Lately, I’ve felt a little… pressed. Overwhelmed. There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day!
I have kids to schlep, a business to run, elderly parents to care for, a marriage to nourish, and a home to maintain. Every day I get up at 5am and runrunrun until 10:30pm or so, just to keep my head above water. There isn’t a lot of “me time” in there. I try, but the truth is, since my husband works nights, I feel like I’m “on call” all the time.
I decided to do something about it. On Sunday evenings, I take a tap dancing class. It has absolutely nothing to do with my family or work. It’s strictly focused on me having fun, without me having to be in charge. I’m having a blast.
It’s so hard to leave business where it belongs when you’re a business owner who works from home. Find something! Anything that is enjoyable and will force you to leave your responsibilities behind for just a little while. It’s so refreshing to your mind. I come back on Mondays raring to go!
There are various ways to gain and connect with clients. Ask 100 people and you’ll get 100 answers. Words like Marketing Plan, Strategy, Social Media are often used.
Here’s where I admit something pretty terrible. I don’t have a written marketing strategy. I have nothing to track. I simply haven’t gotten around to thinking/planning my marketing in a linear fashion. But what I’m doing works for me at the moment.
I have both project clients (one-offs I’ve done without ongoing support) as well as ongoing daily/weekly/monthly clients. The four main areas I connected with them are:
- Friends – Make sure you connect to your friends via the usual ways (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) If they know you’re in business, they’re likely to work with you if they need your services because they already know what kind of person you are. A word of caution, though. Keep your best practices in place. That means you still need a contract, you still need to stick to your rates, you still need to have due dates for your fees.
- oDesk – This is a site that connects contractors with companies. It works along the same lines as eLance with the contractor bidding for jobs. When you’re working with one of these clients, you use their Timekeeping interface. The client pays you through oDesk. As a contractor, there is no fee to list with them or bid on jobs, however, they do take a cut of your fee. I have definitely gotten ongoing clients through this platform. The bidding/culling process can be pretty tedious, though, as there are many Indian and Philipino contractors bidding at $1 an hour or less.
- Solvate – Solvate is another company that connects contractors with companies. They, however, are not a bidding site. It is free to contractors, but they don’t accept everybody. You agree to a particular hourly rate for each project, and they add a certain percentage to that, which they recoup from the client when they’re billed. Either clients can browse through the “talent” (contractors), or Solvate will take their project information and match it up to a contractor. The contractor and client hash out the details and the work, but Solvate stays involved. If you’re having trouble with a client, they’re happy to mediate. I’ve been with them from the beginning, and I really enjoy working with them. Contractors keep track of their own time and then enter it into the Solvate interface. The contractor invoices Solvate one a month. I have several regular clients through them.
- Hire My Mom – It may be a corny title, but it works. This is basically a directory/RFP system. The contractor pays an annual fee ($100 the last time I paid). They then receive all the new RFPs each day, and they can then respond directly to the potential client. I normally don’t like to pay for listings (too close to Work at Home Scam material) but this is a real site. They have quality clients who are serious. These are not people who are asking for the contractor to “speak English and don’t bid over $1 an hour.” I highly recommend their clientele, I was very impressed with the quality of clients. While I’m not currently on the list, I highly recommend them. They are worth the money.
The bad news? I haven’t been blogging here. The good news? It’s because I’m so darned busy. When I get a moment, I stare at this blank screen. This is a business website! But all I can think about is how my kids were running late this morning, the cat threw up, and my toilets are clogged. Again. Certainly not business worthy. But, it is life. And that’s going to happen whether I want it to or not – whether it’s business related or not. Considering that I run my business from home, it’s just me, and my work flows around all the other equally demanding responsibilities, it IS business blog worthy after all.
So, tell me… How do you manage your business/work related responsibilities when your life is tossing you clogged toilets, car breakdowns, and the last minute project due that your child didn’t tell you about until today?
