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As a software developer, we focused on process a lot in school, learning about serveral different types of processes from more traditional to agile. No matter what your profession is, it’s likely that you have your own process for a project. The process is important because it helps you more quickly get into a comfort zone for the project, making you more productive. Today we are going to take a look at mine.
Every freelancer has a set of tools that help them get through the day. No matter what your trade (web developer, photographer, copywriter, etc.) you have a few essentials that help you do your job more efficiently and more effectively. I am no different; I’ve got software and tools that help me manage my accounting, projects, and of-course, aide in developing websites. Below are the big five in my arsenal.
About two weeks ago I posed my question sheet for clients as a resource for thise who might find it useful. Today’s resouces comes from Smashing Magazine, who posted a list for 45 Lists and Questionnaires for web designers. They range from client focused stuff like the question sheet I posted to checklists about the design process. Definitely a set of resources that are helpful throughout the entire process of web design.
Sometimes one of the hardest things to do is gauge a new client. What do they do? Who is their audience? What kind of designs work best for their industry? Even before eliciting requierments for the website, it’s good to get to know the client by using some of these questions. About a year ago I came up with this question sheet to do just that. I ask for information about their business/organization, their basic needs for a website, and what they want from me. I also ask for and provide them with contact information. I’ve added it the Freelancing the Net Documents Folder. Feel free to use it for yourself!
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.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to sign up for FreshBooks, the online book keeping software. I was originally using Less Accounting, but was not of fan of it for several reasons. FreshBooks on the other hand, is clean, organized, user friendly, and convenient. It has invoicing and expense tracking, time tracking, report generation, and it creates a username and password for your clients when you invoice them so they can log-in, pay the invoice though whatever online gateways you set up, and it automatically marks the invoice as paid. It makes my life 100 times easier. I’ll be doing a full write up on my other blog, but I did want to recommend it here. I’m not a huge fan of paying a monthly subscription for software, but the $14/month I pay to FreshBooks is well worth it.
(link to post)Visit FreshBooks
Freelancing the Net is a blog dedicated to giving advice and tips to other freelancers or those looking to freelance. It is the first hand account of how a freelancer got to where he is, from the beginning up until now.
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