Way back in March I started using FreshBooks as my bookkeeping tool of choice. This was the last time (hopefully for a while) that I changed my method of bookkeeping. Since high school I knew I wanted to keep my books and general accounting organized but when I was new to the game I wasn’t quite sure how. I did what made sense to me and used Excel. This actually went on for quite a while- well into college- because it worked for me, I wasn’t making that much money so I didn’t have a whole lot to keep track of, and it wasn’t costing me money. Then I switched because I wanted something more sophisticated- it was more of a need based thing. Whatever it is you’re looking for, really think about it so you’re not switching software or processes when it’s least convenient- information can get lost and you don’t want to have it in several places as opposed to one. Whatever you choose, it needs to work for you.

Tags: accounting, freshbooks, invoicing, productivity, tips, tools | Posted in Advice | 2 Comments »

Logo for Cognition Media

Sorry for the hiatus folks! I recently finished up grad school (congrats to the class of 2009) and started a new company. In all of the preparation for getting it off the ground, landing our first client, and doing all of the things you need to do to successfully start a company, I came across some things I didn’t really expect. I’ve been a freelancer for quite some time (as you might recall) so I have at least a pretty good handle on running a business. However, when entering the realm of running a small company, some things change. Here are some of my observations.

Tags: cognition media, company, tips | Posted in Lessons, Stories | Comments Off

If you’ve gone to college, there is a good chance that you were constantly busy- between projects, tests, going to class, and having a social life it’s hard to find time. That’s not including the extracurriculars you do. So how can a college student possibly be a freelancer? Well, it’s all about finding the right balance.

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As a freelancer, a lot of my gigs come from referrals- friends, family, former clients. But, especially starting out, you can’t always rely on these. You should actively look for work on a regular basis. My first non-referral gig came when I responded to a gig board’s posting and the poster decided to go with me. Here is how I did it.

Tags: beginning, gigs, people, referrals, tips | Posted in Advice, Stories | 1 Comment »

My philosophy for a lot of my life (and still with some aspects today) has been, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself.” That might be because people like my father and other male figures I looked up to shared that same philosophy. It also might be because when I tried delagating work, it was not done or done wrong. Because of that I was seldom open to working with other people on projects. But over the years, I’ve learned that it’s inevitable.

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I’ve always had ideas bouncing around in my head. Aside from a blog and personal site, I wanted to create a website that offered a service. I was a junior in college and knew I had to make something that would create a constant cash flow, just in case work got slow. I spoke to my friend Steve, who at the time was better than me at both design and programming (he still is at design, but I think I win with programming). I proposed this idea: a website called College Housing.

Tags: beginning, failure, side projects, tips | Posted in Stories | Comments Off