Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Instructional Designer & Consultant

Freelance Advice

Things My Beagle Taught Me About Consulting

As some of you may know, my husband and I have a beagle/german shepherd. He’s a rescue dog that we acquired from the city pound nearly two years ago, and as with many rescue dogs, he comes with a slew of isms. This is Oliver:

Oliver_Frisbee

 

He is 41lbs of pure energy and excitement; there are very few moments when he is ‘powered down’, and he’s taught me quite a few things in my short while of being a consultant and entrepreneur.

1. Do NOT Schedule Client Calls for Wednesdays.

This one was a no brainer; in our neighbourhood, the waste removal services come around each Wednesday. They alternate between garbage/recyclables and recyclables/compost every other week…and in the summer (just for fun), they do all forms of collection each and every week. This means that the enemy (garbage truck) goes up one side of our street, then down the other collecting garbage, then does the same for recyclables and compostables. Oliver absolutely hates the garbage truck and will valiantly protect his homestead by scaring them off with incessant barking. This does not bode well for client calls.

2. Apologize in Advance.

Whenever I do begin a conference call, I begin by apologizing in advance. We’ve worked very hard to get Oliver’s barking down to a minimum and it’s an effort made in vain. He’s a beagle. He barks. So typically, I will let my client know that I have a dog, and apologize in advance in the event that his barking occurs. Initially I thought this would be an annoyance, but most of my clients have been understanding and even empathetic (most seem to have their own barkers).

3. Schedule yourself Accordingly

I’ve been over-extended, and it can suck. Even if I’m passionate about the projects I’m working on, there’s only one of me, and I still have other household responsibilities. Come 4pm, I will be reminded (not so gently) that someone needs feeding and to play fetch or go for a walk. This can seem like a cumbersome task if I’ve over-extended my self. Basically, you don’t need a beagle to tell you this, you  just need a reality check and for someone (me – right here) to let you know that you have a lot of other things going on (that’s life), and even if those 5 projects all sound amazing, you’re not superhuman and something’s gotta give!

4. Know your Job and Keep your Eyes on the Prize.

For Oliver, this is fetch. He knows as soon as we near the field behind our house, that I will unclip his leash and he will enter work mode, fetching the ball as many times as I’m willing to throw it. Sometimes his focus and determination can be a short-coming (he had a toe amputated this past year in a frisbee-related incident), but generally, he loves his job.

For me, this is my business and clients; when it’s time, I always settle in and focus on the work to be done. Like Oliver, sometimes this can be a short-coming…see #3 – say for example, when I over-extend myself. But generally, I love my job.

5. Don’t be a Jerk.

When Oliver is focused on his job, of fetching, his focus and determination and passion lead him to be a bit of a jerk. He doesn’t like sharing (his ball), and will quickly snap at someone who tries to take it. This has taught me (in addition to #3) that when feeling over-extended, share the wealth. Recommend other individuals with similar skill sets who may be available to take on new work and deliver a comparable product. Don’t snap at anyone who tries to eek in on your workload…most times it’s with the intention of helping.

Preferences and Assumptions

This post was inspired by a recent discussion on the E-Learning Heroes Community and an article I read over at Freelancer Union.

In the community, David asked whether individuals preferred being called freelancers or consultants. Most folks seemed to preferred being called consultants, and to be honest – so do I. While I don’t typically have a preference one way or the other, I think that consultant sounds a bit more professional and is full of fewer negative connotations (aka stereotypes) associated with the term ‘freelancer’. However, I do find that I am more often referred to as a Contractor…so I’m going to start my own home renovation business…I KID! It would be a very terrible business avenue for me to pursue; I’m not super handy. While I prefer being called a consultant or independent instructional designer, you can call me pretty much anything if you want to pay the price!

I tend to associate my time as a ‘freelancer’ with grabbing anything and everything I could to make a bit of extra cash – some of these tasks were certainly not my finest moments, and some of them paid quite well. Whereas I associate my time as a ‘consultant’ as a more profitable and purposeful endeavour.

What do you prefer to be called?

Riding on the shirttails of that discussion, I happened upon the Freelancer Union article that discussed five common stereotypes about freelancers:

  1. Freelancers live a life of non-office-regulated luxury
  2. Freelancers live a life of grasping poverty, constantly anxious about their next job.
  3. Freelancers are flaky.
  4. ‘Freelancer’ is just a fancy word for ‘unemployed’.
  5. Full-time freelancers become weird loners.

I’ve heard all of these stereotypes in my experience freelancing and ‘consulting’ (my grown up name for freelancing), and here are my responses to each:

  1. Sure. I get to wear whatever I want to work (when I’m not at my onsite gig), but I still have to motivate myself to do my work, and do all of the other things (e.g. bookkeeping) that would have been done by someone else if I worked in a traditional office.
  2. I’m split on this. I thought that when I quit my full-time job to consult full-time that I would struggle to pay my mortgage and put food in the mouths of my husband and pets; this did not happen. In fact, I did better, financially, in the first three months of working for myself than I ever would have staying where I was. Now I’m in a position where I can settle on 1-2 contracts at a time and be incredibly busy. The cash doesn’t flow regularly (I’m being paid this month for work I completed in July), but I saved a buffer and have never been late on a bill payment – take that, stereotype!
  3. You know…I’m kind of a flaky person in general. I’d like to think I’m a pretty intelligent and self-motivated person, but you know what? Sometimes I’m tired. Sometimes I get sick. Sometimes I mistakingly write down the wrong date/time for a meeting. But I assure you that in the end, the work gets done, and clients are generally pretty happy. Not to make excuses, but I am on an anti-anxiety medication that makes my memory a bit shoddy (but, it helps me not panic when work is slower – see #2).
  4. UNTRUE. Many of my best ‘freelance’ friends are busier and more successful than some of my 9-5 friends. So to #4, I say SHUT YO MOUTH!
  5. I’ve always kind of been a weird loner (or floater at best). In junior high I was voted weirdest…which I choose to accept as a term of endearment. I have a lot of friends and associates, but I’ve always preferred time to myself. I like to stay home, make my nest so to speak. Just last week I managed the beginning of a  kitchen remodel! That being said, I do think it’s important to extend yourself (socially) when you work predominantly from the confines of your home office. Why? Well – conversations with your cats, dogs, or walls can get very one-sided, and we always need a reality check. Luckily, there are tons of communities out there for people just like you, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding someone to connect with!

What do you think about these stereotypes? Are some of them accurate?

 

3 Bits of Advice for Aspiring Freelancers

People ALWAYS ask me about freelancing – Always! As many of you folks know, I spent several years freelancing prior to making the jump into full-time (and now part-time) independent contractor-ship. When you’re just getting started, you can be overwhelmed by the amount of work you’re doing, underwhelmed by the amount of opportunities you’re finding, and dazzled by the dollars you’re raking in. Before you get too deep in the freelance game, you really should step back and organize yourself…or at least screw your head on right. Here are some helpful pieces of advice for doing just that!

1 – Set some of your profits aside.

And by this, I don’t mean in a fun-money fund for your next vacation to Fiji. I mean that taxes are impending (and may incite of feeling of dread or doom) reality, and you really don’t want to pay them out of pocket because you were so busy being pumped on the extra cash you were bringing in. If you fail to set cash aside, it actually turns out to be counter-productive and may make all of your hard work and hours spent moonlighting seem fruitless. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Here’s what I do: When I receive payment on an invoice, I take 30% of the payment and put it in a separate savings account. Next year I will be opening up a business account, but if you’re just sticking to occasional freelancing as a supplement to your income, a savings account should be sufficient. This 30% deduction can be a bitter pill to swallow, but it ensures that I won’t get strapped paying taxes out of pocket (and may even receive a refund – who knows?) come tax time!

2 – Get organized!

This advice might seem like a no-brainer, but unless you’re a planner at heart, the last thing most folks do is get organized, and failing to do so can get messy realllllly fast. As a freelancer, you should have several processes in place before you get too involved, such as development processes (for whatever it is you develop), get-money processes (for invoicing/collecting payment), kick off and close out processes (for kicking off and closing out a project with a client). Having these processes in place will save you a ton of time, streamlining the projects you work on from start to finish.

Here’s what I do: One of the first things I do when I start a project is open up my Project Management Software (PMS) and set up a new project. Prior to the kick off meeting, I review anything the client has sent me and compile a list of questions I have (deadlines, review cycles, etc.). During the kick off meeting, I document the conversation in a Word document, which I then save to the project in my PMS. After the kick off meeting, I itemize all of the project tasks and set deadlines in the PMS. Basically the PMS runs my life and keeps me on point. At the end of the project, I have a wrap-up meeting (or email exchange, depending on client preferences), document what was said, and upload the document to the PMS. Then, I generate an invoice…in the PMS (previously, I had a Word template for this, which I would email) and send it to the client. The moral of this story – find a PMS you love and use it! I recommend Pancake.

Before I caught on to the importance of being organized in my freelance life, things were messy. PMS has changed my life, and I find it so helpful (and refreshing) when I work with clients who use them too!

Another great way to stay organized (and productive) is to maintain a tidy office space and use folders for hard-copy paperwork (e.g. contracts, non-disclosure agreements, tax documentation). This will make your life a lot easier when you need to refer to a piece of paper you printed off once upon a time.

3 – Be considerate (to yourself and others).

In this context, being considerate doesn’t necessarily mean being nice to yourself and to others (but, that will happen indirectly). It really means being cognizant of your abilities and not over-obligating yourself. Furthermore, being considerate to yourself should also mean: don’t apply to every single thing your see – especially if you’re freelancing through odesk, elance, freelancer, or one of the many freelancing sites.

Here’s what I do: Initially I did not heed my own advice, and I paid dearly (over-committing to projects I wasn’t qualified for or which I absolutely hated). Before you start working at the freelance chain game, take some time and itemize your interests and qualifications. Then, bid or apply for projects that align with your qualifications or interests. This will ensure that you don’t get saddled bidding on ‘Spinning 100 articles for 30 dollars’ or writing some kids PhD thesis for a 250 bucks – neither of which are at the high of ethics and integrity…or profit. Be considerate and smart about what you apply for, don’t undervalue yourself, and don’t over-commit!

3 Tips for Countering Feelings of Overwhelm

As someone who suffers from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, it’s really important for me to make an effort at balancing my life, work, and mental health. As a new small business owner, this can often times be a difficult task. That’s why I’m deciding to take this week to make a conscious effort to better manage myself in an effort to counter feelings of overwhelm.

Make Yourself Accountable

For me, this meant using my fancy project management software (shoutout PancakeApp) to set up all of my current projects and their individual tasks. This was somewhat counterproductive in that it initially made me feel more overwhelmed – oh my goodness, look at all of the tasks I need to complete (by Monday, by Wednesday, by the end of next week)…ugh. But when I stepped back, I felt refreshed, organized, and I now have an interactive to do list that will make me accountable for each of my tasks.

Find Peace

Within my work life, this means finding a quiet place where I can be productive; I haven’t perfected this yet (we have a beagle), but I’ve come pretty darn close, and I really enjoy the routine I have working from my home office, work office, or certain cafes. Finding peace usually involves some relaxing music (I’m a frequently listener of Songza’s Mellow Indie Playlist) or a podcast (e.g. Totally Laime or Alison Rosen is Your New Bestfriend) that allows me to listen passively. A calm environment can lead to an increase in productivity, which stands to decrease your feelings of overwhelm considerably!

Within my daily life, this means dog walks or exercising or reading a few chapters of a book before resting your head on your pillow and catching some sleep.

Be Active – CONSISTENTLY

I used to be so good at this, almost to the point of obsession. Obsession isn’t a great thing, but I’ll be the first to admit that I do miss my five day per week gym routine. I’ve been haphazard in ramping up my activity levels over the past few months and it’s really catching up to me. I’m not as in shape as I once was, my anxiety is a lot less predictable and extreme, I’m easily tired, and I just don’t feel on top of my game.

Being active is a great way to counter feelings of overwhelm because activity gets your endorphins chugging along and then all of the happier feelings buzz through your body, making your daunting to do list seem a lot more manageable.

On Being Selective

It’s only been a few mere months since I took my business full-time, and one of the best things that has come of it has been that I’m able to be selective, capture my dream clients, and increase my overall work life happiness.

When I put together my presentation on How to Build Your Portfolio, I really had to consider some of the most important positives that having a portfolio has garnered for me. The top one was that it allows me to be selective. Now, being selective doesn’t mean that I don’t jump at new opportunities; it just means that I consider the new opportunities before jumping in feet first. This saves me a lot of time and heartache when I realize that I’ve jumped into a contract well below my going rate.

With that being said, there are some contracts I would gladly work on for less than what I’m worth because I’m passionate about the organization or the project or both. This doesn’t happen often, but with a stream of steady clients (that my portfolio helped funnel in), I’m able to be choosier about my work.

This week I was offered a full-time contract with a local university. I had been working on contract part-time since February, and I had always wanted to move into the Higher Education sector. Where I’m from, it is incredibly difficult to score such a gig by applying the old fashioned way, and I was shocked that a cold email a year earlier had resulted in the procurement of my part-time contract. In any event, I’ll be taking on full-time hours starting in the fall, and this is really where being selective comes into play.

I’ll still be running my business, albeit I’ll end up lightening my workload in the coming year, being more selective, and choosing to work on contracts that I’m truly passionate about. The security that the full-time contract brings will allow me some flexibility with regard to my business workload, and I’ll be able to focus on both aspects of my work life that I’m happy to focus on. It’s been a long road to reach both goals: working within Higher Education and starting my own business, and I want to give both roles 100%.  At the same token, I want to ensure that the contracts I accept within my business are ones that align well with my beliefs and serve to enhance my current portfolio.

It’s going to be an interesting journey, and I’m excited to take you all along for the ride!

3 Tips for Saving Resources on Your E-Learning Projects

I would consider it a best practice to ensure that when you cost out an e-learning project you follow your own costing strategy. Otherwise, you risk losing monetary and human resources, which leads to inefficiencies in the flow of your project, and stands to impact future projects/schedules. Here are some tips for saving resources on your e-learning projects:

1. Be specific with your contracts.

If you don’t allow room for client’s to find loopholes in your contracts, you save yourself a lot of headache in the long run. When creating your contracts, be very specific when it comes to deliverables and project requirements. If you aren’t sure of what you should include in your contracts, consult the communities you’re active in…or The Google.

2. Beware of scope creep!

Scope creep…-shudder-…all too often I’ve seen contractors fall victim to scope creep. Heck! I’ve even been guilting of allowing some of it on my own projects. Scope creep occurs when your client asks for things here or there, and being a doting contractor, you aim to please, so you give them things here and there. However, these are things not outlined in your contract (e.g. things you are not being paid for). Now, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of scope creep – that’s why we have profit margins! But if you give an inch, sometimes you’ll have to go a mile, and that’s where you really run into problems.

Too much scope creep can be expensive! Once you agree on a contract, you should work very hard to stay within the terms of that contract. If you veer, I would recommend that you communicate to your client that X is typically something you charge for, but that you’re willing to waive the fee this once as a courtesy.

Often times scope creep can come in the form of additional review cycles; this lengthens the duration of your project and can be costly. Word to the wise – when being specific with your contracts, include a cap on review cycles and revisions to maintain efficiency.

3. Don’t be an over-achiever.

This one may seem obvious, but before drafting up a contract, be confident with your abilities to meet the contract. There’s nothing wrong with over-delivering on a client’s expectation, but there is something wrong with being unable to deliver because you’ve over-estimated your abilities.

What am I saying? Well – if you’ve just started learning to code, don’t offer to develop a client’s WooCommerce site from scratch with a two-week delivery time. It just ain’t gonna happen. You’ll be disappointed in yourself and your clients will be too. We want to nurture the relationships we have with our clients, not agitate them!