Author Archives: Kristen Hicks

Reconsidering Time as a Freelancer

One of the primary reasons I made the decision to trade out working as an employee for taking on contract work as a freelancer was due to an increasing sense that too much of my time wasn’t really mine. I’ve quickly learned that effective time management is one of the first and most important traits you must learn in working as a freelancer.

When for most of the week I gave the same 8 hours to someone else’s business and about the same 8 hours to sleep (this is pretty non-negotiable for me, I’m not nearly the capable person I want to be if I’m working off less than 8 hours of sleep), the windows of time that were left over started to feel too limited.  This was especially true once factoring in the little energy that was left over at the end of the work day; not to mention the non-professional obligations that can sometimes feel like work, such as errands, cooking, cleaning and the like.

I made a realization at a certain point that the amount of hours spent working was less of an issue for me than the lack of flexibility in those hours. If I have a little more freedom to define when I work and where I work, that opens me up to being able to travel more to visit friends and makes me more likely to fit something like exercise and errands into the day before I reach the points of low energy that would often previously begin right at the end of the workday.

The trade off is that where I used to take it for granted that I would have a couple of hours to wind down and do something relaxing before falling asleep each night, I now find myself often doing some form of work until much later into the evening.  My life isn’t nearly as compartmentalized between work time and my time, as those distinctions have in and of themselves begun to blur.

I’ve found it useful to do some reading of how other people in similar positions have chosen to approach time management as a freelancer.  Here are a couple of resources I’ve found useful:

43 Folders: Who Moved My Brain

The Art of Non-Conformity: The Flip Side of Self-Employment and Freedom

A lot of this boils down to planning well and avoiding distractions, even some that we can tend to think of as productive, like checking e-mail.

It’s also important to get a sense of the times of day you work the best and your personal rhythms so you use the time you’re working most effectively. I’m still figuring this part out to a certain degree.

Finally, it’s important that you budget time for yourself and activities that aren’t work.  Make sure you’re not letting your social life or preferred relaxation/entertainment choices slip away into work time.

My Marketing Philosophy

Growing up in an age where advertisements are abundant and unavoidable in many mediums, over time I developed a discerning eye for the types of marketing messages and styles that are most effective. The Austin Copywriter marketing philosophy embraces a few simple but Austin Copywriter Marketing Philosophyimportant marketing tenets:

  • Accuracy is crucial – Sell what you have.  If what you’re selling isn’t something people want, it’s better to improve your product or services than to create unrealistic expectations in your marketing.  If people expect something awesome and get something mediocre or worse, you’ll destroy your brand.
  • Keep it simple – It can be tempting to embrace industry buzz words or impressive sounding copy that doesn’t actually say much, but you risk diluting your message and frustrating potential customers who don’t understand what you’re saying.
  • Listen to your current customers – The best way to know what will impress future customers is by paying attention to the feedback of those you already have.  Few things are more valuable to a small business than those customers that already love you.  Make sure you keep them happy and you can use their genuine praise to convince others.
  • Don’t bombard people – Have you ever signed up for an e-mail newsletter and regretted it almost immediately because of how much it filled up your inbox?  Everybody in every industry gets a lot of mail and e-mail about products that companies think they should be interested in, not to mention daily exposure to television advertisements, billboards, and the list goes on. One of the best ways to lose the goodwill of your potential customers is to be part of this problem. While it’s important to remind people of your business from time to time to stay front of mind,  make sure to keep from contacting your list too often and ensure everything you send is interesting or essential, or you’ll risk being seen as spam and losing their attention altogether.
  • Know your audience – If you’re wasting time and resources marketing to people or companies unlikely to ever be interested in your products or services, this will show in your results.  Make an effort to know what kind of people and businesses value what you’re selling and do your best to ensure that your message gets in front of them.