For any successful business, there will come a time when you think that you could do with an extra pair of hands.  It may be simply to help you keep the administration side of things in order or it could be to work directly alongside you, allowing you to effectively take on twice as many customers as before. If you’re currently in this position and are considering taking on a member or staff, [...]

Summary: If you work independently offering any kind of service, from freelance writing to financial consulting, you have to set your rates. How do you go about that? Here are a few things you should keep in mind when setting freelance rates or fees to avoid common mistakes. Setting freelance fees can be difficult for a lot of new independent professionals and consultants. Common mistakes are made, [...]

Summary: Maybe your business has grown, or maybe you just realize you could use some specialized help (such as in keeping the books). No matter the reason, you’ve decided that it’s time to hire some help. Should you hire an employee or an independent contractor? Let’s look at some pros and cons of each. When deciding whether to hire an employee or an independent contractor (such [...]

Just as clients can fire the contractors working for them, freelancers and independent consultants also sometimes have a need to fire one or more of their clients.

It’s not uncommon for individuals interested in freelancing to think about potential rate and fee structures in terms of their familiar forty-hour work week. Many miss the fact that there are two very distinct ways of viewing their time as a freelancer: working hours and billable hours.

There aren’t a lot of blogs that do a really good job of teaching the business side of freelancing (in my opinion). I try to offer a good amount of information about freelancing here in BizAmmo’s Freelance Jobs section, but here are a few of my favorite blogs for freelancers, where you can find additional information.

Not everyone has what it takes to be a successful freelancer. Several qualities that differentiate a freelance success from a freelance failure are simply character traits that are difficult to alter. Still other factors can be learned. Here are three keys to freelance success; all things that you can actively work to improve upon in your own freelance career: Planning – Just as business owners [...]