Tag Archives: Lifestyle Blogger Cheshire UK

The Best Time to Freelance is Now

July 1, 2017 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , 44 Comments

I always tell people how fortunate I am for being able to freelance. Ever since I decided to leave my 9-5, my life has changed for the better. I am able to do more with my life and be there for my family while making sure that all our needs are met.

 

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Many people have come to embrace the laptop lifestyle of freelance writers. And once they made the shift, they never looked back. If you are contemplating going freelance, I would advise you to go for it! It is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Here is a list of the reasons why I would continue to freelance until I am old and grey.

 

You’re able to work from anywhere

The first thing you’d notice about working as a freelancer is that you are no longer restricted to a cubicle. This gives you a sense for freedom. You can literally take your work anywhere you go. From your favourite café down town, to the beautiful sandy beach in a magnificent resort, you can turn anywhere into your office. This is something that you don’t get to do in your 9-5.

You are your own boss

Instead of being an employee in someone else’s business, you have a business of your own. You determine your starting and closing time, the salary you give yourself and how much work you want to do. Being your own boss gives you a sense of control. You do not work under anyone and you are not subject the dictates of anyone.

You make the major decisions in your business and you can run your business the way you want to. The type of projects that you take up is at your discretion. You can choose the type of projects that you would like to work on. You also have the freedom to choose the clients you want to work with.

 

 

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Flexible working hours

Since you are your own boss and that you can work anywhere you want to, you also have control over the time you spend working. You’re the one who calls the shots on your own working hours. You can work the whole day if you so with or work all through the night. You can choose to work weekends or weekdays.

Being a freelancer gives you the opportunity to set your schedule. The flexible working time gives you a chance to spend time with the family and be there for them any time you wish. The means that you never have to miss your child’s dance recital or any special moments.

You determine your level of income

Unlike a brick and mortar institution, where you have to wait or work extremely hard to get a raise or earn a bonus, as a freelancer you are in charge of how much you earn. If you want to earn more money then you can either raise your rates, boost the levels of your sales or offer more services in order to get the income that you desire.

 

Are you a freelancer? How are you finding it?

 

 

How to Pitch to New Clients

November 30, 2016 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , 26 Comments

Clients are the live wire of every business. If you don’t have clients then you don’t have a business. As a freelancer, you need to keep pitching for new clients to get the flow of clients coming in. The biggest mistake you can ever make is to start your business and wait for someone to hire you. Although one or two clients may come your way, pitching helps you increase you chances. The more clients you have, the more money you make.

 

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Here’s a step-by-step process on how you can pitch to get new clients:

 

Step #1: Get clear on who your clients are

 

No matter how long you have been into freelancing, you need to consistently review your client avatar. Understanding who you ideal client is will help you in crafting the perfect pitch. Take note of how they think, their needs and how you can help them. Remember, your focus needs to be on your potential clients and not on yourself.

 

Step #2: Craft your pitch

 

One important thing you need to note about writing your pitch is that you have to keep it short and simple. You need to keep in mind that your potential client may be busy and would not have time to read a long email explaining all the services you offer.

 

Always address your potential client with their first name. It’s so much better to start on a friendly note. Emails that begin with “Hi Sally” make your client feel like they are receiving an email from a friend. Next, in one or two sentences give a short intro about yourself.

 

“I am [write your name] and I’m a freelance writer. I have had my work published on [write where your article was published].”

 

Remember to keep the tone nice and friendly. The idea is to make sure that they feel like they’re receiving an email from a friend.

 

The next thing you need to include in your pitch is to tell your prospective client why you’re sending them the email. You need to be brief and straight to the point here. Something like this:

 

“Just wanted to reach out to you to find out if you’d be interested in having someone to write your content for you. I also do some publicity work if you’d be interested in it too. I find your business interesting and I feel that increasing your reach will help you get more clients and promote your brand. Let me know if you’re interested.”

 

Step #3: Do a follow-up

 

It’s possible that you may not receive a reply as soon as you expected. If you don’t receive a reply after one week of sending them your pitch then send them a follow-up one week later. If there is still no reply then you can let it go.

 

The reason why it’s good to do a follow-up is that there are situations where the person you pitched to may have missed your email or wanted to reply to your email but forgot to do so. So don’t feel bad when you don’t receive a reply as soon as you send your first pitch.

 

How do you pitch to your clients?

The Importance of a Good Office Chair

November 21, 2016 By in Lifestyle Tags: , , , , , , , , 37 Comments

The importance of a good office chair cannot be over emphasised. I remember how badly my lower back suffered while I was pregnant at my previous job. I had over 3 pillows but they hardly helped. I was sitting for long hours with very little breaks here and there, so I needed a very comfortable office chair. I had little or no support from the chairs at work even before I fell pregnant, so you can imagine the torture I went through heavily pregnant with twins.

I had my chairs changed many times but there was hardly any difference, I was just not comfortable sitting on any of them. They were either too wobbly, too stiff or just not comfortable, regardless of the sitting position I was in.

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So I have made it a mission to shop around for a very comfortable chair for our home office once it is ready and good to go. A comfortable office chair is the best office furniture because we tend to sit for long periods of time, so we need an office chair with adequate support. Sitting on the office chair is where most of the office magic happens, we all spend a good amount of time on it so this is one office furniture we should pay special attention to.

Here are 2 main benefits of good office chairs –

  1. It will ensure we don’t suffer from back aches and pains. It will provide proper lumbar and pelvic support which results in our back muscles being less stressed.

2. It will keep us comfortable; which helps because it means we can get more work done.

Sitting on an uncomfortable chair is one of the worst things you could do to me. I don’t sit still, so I need a versatile chair that cn recline, move and keep up with my many sitting positions. That is one key feature I look out for in office chairs. And I think I will find the design I want at Furniture At Work. It is a UK office furniture specialist with very affordable prices, so it is definitely worth checking out for deals.

What do you look out for in an office chair? How would you describe a good office chair?

*This is a collaborative post.

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