Author: Freelancing Buzz

Photo by Michael Kelly Linsee Thomas works in the first floor common room where she operates a single-person enterprise, Thomas Virtual Services, out of a workstation in the building. She is one of more than 3,700 people in Washington County who run non-employer businesses in Washington County, some of which, like hers, serve a geographically widespread client base on a digital platform. MARIETTA — Sara Bir admits she has an unusual set of skills. Liberal arts studies and culinary expertise, a passion for education and a gift for writing don’t fit the description for many jobs available in small towns. She realized more than a decade ago that she could choose to work in a major metropolitan area or return to her hometown, Marietta, and create her own job. She chose the quality of life and low cost of living in Marietta. Bir is one of many residents who have chosen to take control of their destinies by creating a business enterprise of one person. Bir writes, offers culinary workshops on techniques ranging from bread baking to yogurt making, and does professional test-kitchen recipe runs. She’s published two books, “Tasting Ohio Favorite Recipes from the Buckeye State” and “The Fruit Forager’s Companion: Desserts, Main Dishes, and More from Your Neighborhood and Beyond,” along with a small handbook on paw-paw recipes, and provides editing and copywriting services. Her clients are both local and out of the area. Bir, 43, moved back home from the West Coast several years ago. “As a person who grew up in Marietta, I always thought I would move to a major city and never come back,” she said. “But as a freelancer I can work anywhere, and Marietta has a low cost of living, and it’s a place where I feel valued, a place where I can thrive doing what I’m doing.” She began freelancing as a writer and cook educator about 15 years ago, she said, and reached a point at which she realized she could make more money on her own compared to working for a wage. Now, about half her income is realized from events, such as workshops, where she has to be present, and the other half comes from remote, online work. “The first couple of years was hard. I didn’t make much money but I was able to get through it with the emotional support of my family and my many friends, and I knew how to navigate the landscape of Marietta,” she said. “Now, I’m very happy doing this, and I just wish there were more different kinds of work for people in this area, not just factory work, although that’s important. But I realize not everyone can do what I’m doing, and I love living in Marietta and seeing it thrive.” Linsee Thomas, who just turned 30, holds a bachelor of nursing degree, but she found the shift work and random hours interfered with her family life. She and her husband have four children, ranging in age from […]

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Self-employed workers will have the right to 10 days of paid paternity leave from the 1st of May. This new leave is designed to help self-employed people balance their professional and private lives. It will also mean salaried fathers and co-parents will no longer be treated differently to self-employed ones when it comes to social security allowances. These 10 days of paternity leave (divisible into half days) can be taken voluntarily in the four months following the baby’s birth, the same as maternity leave. They can also choose to temporarily pause their professional activity for a maximum of eight days, but receive 15 free service cheques. It is estimated this new measure will cost 11 million euros a year. Sarah Johansson The Brussels Times The European Union granted more than 330,000 people asylum in 2018

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Productivity is the key to launching a successful freelancing career . Being able to work through tasks efficiently, take on new projects, all while balancing life and free time are essential to establishing your freelancing business. All of these advantages can help you to do a better job on projects, win more clients, boost your reputation, and lead to a higher income. As a freelancer, you may already be working hard as-is, but wouldn’t you want to be even more productive? This article outlines the best ways to boost productivity as a freelancer. Read on to learn how you can become the most highly productive version of yourself! Use a Scheduling Tool to Keep Track of Appointments Knowing when to work and when not to work is an extremely important part of being a productive freelancer. You need to have clear-cut time boundaries as they allow you to prompt your mind as to when it is time to focus on work, and when it is time to relax. To create this balance, you simply need to define your work hours and your personal time and then stick to them. A proper schedule is very important whether you are doing a job or working as a freelancer. To simplify the process, use a scheduling tool to create a weekly or monthly schedule. You can then also use this to keep track of your appointments. Alongside this, you can create a to-do list on a daily basis as well. Then, to set yourself up for success the next day, create the next to-do list at the end of each day. This will help you stay focused on your work. Stick to your schedule strictly to see the best results. Keep Your Home-Office Organized Getting organized is extremely important when it comes to improving your productivity and workflow as a freelancer. Imagine trying to find the project description of a certain client from a pile of unorganized papers on your desk. Not only can this be a real headache, but it can also be time-consuming. If you want to be more productive, then you must keep your home-office organized as it will allow you to easily and quickly find everything you need. Simply clean and declutter your room, standardise your contact list, clean out your computer’s desktop, and organize your desk. All of these subtle forms of organization will go a long way to improve your efficiency and productivity. You will be finding the required things more easily, there will be clarity in your workflow, and your productivity in your freelance work will significantly increase as a result. Book Time Off for Yourself A lot of full-time freelancers work too much and don’t take time off throughout the day. Most such freelancers think that if they work harder and take fewer breaks, they will be able to get the work done relatively more quickly and find more free time at the end of the day. In reality, this can have an adverse […]

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Share Share on Pinterest Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Have you ever looked at The Sims 4 and thought, “You know what is missing here? A job where you work from home.” Neither have we, but the devs behind The Sims 4 did and, in a nod to the changing conditions of the modern worker, have added a work-from-home freelance option in its latest update. This is kind of a big deal in a way. Ever since The Sims debuted, your miserable little Sim would have to leave the house to disappear into some abyss to make money and him or herself. Of course, subsequent games and updates tried to make this more interesting and they largely succeeded. But most of them involved your Sim leaving the house during the day. No more: Now your Sim can live the heremetic, monkish life of a freelancer and never have to leave their home again. You’ve got three career options available before you: Writer, artist, or programmer. Like freelancers do now, you will have to trawl an online agency to get work. You’ll be allowed to select tasks and, upon completing them, earn money. But, just like in the real world, your clients can request revisions and this can cause a delay in your money payout. It’s miserable like any other job, just in new ways. Mechanically, the freelancer job is similar to the acting gig offered in previous updates. This update is the latest in a string of updates that are meant to reflect the modern economy that many of us live in now. Your Sims can livestream and even become “style influencers.” As with any of the professions on offer in the game, the freelancer job has its pluses and minuses. In terms of simulation, however, it is a timely and sensible addition to the list of career paths available to your Sim. All of this comes ahead of a major update teased by Maxis that is scheduled for deployment later this year. As anyone who has played The Sims knows, downloadable content and perpetual updates are the lifeblood of the series. There’s no sign of that slowing down any time soon. Maxis hasn’t really delved into what exactly the next big update for The Sims 4 will be but they have promised that it will be big. While that’s not a lot to go on, that’s all we have at the moment, but it is more than enough to keep our hopes high . Gaming Gaming

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If you’re a freelancer, no matter the industry, chances are you’ve dealt with late payments at least once in your career. But whether that check is a week, month, or year late, if you’ve done the work and filed your invoices, that money belongs to you. So how do you get it? This week we took a look at some of the best strategies for getting what you’re owed — as well as a music video that captures exactly how it feels. We also explored what Elizabeth Warren is proposing to do about college tuition and student loans if she’s elected in 2020, because it would mean big things for anyone still paying off their education. We also talked to the co-founder of Blueland about how reusable bottles and eco-friendly tablets can completely shake up your cleaning routine. Finally, we got the rundown of the best screen protectors for your phone — and they’re much cheaper than replacing a cracked iPhone. Source: Makistock/Shutterstock Chasing payments? Here’s what to do when your invoice should have been paid a while ago. Source: Elise Amendola/AP/Shutterstock The Massachusetts senator wants to make almost all student debt a thing of the past. Source: Courtesy of Blueland Step away from the spray bottle and check out what Blueland is doing to make cleaning products more sustainable. Source: Nor Gal/Shutterstock These will protect your phone from smudgy fingers, dust, dirt and anything else that threatens your screen clarity.

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Some of the links included in this post are from our sponsors. Read our disclosure policy. Are you taking advantage of the “gig” economy? In today’s world, gig economy jobs (short term, often independent contractor type jobs) are all the rage. After all, what better way to earn some extra cash than to find a quick, flexible avenue? Check out these gig economy jobs to see if one (or more) might be right for you. Driving and Delivery Gigs If you like driving, you’ll probably be happy to hear there are a few different ways you can get paid for driving your car. Driving and delivery gigs are a popular part of the gig economy job sector. 1. Deliver Restaurant Meals In today’s busy world, people often turn to restaurant delivery to eat a good meal. Doordash hires “dashers” to bring restaurant meals from restaurants to customers. When you sign up to be a dasher with Doordash, you drive your car and deliver food to customers. In some markets, Doordash even allows scooters, bicycles and walkers. After you sign up and download the Doordash app, you get notifications of available deliveries. Pay is based on the order, and Doordash will show you the pay amount (not including tip) before you accept or reject the order. If you earn a tip (many dashers do) for good service, you keep 100% of that tip. 2. Drive People Around Another way to make money with your car is to deliver people to their desired destinations. Similar to a taxi service, companies like Lyft provide personalized ridesharing service to clients. As a rideshare driver, you’re responsible for giving clients a safe, comfortable and enjoyable ride. As with Doordash, rideshare driving companies tell you what the pay is before you accept the ride. The pay depends on where, what time of day and how often you drive. Drivers typically get a designated pay amount for the trip, and often earn tips as well. Related Post: Can You Make Money Driving for Lyft and is it Worth it? 3. Deliver Groceries As a Full Service Shopper for Instacart , you’ll get groceries for people and deliver the groceries to them. You get paid based on the specifics of the trip such as the order amount and distance traveled to delivery. In addition, many Instacart shoppers earn tips as well. If you like the idea of shopping for and delivering groceries to people, this might be a great way for you to make extra cash. Work From Home Gigs Do you like the idea of earning cash without leaving your house? If so, check out these legit ways you can make money from home . 4. Complete Surveys One popular work from home gig is completing surveys and doing other get-paid-to (GPT) tasks. These gigs don’t pay as much money as some of the other options listed here. However, they have other benefits. The tasks are usually quick to complete, and you can do them in […]

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©iStock/javarman3 “I came to Mexico for a two-week vacation in 2003 and still haven’t left,” says Toronto born Kelly McLaughlin. “At the time, I was getting divorced and we’d sold our house. I decided to travel a bit with the money. So, I spun the globe, closed my eyes, and my finger landed on Cozumel. I had never even heard of it.” As Kelly discovered, the island of Cozumel is in the Caribbean just a short ferry ride away from Playa del Carmen and Cancún, Mexico. Famous for its white-sand beaches, palm trees, blue skies, and scuba diving, Cozumel is a beach-lover’s dream. However, it wasn’t to be Kelly’s forever home. Fast forward to 2019 and she now lives with her teenage son about two hours from Cozumel in the city of Cancún. Known as the gateway to the Riviera Maya (Mexico’s Caribbean), Cancún draws about 22 million people through its airport each year. And while it’s perhaps best-known as ground-zero for the spring break set, there’s more to the city than its glitzy resorts. “My neighborhood is typical of Mexico,” says Kelly. Far from Cancún’s touristy Hotel Zone, the residential area has quiet streets. Her condo comes with a shared courtyard with a garden and swimming pool. “It’s a four-story building and we live on the top floor. I call it our tree house of love. It feels like living in a treehouse because we’re surrounded by palm and ceiba trees. It’s quiet, and at night I can hear the coconuts falling.” Her rent is $309 per month and she has a weekly grocery delivery (about $50 worth) and a cleaning lady. Her electricity ranges from $25 every two months to $150 every two months if she uses the air conditioning a lot. Her high-speed WiFi is $15 a month. Kelly is a former television producer turned freelance writer and social media manager. She even started a blog about living abroad, where she chronicles her adventures in Mexico. As a freelance writer, she spends her mornings writing web copy for area businesses and her afternoons going on adventures with her 14-year-old son. They both love zip lining, riding ATVs, snorkeling, and visiting Maya ruins. “I love to float for hours in the Caribbean. My son windsurfs, kitesurfs, and works as a lifeguard. We also enjoy camping and road trips.” Kelly also has a soft spot for cats. She volunteers with the Stardust Kitten Rescue. “We find abandoned kittens and bottle-feed them until they can eat on their own and then we find homes for them.” Kelly and her son enjoy sampling the different restaurants in town, including the local taco carts. “We have excellent neighborhood restaurants. There’s an authentic Italian restaurant I go to at least once a week, Le Fate Ristorante Italiano. I also like a buffet place that serves food from the Jalisco region, which is on the other side of the country. And I love Yucatán food, especially the queso relleno, which is Gouda stuffed […]

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“Why do we have to leave the room when you do an interview?” my 5 year old daughter asked. “I need it to be quiet.” “I can be quiet,” she told me. It dawned on me she didn’t know what I did. “Do you know what an interview is?” “Yeeeeah. You talk on the phone with someone.” “I have to ask them questions and listen to what they say and write it down, so that I can make a story out of it.” And since April 25 is Take Your Daughter to Work Day and her Mom works at a mental health clinic with strict patient confidentiality, I realized it was up to me to get her out of Kindergarten on a Thursday. And to start her schooling I conducted her first interview with me in the bedroom and her in the living room using her Mom’s phone. Jitney Books: What’s your favorite food? My five year-old daughter: You know what it is. My favorite food is pizza. When do you like to eat it? Lunch. Where? At home. What’s your favorite color in the rainbow? Purple, yellow, blue and green. This is easy. Have you ever seen a rainbow? On the big bridge. How did that make you feel? Happy. Excited. What else makes you happy? When I get a toy and candy. What toy makes you happiest? LOL Dolls. How about what candy? That giant lollipop is the best candy I got. I want to buy more. Buy me more! and with that the interview was over.

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When I first went freelance, I was determined to go it alone. In the beginning, this was empowering; I set my own hours, worked only with clients I wanted to and generally had more professional satisfaction than I had in office jobs. The very sharp double-edged sword of working for yourself, however, is dealing with something else that comes with working on your own: loneliness. I notice that I’ll start to feel miserable if I’ve been working from home for a while The self-employed sector now accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the UK’s workforce. As this group continues to grow at an increasing pace – the number of self-employed workers over the age of 65 has nearly tripled since the recession – the unique set of challenges independent workers face need to be addressed, starting with freelancer isolation. How co-working spaces can combat loneliness I’m not alone in feeling alone as a self-employed worker; a 2018 survey by Epson found that nearly half (48 per cent) found it lonely. So I spoke to other self-employed workers and industry experts to find out how freelancers can solve loneliness and isolation. “Freelancing is a liberating and flexible way to work, but it’s not without its challenges,” says Chloé Jepps, deputy head of research at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE). According to Ms Jepps, co-working spaces can be a solution for freelancers who want to recapture the support and camaraderie of an office environment. “Co-working spaces are also a great opportunity for the fruitful collaborations that fuel the dynamism and creativity of the flexible economy,” she says. Caroline McShane, independent social media consultant and member of Growth Hub in Cirencester, says: “We all support each other by acting as sounding boards or offering advice when asked. I would go as far as to say there are more experts here than in any other office or business I have worked in or for. I guess you could say we all work alone together.” The impact of freelancer isolation on mental health Finding a way to combat loneliness is more than a productivity issue, it’s also a pressing mental health concern. Matthew Knight, independent strategist who works on freelancer mental health campaigns, says: “While those who switch to a freelance life generally report they are happier, it’s the unique set of challenges a freelancer faces that put independent workers more at risk of dropping into poor mental health.” Mr Knight says that there are many small things which freelancers can do that will not only help combat loneliness, but also keep their mental health in shape. These include joining a community, but also maintaining a schedule that works for the individual, looking after physical health and talking to clients about the stresses of freelancing. “From reducing your payment terms or just letting you work from their space, there are plenty of things which those we work with can do to support us,” he says. Virtual spaces helping freelancers […]

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Before you start working on a task, you should first set-up an invoice. You can use an invoice generator to make it easier for you. ( Newswire.net — April 24, 2019) — Congratulations on landing a client in the freelance world. You’re one step ahead those who are still looking for their first client. But then, what would you need to do next? Before you even start working on your task, you should first set-up your invoice. You can use an invoice generator to make it easier for you. Follow these steps to get you started. 1. Get the details of your clients first Will your client be paying you through PayPal or directly through bank deposit? Whatever it is, you’d have to know your clients’ mode of payment. Get the business email of your client to which you will be sending your invoice. You may also get some personal details of your client like their name, business name, and business address. 2. Put in the work you’ve done After setting up the needed information, you’d now have to put in the items you have provided your client. Indicate the project title, add some descriptions, and include the date when you have submitted the project for your client’s reference. If you have submitted your work through cloud storage, you can add the link in your invoice as well. 3. Place your rate and quantity of items The rate that you put in the invoice should be the rate you have agreed on with your client before starting the project. You should also make sure that the number of items you have declared in your invoice matches your actual output and what the client needs. Most freelancers take advantage of setting up their invoices by declaring different prices and altering the number of outputs done. Pro tip: don’t do this! Freelancing is all about gaining your client’s trust and building rapport. Also, if you’re just starting, you would want to get good testimonials from your clients. 4. Send the invoice to your client The last step is for you to send the invoice to your client. You can send the file or link through email. Creating your invoice may be hard the first time around. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll surely have it easy with your succeeding clients.

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