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Six Ways To Achieve Better Work Life Balance As A Solopreneur

To the untrained eye, it may seem easy to achieve work life balance as a solopreneur. Your friends with “day jobs” may see the grass as being so much greener on our side. Sure, we often have the ability to set our own schedules. We don’t have to ask permission to leave the office to go to a dentist appointment. We can take time to go holiday shopping when the mall is less crowded.

There are a lot of perks to being self-employed, but those of us doing it also know it can be a juggling act that can lead to stress, anxiety, and frustration. Work life balance as a solopreneur can be difficult to achieve.

As a one-woman show, you are among the busiest of business owners. You are wearing most of, if not all of the hats. You are in charge of sales, marketing, inventory, bookkeeping…the list goes on and on. Plus, you are doing the work of providing the service that you offer or minding the store. And, that doesn’t take into account the family commitments and other obligations competing for your attention as you strive to be successful in every aspect of your life.

Achieving The Elusive Work Life Balance

I’m sorry to report that there is no magic formula to achieve work life balance. But here are some things you can do to help reduce your stress as you try to keep all of the balls in the air.Six Ways To Achieve Better Work Life Balance As A Solopreneur

Keep Your Eye On The Prize.

Establish short-term and long-term SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound) goals for your business. Having SMART goals in place will help you maintain your focus on what you ultimately want to accomplish. Having that focus will make it easier to eliminate or avoid obstacles and other distractions that pop up in your way.

Keep A Calendar.

That means one calendar with everything on it. Whether you choose an electronic format or a hard-copy planner, your business meetings or deadlines, personal appointments, and other commitments should all be in one place so you can avoid double-booking. It will also help you foresee potential log jams, so you can take action to mitigate the stress of a work-related pile-up.

Prioritize.

Make lists daily to help you maintain focus on what must be done that day. Setting priorities will help you stay on track and avoid diversions. Inevitably, you may veer off your plan from time to time, but a daily priority list can get you back on track when you do get distracted.

Delegate.

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything. If you can do nothing else to improve your work life balance, at least try to delegate. Ask family members to pitch in to help with household chores and errands. Consider outsourcing certain business tasks or projects that don’t necessarily need to be performed by you.

Learn To Say “No.”

If you are able (or appear to be able) to balance your business and personal commitments, chances are you are the “go-to” person for a lot of people in your life. Give yourself permission to say “no” to anything that adds more to your already full plate. Likewise, take a look at your current list of responsibilities to see if there is anything you can give up.

Make Time To Relax,

Your brain and your body need downtime. Relaxation relieves stress and can help improve your concentration when you return to your tasks. Schedule yourself time to recharge your battery, the energy you gain from relaxation will make you more productive later.

Building and growing a successful business requires a time commitment that cannot be compromised. But if you maintain your focus, stay organized, and give yourself a little downtime once in a while you will experience less stress and be better positioned to achieve your business goals.

What tips do you have to achieve better work life balance? Share them in the comments below!

RELATED ARTICLE: Five Ways To Make Working From Home Work

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Six Ways To Make More Money As A Freelancer

As a freelancer, cash flow is often a feast or famine situation, especially when you are first starting out. Employing strategies to level out those peaks and valleys is essential. Here are some lessons I have learned along the way and tips I’ve picked up from others to help you make more money as a freelancer.

Evaluate Your Hourly Rate

Are you charging enough for your time? Yeah, I’m talking to you. We women are hilarious. We are furious about pay inequality in the workplace, but as freelancers we are quite notorious for undervaluing our6 Ways To Make More Money As A Freelancer services. If you want to make more money as a freelancer, I have two words for you…stop it! You’re in charge, get paid for what your talent and experience are worth.

Your freelance hourly rate needs to be within the range of what others are doing in your industry and perhaps your locale, but remember that it is uniquely yours. Do a little research on freelance rates. Also, take your experience and talent into account. Then set your rate and start earning what you deserve.

Make More Money As A Freelancer By Giving Yourself A Raise

Maybe you’re happy with your hourly rate. Great! But are you bumping it up on an annual basis?

Generally speaking, when you are working for someone else and you are doing a good job, if the company is in good financial standing, you’re probably going to get a merit increase on annual basis. Why aren’t you treating yourself the same way? Consider giving yourself at least a cost of living (2%) increase on an annual basis.

Limit Face-To-Face Meetings

This was one of the best pieces of advice I received from a friend who is freelance website developer. If communication on a project can be done on the phone or through email, do it that way.

When you are juggling multiple clients and projects you need to be efficient with your time. Face-to-face meetings are sometimes a necessity, but they can also be a time-suck.

Make More Money As A FreelancerEven if you are being paid to be there (and you should be), meetings can interrupt your momentum and decrease your productivity for the day. Less productivity means fewer billable hours and less folding money for you.

Advertise

20 years ago, advertising for a freelance business would have been a luxury that few could afford. Social media has changed that. With social ads, you can cast a wide net to reach potential clients worldwide or hyper-target your message to a specific locale or industry. And, you can invest less money in the effort than you spent for that fajita bowl you had for lunch.

Diversify Your Services

Not everyone who needs your help can afford to hire you. But maybe there’s something you can offer to that audience that will be a win-win for you and them. If you want to make more money as a freelancer, you should give it some thought.

For a freelance website designer that might mean you offer some templates at a low price point. For a freelance writer or marketing consultant, you might offer an affordable webinar with blogging or social media tips.

One of my clients, a freelance HR consultant, offers an employee handbook as a base level service. Because it is template-based, she is able to quickly and easily customize it for her clients at an affordable rate. They get something they need. She gets paid. Everyone is happy.

Stay In Touch

Many of my clients are “one and done,” meaning they contract me for a single project, and they may never need my services again. But even when there is no plan for a future project, I stay in touch.

Staying in touch keeps you top of mind and makes them more likely to call you when another project comes up or refer you business when they encounter someone who could use your help.

Don’t be a pest, just check in once in a while with a friendly email or a call. Consider it light networking.

Just last month, I reached out to a client that I worked with last year, asking if I would see him at an upcoming industry conference. As it turned out, he was not attending the conference, but he called a week later with a small project for me. Cha-ching!

Related: Change One Thing To Make Business Networking Pay Off

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Change One Thing To Make Business Networking Pay Off

Despite all of the ways we are able to connect with potential customers and vendors online, face-to-face business networking continues to be an important part of growing a small business. Problem is – few of us are born networkers.

I’m an extrovert. I have spent enough years in media, marketing and public relations to get pretty good at striking up conversations with strangers, but I know it doesn’t come easily for everyone.

Having worked at a chamber of commerce for several years, I have seen some awkward attempts at business networking. And I understand why. No one really ever trains you for business networking. You are just expected to show up to an event and know what you’re doing.

The Typical Business Networking ExperienceBusiness Networking

Let me paint the picture of a stereotypical business networking experience.

You walk into a room full of strangers and you do what you think you are supposed to do.  You pass out your business cards, deliver your elevator speech, move on to the next person or group of people and repeat the process.

My friend, you are guilty of drive-by networking.

What do I mean by that? Put yourself in the shoes of the person on the receiving end. Here’s how that might sound to them.

“Hi, I’m Michelle. I have no idea who you are or what you do, but let me tell you how great I am and why you should do business with me.”

I’ve seen it happen over and over again. It’s ineffective and honestly, annoying. Who wants to be on the receiving end of that?

The problem with this method of business networking is that it focuses too much on the quantity of contacts rather than the quality of contacts.  Sure, you may walk out of a networking event with a stack of business cards, but you were likely unsuccessful at making any true personal connections. Also, you possibly guaranteed that some of those folks are going to avoid you the next time you enter the room.

My First Business Networking Fail

Let me tell you about my first time trying to promote my business at a networking event. Boy, it fell flat.

I walked into a meeting of a local public relations group. It was my first event as a new member. I was still working for another company, but was looking forward to networking with this group to try to grow my freelance business.  I marched up to someone and introduced myself.

“I’m Michelle West, I work at company z and I also do freelance writing.”

The person on the receiving end of that looked at me, grimaced, and said, “Yeah, I do too,” and walked away.

I was horrified.  As a result, it took me a long time to get up the courage to just walk up to someone and introduce myself again.

Here’s what’s so strange about that scenario. I had been successfully networking for years while working jobs for other people. But things got weird when I tried to promote myself. It’s like the wheels came off my networking bus. I was nervous and awkward.

Also, I forgot the cardinal rule of business networking. It’s not about selling. It’s about building long-term business relationships. Good business relationships are just that—relationships.  They cannot be forced and they are rarely developed through a rapid-fire, drive-by networking style.

Change Your Business Networking Mindset

So, instead of promoting yourself, consider trying a different approach called Positive Networking®.

The term has been trademarked by Shepa Learning Company. The strategy turns the tables on the “promote your business” method of networking, and it yields better long-term results.Change One Thing To Make Business Networking Pay Off

As an added bonus, it takes the pressure of you to sell yourself and makes business networking a lot more enjoyable. Consequently, the more enjoyable it is, the more you will do it. The more you do it, the more your business will grow.

What is Positive Networking®?

It represents a shift in attitude.  Networking is no longer about you, it’s about the people that you meet.

So, instead of going into a networking situation with the goal of selling your business, you approach your new contacts with the intent of discovering what you may be able to do for them.

Ask questions. Get to know them. And think about how you might be able to help them grow their businesses.

Perhaps you can connect them with a resource or someone within your network that might be a potential customer or vendor for them.

You may be wondering how this is going to benefit me?

It’s simple.  People do business with people, not businesses.  And they are more likely to do business with someone they know and trust. If you approach networking from the standpoint of starting a relationship instead of closing a sale, you’ll begin developing that level of trust.

Also, it makes striking up a conversation at a business networking event so much easier. You no longer have the pressure of figuring out where in the conversation you should start reciting your elevator speech.  You are just getting to know a new friend.

Network Like You Know How

Business networking done right is not able generating sales leads. It’s about building a circle of friends for your business.

Also, the reality is, very few people that you meet at business networking events will ever become your customers. Their true value is in their potential to refer you business. And, they are more likely to do that if they feel they know you and trust you.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

So get yourself to a business networking event ASAP. Practice your new skill and start building a circle of friends for your business. Network like you know how. Because now you do!

 

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Why You Should Love What You Do

Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you – Oprah

Guess what. To do something well, you have to like it. In fact, it might even help if you LOVE it. If you are a business owner, service provider, or solo-prenuer, or maybe even just thinking about starting your own business, let me ask, do you love what you do?

It’s crucial that you enjoy, and yes – even LOVE, what you’re doing if you want your business to succeed. Doubt me? Entrepreneur.com reports that if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, in all likelihood that will be reflected in the success of your business–or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, chances are you won’t succeed.

I’ve been walking this road for a number of years and understand what it takes to build a business that has purpose, that is fulfilling, and yes, that pays the bills. We all want that don’t we? The opportunity to create a livelihood doing something that we love? The opportunity to work for ourselves?

If you are running (or preparing to run) a small business, there’s one thing you need to know straight out of the gate – you HAVE to be completely dedicated to your business, day and night, regardless of the circumstances. You have to be thinking about it, working at it, looking for opportunities, and be responsible for it, nonstop.

That’s why it’s important to make sure that you love what you’re doing, and to feel motivated to push through to the next level. Building – and sustaining – a small business takes a lot of work, and while it can provide a comfortable income, the responsibility of that business, the planning, the hoping, and the dreaming will be on your mind, if not all, then definitely most of the time. So, if your business is ultimately something that you are going to be focused on full time, shouldn’t it be exciting?

There is one question that you can ask yourself that will determine if your business is a good fit – would you do it for free?

Now let me say right now that there is no way any of you should work for free – EVER. The question really boils down to, do you love it so much that you often think, “I can’t believe I’m getting paid for this?” Are you so passionate about what it represents that you have honed your skills, for little or nothing? Have you practiced with purpose?

I love what I do. Period. And each and every client that I help reach their marketing objectives provides one of those, “I can’t believe I get paid to do this” moments. And each and every client I help learn how to market their own business provides the same rush when they “get it” and are on their way.

Mother Teresa said that, “Work without love is slavery.” You want your business to succeed, right? So, this week, before you do one more thing related to your business, take some time to determine if you really, truly, love what you do, and grow from there.

 

Payroll Outsourcing: Does It Make Sense For Your Business?

Hiring employees can help your business grow, but it also makes your job more complicated. Take payroll for example. It’s a headache that recurs before every payday. Payroll outsourcing may relieve some of that pain.

Processing payroll internally takes time and resources. Also, it’s easy to make mistakes. Statistics from the Internal Revenue Service show that approximately 40% of small businesses incur penalties for failure to comply with payroll requirements. Total fines paid by businesses are in the billions of dollars. That’s money that could be better spent.

Payroll outsourcing can keep you on the right side of compliance. And, it’s really not that expensive when you consider the time and worry it can save you.

How Payroll Outsourcing Works

In general, payroll companies take care of payroll administration for their clients. If you’ve been doing it yourself, you know it is a much bigger job than just issuing checks.Outsourcing payroll

A payroll company handles all of the details to get employees paid. This typically includes check processing, direct deposit, W-2 and 1099 processing. They may also help manage employee benefits and other HR functions. But, where a business may find the most value in outsourcing payroll is in tax administration services.

Tax administration is an important part of the payroll process that many small business owners find difficult to manage on their own.

There are monthly, quarterly and annual deadlines for payment and reporting. Keeping track of those while you are trying to run a business can be overwhelming.  Also, regulations change on a frequent basis. It all makes a great case for payroll outsourcing.

Payroll Outsourcing Pricing

Pricing varies depending on the size of your business and the services that you need. It’s common for services to charge a flat monthly fee plus a per employee fee. Entrepreneur.com reports that basic payroll service pricing ranges from $.80 to $2.00 per check plus a base fee. Many companies will provide a free quote customized to your business’ needs.

So, is payroll outsourcing a good solution for your business?

If you need to focus on other areas of your business, payroll outsourcing seems like an inexpensive option.

Very few people go into business for the fun of payroll administration. By outsourcing payroll to a trusted provider, you can get back the precious resource of time. That allows you to put your energy into the areas of your business that need your attention. It also grants you peace of mind that your payroll administration is being done right.

Related: Knowing When To Outsource

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