I don’t constantly think about my freelancing income, but I sure can’t seem to help feeling about it.
I spent a lot of years in a job where money was flowing constantly and evenly, so worry about actual income just wasn’t something I had (spending was another story altogether.) I almost always felt good or at least neutral about my income.
Lately though, I’ve learned that
feeling my way through my freelance finances is a huge mistake, and that sometimes I need a more concrete reminder of my current financial state.
One of the simplest ways I pull this off is a whiteboard with all my active clients. It’s mostly for keeping tabs on what tasks I need to get done, but lately I’ve been considering formally adding how much income I average per month from each (I have a general idea in my head, so I can do the math pretty quickly.) That’s
because I tend to swing between extremes--from one extreme of feeling like I have more money coming in than I do, to another where I feel like I’m going to go broke within 24 hours when nothing is further from the truth.
Feeling your way through your freelance income is unnecessary stress…and that’s whether you’re like me and you tend to stress about money, or if you don’t worry, but let emergencies pop up and cause problems down the road. Either way,
even the most basic income tracking tool (like my whiteboard active client list) can be helpful in taking fiscal responsibility in your freelance life.
What do you think you could do to keep a clearer picture of your income?
Blog Inspiration
When was the last time you updated your freelance blog?
I just wrote
a piece on creating great press releases and it quickly got picked up on LinkedIn Pulse. I was immediately followed by a bunch of marketing people and other professionals (potential leads). The crazy part was that it wasn’t even my best
work…It’s not complicated and didn’t take a ton of work to get together, but what it
did do, was answer a question I get a lot from my clients.
Chances are, if you’ve had more than a couple of clients, you get requests for certain types of work more than others. Take that as a clue toward what your niche cares about and give some simple, direct advice. I’ve found it’s easiest to talk it out as if you’re having a conversation, then to simply structure the points
you make into a list or blog form.
Have a great week freelancing!