Nerve wrecking.

That’s what it means. And I don’t mean the actual travelling. Its the before leaving for the trip that’s nerve wrecking. From planning & scheduling to informing to trying to do everything yourself. It’s just mind boggling, stressing and frustrating!

It’s not supposed to be so stressful. I get it. It’s just not that easy to do y’know? A couple of weeks before I left, I read an extremely well timed guest post by Alex Fayle on Men with Pens in which he gave some excellent advice on planning a freelance vacation. 

Half of it was about dealing with ongoing projects and hiring someone to take care of your email etc. I didn’t have the time to sort it all out so I decided to finish up all my ongoing assignments. I also emailed all the people who needed to know that I was going on a break. 

Till here, it was all hunky dory. 

Then I took a pill of stupid and decided to take on my blog and schedule three week’s worth of posts for The Base instead of getting guest posters to contribute. I’d realized there was too little time and I had to do everything myself. 

Even that would have been fine because I did manage to set up the scheduled posts. But then my trip got extended by a week and it didn’t occur to me that I’d need to schedule more posts.

Yeah, math was never  my strong point. The result was my blog being neglected for an entire week.

As is obvious, I forgot to repeat to myself: I am not the centre of the universe. Had I asked for it, people would have helped me. We have twitter nowadays for god’s sake!

I’ll be travelling again later this year and for longer than a couple of weeks. I’m already working out the details even though I’m months away from it. 

Ever had trouble like this while on a break? What’s your worst vacation story as a freelancer? Come on. Make me feel better.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, freelance business, Freelancing

Getting work queries is part of a freelancer’s routine. Not all work out, but all of them require a response.

How you reply to emails often plays an important part in the reply you get. We’ve already covered what to do if you don’t get a response, now it’s time to find out how to write replies to work queries that will yield a response.

Whether you get the job or not is irrelevant at this point. Your main aim is to get them to reply to you. In my experience that’s half the battle won.

Even if they don’t hire you, you still would have learned from the exchange. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of how to deal with prospective clients, you’ll be able to figure out if you’re making any mistakes in client dealings and if there’s something more you could do next time.

Reply immediately

First contact should be made immediately after you’ve gotten a work query. It’s important because you won’t be the only freelancer they’ve emailed. They don’t have the time to wait and they want fast results. Send in a reply before they have a chance to consider someone else. In most cases, it doesn’t matter how qualified you are for the job. It’s the early birds that get the job.

Set the tone for negotiations

If they’ve asked you for rates, don’t hedge. State them clearly. I can hear you guys hissing at this, but it’s true. This is your one time shot to get the job and evading a direct question is not the way to go. So state your rates and stop panicking because there’s a way to neutralize your vulnerability.

Right after quoting your rates, let them know that these rates are open for consideration. You can write something along the lines of ‘…these are my standard rates and usually vary depending on the project and amount of work.’

Ask them for more details

Asking for more details encourages the client to respond. A simple “If you could send me more details, I’ll be able to send you a more concrete quotation.” is enough.

If you want, you can also ask them about their budget so that you can decide if their budget would fit in with your rates. This is strongly dependent on your intuition though. Sometimes, I don’t get the vibe that the client will welcome this question so I don’t ask.

Let them know you’re waiting

It may not make much difference, but letting them know that ‘you’re looking forward‘ to their response might compel them to reply back with an answer. There are no guarantees of course.

To be frank, the entire email reply is an exercise in subtlety. Unless you’re uber successful and can do without their business, you have to use every trick up your sleeve to get the engage in a negotiation.

Recommend someone

It doesn’t always work out. The stats actually favour the nays than the yays. We’re freelancers though and our super power is handling rejection.

If the job doesn’t work out for whatever reason, don’t forget to recommend another freelancer. Not only is recommending some one good manners, it’s another way to surprise the client pleasantly. If you’re not getting the job, make sure they remember you.

Thank them

‘Thank you’ are two extremely strong words. Whether it works out or not, thank them for their time and consideration. It ends things on just the right note. For all you know, they just may choose you the next time.

Different things work for different people. Do your tactics differ from mine? Has anything else worked better for you?

Technorati Tags: Clients, Freelance work, Freelancing

As a a writer you’ll be receiving replies to your applications along with getting queries about your work from prospective clients. Sounds cool huh? Getting work queries without having to apply. Trust me, it doesn’t happen that often.

When it does happen though, chances are they’re not gonna get back to you after your reply. Try not to take it to heart though. It’s not you, it’s them.

Actually, it’s the other freelancer who got the job.

So What Do You Do?

Do you mourn and move on? Yes, you mourn. You caught the client’s eye but couldn’t keep them interested. But no, you don’t move on. Not yet.

That last bit is where you’ve got the chance to make the client notice you. They may have settled on some one else, but that doesn’t mean you can give up. You are going to have to force them to notice you. In a not-so-intense way of course.

Take Action!

Wait for 5 working days then send them a follow up email. Simply remind them that they contacted you and if they’d come to a decision. End with asking them to let you know their decision in either case.

Sample Copy Of Follow-Up Email

If you like, you can use a copy of the email I send out to prospective clients who’re AWOL. This is a very simple email which I use as a base to modify my follow up emails according to client and situation.

Dear _______,

We exchanged emails on [Date] about a [writing/blogging/whichever] position for [company/website name]. Since I haven’t heard back from you after the initial contact I’m wondering if you’re still interested in hiring me as your [insert position] or if you’ve decided to hire someone else.

Please let me know in either case.

Regards,

[Name]

[Email Signature]

Time To Move On

That’s it. Now you can move on. If they reply, you’ve accomplished your goal. If they don’t, you’ve already made your peace.

But wait! Why is it so important to follow up? Because they’re going to need another freelancer some day and you’re going to apply again.

Technorati Tags: Clients, Freelance work, Freelancing

Freelancing is a lonely business. You work alone, probably eat alone, and on a typical day, you clear your throat before answering your phone. If you’ve just started out, it’s possible that you’re working in your kitchen perched on stool or chair. No matter where you work, in your home office, in your bed or your kitchen, we all get accustomed and dependant to a few factors that make up our work environment.

Sounds – or Lack Thereof

There are those of us who enjoy working in silence, then there are those who can’t work without some music playing. A lot of web worker play music while working. It’s our companion of choice and head phones are as important to us as our printer. For the silent workers – the headphones are for VOIP.

Background Noises

Background noise doesn’t register until it goes missing. The chirping of the birds nesting in the tree outside your window. A fan whirring. The radio playing on low volume. Your neighbour’s lawn being mowed at 10 am. All these sounds are registered but not recognized. Until the birds fly away or you close the window and can’t figure out why it doesn’t sound right anymore or the lawn mower is turned off abruptly

Visuals

When you’re starting your work day, you only have eyes for your work space. There are all kinds of freelancers. The neat freaks, the unorganised and those who call their mess organized chaos. Whichever category you fall into, things around the place you work have to be the way you’re used to before you can focus on your work.

If you’re a neat freak, cluttered stationary would distract you. Messy? The table which you, in a moment of madness cleared out, would irritate you. Believer of organized chaos? God help you if you actually put something in its rightful place!

Space

We boast of having the ability to work from anywhere as long as we have a laptop and Internet. The truth however is that we’re happier working in our own space and place. One that we call our own even if it’s just our bed, sofa or kitchen table. It is ‘ours’. We know ever nook and cranny of it. We’re comfortable in it. We can conquer the world from it.

So I’m curious. What is your workplace like and how would describe them in terms of sounds, background noises, visuals and space?

Me? I don’t have a formal workplace. It’s coming in next week – I finally placed an order today [pumps fist up in the air].

Photo Credit: ishane

Technorati Tags: Freelance work, Freelancing, Work environment

The answer is a resounding ‘No!’ A recent job ad for a Community Manager had me smiling. Their requirements for a community manager had me ticking off things I qualified for and I was surprised to see that I was qualifying for quite a few.

You have a blog. You post several times/week. You receive 20+ comments per post. You respond to a number of those comments.

You have a blog – Yes, two.

You post several times a week – Between the two blogs, I do.

You receive 20+ comments per post – Not on this one and sometimes on the other one.

You respond to those comments – Always!

You love Twitter. You have >200 followers. You know the difference between @ and #.

Yes I do! If the job were about twittering I’d be SO qualified!

You know what the Cluetrain Manifesto is without having to Google it.

Umm… you lost me there. [Psst, do you guys know? If so check out the job here]

You can explain the strengths and weaknesses of Facebook and can name your favourite apps.

The strength is its privacy options. It’s weakness is that it was promoted as a ‘for friends and family’ networking site and now it’s turned into a launch pad for products, businesses and blogs and there’s no way to effectively separate family and friends from business and work associates in a single profile.

You’ve met some of your best friends online, some of whom you’ve never actually met in person.

Yeah, that’s me. However I’ve made it a point to meet best friends from online if they’re in the same geographical locations or if the friend is passing through the city.

You can rattle off names of popular bloggers and Internet rock stars.

Darren Rowse of Problogger, Brian Clark of Copyblogger, Chris Brogan, Chris G, James Chartrand of Men with Pens, The Berry-Brewer duo of Freelance Parents, Mason Hipp of Freelance Folder, Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz, Freelance Switch, Michael Martine of Remarkablogger – to name just a few.

You’re a brilliant writer, conversational and authentic by nature.

Uhh… I’d like to be a little modest here.

You’ve worked at a startup before.

Does my own freelancing count?

You believe the Internet is a series of tubes.

My maze is your tubes.

You spend WAY too much time online.

I’d have qualified if that was the only criterion! The amount of time I spend online is insane.

So I missed out on just a few of those. Not bad. Now I need to find out what exactly it is that a community Manager does.