Pro Tip: The Free Tools I Use Every Day as a Freelancer

Photo: Create & Cultivate

Freelance isn’t free, but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate a free resource as much as the next person—especially when you consider that, when you’re a freelancer, you become financially responsible for all of your business expenses. We’re talking about your tech (your hardware and your software), your office space, your health insurance, your advertising and marketing—everything.

Ahead, Audrey Adair, a seasoned freelance communications professional and founder of The Scope, breaks down the free resources that she continues to use on a daily basis. From a free email service that’s so much more than just email to a stock image database that offers high-quality photography without a premium price tag, scroll on for free resources that’ll help you get the job done.

Gmail

Where would I be without Gmail?

More than just email, Gmail also provides access to 15 GB of cloud data storage, a calendar, a suite of office resources like Google Docs and Sheets, and the ability to converse with friends and colleagues through Hangouts.

My favorite tools are Google Docs and Sheets because they save updates in real-time and I don’t have to worry about whether or not I packed my drive with me when I travel because it’s all saved on the cloud. It’s also great for collaborating with others and allows you the capability to work on a single document in real-time through the internet.

Upgrade Options: $6 / $12 / $25 per month payment options give you access to even more storage space and the option to have a personalized email address.

Canva

I don’t know about you, but I could just never figure out Adobe Photoshop. I tried and tried, but never used it enough to remember all that goes into it. I’m also much better at creating with words than I’ve ever been at art.

Enter: Canva.

Canva is a free online graphic creating platform that provides you with access to thousands of templates and design ideas for anything you could possibly think of.

I’ve used it for YouTube thumbnails, Instagram posts and IGTV cover photos.

There are some features that are pay per use, meaning you can more than likely find a free option but if you want to use a specific art file you may need to pay for it. But most files I’ve seen are $1 to use so it’s still an incredibly affordable option and SO easy to use.

Upgrade Options: $12.95 per month per team member makes Canva a collaborative space for coworkers and unlocks access to artwork and customization features.

Planoly

I use Planoly to help plan and schedule my Instagram posts and absolutely love it.

It helps save so much time and hassle being able to save all of my IG content in a single place, write out the captions and schedule when content will go live.

I’ll spend an hour or so planning content in the app and then voila, it’s done and I can go about my business for the rest of the week. 

Upgrade Options: Planoly has several payment options starting as low as $7 per month that covers management of multiple accounts and the capability to upload unlimited photos to your planning grid.

Mailchimp

I didn’t understand the importance and value of a solid email list until I started The Scope and Mailchimp is an awesome tool for anyone looking to grow and manage their list.

Free up to your first 2,000 email subscribers, Mailchimp grants access to different email templates and analytics like open/click rates and demographics.

Upgrade Options: Mailchimp offers two different payment plans: Grow and Pro. The Grow plan starts at $9.99 per month and increases as your list and needs for the platform grow.

Social Media

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube.

These are the five primary social media platforms I use on a daily basis to help promote my businesses and stay connected with fellow freelancers, entrepreneurs and potential readers and the best part - using them is absolutely free.

While we have all felt the woes of algorithm and home feed changes on these platforms over the years, we have to remember that they’re all free and it’s up to us to either adapt with the changes or find our audiences elsewhere.

Burst

There are so many stock image databases out there but Burst is the one I return to time and time again.

I don’t always have visuals to back the content I like to cover on The Scope, and Burst is easy to navigate and usually has exactly what I’m looking for. It’s also great to pull from for new client proposals or social media posts.

I also like that they provide photographer information on photos so you can opt to see more of their personal work.

About the author: Audrey Adair is a seasoned freelance communications professional and founder of The Scope, a platform providing resources and community to freelancers and the self-employed. Connect with The Scope on Instagram and join their email list to receive your free resource, The Freelancer Starter Kit.

This post was originally published on May 7, 2019, and has since been updated.

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6 Tips for Creating a Productive Work-From-Home Environment

Photo: Polina Zimmerman for Pexels

Working from home. It sounds great in theory, but it actually takes a lot of discipline to establish a routine that makes working from home productive and fulfilling. Given that many companies are currently implementing work from home policies to help flatten the curve and prevent the spread of COVID-19, I feel compelled to share my tried-and-true tips for creating a productive work-from-home environment.

As someone who’s been freelancing and working from home for the past five years, I’ve gone through all of the ups and downs WFH life can present—from feeling lonely and needing to talk to someone to needing to get out of the house and take a break (while practicing social distancing, of course). Scroll on for my tips on how to create a dedicated work space, set office hours, eliminate distracts, and more.

Create a Dedicated Work Space

Find a place in your home that you can dedicate to work. This will be different for everyone, and while I highly encourage having a desk, a dining room table or breakfast bar are great substitutes.

I don’t recommend your workspace be on your couch or on anything where you can recline. While I love being on my laptop and having my feet up on my couch, I am never as productive as I am when sitting upright.

When choosing a space for work in your home, try to find an area that has the following:

• Natural light

• Quiet

• Minimal household distractions (dirty dishes in the sink, children’s toys on the floor, etc.)

Find a space that you can check-in for work and check-out for everything you’d typically do while at home.

Set Office Hours

As a freelancer, it’s incredibly important to have office hours. Not only to manage client expectations but to give yourself structure.

Setting office hours should empower you to develop a routine for yourself like you typically would if you had a 9-to-5 office job. You’d wake up in the morning, enjoy your morning cup of coffee, maybe squeeze in a yoga class before you get dressed, and head to work. The same should be taken into consideration when you work from home.

Freelance life is supposed to allow you to do all of the things you want to do with your time. Don’t let it create an opposite effect where you convince yourself to always be on and working just because you’re able to do it from the freedom of your own home.

Eliminate Distractions

It’s so important to eliminate any distractions from your home that would take you away from getting work done. For me, I need my home to be clean - period. If the home isn’t tidy, I’m not focused.

Other distractions I try to eliminate are:

• Mindless social media scrolling. There’s a difference between taking time to engage on social media to benefit your business and spending 20 minutes scrolling through videos of pigs taking a bath. Cut the scroll!

• Noise. If noise distracts you (or a lack thereof), plug in your noise-canceling headphones or put on some white noise to help you regain focus.

• Pets. I have two dogs who can be very needy for attention. They sleep for most of the day, but every now and then they have a tendency for loudly playing with each other while I’m on client calls. When that happens, or if I think it could happen, I put them in their beds in our master bedroom and shut the door. It’s never for long and it helps calm them down - and helps prevent me from having to apologize to a client for the squeaky toy noises in the background.

If you find yourself being distracted by a common theme throughout your days, find a way to eliminate that distraction so you can stay focused and do your best work.

Get Out of Your PJs

We all have days where we want to stay in our PJs, but it’s important to get out of the jammies and into something that says, “my day has started.”

Most of the time I will change out of PJs and into activewear or comfortable denim. I’ll wash my face, brush my teeth and hair, put on some CC cream and deodorant, and then get to work. It’s a small effort that makes a big difference.

Talk To Someone

One of the biggest things I didn’t realize about working from home is just how lonely it can be.

You are by yourself all day and unless you have clients who love phone calls, most of your correspondence will primarily be done through email. It’s important to talk to someone; anyone. Make time to pick up the phone and call a relative or an old friend. Schedule calls with people in your network so you don’t lose your conversation skills.

I realized a change in myself probably around my second or third year of freelancing, where I would struggle with conversation because I just wasn’t having any. I’d either talk too long or too fast, have difficulty forming sentences, and just felt awkward. This is not me.

Now I talk to everyone.

I am not shy when it comes to conversation and make an effort to have a casual chat with just about anybody I come into contact with throughout the day. That’s people I pass by when I’m walking the dogs, the barista at Alfred’s, Anthony who does my nails at Olive & June, Mary who delivers our mail… AN-Y-BOD-Y.

Get Out of the House

How many of you working from home and reading this typically don’t leave your house during the workweek? 🙋 I get it.

Your home is your office and your office is your home, but it’s still important to get out of the house every once in a while. Keep yourself active and engaged with things happening in your community so you can get out of your PJs, talk to somebody, and enjoy those office hours! (You like what I did there?)

It’s important to get outside and break away from work so you can actually stay engaged in work.

When I spend hours on my computer without any breaks my mind becomes fatigued, and I become less productive. So I’ll take the dogs for a longer walk, do a workout class on my balcony, or take my laptop to the coffee shop down the road and just take in a bit of new scenery to help adjust my internal boss mode.

So if you’re feeling uninspired or having trouble getting anything done, give yourself a break and get out.

About the author: Audrey Adair is a seasoned freelance communications professional and founder of The Scope, a platform providing resources and community to freelancers and the self-employed. Connect with The Scope on Instagram and join their email list to receive your free resource, The Freelancer Starter Kit.

This story was originally published on March 5, 2019, and has since been updated.

Pro Tip: How to Get the Most out of a Slow Season

It’s no secret that being a freelancer is a lot like riding a rollercoaster. Some days are fast and fun while others feel like a punch to the gut while you cascade down into a dark, unknown tunnel as you inch along wondering which turn will happen next. For freelancers, this is what we typically refer to as a slow season. While this part of the rollercoaster can vary from field to field, for most of us it does happen.

For me, it's usually around the holidays. For others, it's the summer. No matter when it happens for you, the best thing you can do is be prepared for it and don't let it get you down. It's inevitable when you’re freelancing and when you find yourself in a slump, so in today’s Pro Tip, we’re sharing a few ways to get the most out of your slow season.

Learn A New Skill

Professional development is something we freelancers have to hold ourselves accountable for. Use the slow season to learn a new skill via an online class or even summer courses at a local university. For videographers it may be learning a new editing platform or getting your drone pilot's license. For copywriters, taking a class to learn better SEO/SEM writing habits. Whatever your trade, there's always something to learn and who knows? What you learn during your slow season may be what helps secure your next client.

Research New Business

It's my personal belief that twenty-five percent of your time as a freelancer should always be spent on networking and new business so that you hopefully never run into a slow season. If you do experience a slump in business, use this time to research and outreach to clients you see a potential working with. Identify a need for your services, find the right person to contact and secure an introductory call.

If you want additional guidance for creating an effective pitch letter, download my Freelancer Starter Kit.

Work For Fun

When was the last time you used your skills for fun? You more than likely started freelancing in your field because it's something you're not only good at, but you enjoy doing. Be your own client for a change and use your slow season to work on something that makes you happy.

Develop Your Brand

Chances are you've spent so much time working with your clients lately that you haven't updated your LinkedIn in a year or created those case studies you wanted to show off on your website or any other you-related task that's been pushed to the bottom of your to-do list. Spend your down time to grow your personal brand. Maybe this is a social media refresh or researching potential speaking opportunities or going to a local networking event. Whatever it is, do it!   

Start Your Side Hustle

We should always be side hustling and if you're short for cash during your slow season, this is the time to do it. Mine is going through my closet and selling things on Poshmark. For others, it might be hitting up yard sales and flipping things on eBay (thanks, Gary Vee), signing up as an Uber and Lyft driver or selling personal designs on Society6 and Etsy. There are so many ways to make extra cash these days and what's great about most of these is that they can be done on your own schedule so once your slow season comes to an end, you can keep the side hustle going.

 Indulge in Some Self-Care

I can't speak for everyone but when it comes to me and the freelancers I know, we are not the best at putting ourselves first. Use your slow season to work on YOU. Get a massage, read a book, spend your mornings meditating, go for a hike, do whatever makes you happy and helps clear your mind. This can also be a good time to look at the year ahead and start setting goals so when a slow season happens to you again, you’ll be prepared.

About the author: Audrey Adair is a seasoned freelance communications professional and founder of ‘The Scope’ - a platform providing resources and community to freelancers and the self-employed. Connect with The Scope on Instagram and join their email list to receive your free resource, The Freelancer Starter Kit.

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Solopreneur Tax Tips: The Freelancer

Making your own schedule, choosing your clients, and sweet, sweet freedom—these are just a few of the many perks of freelancing. But with that freedom comes great responsibility…including being on the hook for filing self-employment taxes. Above, content creator Grasie Mercedes—who splits her time between acting, writing, directing, and blogging—sits down with Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax CPA, to learn how TurboTax Self-Employed can help freelancers stay on top of their tax obligations throughout the year. Read on to learn a little more about Grasie and see how TurboTax can help you find deductions, file confidently, and keep more of your hard-earned money in your pocket. Plus, we're gifting 30 readers with a FREE TurboTax Live Self-Employed product code (valued at $169.99) below—so you can file for free this season!

To quote your Instagram bio, you “do a lot.” You’re an actor, writer, director, and blogger—what do you like most about working on so many different projects?

I love to keep busy and I love everything entertainment, so for me, it just makes sense. Now, more than ever, actors "do it all": they direct episodes of the shows they're on, they create their own series, and they continue to act in everything from commercials to TV to major motion pictures. I think it's wonderful and exciting! Blogging is something I started over eight years ago as a creative outlet to supplement my then-styling career, which was supplementing my acting endeavors. From there, I turned it into a brand/business that I can have forever (or as long as I want)! Having so many things to work on and work toward is so special to me...I never get bored "working" and that's a dream. I'm so grateful to be able to do what I love, every single day. 

What’s your biggest challenge in having so many different business ventures on your plate? The biggest reward?

The biggest challenge is when the various ventures start to interfere with one another. Acting is a crazy business with an unpredictable schedule so there have been plenty of times where I have to miss an event, trip or opportunity because I have to be in town for pilot season or for a callback, etc. When that happens, I just have to weigh my options and then deal with serious FOMO when I see what I missed on social media. The biggest reward is hitting new goals in any given venture. I just signed with an amazing talent agent for writing, I'm developing my first pilot with a great production company, and my first film is still getting accepted into major film festivals! Those are all huge wins for my writing and directing careers, which I started less than two years ago! 

We polled our C&C community and found that many freelancers share the same concerns as Grasie—conflicting schedules and deadlines can make solopreneurship difficult. Luckily TurboTax Self-Employed makes it easy for freelancers to track and file quarterly estimated payments, so you can focus your efforts on your work and your clients.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to go freelance but is worried about how they’ll make a stable living?

This is a tough question. I think you have to weigh your options and responsibilities. When I decided to quit my day job and move to LA to be an actress/creative, I was in my late 20s with zero obligations. It was easy to just go for it because it was just me. No kids, no mortgage...not even a pet! If you have that freedom, then just GO FOR IT full throttle! Do whatever it takes to pay the bills (legal things only, of course). Wait tables, get a temp job, be a barista...all the while, make sure you are working on your creative endeavor daily. If you're responsible for more than just yourself, I would say keep your day job as long as possible, save money where you can and again work on your creative endeavor daily until it's bringing you enough money to quit your day job. The only difference between these paths are that the first one usually gives you more time and freedom to pursue your dream. But regardless of which path you take, the most important thing is to WORK HARD and WORK EVERY DAY on whatever it is that you want to be doing! Dreams are wonderful, but they only come true if you work your ass off. 

What are you most excited about for your business in 2019?

Excited to revamp my blog and to work as a writer and director more! Acting will always be "my first born" and something I'll never stop doing, but creating my own work (TV shows/films) is my number one priority at the moment. 

Want more tips for tax time? Check out our guides for side hustlers and C corp entrepreneurs! or Or you can dive into TurboTax Self-Employed here—and enter to win a free TurboTax Live Self-Employed code below!

Our friends at TurboTax were nice enough to share a giveaway with Create & Cultivate readers so you can file your taxes for FREE this season!

30 readers will receive a FREE TurboTax Live Self-Employed product code (valued at $169.99). Simply fill out the form below to enter to win. The winner will be chosen randomly and contacted via email. Good luck!

Not quite a full-time freelancer?

If you’ve got a side hustle and need help with filing taxes, be sure to check out last week’s guide. Stay tuned for next week’s post for more solopreneur tax tips—and enter to win a free TurboTax Live Self-Employed code below!

This post is sponsored by TurboTax.

When You Should (or Shouldn't) Work for Free

Working for free. Whew. These are fighting words for some. The concept of being asked to do work for nada (or on spec) has been lampooned in videos, illustrations, and even a dedicated Twitter account. But it’s one of life’s most nebulous gray areas: There’s no clear-cut correct answer to the “should you work for free?” question (sorryyy). Instead, the right-for-you answer is constantly shifting, dependent on your current needs, goals, and availability. What’s right for you might not be right for someone else, and what’s right for you now might not be right for you in five years.

With that in mind, there are some instances in which doing gratis work can actually be just the kick in the pants your burgeoning career or business needs. Below we dig into six situations where it might make sense, and share a look at how some top entrepreneurs feel about taking on a no-pay gig.

Your work will be exposed to a large audience.

You’re just getting started. Your work is rad (RAD), and you knowww the world will love it. (They will!) But you’re a little stuck when it comes to getting the word out, creating in vain—and in a vacuum. One solution: Offering up some freebies to a legit company that can help boost you over the hurdle by letting you tap into their audience. In these situations, though, know that the promise of “exposure” is not enough. Get down and dirty with the details. Ask for attendee numbers for events, probe publications for their readership numbers. Will companies link back to your site? How and where—exactly—will this happen? Will they promote you, along with your work, on their social channels? On related marketing materials? Big companies should have budgets, but sometimes the only way to get that toe in the door (and land a gig that might otherwise go to a more established colleague), is by offering to do it for free. But if a company isn’t forthcoming about their audience or how they’ll promote you, they can take a hike.

You’ll gain an awesome example for your resume or portfolio.

Sometimes one.single.resume.line of you doing amaze work for a credible company can catapult you into the realm of paying jobs for life. The same goes for visual examples of beautiful work, whether you’re a graphic designer, photographer, stylist, or brand consultant. We know an incredible interior designer who decorated a pal’s pad for free (labor, of course, not materials), had it photographed by a profesh, and plastered it all over her site and social-media accounts. Then paying gigs for design work and requests for interviews by shelter magazines started rolling in. Nail one job down, lean on it hard when talking with future clients or companies, and see where it gets you (and, ahem, they don’t need to know you did it for free).

You'll score new, IRL experience.

This is especially important when it comes to career pivots. You’re languishing in middle management at an accounting firm, holding tight to the same cupcake-baking dream you’ve had since you were knee high. But you have no idea how a successful baked-goods biz is run! You know that bakery around the corner? Consider offering to help out for free and you’ll pick up priceless on-the-job experience. Not saying this will be easy. It might mean crazy-early mornings. Scaling back to part-time at your paying job. Your hubs having to pick up major slack with the kiddos for months. But it’s doable. We actually know an inspiring lady who leveraged an unpaid apprenticeship at a hot-town San Francisco restaurant into a paying job there and then bagged a cookbook deal.

The networking is unbeatable.

Sometimes passion projects with little-to-no budgets are attached to influential folks with big names and tons of connections. Getting swept up into their network—being on calls and trading emails with people of note, organizing events with a A-list guest lists or speakers—can land you job after job after paying job down the line. Tons of career breaks have been launched by a friendly “remember me? loved working with you” email after you’ve done solid work and built rapport with a killer new network of people-who-can-hire-you.

Transitioning to a for-pay job is highly likely.

Back in our day, we trudged eight miles barefoot through the snow to intern for free. Welllll, not really, but we logged many an hour at unpaid internships, and several of us flipped them into paying jobs at the company we’d been interning for and at other great companies within the same industry. So, it’s possible, as long as the terms are clearly defined and you let it be known from the get-go that paid work is your ultimate goal. And no, you don’t have to be a 19-year-old college student to make this happen. Imagine striking a deal with a museum or library that you’ll take on grant-writing for free until you’ve secured the grants covering a potential salary for yourself and then some. An airtight contract is key here, but you’ve essentially created a job for yourself out of thin air.

You’ll be doing some good in the world!

Charity or volunteer work! This should really be numero uno on our list! As they say, this one is about giving rather than gaining. It could be anything from acting as treasurer for a nonprofit in need to accompanying your little one to the animal shelter to read to dogs every weekend. The point is that the more you give, the better you’ll feel—recent studies have shown that the secret to happiness is helping others. Just be clear upfront about the amount of time you’re willing to dedicate so that it doesn’t creep into something unmanageable that breeds resentment.

This article first appeared on Alice’s Table, a new woman-founded company that throws flower-arranging workshops and teaches women how to host classes themselves so they can launch a creative career or side gig that’s fun, flexible, and rewarding.

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Considering Going Freelance? Here's What You Should Know

photo credit: unsplash.com

FREELANCING IS KIND OF LIKE BEING YOUR OWN BOSS. But it's not rainbows and butterflies. You need to hustle and you're constantly at the whim of clients.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE MAKING THE SWITCH TO A FREELANCE LIFESTYLE.

If you’re thinking of ditching the 9-5 and working independently you’re not alone. According to a survey by Freelancers Union and Upwork, one in three Americans are now freelancing, and 50% say they wouldn’t trade their freelance career for a more traditional job even if it paid more.

Of course, it’s not all that surprising considering that freelancing allows workers to choose when and where they want to work and build their career around their lifestyle.

The independence freelancing provides means it’s often an ideal choice for women who are juggling the demands of a career and motherhood, and research shows that the majority of full-time freelancers (53%) are now women.

Flexible doesn’t necessarily equal easy, though, and going freelance also means taking on a lot of additional responsibility. So whether you’re a writer, photographer or web designer, here’s what you need to know before taking the plunge.

1. YOU MUST CREATE A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND

Having a strong personal brand is important for any professional, but even more so when you’re a freelancer and are essentially marketing yourself.

If you’d like to start freelancing full-time, spend some time thinking about your marketable skills and qualifications as well as what sets you apart from the competition. Once you know what sort of image you want to project, you can start building your personal brand using social media, blogs or your own personal website.

2. NETWORKING IS ESSENTIAL

As a freelancer, the wider your network, the easier it will be to find jobs. One study that looked at how freelancers get gigs found that 81% of freelancers refer work to fellow freelancers and 37% trade or barter services.

Fortunately, 65% of freelancers also say technology has made it easier to find jobs. Before you leave your current job behind, start building up your network by joining relevant groups and online forums, connecting with like-minded professionals through sites like LinkedIn and Twitter, and attending conferences and industry events.

3. YOU’LL BE ABLE TO SET YOUR OWN RATES

As a freelancer you’ll have the freedom to set your own rates, but you’ll also be responsible for handling everything from your taxes and insurance to your pension plan, so when deciding how much to charge, you should consider both your budget and your time.

Of course when you’re just starting out it can be difficult to accurately estimate how long a project will take to complete, so time-tracking tools like Harvest can be useful for figuring out how long each task actually takes you and how much you should be charging.

4. SPREAD YOUR RISK AND HAVE AN EMERGENCY FUND

The Freelancer Union report shows that 87% of freelancers earn their income from more than one source in a given month. Why? As a freelancer you never want to put all your eggs in one basket, because if your main source of income dries up unexpectedly, you’ll be in a very difficult position.

With that said, having more than one client also means sending out multiple invoices and chasing more than one person for money at the end of each month, so it’s important to have an emergency fund to cover any unexpected expenses and stay afloat when clients don’t pay on time.

5. YOU SHOULD HAVE A DEDICATED WORKSPACE 

Although freelancing means you can work anywhere from your local coffee shop to the living room sofa, it’s still important to have a dedicated workspace where you know you won’t be distracted by kids, visitors, non-work-related phone calls or household tasks. Having your own office will also help you separate your work responsibilities from your personal life.

This could mean designating a room in your home for work, renovating a garage or even looking for a coworking space in your area, which is an increasingly popular option for freelancers.

6. SETTING BOUNDARIES IS IMPORTANT

When you’re freelancing it can be harder to draw a line between work hours and leisure time, but answering emails at all hours of the day or taking on extra work without being adequately compensated can quickly lead to burnout.

Set some boundaries with your clients early on by letting them know when you will be available to discuss projects and then sticking to those hours. Also, before starting on a new project, make sure both you and the client are clear on what will be included so you can charge for any unforeseen extras and avoid working for free.

7. FREELANCING CAN SOMETIMES BE LONELY

Although freelancing does give you enormous independence, it can sometimes be a bit lonely too. If you’re working from home, you’ll probably end up spending the better part of your days alone, and meeting up with colleagues for a quick drink after work will require more planning than it once did.

With this in mind, you should consider whether working in a less social environment would suit you. Of course, there are plenty of ways to socialize outside of work, from volunteering to taking up new hobbies to scheduling lunch dates, but you will need to make more of an effort to stay social and connected once you start working for yourself full-time.

* * *

Are you a full-time freelancer? What tricks do you use to stay organized, motivated and connected? Let us know in the comments.

An original version of this article appeared on Career Contessa. 

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