Managing Business

Handling customer and client complaints

Toby Buckle | Managing Business,Training

Poor customer service can kill a business and it is absolutely vital to get client and customer service right, particularly when handling complaints. If you don't handle complaints well then not only are you likely to lose the customer who is dissatisfied, but they are more likely to tell others about bad service than they are good service, so you stand to lose many more customers by getting it wrong.

Business Mentor Toby Buckle shares his top ten tips for crushing your customer’s quibbles.

Ten Tips To Improve Your Productivity

Clare Evans | Guides,Managing Business

We all need good time management skills but if you are feeling that there is too much to do and not enough time then it is especially important to take a good look at your time-management and productivity habits.

Most freelancers could do with a little more time in their day, so we’ve asked Clare Evans author of Time Management for Dummies for her top ten tips to help you get back on track and stay in control.

Freelance Stories – Web Designer & Developer, Jim Callender

Leif Kendall | Lifestyle & Time out,Managing Business

As part of our Freelance Stories series Leif Kendall talks with former Freelancer of the Year winner and founder of Callender Creates, Jim Callender. We find out how Jim juggles work in London and Brighton and hear how he found a work/life balance that works for him and his family.

Tips on registering a domain name and getting the right web hosting

Alick Mighall | Marketing Yourself,Starting Out

If you have a great idea for a business, service or a website, one thing you’ll want to do is to secure an appropriate domain name as soon as you can. This is a good idea. Domain names are inexpensive, so it doesn’t matter if you buy the name in advance of starting work on [...]

Book of the week: Focus – The Power of Targeted Thinking

Michael Rose | Lifestyle & Time out,Managing Business

Freelancers need focus; without a boss to keep you in line and being outside a traditional workflow it can be hard to know where to focus your efforts. Combine this with the pace of modern life and it’s easy to get swamped and to feel that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Not only is there a lot of work there are constant distractions, tweets, bleeps and pings pulling us away from our true goals and aspirations.

Focus: The Power of Targeted Thinking attempts to give the solution to all these feelings of confusion and distraction.

The 80/20 rule and freelancing

Jon Aizlewood | Managing Business,Marketing Yourself

The Longtail rule, the Zipf law, the Power law or (easily the most dramatic) ‘The law of the vital few’. It might have many names, but ultimately all forms of the 80/20 rule amount to the same thing – that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes.

The same applies to freelancers: you can gain new business simply by offering great service to your clients.

What Twitter can do for you

Sandy Dempsey | Marketing Yourself,Training

Last week Sandy Dempsey, founder and creative director of Dreaming Cafe Ventures, gave us Five Tips to Help You Get Started with Twitter — if you’ve not yet joined the Twitter masses then Sandy’s seven uses for Twitter might help you see if Twitter can help you and your business.

The importance of a good business plan

Mel Dixon | Managing Business,Starting Out

For some people forming a business plan may seem a rather intimidating prospect because ultimately it will reveal whether your business idea is a realistic proposition. And if it turns out it’s not? Well, you’ve just wasted your time haven’t you? Err… not really.

Based on what you’ve discovered you can then either alter your plan or come away from the experience wiser for it. It’s a ‘win-win thing!’

Five tips on how to make the most of a business break

Emma Jones | Managing Business

When you start and grow a business, you’re involved each day in the detail of running the business; perfecting customer service, ensuring positive cashflow, making new products, and so on.

This is all good and right but to plan for business growth, it’s important to step away from day-to-day affairs and take a good look at the business from a distance.

Five Tips to Help You Get Started with Twitter

Sandy Dempsey | Marketing Yourself,Training

If you’ve not yet joined the 75 million strong Twitterati, Sandy Dempsey founder of The Dreaming Cafe gives us five great tips on how to get started, why you should use Twitter and other social networking tools, and how to make it work for you and your business.

Book of the week: Working 5-to-9

Ed Hopson | Managing Business,Starting Out

I have always been interested in running a project/small business outside of my 9 to 5 full-time job. Something that I can grow in my spare time and that has the potential to grow and then become my main source of income! Talking with friends, I was given a copy of Emma Jone‘s Working 5 to 9 – How to start a successful business in your spare time — Great timing!

Book of the week: ‘Rework’

Michael Rose | Editor's Blog,Managing Business

Part manifesto for the Web 2.0 generation and part ‘Screw You’ to just about anyone who doesn’t get it, Rework is a short but sweet business book for small to medium, agile companies.

Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hanson’s contrarian style matches their work and life philosophy — the duo eschew traditional business models, pulling down everything from meetings to planning, from traditional office culture to going it alone without investment.

Looking for a partner? Secrets of success for business partnerships

Emma Jones | Managing Business

A good business partnership is like a good marriage. You meet the right person, work well together and combine talents to create something wonderful. Emma Jones offers the secret to ensuring a business partnership doesn’t turn sour.

Extend your products, not your niche

Emma Jones | Managing Business,Starting Out

Emma Jones believes in starting a business and then finding and focusing on your niche.

But what happens when you feel the niche audience you’ve chosen could be restricting in view of its size? Then it’s time to expand your product range, as opposed to extending your niche.

Emma explains how…

Taking the time to manage, prioritise & plan what’s truly important

Toby Buckle | Managing Business,Training

Prioritising and planning how you use your time is a key skill for every great freelancer. Freelancing gives you the freedom to choose what you do and when you do it.

This freedom can have shortcomings however as it’s very easy to be distracted by emails, twitter and other interruptions — and it’s tempting to focus on doing those tasks you like instead of those which may be most useful.

#FreelanceFocus: The Pomodoro technique

Mel Dixon | Managing Business

Would you like to take a Pomodoro? In this instance I’m not asking you to accept a tomato, but instead enquiring as to whether you’d like to try a technique designed to improve your powers of concentration and increase the efficiency of your work.

As part of our Freelance Focus series, application designer Cesare Rocchi advises any freelancer who’s struggling to maintain their discipline and productivity to try out the Pomodoro technique…

5 questions to come up with one small business idea

Emma Jones | Managing Business,Starting Out

Whether you’re thinking of an idea to start off in business or mulling over how to grow, Emma Jones suggests ideas will come from asking five straight questions.

Should I sell advertising on my website?

Alick Mighall | Managing Business,Technology

If your website IS your business and it’s offering products, services or information then it might be something that you might seriously consider.

However, if your business website is just ABOUT your company then it’s probably not such a good idea. There is of course a thin line between the two, so another way of judging whether you should take advertising is by looking at some of your competitors and seeing what they do.

The social media experts who train staff to 'suck eggs'

Mel Dixon | Managing Business,Marketing Yourself

The economic downturn has played a big part in accelerating the importance of social media in the marketing minds of freelancers and small businesses. For that reason, the idea of employing the services of a social media consultant can appear to be a no-brainer. After all, for many small operations, social media has become integral to their online presence.

Failing to utilise social media to its fullest extent could prove costly.

But is formal training really necessary?

Professional Development for Freelancers – taking it to the next level

Daryl Close | Managing Business

What do freelancers need to do in order to thrive and develop their businesses in today’s economic climate?

Business performance coach Daryl Close says the old business revenue models are dead and new competencies are needed to effectively compete.

4 ways to grow your business

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Are you wondering how to grow your business and develop it in a way so it’s not wholly reliant on you? Have you considered outsourcing/franchising/productising as a way to achieve that growth? Emma Jones outlines the options with tips for each strategy.

4 Ways to Use Digital Tools to Improve your Networking

Sinead Mac Manus | Marketing Yourself

As a freelancer, getting out from behind the desk (or kitchen table) and out into the real world is crucial for building relationships and winning new business. The pervasive nature of social media means that we are increasingly connected online. We tweet about our day on Twitter post news on Facebook, and share our location on Foursquare.

Social Entrepreneur Sinead Mac Manus shares 4 ways to use digital tools and social media to make the most of networking opportunities.

Recession lessons: Turning adversity into opportunity

Michael Rose | Managing Business

For many freelancers and contractors times are still tough, but 2010 does offer opportunities for growth now that the recession is over. The question is: how to take advantage?

A new website for entrepreneurs has put together a 7 point plan to do just that. Rags to Wreckages… to Riches has produced several short video clips which show how successful entrepreneurs are gearing up for the future in a still struggling economy.

10 tips for creating the network you want

Janette Whitney | Managing Business

As the saying goes ‘it’s not what you know but who you know’ so how can you widen your network of contacts to create the network that is important to your freelance business?

Business Growth Strategist Janette Whitney shows us how…

Speaking with the enemy: Niche networking

Leif Kendall | Marketing Yourself

Think networking is where people go because they want to sell more stuff?

You’re a little bit right, and a big bit wrong.

Freelance Advisor and copywriter Leif Kendall shares four reasons why getting to know your peers will make you a better, happier freelancer.

Relationships in a freelancer’s world

Anthony Hewson | Managing Business

Relationships are more important for a freelancer than for any other individual.

That’s a pretty bold statement and I’m bracing myself for a wave of incredulity articulated by examples of people going through any sort of emotional or physical trauma. Ok, leaving that probably overwhelming group aside… here’s why

Please call me back!

Toby Buckle | Managing Business

I was reminded recently how I used to get frustrated by people not coming back to me if I emailed or left a message. Well, that’s an understatement. I often used to see it as a personal offence and affront and get wound up if it repeatedly happened. 

Over the years I have learnt to reframe lack of response and see it from another point of view.

Reframing is a really useful NLP technique that helps prevent negative responses, such as losing motivation or creating frustration. Below are some ways to reframe a lack of response from people as well as some practical tips on getting people to respond.

How to get a job at a top creative agency

Michael Rose | Marketing Yourself

This is smart. Really smart.

Watching this quick, two-minute video gave me a few quick ideas about how to go about getting the attention of the right people. This guy spent just $6 on advertising and managed to land a plum job in a top US design agency.

Five tips for converting leads into sales

Janette Whitney | Managing Business

One of the biggest sales and marketing problems that small businesses can face is getting people whom seem interested in buying something to actually take the plunge and hand over their money.

Because let’s be honest, it’s actually pretty easy to attract attention to your business and meet prospective customers these days. The internet has made it simple to give your business a marketing presence (your website) and drive people to it (online advertising and search engine optimisation).

The key then to a successful business is not just one which attracts prospects, but one which has fail-safe systems to convert them into revenue.

10 sites for selling your wares

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Whether you are selling knowledge from your head or products crafted by your own hands, there are online platforms to help you reach an audience of customers and make sales. Emma Jones of Enterprise Nation offers a top ten listing.

Winning new business! 6 Simple Rules for Success

Darren Fell | Managing Business

Winning new business the easy and fun way. By following 6 simple rules you can build the freelance life you always dreamed of. Lucky you! You could be getting yourself shed-loads of new business starting from today.

You may to want to earn good money, have long holidays and be your own boss….but all you have to do is win new business. That’s the bit where most freelancers get the heebie-geebies. But I promise you can do it and you’ll get good at it!

Create a publishing empire from your home

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Do you have content you would like to share with an interested audience of existing and potential customers? It’s never been so easy to package your content in a stylish way, and distribute it in a cost-effective way.

Enter the age of home publishing with Emma Jones.

Freelance Guide: How to produce a partnership agreement

Emma Jones | Managing Business,Starting Out

Home based businesses are increasingly outsourcing and partnering, as opposed to taking on staff. As a freelancer and small business owner you may want to collaborate with others to get larger projects complete and, as more people start collaborating, it’s becoming important to have agreements in place with new partners that allows for a smooth running and profitable partnership. Emma Jones explains how to go about it.

7 steps for troubleshooting troublesome clients

Joanna Ptolomey | Managing Business

Are some clients more trouble than they’re worth? Freelance information consultant Joanna Ptolomey reminds us that, when time and attention are your most precious asset, and time is money, not all clients are the same.

Her simple steps can help bring some balance back into your books and your business.

Top 10 tips for building trust as a freelancer

Michael Rose | Managing Business

Steven Hearsum, change consultant and chairman for our National Freelancers Day event has written a blogpost about one of the key issues that arose during the debate: ‘How to Build Trust as a Freelancer’.

Four tips for building confidence and marketing yourself

Dianne Bown-Wilson | Managing Business

Isolation and winning new clients are two of the biggest problems for freelancers. Marketing consultant and freelance advisor Dianne Bown-Wilson offers some simple tips for what to do when you – and your business – need to get out more.

Freelance Business: The importance of planning

Alex Blyth | Managing Business

Freelance journalist and author of ‘How to Grow Your Business For Entrepreneurs’ Alex Blyth writes about entrepreneurs and how they achieve success.

In this post Alex takes a look at a fundamental skill that all entrepreneurs need, the ability to plan and make progress towards long-term goals.

Five Tips for Selling Online: Starting out in E-business

Emma Jones | Managing Business,Starting Out

Online spending is growing rapidly in the UK. E-commerce in 2009 will be worth over £20bn and, experts say, by 2013, online spending will make up for 10% of total retail sales. If you have a product to sell, you’re in a good position, but how to attract customers to buy? Emma Jones offers five recommendations.

Small Business: Five steps to making a sale

Emma Jones | Managing Business,Training

Without a sale we’re not in business and ongoing sales will spur the business to grow.

Emma Jones offers five steps on how to make a sale and keep the cash flowing.

Working with clients: understanding briefs

Leif Kendall | Managing Business

Are You Giving Your Clients Squid Eyes? (The Second Secret of an Awesomitised Freelance Life)

Bad-ass kung-fu copywriter Leif Kendall continues to reveal the secrets of an awesomitised freelance career.. Awesomitisation Part 2 explores the importance of understanding clients’ briefs.

Small Business: Niche business

Emma Jones | Managing Business,News

In best-selling book ‘The Long Tail’ author Chris Anderson says the future of business does not lie in blockbuster hits but in niche products. Home businesses up and down the land are testimony to this. Emma Jones looks at why niche is good and showcases a few shining examples.

Freelance Business: 3 ways to source new work

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Freelance Advisor and Home Business diva Emma Jones explains why now is a perfect time to spruce up your business development and pursue opportunities that will mean new work from existing customers and new work from new customers.

Here’s three things you can do to keep the contracts coming in…

Freelance Business: Embracing advertising

Emma Jones | Managing Business

A study – rather grandly named The Media Prominence Study – has revealed public relations are more important to brand value than advertising. Unsurprisingly, the study was conducted by a PR company! We embrace advertising, shout its virtues and offer a couple of outdoor options.

Freelance Business: The art of selling in 6 simple steps

Emma Jones | Managing Business

There is no finer talent for a business owner to possess than the skill of making a sale. As the business grows you may decide to outsource the sales function but at the beginning, making a sale is on your ‘to do’ list.

Here are six simple steps that will turn prospects into clients and leads into revenue.

Freelance Marketing: Entering awards to focus your efforts and meet the people who matter

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Whether it is the Nobel Peace prize, the Oscars or the X-Factor people seem to love a good awards ceremony. But what about us freelancers? Is there any point having awards for the stars of the business world? Today Emma Jones argues that entering awards is an effective marketing tool; writing the entry helps to define business plans and goals and, if you win, you earn prizes, recognition and a good night out!

Do what you do best and outsource the rest

Emma Jones | Managing Business,Working From Home

Never has this piece of advice been more relevant. You went in to business to do the things you most enjoy. When you enjoy something, you’re good at it and that, in turn, attracts loyal customers. Keep hold of those customers by sticking to your knitting and find other experts to take on the tasks [...]

Freelance News: HMRC releases online tax help videos

Kasey Brunt | Managing Business,News

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has released a series of online video guides to help businesses and start-ups understand their tax requirements. The guides cover a variety of topics, including VAT, corporation tax and PAYE. They also cover areas such as importing and exporting, keeping accurate records, and things to consider when employing other people. [...]

Great tips for good networking

Carey McIlvenny | Managing Business

You’ve made a break for it and decided to head out into the business world as a freelancer. Now, you’ve just got to do a bit of schmoozing and bring in new work, sounds simple? In reality, networking is often a daunting task. Carey McIlvenny shares some tips. You might find yourself at a fab [...]

Freelance Awards: Why Freelancers Need To Be Celebrated

Michael Rose | Managing Business

Freelancer and contractors are unsung heroes and Xchangeteam’s Emma Brierley has made it her mission to get freelancers the recognition they deserve. This month’s Freelancer of the Year Awards are only the beginning… Why Freelancers Need To Be Celebrated At some point in their career no less than one in seven British workers will be [...]

Marketing yourself: 7 steps to creating the right impression

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Whether it is networking, meetings, clients or conferences, marketing yourself is an essential skill for any freelancer or contractor. Freelance Advisor and author Emma Jones offers seven quick tips to help you shine Starting on the right foot: 7 steps to creating the right impression You only get one chance to create a first impression. [...]

Tis the week before Christmas…

Emma Jones | Managing Business

Freelance Advisor and author of ‘Spare Room Start Up’ Emma Jones give us a timely reminder of the things we could be doing in the run up to Christmas. What can freelancers do when things get quiet over the holiday season and what plans can we make for 2009. When the phones hush and emails [...]

Freelance Advice: Marketing yourself for free

Darren Fell | Managing Business

Freelance Advisor founder Darren Fell is a successful entrepreneur and all over the first page of results when you Google his name. We asked him to share the secrets of his success and he responded with this guide to marketing yourself. Marketing yourself for free, a guide. The big question running through everybody’s mind when [...]

Freelance Designer’s Guide: Choosing the right printing method for your clients

Andrew Walker | Managing Business

Whether it is business cards, promotional posters or flyers for a club night there are many printing options and quality and colours will vary greatly. Print adviser and consultant Andrew Walker guides can help you decide where to get your printing done. Choosing the right printing method for your client Digital vs Litho Printing The [...]

Freelance Advice: is Portfolio Working the right choice for you?

Dianne Bown-Wilson | Managing Business

If you’ve recently retired or are thinking ahead to your remaining working years now could be a good time to consider developing a portfolio career. In this two part series consultant, coach, trainer and writer Dianne Bown-Wilson tells us why it is a good idea and how to go about it… Portfolio careers: the perfect [...]

Five sites for monitoring your brand online

Rosie Sherry | Managing Business

Look who’s talking: Monitoring buzz on the web As a freelance community builder and co-director of TheWerks web-socialite Rosie Sherry offers advice on monitoring your brand and filtering out the noise. Five sites for monitoring your brand online There’s no denying that the web holds huge amount of information. Most of it irrelevant to you [...]

Marketing yourself as a freelance designer: Six simple tips for your CV and portfolio

Michael Rose | Managing Business

The death of the CV? Are curriculum vitae a thing of the past? Guest blogger Greg Coley, Creative Director of the integrated agency VGroup, gives an insider’s view on what freelance designers can do to get noticed. Marketing yourself as a freelance designer So you’re a budding young designer straight out of university, a middleweight, [...]

Compelling Content: Brainstorming your ideal reader or customer

Kath Burke | Managing Business

Compelling Content – Part 2 Brainstorming: Your ideal reader or customer A two-part series from freelance copywriter Kath Burke. In part one, Kath explained how you can understand why people buy you. Part two explores how to use brainstorming as an exercise in focusing on the content that really matters before you put pen to [...]

Write web copy your customers will love reading

Kath Burke | Managing Business

Create compelling content your clients will crave In this 2-part series freelance copywriter and content consultant Kath Burke says the secret of writing great web marketing copy is in the preparation. Before you put pen to paper, you need to explore your clients’ deeper concerns and needs. Ah. If only you could magic up the [...]

Find us on Facebook – for freelance advice and networking

Michael Rose | Managing Business

Find freelancing advice and support by joining our community of freelancers and contractors on Facebook. By becoming a fan of Freelance Advisor you’ll get all the latest articles and advice, alerts when new content is added to the site, and you can help build the community by connecting with other freelancers and contractors in your [...]

Freelance Advisor sponsors Farm Freelancer Award at DiMAS 2008

Michael Rose | Managing Business

If you are a freelancer or contractor living and working in the South then you could get your work in front of a top panel of judges from the BBC, Channel 4, Endemol and New Media Age. The Awards are also an excellent place to publicise you and your work – especially if it is [...]

Freelance Advisor Recommends: i-design 08 Portfolio Clinic

Michael Rose | Managing Business

If you’re a freelance designer or programmer then attending the i-design 08 Portfolio Clinic Wednesday 17 September in London is a no brainer. First it’s FREE and secondly if you’re currently looking for work or to expand your future client base then you’ll be able to meet 15 of the capital’s most respected and successful [...]

Speak easy – improve your public speaking skills

Michael Rose | Managing Business

Talking Shop – overcoming the fear of public speaking A new event aims to give confidence, talking techniques and a chance to practise communication skills for freelancers who need to get up and talk in front of an audience. Freelancers and contractors can live rather solitary lives, working from home or, head-down, coding away until [...]

Freelancing USA

Darren Fell | Managing Business

Are the streets of San Francisco paved with exciting projects, paying excellent rates? Is it full of perfect customers with realistic expectations? Freelance Advisor founder and serial entrepreneur Darren Fell took a trip to the epicentre of Internet start-ups in the hope of finding out what we can learn from our colleagues on the west [...]

Staying in touch in the midst of mayhem

Mark Kirby | Managing Business

When you are busy, its easy to forget to keep in touch with friends and family who you don’t see on a day to day basis. Perhaps they live far away, or so close you feel you could get in touch with them at any moment, but always forget. Perhaps you see certain people a [...]

Casual Networking for freelancers and contractors

Paul Silver | Managing Business

Freelance Adviser, Paul Silver, on casual networking events for freelancers and contractors. Making contacts, finding work, pitching, passing business cards, sharing skills and advice… and having a drink, or four.

Marketing yourself as a freelancer or contractor

Leif Kendall | Managing Business

One of the joys of freelancing is that you get to do everything. But this omnipotence means you can’t hate the sales team for not bringing in new clients, because you are the sales team. Become CEO of YouCorp You can’t have a spat with Maureen in accounts because she hasn’t sorted your expenses, because [...]

Personal Branding for freelancers

Andy White | Managing Business

What’s personal branding all about? Is it important? What does it mean? Where do I start? Do I really need a strong identity or even a logo for my freelancing business? Is it really necessary to make ME stand out from the competition? Expert, Al Welsh, has had years of experience within some of London’s [...]

One.. Two.. Three.. SELL!

Darren Fell | Managing Business

I was asked by Phil Green of the MD Hub 100 to present to a MD Hub 250 group about how I took Pure360.com from no customers at all to hundreds. As I thought the following presentation may be useful to all at Freelance Advisor. It shows the early days and a few photo’s of [...]

Get yourself useful business cards

Paul Silver | Managing Business

If you’re going to be networking to drum up business, or just meet people who might want to use your services (that is, potentially everyone you meet) you should get some business cards so they have an easy reminder of who you are and what you do. On your card you should have: Your business’s [...]

The fastest website in the west!

Darren Fell | Managing Business

In the age we live in having a website as a business is critical. I’m not sure about you but it’s literally the first thing I do when I want to vet a supplier out and in my old days at Pure360.com I’d even do that for customers. No site and to be honest I [...]

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