Freelancing has given me the Freedom to….

We had a phenomenal response! It was so amazing to hear all about the opportunities and experiences that some of our PPHers have had as a result of Freelancing.

So we thought we’d share some of the lovely comments, as it made our day and was a great way to end the week!

Giulia – “Travel around the world.“

Gabriella – “Spend time with my kids and family and have great vacations.”

Peter – “Be poor, but be happier about it.“

Mark – “All I would say is take a minute to think about the pros and cons….”9-5 job”=commuting, working away from home, stuck in an office & being growled at by a jobs worth boss, then commuting back home. Or stay at home work online. Work around home life and most importantly never miss a smile, giggle, playtime. I think the first year of a babies life can never be replaced it’s all the 1st things they do that no salary in the world would entice me away from. Most importantly I would recommend that anyone doing it MAKE SURE you have enough work to keep you going financially. Financial stress could be very counter productive.“

Steve – “Sleep in. Every day.”

Irene – “Write about anything I want to.”

Jo – “Surf surf and surf!”

Lottie – “Being a freelancer has given me the freedom to travel! I’ve been to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Now I’m back in Thailand and heading to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia in the coming weeks!”

 So….go a head, complete the sentence!!

Here’s another way that you can showcase your skills! We know that we have thousands of talented and highly experienced users, and PPH believe that peer to peer learning is extremely invaluable.

That’s why we are introducing specialised Support Clinics hosted by you, where you can provide tips and advise for your fellow PPHers.

How will it work?

Just like our fearless tax Guru Elaine Clark who recently hosted our first tax clinic, you will host a Support Clinic exploring a specific subject area…you can tell us the area you specialise in.

Then…

We’ll shout it from the roof tops, broadcasting the details across our social channels and onsite.

On the day….

Get ready to be put to the test! We are aiming to host our Support Clinics various platforms: webinars, forum discussions and interactive conversations across our social channels. To top it off, if you provide any supporting material we will post it on our blog and share your content. Links will be visible for PPH profile, promoting your services – remember the proof is in the pudding!

This book is a must for any working woman – whether you are employed, self-employed no matter what stage you are in your career.  Learn how to be guilt-free, totally committed and be proud of your choices of how you work, and how you manage your family time.

The book is easy to read and packed with punchy, realistic tips of how any ambitious woman can get one step ahead in their career. No matter if you are just starting out or mid way through your working life there are facts you will easily digest and put into practice.

The core message is how women need to realise that we can’t have it all and we need to identify  how we want to work, how we manage our family and that we should be proud of those choices. It clearly shows you how you should not feel guilty for these decisions and to not apologise for your commitments – such as family life.   For example, the author believes that, by saying “I am only part-time” says you are apologising, only part-committed to your work.   It highlights the sexual stereotypes that peers typically have of working women, and how we, unknowingly sometimes put ourselves into these positions.  Why is that an ambitious Dad can put a photo of his children on his desk and it seems OK, but for a woman it seems Mumsy?

Mrs Moneypenny shows the reader how and why you need to make clear boundaries between work time and home time, so that your peers and family know what you are focusing on – and so do you. It’s not fair to anyone otherwise.

The book gives practical tips on how to promote yourself, with DIY PR, how and why you should up your profile on social networking sites, connect  with the right people and promote relevant information about yourself.  Particularly important for freelancers, the book shows you how important it is to stand out from others – why should a contractor chose you? What makes you different?  It gives tips to ensure your social networking profile promotes any awards you have, the fact that you are a regular contributor to an industry magazine, or that you head up a networking group in your area.  It also highlights how necessary it is to step away from social networking and compliment this with meeting real people – attend workshops, seminars and meet the right people.  And follow up those connections, learn from them, and follow people who you inspire you so you know all about them.  Up your knowledge in your industry and people will remember you for it.

The author shows you how age should be no barrier -whether you are young or old, and how you can add credibility to your career by taking particular exams, winning business awards or contributing regular articles to an industry magazine. Examples of inspirational business woman are referred to throughout the book with character insights into how they built their career.

Mrs Moneypenny clearly demonstrates how to say No for both work and family commitments, both of which have a knock on effect on your family life.  Each chapter has practical guidelines to put each section into practice.

You will devour this book – it is easy to read, practical to put into place and will leave you stressed free, with clear deadlines and objectives so that everyone knows where they stand.

Top rated!

Now it’s time to find out more about our book reviewer Julie Sherwood, Freelance Professional PR & Marketing Consultant…and proud Mumpreneur!

Would you like to become a PPH book reviewer, what do you think about a PPH Book Club? Comment below or drop us an email: info@peopleperhour.com

Julie Sherwood, a mum from Kent & Freelance PR/Marketing Consultant recently agreed to review the widely acclaimed Mrs Moneypenny’s ‘Careers Advice for Ambitious Women’ written by Financial Times columnist and star of Channel 4′s ‘Superscrimpers’. We found out whether we should be dusting off our bookshelves and making room for this title. But first we took this opportunity to find out more about one of our users.

What prompted you to start Freelancing?

Having children!  I started when my first daughter (Emily, now 7), was just weeks old.  I have always loved working, and I needed an outlet to still feel like the old me.  It wasn’t about the money initially, more about clinging on to some independence.

What do you enjoy most about Freelancing?

Meeting some incredibly inspiring people and learning qualities about myself on the way.  Freelancing is a powerful journey, you work so hard at securing work and then producing the work. It’s a constant cycle to keep busy.  I love the flexibility freelancing offers around family life.  I am lucky to fit work in between by children’s nap-times, nursery or school and I work in the evenings.

 Are you a full time or part time Freelancer?

Well – it seems like I never end working. Although I probably work around 25 hours a week, it feels like more because I never have a day off.  But that’s the beauty of my work – I can do some work in the morning and evening – and take the afternoon off.  Sometimes I will be working even on Saturday evenings whilst watching the X-Factor, but I may have had lunch with the girls they day before.  As a freelancer, you also work extra hard promoting yourself so I do a lot of social networking, blog and article writing to boost my profile.

 Do you teach/train or tutor?

I do offer training/mentoring through my work.  I coach other Mumpreneurs on how they can drum up publicity for their business by doing their own PR.  I love it – it’s so rewarding to reveal the secrets of PR and show other business owners what they can achieve on very little budget.

What job/project have you enjoyed the most and why?

I have loved working on high profile projects, such as Peppa Pig Books when I freelanced for Penguin Children’s Books.  Well known brands are easy to communicate and it’s great to encourage a love of books with children.   I particularly love working with new businesses who have never secured press coverage before as you need to be more creative with selling the client to a journalist, and it’s a real buzz when a new business gets their first spot of press coverage.

 Tell us about the most recent job you won…

My most recent job was a real eye opener – I had to produce a series of press releases for a new car cleaning product launching in the UK.  The car cleaning products don’t use any water, so I had to research the environmental impacts of cleaning products on our environment and water usage and promote the benefits.  The company I worked with were based in the States, so the time delay was quite  handy as it helped that I could work in the evenings and liaise directly with them -this suited me.

If you had to fast forward your day what would it look like?

It would definitely start with me checking my list…I am hot on lists, so the night before I work out what I need to do for my freelancing work, and home life too. (I have two daughters, aged 4 and 7, and my husband runs his own IT development company. I need to make sure that I make the most of every second of my day.  I have learnt to set boundaries in my day and everyone then knows what I am focusing on. ) First things first, I wake my daughters up – devoted my time to them until I get to the school gates just before 9am, I then march back home where I get straight onto checking my PPH messages, email and social networking sites. I like to keep a good online presence, so I check industry news and get a few tweets out. Speaking to feature writers, journalists and editors on pitching ideas and/or case studies to try and get my client some press coverage would be next on the agenda.

During the day if I have writers block or need a five minute break, I might whip the hoover round the living room or hang out some washing.  By the time I look round it’s 3pm, when I down tools and become Mum again.  I collect my daughters from school and then devote my time purely to them until bedtime around 7pm.

I used to try and answer emails and phone calls when the children were here, but I have learnt not to now. For the client it looks unprofessional to have children in the background, and for my children, they see that Mummy is not giving them total attention.  It’s not fair to anyone.

I often then check emails and catch up on some work after 8pm most evenings, do my To Do List for the next day and perhaps write a blog or two. It’s exhausting, but I love what I do and I could never imagine working in an office 9-5pm again!

I feel lucky, if I get any gaps in between work, I sometimes nip out during the afternoon to do my supermarket shopping and a schedule in a power walk once a week with a friend. Even though I am busy, the power walk is always so worthwhile – the gossip and giggles are so refreshing!!  I also allocate an hour a week to my daughter’s school (which is only five  minutes away) to listen to children read – so freelancing gives me the flexibility to do this.

Turning a hobby into a business!

I run a online jewellery store called Kerrys Jewellery. All jewellery and accesories is handmade and designed by myself, Kerry Aiston, working from home around my part time job in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

What prompted you to start Freelancing?

I was prompted to start freelancing to fit around my busy family schedule, but i do have to put my families financial needs 1st which is why i have kept my part time job.I started making jewellery as a hobby when i was off work with a fractured rib for 8 weeks 2 years ago, I was then asked by family and friends for certain items and decided to have a website made displaying my jewellery. I’m still working part time at Greggs as i need a regular income to support my family as i have two children. I’m pregnant with my 3rd child and would love to leave my job to make jewellery full time, but the sales from my website would need to increase.

What do you enjoy most about Freelancing?

What I most enjoy about freelancing is not having to answer to anyone, working around my own schedule and the fact it feels more like a hobby than a job!

Are you a full time or part time Freelancer?

At the moment i’m a part time freelancer but would love to be a full time time freelancer after maternity leave instead of returning to work.

What job/project have you enjoyed the most and why?

I have most enjoyed coming up with new designs and figuring out how to make them, I’m constantly learning new things and still is alot i need to learn such as resin jewellery. I most enjoy designing and completing a new piece as it is unique and gives you a great sense of achievement when looking at the finished product.

If you had to fast forward your day what would it look like?

A typical freelancing day for me would mainly involve me juggling work and family life settling down with my equipment and coming up with new designs making the item as i go, i then photograph the item and add to my website, i keep a daily check on website administration, orders and emails.

Following the success of our first ‘Support Clinic’, which provided all the info you could ever need about Taxes, we are now conducting a Payments Support Clinic in response to some of our users queries.

On Wednesday 1st Feb, as promised we are going to show you the “Sexy side of  Payments”….ok, so it’s virtually impossible, but it got you to click on this blog post and trust me you won’t regret it!

Without a doubt, everyone wants to know the who, what, when & how, when it comes to getting paid.

Some our Payments team are going to be on hand to answer all your questions and make sure you know exactly that!

To start off with, just check out the diagram below, which we have created to ensure that you understand our payments system is transparent and it is easy for new users to understand.

I still have a question

No problem, hop over the forum where we have begun a dedicated thread for our Payment Team to respond to your queries. They are happy to answer your questions and will be available to help from 11-1pm on Wednesday 1st Feb. Please note that questions or queries that require further investigation will be followed up after the session.

Got a question but can’t make our date! 

We’ll be disappointed (of  course), however here’s the alternative options:

Facebook – post a little note on our Facebook wall and we’ll respond there

Twitter – tweet your question and include #PPHCLINIC – the team will get right back to you

Email – drop a line to info@peopleperhour

Tel - go down the traditional route and dial our number: +44 (0) 207 8355 950 (between 8 – 8pm GMT Mon – Fri) or  +1 800 421 4379 (between 5am – 2:30pm EST Mon – Fri).

Payment Process

Not!

2. Don’t save time by using crap Stock Photography.

Photography can make or break a piece of work, you can create the most beautiful layouts only for your client to insist on the worst piece of 1990′s business photography which sends the whole thing hurtling into despair.

There’s plenty of inexpensive Stock Photography sites out there with some nice work on them, but don’t be afraid to suggest alternatives like you taking some shots, or approaching the visuals in a different style. Just don’t use the same photo for everything, don’t duotone a crap stock photo and don’t think Instagram is the answer to everything.

3. If it’s not good enough for your portfolio, it’s not good enough.

You should always start a project with the aim to get it into your portfolio, there’s really no point in being a designer if that’s not how you work, always strive to push a brief towards something amazing.

I usually present 3 ideas, one on brief and on brand, one that develops the brand a little but sticks to the key message and one that challenges both the brand and brief, and pushes the concept towards something a little more challenging.

Keep all your iterations, then, if the client does happen to develop it beyond your perfect original composition, you’ll always have a previous version that you can display.

4. Be honest about origins.

If a designer presents a piece of work, of say, ‘an illustrated thumb’ and everyone then flips about how much they love it, it can be tempting for that person to scoop up this credit for themselves, getting sucked into the hype as they’re carried out of the room on everyone’s shoulders, even though they’ve ripped it off.

The terrible truth is, it’s only a matter of time until someone finds out, and once that happens that person will probably never be trusted again. You might have guessed this is a true story, and it is not about me.

5. Don’t try and second guess the client.

Clients do not want to see a piece of work that you’ve designed with the idea in mind that this is exactly what they want. While there’s a lot to be said about understanding the needs of the brief, it’s quite another thing to put giant logos and terrible stock photography on there because that’s what you think the client wants.

Always create to the best of your creativity, you need to be the benchmark of quality in this relationship, you’re the expert, don’t concede that position without a struggle.

6. Don’t use Post Rationale.

Is there anything worse than a designer who creates something seemingly abstract or random, then attaches a deep and implicated theory to it that justifies it in a way that would have realistically been impossible to get to if they’ve gone through the creative process properly?

The answer in case you were wondering is ‘No’.

It will now look like this….

Dea-Marie W (that’s me by the way, your resident Community Manager)

We hope that this change will be welcomed by all, as we consider privacy to be extremely important.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other matter you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact me: dea-marie@peopleperhour.com

Knowing when to leave a conversation is certainly a skill, and it’s the same with clients. When a job ends, assuming it’s all gone well it needs to be the start of a ‘Client Relationship’, and navigating your way into a conversation that opens them up to your other skills is an essential way to start building this ‘project’ into a ‘client.’

“And I can build sites, and edms, and social media platforms, and…bye then!”

Part of the trick is not to bellow it in their face as they’re closing the door on you; instead you need to show them throughout the process that you’re capable in other areas.

Be open with advice and ideas, without critising too hard what they’re already doing or coming across too salesy. For example, if you’re working on an EDM, suggest an accompanying landing page to drive traffic to, if you’re working on a brochure suggest some alternate print specs, using QR Codes or a new style of illustration. Be active throughout the briefing process and show them you’re not just some dummy who can operate a Mac.

“Hello, what’s that noise in the background? What? You’re having an extension built in the office? Yeah I can do roofing, let me add that to your quote mate”

Nobody likes a ‘Jack of all Trades’ and it weakens your proposition. What you’re good at, make up your Core Services, and don’t be ashamed if this is a small offering – I believe they call this a “Specialist”.

Equally there’s no harm in having some trusted partners that can widen your offering. I have 2 Developers, a Photographer and a Copywriter that I’ve worked with many times and know that I can rely on. This means that I can confidently offer their skills as part of my services and it gives the client confidence in me knowing that I’m part of a larger organisation.

“You know that bloke in the pub that says he’s a Web Designer? Well, guess what, I bought him a pint, gave him a brief and he moved to Afghanistan, without telling me, missed our deadline and, he took my Tottenham pen!”

It is essential that you only promise these extra services to clients when your supporting team can be trusted so make sure you’ve worked with them before wherever possible. Offering someone else as a service then reneging on a promise to a client can do massive damage to a potential relationship, and you’re unlikely to get a second chance.

Web Expert, Social Media Guru, Branding President of Europe and Worldwide CEO of Making Customers Smile

By making your services visible to your clients regularly you’re increasing your chances of developing them into a regular revenue stream. Get your service offering down in 4 to 5 items, make it as succinct and descriptive as possible, keep it realistic and not too overblown, and write it in a language that your customers can understand.

Remember to sell your skills and not the tools that you use, clients don’t always know the difference between Photoshop and Dreamweaver, so listing that you’re an expert in specific packages is not a very strong message. Your skills should be your services, and the answers to your customers problems.

Once you’ve identified a good team of people that can expand your services, and distilled that offering down into a succinct list then you need to promote it. Start by getting it on all of your ‘About’ sections on Social Profiles consistently, not forgetting to build it into your profile information on PPH. Get it on your email footers, use it as a sign off on your PPH Bids, and quotes, and most importantly make sure you know what it is!

So, the 3 steps to extended selling of your services are:

1. Identify what you can confidently and honestly offer

2. Develop this message into a succinct and consistent list

3. Get it in your customers face, regularly.

So what do you offer? How do you get it to your customers and what examples do you have of taking a small brief and developing it into a lasting client relationship?

OK you can stop looking at me now, I’ve finished talking… soooooooo.

Guest Blogger Ben Brown is Creative Director and founder of Citizen Design. He’s worked with Apple, The BBC and Universal Records.

Many of you have asked for this and we are pleased to announce that you can now set a budget range for your daily email job notifications. We think it’s important to give you guys more control over the communication you receive and this is a great way of finding out about jobs that are more specific to your needs.

So, you’re probably thinking…where can I find the option? 

1. Go to your dashboard
2. Click ‘Settings’
3. On the left hand click ‘Email Notifications’
4. To amend your options for ‘Job Notifications’ click edit on the right hand side and you will get a drop down…the screen will look like the image below.
5. Now just enter you desired budget range, click SAVE &
6. Job Done!

Email Notifications Page