Features

Client Dashboard

Clients can often forget or lose documents you send them, but with Motiv, clients can easily log into their own dashboard and access any documents without the need of having you re-send it back to them or the hassle of sending documents back to you via scanning and emailing.

Custom Domains

Along with the client dashboard, you may want to use a custom domain name with your business document solution. With Motiv, you can easily setup a custom domain to go along with your account thus helping to improve your overall branding strategy and company reputation.

Pricing

If you’re interested, you can try it out for 30 days for free. After that, you can sign up for the plan which applies to all users.

What I Liked

Time-tracking feature to make invoicing a breeze.

Pay invoices via Paypal.

Integrate your own website domain with your Motiv account.

Ability to see if a client has opened your documents.

Clients can create their own accounts and login to view documents which require immediate action.

Brand your Motiv site and documents with your own logo.

Contracts include important terms and clauses to protect freelancers.

What I Didn’t Like

• No Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, or SkyDrive support.


• No messaging between freelancer and clients (Other than using e-mail contact forms).


• No Stripe payment support.

Conclusion

Motiv truly re-invents keeping your invoices, contracts, proposals, and quotes in line with its various features. It allows you to easily build professional and relevant contracts that will keep businesses protected all for a reasonable flat price. I recommend Motiv for any freelancer or business (small or large) to centralize your invoicing and business document management.

No related posts.

Simplify Your Freelance Tasks With Motiv

Guide To Boosting Your Freelance Career With Pro Bono Work

People who are new to web design and development, writing or any other sort of creative work have little to show in their portfolio. And that’s a potentially major problem as thousands of experts with strings of portfolios are already out in a saturated market. What advantage could a newcomer have over someone who’s had years of experience and a reputation to boot?

Well, you can always go pro bono to build up your professional portfolio first. Want to know how? I’ve put together a quick guide on how to leverage pro bono work to gain more work.

Recommended Reading: 9 Things You Should Know About Freelancing Full-Time

What Is Pro Bono?

Pro bono is basically work done by a professional for free for the public. But in the freelance scene’s context, it’s for a freelancer’s image. Pro bono work is tricky. I say tricky because there are two different opinions on this. There’s the professionals who hate pro bono work and the ones who are for it.

The group against pro bono work feel that artists are getting ripped and selling themselves short of what they are worth. Alongside that you have many clients that prey on beginners to get free or extremely cheap labor.

The professionals are right; you should never ever sell yourself short. Hate on these predators (for lack of a better term) however you want, but why not you use them to your advantage instead?

The Sad Truth About Starting Freelancing

Only the experienced ones are given the high-paying projects. It doesn’t really matter if you are an experienced developer, designer or writer, if your online profile is basically zero, you’re out of luck.

You need to have an online presence.

When I started writing as a freelancer, 5 months after finishing university, no one wanted to work with me because I didn’t have any published articles online. I only started getting work because I did one free work. After which, I was recommended to and by people.

If you are new to the scene, I highly recommend selling yourself short (that’s a sentence I never thought I’d ever write). Suppose a project’s budget is around 00. If you think you can offer a 25-50% price slash, do it. If it’s a project that can be accomplished in just one day, you could even offer your services for free.

There is a catch though. Being the lowest bidder might give the impression that you are a low-quality worker. To turn this to your advantage, explain your situation: you are offering to work for less because you are new to the scene, but your client should expect no less than exceptional work.

Projects Worth Pursuing

Of course you shouldn’t just accept any project you see. You need to be meticulous and make sure that the project will potentially lead to other projects.

If you are looking for work on job boards like Elance, Freelancer, and the like, be sure to only talk to project owners with a robust history of projects. That way, you can ask them to contact you for future projects if they like your work.

Read Also: How To Work Better With Your Clients

Another thing you can do is to contact businesses or organizations in your area and offer your service. Try contacting the following in your locality; usually they have very little requirements and you’ll not get too much feedback (or additional input) and will be left on your own to do your magic. Plus, if you do it for free, you can always ask them to provide a good testimonial for you or to recommend you to others.

• Schools


• Churches


• Orphanages


• Interest groups


• Your favourite local band


• Your favourite restaurant


• Politicians (if you are feeling adventurous)

When selecting your organization of choice, there are 3 important things to consider:

Is the organization connected with other organizations?

Organizations like to keep in contact with other similar organizations e.g. musician bands and indie groups know of other similar groups and if you were to make one website for one group, word may spread quickly of your services within the community.

Does it have a good image?

Where possible, you should steer clear from organizations with a bad image. Doing pro bono work should steer towards developing a positive image for yourself, not ruin it before it launches.

Is there potential for growth?

If the atmosphere suggests that the organization you’d want to work with has a great potential for growth, hop in without a second thought. You’ll be riding to the top with them as they popular and bigger.

Note that these are mere guidelines, not rules. You may prefer to work with individuals first instead of organizations. That’s fine too as it helps add to your ever-growing portfolio, giving you the boost you need in a different way.

How To Know What Works

A lot of companies and experienced freelancers do pro bono work on a regular basis. For example, web hosting companies do a lot of giveaways, offering a year’s worth of web hosting and domains for free. While they are not getting paid for their services, they are getting back free publicity. The same can be seen in graphic artists who release business card designs, logos, icons, fonts, artwork and the like on design blogs and creative outlets like Behance, Dafont, DeviantArt, and Dribbble.

Why does this work? People love free stuff. They will flock to you. And that’s the kind of publicity you want, a positive one. For web designers and developers, one effective method of driving people to your site is by giving away free website templates which, mind you, you can also include in your portfolio.

Do you see the trend here now? The gateway to success is basically to give your stuff for free at first, because if people loved your product or work, you will eventually be led to people who are willing to pay for more of your work.

Say No To spec Work

Urgh, spec work. Do not mistake pro bono work with… spec work. Unlike pro bono work which will probably get you leads to better-paying work in the future, spec work is just downright evil. It operates like this: the client behind a project will ask many individuals (mostly freelancers) to produce a work based on a specific list of requirements.

The bad news is, they pick, and pay, only the one result they want. After investing all that time and effort into producing spec work, you might leave empty handed, with no testimonial, publicity or leads to future project. Never engage in spec work — you’ll just encourage them to prey on other newcomers if you do.

Pro bono doesn’t only work for people who are just starting freelance work online. This also applies to seasoned freelancers who are experiencing "rainy days”, days when projects seem hard to come by. Start building your portfolio now. Remember, always move forward, even if it’s just one small step.

Related posts:

1. 6 Phrases in Freelance Job Ads That Scream "DON’T APPLY"


2. Get Published (Part 3): Marketing Your Posts After Publication


3. Historic Freelancers Who Changed The World – Part 2


4. 5 End-of-Year Tax Tips for Freelancers

Guide To Boosting Your Freelance Career With Pro Bono Work

Guide To Boosting Your Freelance Career With Pro Bono Work

People who are new to web design and development, writing or any other sort of creative work have little to show in their portfolio. And that’s a potentially major problem as thousands of experts with strings of portfolios are already out in a saturated market. What advantage could a newcomer have over someone who’s had years of experience and a reputation to boot?

Well, you can always go pro bono to build up your professional portfolio first. Want to know how? I’ve put together a quick guide on how to leverage pro bono work to gain more work.

Recommended Reading: 9 Things You Should Know About Freelancing Full-Time

What Is Pro Bono?

Pro bono is basically work done by a professional for free for the public. But in the freelance scene’s context, it’s for a freelancer’s image. Pro bono work is tricky. I say tricky because there are two different opinions on this. There’s the professionals who hate pro bono work and the ones who are for it.

The group against pro bono work feel that artists are getting ripped and selling themselves short of what they are worth. Alongside that you have many clients that prey on beginners to get free or extremely cheap labor.

The professionals are right; you should never ever sell yourself short. Hate on these predators (for lack of a better term) however you want, but why not you use them to your advantage instead?

The Sad Truth About Starting Freelancing

Only the experienced ones are given the high-paying projects. It doesn’t really matter if you are an experienced developer, designer or writer, if your online profile is basically zero, you’re out of luck.

You need to have an online presence.

When I started writing as a freelancer, 5 months after finishing university, no one wanted to work with me because I didn’t have any published articles online. I only started getting work because I did one free work. After which, I was recommended to and by people.

If you are new to the scene, I highly recommend selling yourself short (that’s a sentence I never thought I’d ever write). Suppose a project’s budget is around 00. If you think you can offer a 25-50% price slash, do it. If it’s a project that can be accomplished in just one day, you could even offer your services for free.

There is a catch though. Being the lowest bidder might give the impression that you are a low-quality worker. To turn this to your advantage, explain your situation: you are offering to work for less because you are new to the scene, but your client should expect no less than exceptional work.

Projects Worth Pursuing

Of course you shouldn’t just accept any project you see. You need to be meticulous and make sure that the project will potentially lead to other projects.

If you are looking for work on job boards like Elance, Freelancer, and the like, be sure to only talk to project owners with a robust history of projects. That way, you can ask them to contact you for future projects if they like your work.

Read Also: How To Work Better With Your Clients

Another thing you can do is to contact businesses or organizations in your area and offer your service. Try contacting the following in your locality; usually they have very little requirements and you’ll not get too much feedback (or additional input) and will be left on your own to do your magic. Plus, if you do it for free, you can always ask them to provide a good testimonial for you or to recommend you to others.

• Schools


• Churches


• Orphanages


• Interest groups


• Your favourite local band


• Your favourite restaurant


• Politicians (if you are feeling adventurous)

When selecting your organization of choice, there are 3 important things to consider:

Is the organization connected with other organizations?

Organizations like to keep in contact with other similar organizations e.g. musician bands and indie groups know of other similar groups and if you were to make one website for one group, word may spread quickly of your services within the community.

Does it have a good image?

Where possible, you should steer clear from organizations with a bad image. Doing pro bono work should steer towards developing a positive image for yourself, not ruin it before it launches.

Is there potential for growth?

If the atmosphere suggests that the organization you’d want to work with has a great potential for growth, hop in without a second thought. You’ll be riding to the top with them as they popular and bigger.

Note that these are mere guidelines, not rules. You may prefer to work with individuals first instead of organizations. That’s fine too as it helps add to your ever-growing portfolio, giving you the boost you need in a different way.

How To Know What Works

A lot of companies and experienced freelancers do pro bono work on a regular basis. For example, web hosting companies do a lot of giveaways, offering a year’s worth of web hosting and domains for free. While they are not getting paid for their services, they are getting back free publicity. The same can be seen in graphic artists who release business card designs, logos, icons, fonts, artwork and the like on design blogs and creative outlets like Behance, Dafont, DeviantArt, and Dribbble.

Why does this work? People love free stuff. They will flock to you. And that’s the kind of publicity you want, a positive one. For web designers and developers, one effective method of driving people to your site is by giving away free website templates which, mind you, you can also include in your portfolio.

Do you see the trend here now? The gateway to success is basically to give your stuff for free at first, because if people loved your product or work, you will eventually be led to people who are willing to pay for more of your work.

Say No To spec Work

Urgh, spec work. Do not mistake pro bono work with… spec work. Unlike pro bono work which will probably get you leads to better-paying work in the future, spec work is just downright evil. It operates like this: the client behind a project will ask many individuals (mostly freelancers) to produce a work based on a specific list of requirements.

The bad news is, they pick, and pay, only the one result they want. After investing all that time and effort into producing spec work, you might leave empty handed, with no testimonial, publicity or leads to future project. Never engage in spec work — you’ll just encourage them to prey on other newcomers if you do.

Pro bono doesn’t only work for people who are just starting freelance work online. This also applies to seasoned freelancers who are experiencing "rainy days”, days when projects seem hard to come by. Start building your portfolio now. Remember, always move forward, even if it’s just one small step.

Related posts:

1. 6 Phrases in Freelance Job Ads That Scream "DON’T APPLY"

Guide To Boosting Your Freelance Career With Pro Bono Work