You
are ambitious, ready to take the world by storm with your skills…….
Read on as we tell you how to succeed and mint those millions, all with
an investment of $8 a month.
1. Call a “Freelancer” a freelancer
True
story, well “MY” story, back in those days when “Cindy Crawford” was the
rave. (Now don’t go guessing me to be your granny’s pal) I
happened to be a freelancer, good skills, clueless about business intricacies and that
was me. I told my clients I was
passionate about writing and guess what, some customers skipped paying
me, this is what they said to me “Why would you charge to do something you are passionate about”.
So here’s what you do, declare yourself as a “Freelancer” and not a “Free-worker”
Turn
to Zoho Invoice to:
send an estimate to your customer before you begin
work. Just to ensure that your customer has got the basics straight “He
ought to pay”
2. An advance payment is a joy forever
I’m
sure you’ve heard stories from delayed payments to “No” payments. To
save yourself from becoming the subject of such a story you have to demand an
advance payment. If a customer doesn’t pay you an advance he may never
pay. We are talking trust both ways, aren’t we?
The solution- demand an advance payment.
Turn
to Zoho Invoice to: Send out a
credit note for the advance payment.
This will make your customer happy for he would know you are legally
bound for the advance.
3. An expense invoiced is a profit earned
The calories you burnt off walking 3 blocks, that quick meal at the fancy
restaurant during your freelancing job, and every other expense on your assignment, bill your client for everything.
Turn to Zoho Invoice to: Record, track and bill for every
expense.
4. A customer in need is a customer indeed
Keeping
in touch with old customers or generally all customers will land you
more projects. When you are nearing completion in your present project
all you have to do is “Say Hello”. You never know when your customer
needs your service.
Turn
to Zoho Invoice to: Maintain an updated list of all your customers and
contacts in Zoho Invoice. Say Hello from right within your Zoho Invoice
account.
5. Marketing with invoices
Your
invoices add value to your business. Some interesting ways of making
your invoices powerful marketing material are to add a tag about
something on the offering soon, include information on any discounts
which you are offering or if you are a designer customize the invoice
template with one of your radical designs.
Turn to Zoho Invoice to: Create a great looking
invoice template.
6. Be professional yet personal
Your customer’s Inbox would have about 10 new unread mails at every point of
time, on an average, counting out the promotional mails and news
letters. Let’s say 4 out of those 10 mails are from vendors of your
customer including yourself. How do you stand out from the rest of
them? Simple. A simple personalized email as an invoice notification
mail can do wonders. Begin with a greeting and end on a amiable note.
Turn to Zoho Invoice to: Personalize your notification email templates
7. Thank when paid
Every payment calls for a thank you. We all love receiving a payment, don’t
we? A thank you mailer can again turn as your marketing material.
Promote your products or add in a discount information to your thank
you mail. You may walk away with another sale
Turn to Zoho Invoice to: Send out thank you mails to customers every time they pay you.
8. An invoice in the hand is worth two in the mail
Snail mail your invoices to your customer. Let’s accept the fact that there
are some customers who are stubborn with paying. A hard copy of an
invoice may do the trick. Include a payment stub and see that payment
coming your way in no time at all.
Turn to Zoho Invoice to: Snail mail your invoice through
zPost from Zoho Invoice.
9. A friend a day keeps you on your way
We are talking about the magical word to getting business as a freelancer,
Networking! Network in the morning, network in the noon time and
network when the sun goes down.
Turn to Zoho Invoice to: Meet fellow freelancers through our communication avenue, the Zoho Invoice forum. You can
Share your story on the forum with the community and get ideas or help on anything from invoicing to your business.
10. Stay focused
This is the key to any business, so it works for freelancers too.
Turn
to Zoho Invoice to: Save your time, money and all the tensed up moments
spent on invoicing, tracking and receiving payments. We have you
covered!
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