www.inkthinkerblog.com — We might be artists, creative types who perhaps aren’t math people, but we still need to be intimately aware of our finances as independent businesspeople. Do you know where you stand?

Here are some questions to get you on the way to having a clear understand of your freelance financial picture.

1. Are all of your invoices up to date?

 

• Have you sent all invoices for work completed?

 

 

• Have you marked “paid” anywhere payment has been received?

 

 

• Have you followed up on any payments that might be late or approaching late?

 

 

• Do you know how much money you’ve made?

 

 

• What’s your total freelance income for 2007 to date?

 

 

• How much have you brought in each month?

 

 

• How does this match up with your income goals?

 

 

• Do you know how much money you’ve spent?

 

 

• Are you keeping track of your freelance expenses? Pens, paper, postage, business cards, your fax line, a new computer dedicated to freelancing — they’re all business expenses.

 

 

• Are you saving your receipts and tabulating your expenses regularly?

 

 

• Do you know how much you can expect to bring in next week/month?

 

 

• Have you created financial projections based on what you’ve earned in the past to estimate your future earnings?

 

 

• Are you following up regularly with clients to remind them that you’re available and interested in working for them?

 

 

• Do you have any recurring gigs such as a monthly colum or weekly newsletter?

 

 

• Is your hourly rate acceptable?

 

 

• When you calculate the true time involved in the jobs you do, are you paying yourself enough?

 

 

• Are your rates competitive with others in the marketplace, or are you coming in too low?

 

 

• Do you have a plan for when you will increase your freelance rates?

 

 

• What are your financial goals?

 

 

• How much money do you want to earn from your freelancing every week/month/year?

 

 

• What types of jobs will you need to do to meet these goals, and are you doing them now?

 

 

• How many hours will you need to work to meet these goals, and how many are you currently working?

 

 

• Where are you right now with meeting your financial goals?

 

 

• Do you have a schedule for checking in on your goals to update them and check them off the list?

 

An invoicing system will help you keep everything straight and make it easier for you to track your income and expenses. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it needs to be something that you can (and will!) use correctly and consistently. An Excel spreadsheet you customize for your needs or QuickBooks software will do the trick.

Whatever you decide on, make sure you keep track of your income, expenses, and goals! The success of your freelance business depends on it.

__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King. All rights reserved.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

Live in DC or Richmond and need office furniture? Buy my desk!

www.inkthinkerblog.com — You remember the fun photos from the great office reorganization of 2006 — now live the fun yourself with your very own Bestar U-Shaped Desk, complete with great writing karma! (Pickles and Isabel not included.)

Seriously, it’s not working for me in the new place and I want to find it a new home, so if you’re interested, please e-mail me ASAP.

__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King. All rights reserved.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — Maybe I’m just impatient with the rest of the world because I grew up with e-mail, but I’m seeing some really bad habits lately that are driving me batty. Here’s what not to do when e-mailing anyone, but particularly editors:

1. Put your name in the subject line of every message. Sure, stick it in the first one. No problem. But after “QUERY FROM KRISTEN KING: Insert brilliance here,” you don’t need to put your name in every subject line. Heck, you don’t even need to do it the first time. If you’ve ever, you know, received and e-mail, you’ve probably noticed that the sender’s name appears along with the message subject line. You’re just not that important. Stop putting your name everywhere.

• Insert “Re:” in front of every subject line. The whole point of the subject line is to tell you what the message is regarding, so adding that notation is just redundant. “Re:” is automatically added onto the front of a reply so the person you’re replying to knows that you’re responding to their specific message. When you use it on your initial message, it makes it look like a reply, which is potentially confusing and definitely annoying. It’s also kind of sneaky because it makes it look like you’re trying to trick them into thinking that you already have existing correspondence on the topic, which most editors won’t appreciate.
• Be too lazy to actually sign your e-mail messages. Your signature block exists to provide contact information or your company tagline, not to help you out because you can’t take the extra two and a half seconds to type your name at the end of your message. This is rude:
  

  …and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.Sincerely,

  ___________
  Jane Doe, Lazy Writer
  123 No Respect Lane
  Slackerville, USA 12345

  I’d say you should be going the extra mile, but this isn’t even extra. This is standard business procedure. Just sign your name.

• Use emoticons and abbreviations in every message no matter what. I don’t care that your own wit makes you LOL or something is so appalling that your eyes pop like this: 8-0. If you want me to have the same reaction, make sure your writing conveys the humor/shock/whatever–don’t rely on smileys to do it for you. It’s unprofessional, and it’s amateurish.
• Skip the Spell Check because hey, it’s just an e-mail. Actually, poor spelling in e-mail is even more unacceptable than poor spelling in written correspondence because when you’re typing on the computer, you have instant access to resource materials such as Spell Check and online dictionaries. If you don’t care enough to put your best foot forward every time, how can anyone trust you to do a great job?

What rude e-mail habits get your goat?

__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King. All rights reserved.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King

www.inkthinkerblog.com — If you’re looking for a way to make sure an editor never wants to work with you again, I’ve got an answer for you! Here are three easy steps to getting on an editor’s PITA list and ensuring that your work will never appear in said editor’s publications.

Step One: Establish yourself as a high-maintenance writer by following up 2 and 4 weeks after sending in your submission even though the editor acknowledged receipt and your follow-up note and stated that the article was in review.

Step Two: Reinforce your high-maintenance status by continuing to follow up every 2 weeks (exactly) demanding a response (even though the editor has started ignoring your follow-up because your submission hasn’t been out nearly long enough to be harassing the editor and, frankly, you’re annoying).

Step Three: When the editor has not given you a satisfactory response in the timeline you have created in your mind, send the editor an e-mail lecture about manners in the publishing industry. Call the editor rude and wonder whether he/she freelances and has ever had to deal with another rude editor who’s “mean to writers.”

Congratulations! After you send the message described in Step Three above, you can guarantee that your editor will never want anything to do with you ever again. If you’re lucky, he or she will simply acknowledge that you’ve withdrawn your submission rather than flat out rejecting you, but either way, you’ll be free to seek editors who bend to your every whim and live for your e-mails. Good luck finding them!

__________________________________________
www.kristenkingfreelancing.com
Finalist in 2006 Writer’s Digest Best Writer’s Website Contest

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King. All rights reserved.

Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King