The Contract Mint Blog

How To Start Freelancing Guide

Imagine never working nine to five ever again. Imagine being your own boss, making your own rules, and only taking work as you want it or need it. Sound appealing? Freelancing can be a great job, but you may face some hardships along the way.

One of the many challenges a freelancer will have to face is lack of work. Sometimes, you’ll have all the work you need today; then the well will dry up and leave you with nothing by tomorrow. Instead of the boss assigning you busy work so you can earn your paycheck, you aren’t earning anything at all. It will take time to get a steady flow of clients and customers that know and trust you enough not only to hire you over and over, but also to recommend you to others.

Ever thought about becoming a freelancer? It’s a great job with a lot of freedom. You can work from home, in your pajamas. No boss, no work you don’t want to do, and no corporate nonsense. However, freelancing isn’t all fun and games. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, motivation, and no little talent to get your feet off of the ground.

Building Your Brand

So what can you do with the down time? Spend some time building your brand. Blog on your personal website, and begin to build yourself a market of your own. Do you love to write about cars and engines? Start up a blog you can share with potential customers that displays your knowledge and skills. Make up some flyers or business cards for yourself or imaginary companies. Although it may not bring in direct income, these backup pieces can help you land the clients you’ve been searching for.

Benefits

Another big drawback of working for yourself is lack of benefits. Although freelancing comes with freedom from corporate life, it also can deny you the luxuries of being part of a larger group. There’s no pool of freelancers going in together on health and life insurance. You may find yourself too busy with work to take regular vacations. These seemingly innocuous things can make a huge difference in your monthly budgets and your lifestyle.

Although it may seem a little overwhelming at first, don’t let the cost of benefits keep you from doing what you love. Make sure to shop around for insurance and other benefits, and make sure to ask lots of questions. See if potential insurance providers offer discounts for something you already have or do. Also, check to see if your spouse can provide you with basic health and life insurance through their work.

Taking Vacations

Taking a vacation also can be a little tricky. If you are determined to have a work-free week with your family or friends, make sure to add the cost of your vacation into your budget. Since you will not be earning any money on your vacations, you’ll need to factor in loss of wages just as much as you would the cost of the flights and hotels. Just make sure to give yourself plenty of backup money, give your clients plenty of notice, and make sure to set up an “out of office” reply for your email address before leaving!

Create a Portfolio

So, you’ve managed your budget and figured out your niche. You have portfolio pieces and are ready to get to work. Now what? The single biggest challenge a freelancer faces when getting started is simply getting started. Where do clients come from and how do you get your name out there?

There are tons of great ways to get started. For example, try doing work for someone close to home. Perhaps a family member or a friend needs an illustrator or graphic designer like you. You can use the work for portfolio pieces and make a few bucks while you’re at it. Make sure to have business cards ready; if someone likes your work, give them a few cards to hand out to others.

Network, Network, Network

Another way to get your freelance career off of the ground is good old fashioned networking. Find meetings online for business owners that might need your expertise. Ask friends to leave your business cards with their bosses and colleagues. Always be selling yourself, and never sell yourself short.

Buy a Contract

When you go into business for yourself, you will want to protect yourself from clients taking advantage of you. There are clients out there that won’t pay, ask too much, or are unresponsive when you ask questions. What you need to protect both you and the client is to buy a freelancer contract for your niche so you can detail out the terms before you start work. This is a must if you want to protect your brand and business.

Pro: You are Your Own Boss

One of the best things about being a contract is that you are your own boss. You set your own hours, take your own days off, and work how you want to. It’s wonderful to be able to wake up when you are ready and take breaks when you need them. You also get to decide against certain projects if you don’t think it will match your skill perfectly, or if you aren’t interested in the subject. Never again will you be forced into busy work, just so you aren’t idle on company time.

Con: You are Your Own Boss

Being your own boss is also a lot of work. You have to motivate yourself, and wasting company time eats into your money very directly. When you turn down a project, you may find yourself wishing you had taken it, because you are a little short this month. With great freedom comes an awful lot of responsibility, and your decisions affect you and your family’s budget.

Pro: You Get to Keep Your Earnings

If you complete a big project for the company that earns them a lot of money, you might see a little bit of bonus. However, employees don’t usually benefit from their companies finishing big projects. As a contractor, you get to keep every dime of your project’s earnings as well as any royalties or bonuses. You won’t have to share your income with anyone!

Con: Your Earnings Won’t Go as Far

As a contractor, you will be responsible for your own benefits, taxes, and other expenses a company usually takes care of. Instead of company-shared health plans, you have expensive, individual plans. Instead of the company managing your taxes, you have to figure them out yourself, quarterly, and pay into it yourself. There are no 401k matching programs when you are a freelancer. Planning for these extra expenses may be the difference between making it, and not.

Pro: You Take the Jobs You Want

Need a mini vacation? No problem. All you have to do is just turn down any jobs you receive for the next few days, and grab some sunscreen and a bathing suit. No need to tell the boss you’re taking the day off.

Con: Fluctuation in Pay

Turning down jobs means turning down money. You have no job security, you have no guaranteed paycheck at the end of the month, and you certainly don’t have any contracts stating that you’ll earn enough money to pay all of your bills. There may be short or long dry spells where nothing is coming in, and your marketing ploys seem to flop. A week without any work in a freelancer’s world is a week without pay.

Pro: Your Income Taxes Maybe Lower

Depending on your household income, a freelancer may end up paying less in taxes than a corporate employee. Even if you end up in the same tax bracket as you were when you worked for a bigger company, you get to decide how your tax money is withheld and when checks are sent to government. This will allow for a little more flexibility when it comes to spending your hard-earned cash.

Con: Liability for Debts

If the company you work for goes bankrupt, you may lose your job, but you won’t owe part of the debt. If your freelancing business goes under, you will most likely be liable for all to a portion of it, even with a LLC.

Pro: More time at Home

Without a commute or time spent in the office, you’ll be able to pick up the kids from the bus stop or read them a book before bed every night without worrying about work interfering. More family time builds stronger, healthier relationships between you and your spouse and children. Who doesn’t want to take a short break from work for a Nerf gun fight or a tea party?

Con: Nothing is Guaranteed

As a freelancer, you may not be guaranteed your paycheck, even if you complete your job up to speck and on time. Although most people are honest, you may stumble across that one client that insists you didn’t deliver on time, the piece wasn’t up to his standards, or something went wrong and will refuse to pay you.

Self-employment Taxes

One of the biggest legal mistakes a freelancer will make is with their taxes. Self-employed taxes are a little bit different than taxes from your paycheck. Since your company no longer withholds taxes every paycheck for you, you will have to start a savings account to withhold them for yourself. Estimated taxes are required every quarter, and there is a penalty for paying less than you earn.

Filing as a Sole Proprietor

A sole proprietorship is one of the easiest styles of taxes for freelancers. You claim profits, losses, expenses and write offs. However, you are also personally liable for credit issues and problems stemming from your business, because the business if tied directly to you as a person. A sole proprietorship can be great for freelancers because it is simple to use and you probably won’t need an accountant.

Filing as a Corporation

A corporation is one of the best ways to go for most freelancers. Although it requires a little more paperwork and your taxes may need the help of an accountant, it will limit the freelancer’s liability as an owner of that corporation. This can save you from personal ruin if your business were to fold and go bankrupt. Also, becoming a corporation will make you look a little more professional to your potential client.

Filing as a S-Corp

A subchapter corporation, or s-corp for short, is still a corporation. You’ll receive all of the benefits of having a corporation, but with shareholders. The owners are considered employees; therefore the freelancer will get a guaranteed paycheck through this system. Losses are delivered, like profits, through the shareholders. The paychecks, as you might expect, are subject to payroll taxes and income taxes. The shareholder profits and losses however, are not.

Filing as an LLC

LLCs, or limited liability companies, allow you to file taxes as an individual or a group. There are strict limits on your liability as owner of the company. LLCs are also a great choice for freelancers.

Know What Your State Expects

As a new freelancer, you should put a lot of thought into what style of business you wish to have. But you should also take into account what kind of filing status your state seems to prefer. Each state has different taxes, and those taxes are very separate from your federal taxes. It’s easy to misunderstand your taxes and underpay for them, only because laws from different states and countries can vary so much from region to region and country to country, or even city to city. So do your research!

Keep Great Records

One of the best things a freelancer can do for their financial and mental health is to keep awesome records of all of the money you make and all of the expenses you incur. Taxes will be much less of heartache without trying to sort through a whole year’s worth of unorganized documents. Keep paper receipts of everything, and keep them filed and organized. It will be more important than anything else during tax time. You also should keep a contract for any client you get as a freelancer. That way, you can protect yourself in the event the client does not follow through on their end. You can buy contracts on the internet at a lower rate than if you would talk to a local attorney.

Past Due Invoice? 12 Steps to Fight Non-Paying Clients

You’ve worked hours on this project for a client. It’s perfect. You are so proud of it, you can’t wait for the client to see it and reply. Days go by without a reply, then weeks. You haven’t heard a peep from them.

The worst part is, you haven’t seen a cent for your hard work either. Has this ever happened to you? According to Freelancer Union research 7 out of 10 freelancers have had difficulties getting paid. An average loss is about $6000!

How to deal with clients that refuse to pay you? Try and prevent it in the first place.

1. Do Your Research

Do you know who you are dealing with? Before taking any gigs with a new client, check them out. Look to see if this client has ever worked with freelancers on a freelancing website.

Google them to see if freelancers have had problems with them before. Dig into their businesses and make sure that the addresses and phone numbers are real.

If your client is a real person, with a legitimate business, they will be less likely to bail on your paycheck.

2. Get a Signed Contract

A signed, legal document is the best way to help guarantee you’ll be paid. Having a signed contract may help you to leverage legal actions against a person who refuses to pay for the goods or services you have provided.

Without a contract, you client has no legal obligation to pay you for anything you do for them. You can get a contract from our website and use it with every client you get so you won’t get hurt in the end or taken advantage of.

3. Ask for a Down-payment

Any client that is willing to pay 25% to 50% of the full price of your project will most likely be willing to pay for the rest once the job is completed. Asking for a percentage of the money up front will, in the worst case, guarantee you some money, and will weed out those who are trying to get something for nothing.

4. Don’t Give Anything Away

If a client is asking for free samples to make sure your work fits their style, you may be tempted to agree. But don’t give in! Clients asking for free samples will usually never come back again, which means you wasted a few hours writing that article, building that design, or editing that music to get no money out of it. If your client asks for a sample, make sure that it is a paid sample only.

5. Charge More

If you seem to be attracting the wrong sorts of clientele, try raising your prices. A little bit of a price hike will help to ensure that you can work on fewer projects for the same amount of money. Although it sounds a little counterproductive, the higher premium will make you look more desirable to the right kind of clients.

6. Keep in Touch

Make sure that a customer always knows where you are with their project. Keeping them in the loop of how the project is going will give them a better idea of the time involved in the project and will give you a much stronger personal relationship with your client.

Try and get your client to Skype with you or visit in person. The better the relationship you have with your customers, the more likely they will be to pay you on time and in full.

7. Keep Your Rights

Inside of your contract, make sure to have a few conditions laid out for non-payments. If the client insists on getting full-rights to your work, make sure that rights do not transfer to them until the bill is paid in full.

This will help you to keep your own work if someone should refuse to pay you for any reason.

8. Stop Work

Client promised they would pay you in intervals once a month? Is your latest payment running a little late? If a client seems to be short on cash, let him know that work will not continue until you have received your paycheck.

A little prodding in the right direction might help you get the money you need to stay motivated to continue your work.

9. Professional Invoices

Having a professional looking bill that you can send out to a client, either in their email or through the postal service, making sure the bill looks as professional as possible. The more professional the bill, the more likely you’ll get paid.

10. Offer a Discount

Offering a one-time payment plan at a discounted rate might be enough of an incentive to get you client to finally pay you. Offer a 10% to 20% discount off of the bill if they pay it in full right now. It will lower your income a little bit, but something is better than nothing.

11. Use the project for your benefit

Did your client decide not to pay for that awesome logo you designed, the music you made, the paper you wrote, or the graphics you illustrated? What are you going to do with the leftovers now?

If your client decided not to pay for your hard work, make it work for you. Take that article and sell it on Constant Content. Use the music in a new video, or post it to your portfolio. Try selling that illustration to someone new. If you have a backup plan, you might be able to make some of the money back.

12. Take it to Court

If you have an outstanding invoice worth hundreds of dollars that your client insists on not paying, you can take them to small claims court. Just so long as you have a signed contract, you should win.

However, if the bill is very low, it may not be worth it. Make sure you’ll make enough money off the settlement to make up for fees and cost of going to court.

Have you got ditched by non paying client? If so – how much money was the project worth?

10 Tips How To Save Money On Business Start Up Costs

Are you ready to start up your own business? Did you just launch your own company? You must be mad! Out of your tree! Make a sharp exit before it’s too late!

You need to be really dedicated to succeed with your own business and it’s going to take some seriously thick skin and a tough personality to weather the battles that lie ahead. So are you absolutely sure that you’re ready to take the challenge on?

Of course you can take it on! I’m only joking – you can easily handle the challenge.

But there is a bit of truth in this intro…

The good news is that you stand out from the crowd. You’re not afraid to go against the grain and you aren’t satisfied with being just mediocre. You might be a little mad, but you definitely aren’t scared of being the brightest light in the room. So now you’re ready to take on the biggest, but definitely the most rewarding, challenge of your life?

Well, welcome to the 1% of us that swim against the tide!

You are about to embark upon a terrifying, traumatic, anxiety-creating, stressful experience that only a handful of people ever dare to face. The word challenging is a definite understatement and the meaning of tough will be taken to new and inconceivable heights!

It’s certainly going to be a wild ride, but rest assured, it’s going to be worth it.

I’ve been on the battlefield for 11 years now, so I can speak from experience. I’m going to share the knowledge that I’ve gained along the way so that you can learn from my pitfalls and be ultimately successful in business, and indeed, in life itself.

If only someone had taken the time to share this information with me all those years ago! After all, forewarned is fore-armed, especially when money is part of the equation and believe me, I’ve wasted plenty of money over the years. It’s nothing to be proud of. I’ve thrown away thousands on printers, desks, software, computers, leases… you name it. Yes, I’ve been reckless and stupid. But it’s all part of learning lessons the hard way. And that’s what I did – I taught myself my own way. However if I can help you to avoid making the same mistakes I did, I will. So pick up a pen and take notes, because here we go…

1. Buy Second Hand

Don’t waste money on buying anything brand new, second-hand shops are your best friend. Buy used everything! I’m talking office furniture, IT equipment, electricals, vehicles… literally everything that you need. And remember, if you invest in a used coffee maker you won’t be throwing away money on over-priced Starbucks coffee while increasing your productivity from not having to leave the office!

Gumtree, eBay, Craigslist – they’re all brilliant for finding bargains, and you might even find your local Swap, Buy & Sell Facebook page helpful too.

Buying items second hand is going to save you a fortune over time and just think of all the fun you’ll have finding recycled cool things! For example, I made the mistake of investing $8,000 on a brand new A3 printer a few years back, but recently I managed to net two used government A3 printers and it only cost me $1,600 for the pair.

So buy second-hand and you’ll be quids in.

2. Keep Your Overheads Down

You’ve got some choices here. Work from home as much as physically possible, or stay mobile working from your laptop as much as you can. I stayed at my parents home working for six months before I finally gave in and found a communal workspace with low rent. Shared office facilities are the best – you can to meet other people while the shared infrastructures helps you save a packet.

It was only when I started up my canvas art business that things got out of control very quickly – because it grew so fast I had to rent a huge warehouse space and that increased my rent enormously, but something like 500%. That was one of the stupidest ideas I ever had.

Don’t make the same mistake as me – don’t be afraid to dream big, but never spend more than you can afford and avoid expanding too quickly or you’ll find the increase in overheads will stretch your finances too far.

3. Only Contract When You Have To

Don’t hire people because you feel you should. When you need some specialist help, for example a copywriter, adviser or specialist, get them to work on an hourly basis – that’s good business for you.

Hiring my first employee was nerve-wracking, so I gave him a guaranteed 20 hour a week contract. Although that was a decade ago, the principle stands – so follow my example.

4. Harness Global Talent

Today, we live in a smaller world than ever and outsourcing projects is a breeze. When I was young, although we had email, it was much harder to harness global talent than it is today. Now, we outsource a lot of our work to our team in the Philippines and they handle things like social media, writing, SEO and website content – it’s brilliant. I’ve also outsourced other projects such as logo designs to skilled designers around the world – remember to stay creative. And as for Virtual Assistants – my advice would be to hire one as soon as possible, even if you don’t feel ready. Your time is precious and they can help your business to function more efficiently.

5. Time And Expenses

From the very start of your business, make sure you stay on top of tracking your expenses. And I mean everything. Not just purchasing equipment and supplies but also marketing and advertising, and any other services you use like lawyers or designers. Even if it seems too small to note down, track it anyway.

Saving every receipt might be a pain, but it’s going to save you time and effort in the long run when it comes to doing your tax returns or if you end up in a legal situation.

The good news is that cloud technology has made keeping track of your expenses a breeze. Subscribe to one of the online inventory management applications which is able to integrate with the accounting software package you use and you’ll be able to easily track everything from payroll to orders and shipping in one convenient place.

Your time is important too!

Forget face to face meetings – I realized that they were taking up way too much of my time and remember, time is money. By cutting out the face to face element, I’ve managed to save $3,200 every single week! Invest in a quality time-tracking software package like Harvest and it’ll even handle your billing too. You should spend your time working on high value jobs that are going to generate a higher income so don’t run around like a headless chicken trying to get everything done.

6. Use Open Source Software

I’ve wasted a fortune on software in the past – once I even borrowed $12,000 just to buy the Adobe suite. That was pretty stupid. Cloud versions are available now for a fraction of the cost, so do that instead. You’ll save a fortune!

Another product I wasted money on was Streamtime. I spent about $10,000 on that, but today there’s a Saas model which I wish I’d known about before forking out. Instead of paying for things upfront, consider the benefits of low monthly payments – that way, if you change your mind or outgrow your platform, you haven’t wasted a load of money.

As for Outlook and Microsoft Office – forget it. Gmail and Google Apps are virtually free and do the same job. Set up a business Gmail account and you’re only going to spend about $5 per month. Free open source software rocks!

7. Be Aware Of Business Tax Deductions In Your First Year

Save money by taking advantage of all of the first year’s business tax deductions. If you spend less than $50,000 on your startup costs, you can deduct a sum of up to $5,000, and if you’ve spent over $50,000 in startup costs or organizational expenditure, you can deduct up to $10,000. There’s lots of other potential deductions too, from marketing, utilities and advertising. I’d advise you to hire a skilled accountant or begin researching it yourself straight away.

Remember that the IRS permit business owners to deduct their travel expenses too, so you can deduct lodging and transportation costs even if you’re abroad for a while.

8. Use Cheap Or Free Advertising

All advertising is good advertising, so remember it doesn’t have to be flashy to help bring the money in. Billboards aren’t essential for bringing in local customers and if your company is successful you probably won’t need commercials either. Put your advertising on Craigslist in the first instance and check out all other free advertising avenues, both on and offline. Your local newspaper is a great source of local advertising.

9. Forget Long Term Commitments

Avoid entering into long contracts. Instead, use short term or monthly services and this will help you to avoid committing to an expensive agreement you can’t afford. Control your expenses as much as possible.

10. Limit Your Legal Expenditure

A new business often requires legal services and unexpectedly large bills often follow. There are, however, several attorneys which are prepared to offer a flat rate which enables you to budget more effectively. If you can’t find one that will give you a flat fee, see if they will cap the price of the project so you won’t have an unpleasant surprise at the end of the day.

How did you save money when starting your business? Share your thoughts in the comments

Top Tools, Resources & Software for Graphic Designers in 2016

Design Tools | Manage & Grow | Communities | Colors

Templates | Images & Vectors | Typography

Adobe Creative Suite has pretty much become the standard software for many graphic designers. But there is a huge amount of online tools that range from web apps to desktop software. All of which are able to meet the needs of designers and artists no matter what niche they are working in. There is also a large online graphic designer community that is willing to help any way necessary.

Manage and Grow your business

WP Engine

Wp Engine was created to work with WordPress hosting. Which means they are able to offer a sturdy server option that can handle everything. They also able to provide some of the greatest customer services. This allows you to have access to a WordPress expert whenever you find yourself in need of assistance. With automatic security updates, daily backups, automatic caching, top-tier security, and many other features, WP Engine allows you to a build a site that is hacker proof. There are many popular websites, such as FourSquare, and HTC that use WP Engine for all of their hosting needs. Starting at only $29 a month makes it the perfect priced hosting for those that are just starting out.

FreshBooks – get 30 days free trial

The most useful tool that any designer has to have is a time tracking application. Freshbooks is one of the best time tracking apps on the market. It is well designed with an easy to use interface, that has the ability to be used on mobile and mac platforms. This tool will allow you to keep track of the time you spend on every project. Freshbooks has the option for you to be able to invoice your clients directly from the application. Making invoicing a breeze. Any growing business will find this application to be a real time saver. Having the option to invite team members to work on projects will make time tracking an easy task. They also offer 30 days free trial. Which means that you can try it out and fall in love before purchasing a membership.

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is able to handle all of your financial business needs. This completely free online tool can track all of your spending and account balances. Which means that every credit care transaction and automated payment will be kept tracked of. So, there is not more guessing when and where transactions took place. Personal Capital has the ability to categorize your spending, and provide you with a itemized list of purchases.

Sprout Social – get 60 days free trial

Having the power to save when it comes to social media is a must-have for every busy designer. Sprout Social is able to make posting and uploading content simple, fast, and reliable. They allow you to be able to connect all of your social networks in one place. Which means that you can easily post the same article across all of your social media accounts in one easy step. It also allows you to be able to schedule when posts will be uploaded to one or all of your social media outlets. The best part about Sprout Social is that it will track how engaging your posts were, and how they compared to other people’s posts. There is no better tool to help organise the week’s posts. This will eliminate the need to worry throughout the week about posting content. Sprout Social has the option of 60 days free trial.

Design Communities

Dribbble

Is the artist’s version of Twitter. But instead of using words, you take pictures. Dribble is an online place where designers can upload images or GIFs of their work. This will allow you to be able to build an online portfolio. Unlike other sites, Dribble is picky about who is able to post images. Which means that you will have to put some effort into getting noticed.

Behance

Behance is the world’s leading platform that allows designers to not only showcase their work but can also discover new works of art. Which means that you are able to create an online profile that companies are able to look through and find new artistic talent.

DeviantArt

DeviantArt is the largest online art community. The artwork that can be found on this ranges from fan art to unique drawings. Users are able to share, save, and buy art from other artists through this site as well.

Design Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Is the highest rated program for designers, photographers, and producers. Using this tools makes it easy for you create a portfolio that can host a number of programs.

-Canva

Canva has become one of the favorite tools among designers. It is very easy to use and comes with a wide variety of media templates that you can use for any project. Canva has a library of free pictures and illustrations, or you can buy new pieces for only $1. It also has a design school that comes with free design books and tutorials.

-Pixlr

Being one of the most popular online photos editors is not an easy to earn title but Pixlr has done just that. The website is a completely free graphic design software that has more than 600 effects, borders, and overlays. With all these tools in one place, you will be able to create some stunning pictures.

-GIMP

This is an open-source free graphic design software that is sort of similar to Photoshop, while still mimicking the look and feel of Adobe.

Piktochart

Finding the right infographs can be a challenge. But Pictochart allows you to create interactive infographs for presentations.

-PhotoLesa

This is a professional image editor, that was created by Lesa Snider. Through this site, she gives free tutorials on Photoshop, Photo Gift, and any other picture related programs

Font Resources

Typekit

For a small subscription fee, designers and developers will gain access to a huge library of fonts. As any good designers know, finding the right font can be time-consuming, but Typekit makes that a simple and easy task.

What Font

This tool works to instantly identify font types and font families from other websites. What Font can also be downloaded as an extension for Google Chrome or Safari.

Google Fonts

Google has also made a splash but creating a list of open source fonts. This list of fonts are free for everyone to use.

Font Squirrel

Looking for that perfect has never been easier. With this Webfont Generator, you are able to search through thousands of fonts to find the best one. The fonts are also broken down into different collections that you allows you look them. All the fonts on Font Squirrel are free.

Coloreminder

This will allow you to be able to design color palettes. From tiled color, samples to hexadecimal values. It will also generate the CSS codes for the colors that you picked

-Color Explorer

This tool will be able to create, manage, and evaluate color palettes that will be used in graphic designs.

-Color Matters

This tool allows you to learn everything there is to know about color information, design, and experimentation. It also has information about colors and branding options.

Check My Colours

This site will scan color elements, while also looking for problems or failures on your website. It works to generate information about the brightness, color differences, and contrast. Which will allow users to be able to make adjustments for optimal viewing.

Finding the right free stock images can be very time-consuming. But having all the right tools will make this task an easy one. By taking the time to compile this list of the best designing tools, we have done all the hard work for you.

Be A Better Freelancer By Using Freelance Contract Template

agreements that come in handy for freelancer jobs

Freelancing is the world’s biggest marketplace when it comes to hire professionals for a job. Millions of people are doing it part-time and even better millions are doing it full time. However things are not black and white in this industry, there is lot of room for improvements and there is lot that should be defined more clearly. Freelance contract template is one of those things that freelancers and clients should use more often.

How to start working as a freelancer and how Freelance contract template can help you?

Although many experts suggest working as a freelancer part-time without quitting your full-time job but that is not always the case. Of course not quitting your job gives you confidence and works as a backup plan but at the same time it might lower your commitment to the freelancing work. On the other hand, working as a freelancer part-time could be beneficial if you are just “testing the waters”; however in either case, there are few things that you need to know in order to use freelance contract template and be a better freelancer.

Do what you love

Isn’t it the whole point of becoming a freelancer? As freelancing is a vast industry with tons of different options, you can always find things that you want to do and want to get paid while doing them. Try to find your passion and make sure you stick to it; regardless of how much you love doing something, there will be times when you don’t feel the same way and don’t want to do it but it will pass. This is a normal behavior; just take a break and wait for the feeling to go away.

Define your boundaries

If you are just starting doing freelancing work part-time then define your work boundaries. Some of us are required to be on call sometimes because of our jobs and that could conflict with your plans of freelancing. Even if you think you can manage both at the same time, it is highly recommended to define deadlines and boundaries; that’s where a freelance contract template could come in handy. Of course you don’t want your full-time job conflict with the freelancing and vice versa, so set the terms beforehand.

Hold your ground

Freelancing could be hard at early stages because of the obvious reason. People will question your motives; why are you spending so much time on part-time freelancing when you can focus on the full-time job that pays the bills? And some people will ask the same question other way around. Make sure you know why you are doing this, make sure you know how to face and answer these questions and make sure you are prepared to justify your passion to people and even to yourself.

Managing personal life

One of the best things about freelancing is that you can spend as much time as you want, doing things you love. But it also comes with a price; it could be really hard sometimes to manage your personal life with the freelancing work. A freelance contract template could define the terms of your professional responsibilities but it cannot possibly help you in your personal life.

Things a well defined freelance contract template should have

There are some obvious things that should be the part of freelance contract template and everyone knows these but there are things that are not very common but could be useful in the long haul. Let’s discuss things that must be in freelance contract.

Taxation

Paying taxes as a freelancer could be tricky depending on where you live, where you work and how clients hire you. For example, if you are a temporary employee then you have to pay different taxes than working as an independent contractor and you’ll be working on different jobs with different statuses and titles. So, make sure everything regarding taxes is clearly defined in freelance contract template you are using.

Establish an invoicing system

When people start doing freelancing, they want and they should focus on things they love and things they should be doing. No one wants to worry about the payments and invoices all the time and that’s why you must have a working invoicing system. Of course the freelance contract template can help you in this regard; define the frequency of invoicing so everything remains updated all the time.

Payment system

Like invoicing, you must have an agreeable payment system as well. It must define the terms and conditions of each payment, as well as the milestones and different modules of the job. Make sure you also define the payment gateway in the freelance contract to avoid any kind of confusion.

Productivity system

The productivity system must define the overall workload, goals, schedules, priorities of different modules and deadlines. In other words, it should define things you can do and what you can’t. The freelance contract must define your work boundaries so you can focus on things you are good at rather than struggling in other fields which are not relevant to your expertise.

Some tips and tricks for new freelancers

As we have established the fact freelance contract template is an essential part of the deal and this whole experience, there are some other things new freelancers need to know. Of course most of the things you’ll learn on the way but here is the guideline that may help you.

Relying on a single or a limited number of clients is a common mistake that many freelancers make. It means even if you have your hands full, try to find new long term clients because freelancing is a different marketplace where things are quite unpredictable. You cannot possibly plan upcoming months or even weeks here. A client is under no obligation to give you more work after the first job or project. It means you have to find new clients all the time.

As freelancing does not have physical boundaries, you may find people all over the globe looking for your skills and expertise. It means they might have different organizational culture and policies; even if you work on fixed price job, always have an hourly rate because some people like this payment system because of its benefits. If you have no idea regarding hourly rate then try to calculate it by analyzing your productivity and performance as well as the time spent.

There are tons of online websites and services that allow freelancers to generate invoices and bill their clients easily. Learn how these services work and which one suits you the best. Most of these services are compatible with PayPal so it shouldn’t be a problem. Some of these websites even have time tracking feature that may help you in hourly jobs.

Many experts suggest new freelancers to continue their full-time job because it gives you opportunity to meet new people and new potential clients that may come in handy in freelancing jobs. However it is not recommended to consider your day-to-day job a backup plan because it may harm your dedication and commitment to the freelancing gig.

One of the most common mistake new freelancers make is under pricing their skills and expertise; they might have a logical explanation behind it as they want to score the job without losing the opportunity but before you do anything, calculate the hours that particular job or project is going to take. Do not forget to include the taxes and time spent on communication and administration into the equation. Of course you’ll be making mistakes and as you get more jobs, projects and experience, you will adjust things accordingly.