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Give Your Freelance Business a Professional Make-Over

 

How many of us can relate to this: 

Reason number #___ (fill in appropriate number here) why I became a freelance writer. 

To work in my pajamas. 

Admit it people. The lure of having a job where dressing up is optional—where dressing at all is optional—is pretty strong. Nothing says “I am my own boss” like rolling out of bed every morning, pouring some coffee down your throat, and settling on the couch with your laptop for several hours next to a plate of toaster waffles. I know you do it, and you know you do it, but do you really want your clients to know it, too? 

Sure, somewhere in the dark recesses of their minds, all clients know that the freelancers they hire could very well be the biggest slobs on the face of the planet. However, as long as their freelancers present a professional front, it is easy for the clients to pretend that all their money is going towards a highly organized business filled with people who wear three-piece suits every day. 

Appearances—even online appearances—are incredibly important in the freelancing business community. Your clients want to feel confident that not only are they getting the desired final outcome, but that all aspects of their projects will be handled with professionalism. I think that’s pretty fair. That’s why it might be necessary to take a step back and re-evaluate the image you present to the world. 

How Clients Reach You 

Email address – Candybar9099@hotmail.com might be a cute address for your friends and family to use, but no client wants to feel like they are working with someone associated with a chocolate confection. Keep it simple and relevant to your business. Using a generic email provider like hotmail might also give the wrong impression; scams and spam often travel through these same avenues. 

Phone number – Do you use the same phone number for personal and professional communication? This is a definite turn-off for clients. Not only might they dislike hearing little Jimmy answering the phone and screaming for Mom, but they might not feel comfortable leaving a message on what is obviously a family line. 

Physical address – Many work-at-home freelancers avoid giving out their business address because they want to keep their families and homes private. While that is commendable in and of itself, a business that refuses to give out an address looks pretty shady. One of the first thing the Better Business Bureau will tell you is that if a business won’t give you a physical address, they might be trying to hide something.  

How You Market 

Website – Do you get the bulk of your freelance work from online traffic through your website? Having a professional-looking website that is free of grammatical errors (hire a professional freelance writer if you aren’t one!) will go a long way in inspiring confidence in your abilities.  

Direct Mail – Again, professionalism is key here. If you are going to go through the trouble of creating, printing, and sending out brochures or other marketing items, make sure that you are presenting your best self. An overly simplistic flier will not do nearly as much for your professionalism as a glossy pamphlet.  

In Person – This is one of those times when the PJs just won’t cut it. If you have a face-to-face meeting with anyone—client, editor, design team, Kinko’s guy printing out your business cards—it is always best to dress correctly for the occasion. For freelance parents, it is equally important to leave the kids with a sitter for even casual meetings, since you never know when or where it will end up. 

How You Get Paid 

Online – If you are getting the bulk of your work through internet clients, you need to make sure that you have a quick and easy way for them to pay you. No client wants to keep working for a freelancer who makes it difficult to get through the financial paperwork. PayPal, while a cheap payment method that most people have used in the past, isn’t the most professional venue. Accepting credit cards or direct payments through your website might place a burden on you, but it will also look much more professional to your clients (assuming you take the steps necessary to do it securely). 

Mail – If you are working locally or simply wish to rely on the good, old-fashioned pay-by-check method, your invoice needs to mean business. Miscellaneous fees, an unstructured form, or a hard-to-distinguish template might detract from what’s really going on with an invoice: the exchange of money. 

Taxes and Licensing 

Business Licenses – Would you rather work with Jane Jones, a freelance business owner with the proper license and EIN, or John Smith, work-from-home freelancer who avoids all discussions of W9s and 1099 forms? Larger firms that are accustomed to working with freelancers on a regular basis will expect you to have all of the proper documentation before they will even consider doing business with you. 

Business Structure – Are you an LLC? A Sole Proprietor? A Corporation? Believe it or not, these may make a difference to your potential clients. Having a Sole Proprietor structure might make you look a little bit more like someone who is just dabbling with the idea of freelancing. Having a Corporation, even if you are a single individual working alone, demonstrates that you know how a business runs at a deeper level.

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    Comments

    1.
    On October 30th, 2007 at 9:50 pm, WAH(web)Mommy said:

    “To work in my pajamas”

    LOL, that couldn’t be more true! I’m technically working in my pajamas, on the laptop, watching tv in the family room with DH right now. Ok, work as in catching up on blogs… but I was actually “working” half an hour ago ;)

    This article really rings true - and I’m so happy to realize that I have quite a few of these items taken care of! (Believe it or not, I just setup an EIN today!)

    What you say about PayPal is very interesting. I thought it was “good enough” but I’ve recently had a new client have problems with it - to the point that they were frustrated and just mailed me a check. I’m so used to using it, that I never considered it from the PayPal newbie point of view.

    I suppose I should start looking into a “real” merchant account. It’s tough when you are pinching pennies, though. But I suppose in the long run it will be well worth it.

    As far as physical address - I use a P.O. Box because I’m obviously not going to give out my home address. What are your thoughts on that? I’m sure it’s better than not listing any address (at least clients and potential clients know my city and state). But do you think that is a turn-off that it’s just a mailbox and not a street address? I have no need for office space, but I suppose the alternative is a Mailboxes Etc or UPS Store type of mailbox which gives you a street address. Obviously more costly than a PO Box, but in the long run? Might be more costly if I loose a potential client…

    Anyway, sorry for the long comment! But I love the article! :)

    2.
    On October 31st, 2007 at 7:55 am, Naomi Dunford said:

    The only reason I don’t work in my pajamas each and every day is because I know eventually I’ll have to get the mail. That’s it.

    I agree about the phone situation, although everyone in this house answers “[whoever] speaking” when we don’t recognize the number. If the baby’s freaking out, we just let it go to voicemail and call back from a quiet room.

    I don’t really understand people’s concern about their home address. I mean, be concerned if you want to be concerned, but if the Bad Guys have Google, they can find you. I figure you may as well not make it difficult for the 99.998% of the world who aren’t stalkers to find you since the stalkers are going to find you anyway. :)

    And Paypal? Well, I love Paypal but most of my marketing clients pay by check. It’s the freelancing people who pay with Paypal, and they seem to love it. I’ll probably get a merchant account when I have a dedicated site that isn’t my blog.

    Great article, Tamara. Let me know how things are working out for you when you get some time.

    3.
    On November 1st, 2007 at 10:07 am, Allena Tapia said:

    How much of this post is based on your own set up, that you’re trying to justify? Just wondering as I (and my multiple high level clients, it seems) tend to disagree on” -paypal and -the sole proprietorship. Good for you that you set up all that extra “stuff”— bad for your clients, though, as you have to make up the mispent money somewhere, usually their fees.

    4.
    On November 1st, 2007 at 10:09 am, Allena Tapia said:

    A chime in from my husband- a business accountant: “a corporation for any business of less than 5 people is overkill and unnecessary”

    5.
    On November 1st, 2007 at 5:26 pm, Tamara Berry said:

    Allena - It’s interesting that you mention this post as a way for us to justify our own business practices. In truth, we actually have yet to accomplish many of these recommendations.

    Because we are just starting out, we don’t yet have a business phone number, we are still grappling with the address question, we don’t yet have a merchant account, and our business license is actually a general partnership.

    As we grow and become more successful, we intend to change these step by step (including changing from a general partnership to an S corporation or LLC). That way we avoid having large start-up costs that would have to be reflected in our pricing.

    I must say, I am pretty jealous that you have a business accountant for a husband though!

    6.
    On November 1st, 2007 at 6:36 pm, Allena Tapia said:

    An LLP suits you fine. Why are you looking to change? Do you have a CPA on retainer and what do they say about it? (His questions)

    7.
    On November 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pm, Tamara Berry said:

    We like the security offered to our personal property that an LLC (and to some extent, an S corporation) would provide. Also, our company’s future goals including bringing on a number of other writers and even an office staff. Ideally, we would someday like to step away from the business and/or sell it.

    We don’t currently have a CPA (one of those plans for when we start growing!), but we do have a small business mentor who has been helping us out a little.

    Mentions on other sites...

    1. Friday Distractions :: 6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Read My Blog - eMoms at Home - The Internet Home Business Blog for Moms & Dads on November 2nd, 2007 at 10:28 am

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