resources Archives -

06/28/2023

Time Saving Tools for Freelancers

time saving tools. Picture of someone working on a computer

When it comes to running your own business, you probably find yourself wearing many hats. If you work solo, it may also feel overwhelming to handle all the tasks needed to run a business. We are always trying to save time and money. So here are my favorite time saving tools for freelancers!

If you have not already read it, I highly recommend checking out Carrie’s article on Time Management Strategies for Virtual Assistants. She discusses some great techniques and practices in that article. It is a wonderful place to start.

What else can you add to your toolbox though? There are so many tools, websites, and apps out there! In my line of work, I have a few favorites I have come across and would love to share with you, along with some additional suggestions for using your time wisely that you may not have thought of.

Time is Money

When you are an independent contractor, business owner, or in a sales position, you know time, is in fact, money. Time is also one of the things we all have in common. We each have the same 24 hours in a day.

So how do you maximize that time? Does it ever feel like you are getting less done than the person next to you? Or do you wonder how someone gets everything done they do in a day? I definitely have had this feeling! What you may not realize, is that person probably has help (aka is outsourcing), and they are working smarter, not harder!

Outsource what you can

Start by making a list of what your tasks are. Include both your professional and personal obligations in this list, because all of these things take time out of your day. When you look at that list, are there some things that make more sense to outsource to someone else?

If you are just starting a business, you may be thinking “I cannot afford to outsource”. On the surface level, this may be true, but remember—time is money! In the few hours it would take you to clean your house for example, would you be able to make more money than it costs to hire someone to clean for you? If so, outsourcing your house cleaning is more profitable than doing it yourself. (Best money spent in my opinion!)

Are there items listed in your professional category that someone else could do faster than you? Or are there tasks someone could do for you, while you spend that precious time making more money? Then hire a freelancer or a virtual assistant for those items!

When considering this option, think about the things only you can do, what you do best, and what is the most profitable. Then, look for help for the rest.

Use pre-made templates

As a Type A person who tends to be particular, I had a hard time letting other people do things for me at first. Then I remind myself of what we talked about above. I also came to realize the plethora of resources that were already out there for me!

Chances are when you are working in your own business, you will need certain documents, such as contracts, proposals, spreadsheets, trackers, etc. You could spend time creating these, or you could use templates that are already created for you.

If you are a virtual assistant or freelancer, we have assets for you! Our assets include an independent contractor agreement that you can download and use over and over. A simple Google search had me looking at eForms, which also looks like potential option, but another Google search shows me that it’s not actually free. So be careful where you find your forms, though you shouldn’t have trouble finding something. If our resources do not match what you need or are looking for, send us a request!

Let technology be your friend

So far we have covered some time-saving tips, outsourcing, and using templates that are already created for you. Now let’s talk tech! Depending on your age and expertise, using websites and apps for your business may either be second nature or intimidating. Once I jumped on the technology bandwagon, I was hooked.

Using tools and apps can help you be more organized and efficient. There is a plethora of websites, services, and apps out there, and what will be most helpful for you may vary based on your business. (Mine is focused on design, branding, and social networking.) I am going to share my Top 3 picks that have helped me stay more organized, efficient, and focused.

1. INVOICING

When I started freelance design, I created my own invoices and emailed them to customers. I kept track of what had been invoiced, sent, and paid on a spreadsheet. This involved more work (and time) on my end, and I do not know why it took me so long to go digital.

Some of the most popular invoicing services are incorporated into websites you may already be using for your business, such as Quickbooks, Paypal, and Square. These services allow you to easily create, send, and track invoices.

One of my favorite features of Square, for example, is the ability to schedule reminders if the invoice is not paid. I can set it, and forget it! I also love that you can add your own logo, messages, discounts, or fees to invoices. Another feature I love is the ability to request a shipping address, which is great for my online jewelry business!

2. CREATING GRAPHICS

As a designer, I have a love-hate relationship with Canva. I love it because it makes creating digital and print graphics easy and accessible for the general public. I hate it because I am sure it has taken away some of my freelance design business—that is how easy it is to use!

Canva offers pre-made templates that you can edit and download. There is a free version and a paid version, depending on your needs. The paid version, or Pro as Canva calls it, offers premium content and extra design tools, such as erasing the backgrounds, creating Brand Kits, access to stock photos, videos, and more.

If you have multiple people working on a project, you may also want to check out their Canva for Teams option.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULING

In my line of work, a large part of my business is online, specifically on social media. Not only am I planning and creating content for myself, but I also need to share it with others. All of this became so much easier and more efficient when I discovered Cinchshare!

When I started my social networking business, I was creating content on a whim. Having a resource such as Cinchshare helps me plan ahead. By focusing about an hour of my time, one day a week, I can sit down and schedule my social media content for the whole week, or more. It helps me focus, plan, and get it all done efficiently, allowing me to spend less time on social media and more time on other priorities.

Cinchshare is also wonderful if you have a team, especially in the social networking/direct selling industries. You can set up entire online events, including photos and content, and share with others! If you want to try it before you buy it, there is even a 14-day trial.

Which app or service are you most excited to learn more about? I encourage you to always be open to learning new things. While it can feel intimidating at first, learning about the services and technologies out there can save you time in the end!

06/15/202306/25/2023

Tips to Get Support in an Atypical Job

You may be wondering what an atypical job is. For the sake of this article, I define an atypical job as anything outside of the traditional 9 to 5 or hourly-based positions. More specifically, my focus is on roles where there is not a guaranteed income.

Some examples of this include freelance work, virtual assistants, online coaches, and social networking. As the remote workforce continues to grow, it is important to discuss this pain point that many of us have faced in the gig economy.

I will give you a little inside view into my personal experience with feeling a lack of support. Then I can walk you through the steps I took, and give you tips to get support in an atypical job.

Feeling unsupported

To give you a little background, I have held atypical positions for the last 5 years. I have been a 1099 employee, a freelancer, and am in a social networking business. A negative of this is that payment is not guaranteed. You have to make sales. You have to find freelance work. And you have to build relationships, all of which take work!

The benefit of all of these positions is that they give me flexibility in my schedule, and I am able to work from home. However, in setting my own hours, I was often working at odd hours at first. If my husband and I did not have plans, I would sneak away for an hour or two to work at night or on weekends.

As this continued, I noticed eye rolls when I mentioned going to get work done. If I had an event scheduled, I could sense his frustration. I blew it off for a bit, but as it continued I started to feel resentment and frustration too. Here I was working to bring income to our family, and felt completely unsupported or appreciated!

Playing the long game

We sat down and had a big heart-to-heart. Through that conversation, I realized there were two factors that my dear husband did not quite understand—time and money.

My husband has always worked from 9 to 5, or rather 7:30 to 4:30 in his case. Coming from a traditional work schedule, working nights and weekends was foreign to him. He felt as if I was choosing work over spending time with him, not fully understanding that I was working at peak hours when my clients were available.

When it came to the money aspect, my husband did not understand working without getting paid. He has always worked hourly or salaried positions with set pay. In his head, when you went to work, you would get paid for it. Based on his personal background and experience, he could not comprehend sitting down to work for free. As many of us know, that is not always the case, especially when it comes to sales positions, be it real estate or having an online jewelry boutique. Work is put in to build relationships. Time is spent networking, gaining customers, and getting exposure (whether it is online or in person) before the paychecks come in!

His frustrations were valid in some ways. He had no insight into the type of work I was doing. I had to explain to him my side of things, the process of building a business, and why I was doing what I was doing.

Tips to Get Support in an Atypical Job

As I was venting to one of my mentors one day about the situation, she asked if we had sat down and talked about it all. Of course, we had! To help, she shared a few tips she learned along the way too that helped her gain support and respect from her loved one. This list is a compilation of things both of us found helpful in our paths.

Communication – I will start with an oldie but a goodie! Communicate, communicate, communicate. In my experience, I had to get to the bottom of what was really bothering my husband about my type of work. That came out through honest and open communication, and asking questions.
Set Office Hours – Part of what we discovered in sitting down together and talking, was that the unpredictability of my hours was frustrating us both. This tip came from my mentor—set up consistent office hours and availability. In my role, this involved scheduling events too. By setting up a few consistent nights I was available for events, we also knew which dates were available for us to do things as a couple or family. This applies if you have children too. If they know it is mommy’s office hours, maybe, just maybe, there will be fewer interruptions from them. Having consistency in place can help you all manage expectations of each other!
Use scheduling tools – As a social networker, I was hopping online a lot at night and on weekends. After learning this bugged my husband, I searched for more options to work during traditional work hours while still being present online when I wanted to be. And I discovered there are a lot of great tools out there! Utilizing these tools allows me to schedule things ahead of time and be present when the whole family is home. My favorites to use for scheduling social media posts or pre-recording live presentations without being live (yes that is a thing) are Cinchshare and Streamyard. The great thing about Streamyard is that you can stream in multiple places at once too!
Create common goals – This tip seems super simple, but I realized my husband and I had not sat down to discuss WHY I was doing what I was doing. What were our goals, both financially and for our desired lifestyle? By sitting down and discussing these together, he became a part of the plan! He got a say in what our goals were and we could discuss the time required to reach them.
Share progress – Whether it is with your partner or your children, get them involved. How much money did you make this week? How close are you to your goal? Print out a tracker and have your kids help you fill it in. (Create your own or check out Carrie’s Goal Tracker!) I found that sharing my progress as I worked towards these shared goals was extremely helpful! Previously my husband had seen me putting time in but never heard about the results. By seeing progress, even if it was one foot at a time ahead, he had better insight into the process. Plus, by sharing progress they are more apt to encourage you to hit that goal!
Celebrate achievements together – Add to the fun by celebrating achievements together as a family! Did you hit your monthly sales goal? Celebrate with a special family dinner or movie night. Did you earn that incentive? Gift it to your little helper. You can even set a family reward in place when you hit a big milestone. Do something that fits your family, and make it fun!

Which of these tips resonates with you the most? We all have different lifestyles, goals, and family dynamics. Your husband or partner may be super supportive, but you may feel a lack of support from other loved ones. Hopefully these tips will help you come together to set common goals and get the support you need to achieve them!

05/12/2022

Free QR codes

I got a QR code for my VA business! So yep, I had to research it.

Back up; I got a QR code a couple of years ago for my direct sales business. I never used it, but I went ahead with the same QR code generator.

I’m going to tell you about the one I used, while also checking out some options. But first I’m going to tell you about static vs dynamic.

I hope I’m happy with my choice! I haven’t paid for anything yet, but I plan on it because I already made a code and added it to an ad that will go in my daughter’s dance recital yearbook. So I kinda walked myself into a corner, and again, I hope I’m happy with my choice! 🤷‍♀️😂

QR code – static vs dynamic

Static codes can’t be changed once they’ve been made and printed. On the other hand, a dynamic code can be changed. But why does it matter?

Say you make a code for your business but then you change the website, so you have a new URL. Or maybe you have a direct sales business but you change to a different direct sales company. I mean, face it, some people want your product, but some people want YOU. By changing the URL, your loyal followers can easily follow you to your new business.

I feel like a dynamic code is important so nothing happens to my code! But why would it? I have a website and I don’t plan on changing it. 🤷‍♀️

Do free static QR codes expire?

Based on my research, static codes do not expire. They only go bad if the URL changes or something physically changes the pattern. I should be fine with a simple, free, static QR code.

Why a dynamic QR code might be better

I already mentioned that you can change the URL that the dynamic code points to. This of dynamic as alive. The code itself doesn’t change, but the destination can.

Another reason you might be interested in the dynamic code is because of the tracking that comes along with it. You can see the total scans and the country and city location of the scans.

Tracking will also allow you to test out code designs. You can see which one performs better. Since you can change the color, framing, and add text and arrows, you might have a code that performs better than others.

Last thought about static vs dynamic codes. If you’re going to print it, for example, on a business card or a print ad, a dynamic code is your safe bet.

Free QR codes from QR Code Generator

I got mine from QR Code Generator. You can do a 14-day free trial. When you click on the plans, scroll all the way down and click on the dropdown “do you offer individual plans?” In the fine print, you can activate their free plan and you’ll get a free dynamic code! Yay!

This will work for most people. The free plan also includes 5 static codes. So if you add another business to your lineup, you can quickly make a new code for free. Remember to follow through with the activation so your code doesn’t expire at the end of your trial!

The paid options start at $9.99/month but I really think the free plan will work for me for now. Though I may add the next tier at $15.99/month at some point so I can offer dynamic QR codes with tracking to my clients.

Free QR codes from QR Code Monkey

QR Code Monkey is another free QR code generator. Oh, this is interesting!

First, I entered my direct sales website address. It said it wasn’t a valid URL. Yikes! I finally typed it into a browser and then copied the URL as it appeared – you know how they re-formulate into something a little different? That one worked.

What is really cool is that I was able to make a gradient color image! Check this out:

Then I clicked to sign up so I can keep this cool-looking code and it said I already have an account. What?? It appears to be the same as the QR Code Generator that I just signed up for this morning!

Sadly, I can’t figure out how to save it. But I did download it so I suppose that I can keep using it. It’ll be interesting to see if this code lasts forever like it says that it will! 🤞

Tip, if you want a gradient code like the one above, follow the link to the QR Code Monkey, make it, and download it. Done. You can’t change it, but you can use it as a free static code.

Free QR codes from The QR Code Generator

I found another free QR code generator, The QR Code Generator. This one appears to be different. You can create a one-time code without ever signing up. If you want a dynamic code, you have to sign up.

I’m constantly signing up for things, so I just want to reiterate that you don’t have to sign up! You can download and keep using the free static code. I would just check it periodically to make sure it’s still working.

Summary

After my research, writing this, and several times re-reading it, my first choice, QR Code Generator, is the one to go with. I say this because you can activate their free plan and have 1 dynamic code as well as 5 static codes. All for free! Just remember to follow through with the activation so your code doesn’t expire at the end of your trial!

Here’s the ad I made for my daughter’s dance yearbook.

I used Canva to make it. I’m kind of chuckling because I really enjoyed making it. 😂 This is what I call “work”.

I spent an hour this morning making this ad, which my business paid for, btw😉.

I decided I should add a QR code, so that’s how this whole post came about. Then while communicating with the owner of the dance studio, she mentioned that she may be contacting me for my services! I call that a good day!

If you’re interested in what I do, you could do it too! Check out this free course I made. It’s delivered for 5 days via email and walks you through the steps of starting your own virtual assistant business. 👍

04/21/202204/21/2022

WhatsApp Business messaging app small business review

I do content creation for a client and one of the topics I worked on recently was WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business. I learned a lot of interesting things about the app and played around with it for quite some time. So I thought I would write up my own review.

While I was working on the articles, I kept thinking about how I could use this for my virtual assistant business or a direct sales business. Other small businesses kept coming to mind with how they could use it.

What is WhatsApp?

First of all, what is WhatsApp? It’s an instant messaging app. And it’s FREE. Worldwide, it’s actually more popular than any other messaging app. Yep, more than twice as popular as Facebook Messenger. Pow!

WhatsApp vs WhatsApp Business

Standard WhatsApp is the personal account you might have, whereas WhatsApp Business has features that would help small businesses have better communications with their customers.

When I first started playing around with WhatsApp, I simply installed the regular WhatsApp app. I used my phone number. As it turns out, I was able to receive a message from someone in another country (another work thing). I gave them my phone number and received their text via WhatsApp. So just in that instance, I totally can see why, worldwide, it’s the most popular instant messaging app.

Then while I was working on this latest project, I installed WhatsApp Business. It has a whole slew of features that are awesome for a business.

WhatsApp Business with one or two phone numbers

It’s important to note that you can use WhatsApp Business with your personal phone number. But you can only have one WhatsApp account. So if you want to have a separate account for personal use, you would need to use a different phone number for WhatsApp Business.

As I mentioned, I used my personal phone number for the WhatsApp account. When I installed WhatsApp Business, I decided to get a free Google Voice number and use that for the business account. It’s so cool!

Using my phone number and the Google Voice number, I had two separate WhatsApp accounts. Then I decided to un-link the Google number and merge my WhatsApp accounts. When you do this, you essentially lose some stuff, unless you back it up. So I recommend thinking that through before you spend time setting things up on WhatsApp Business.

WhatsApp Business features

There are a lot of features. I am only focusing on the features that I think would be especially beneficial to a small business. Here goes!

Catalog – that’s right, you can add a catalog of your products or services. They allow you to add up to 500 items.
Greeting message – this is an automatic message that you can set up to send to new customers who weren’t already on your contact list.
Away message – this is an auto-reply you can set up for times when you’re not available, such as vacation, or illness. But you can use this anytime. If you’re a solopreneur, you probably spend a lot of your time creating your product or providing your service. You can’t always respond immediately, but you can have automatic responses set up so that people always receive a prompt response from you.
Quick replies – these are messages you create that help you quickly respond to an FAQ. If people always ask the same question, you can save yourself a lot of time, and reduce errors, by setting up quick replies.
Labels – labels allow you to organize your customers and messages. Adding labels to customer messages also allows you to send targeted promos to specific customers.
Status – much like a status update on social media, when you update your status, all of your contacts will see that. This could be a powerful tool for someone who provides a service. For example, a personal trainer, massage therapist, or beautician; say you have a cancellation. You can update your status so that you might fill that time slot on short notice.
Starred messages – you can “star” any message that you want. Then you can filter to look at the starred messages. This could be used as a to-do list of sorts.
New broadcast – you can send a broadcast to anyone in your contact list that has your number also in their contact list. This is another awesome sales tool for contacting a large group.
Convenient – you can log into WhatsApp from up to 4 different devices. So you can work from your desktop, phone, or tablet.
WhatsApp API – as your business grows, they have resources that some larger businesses need.

WhatsApp Business is like a mini CRM. You can organize your clients and messages in a variety of different ways. Labels can help push customers through a sales funnel. I think it’s an incredibly useful messaging app.

Tell me, are you already using WhatsApp Business? You can download WhatsApp here. But before you go, have you looked at my templates?

05/20/2021

Most important resources for a new virtual assistant

Free resources for a new virtual assistant

Are you a new virtual assistant? Maybe you’re a virtual assistant wannabee? Good! You’re in the right place! I’ve been a virtual assistant for close to 6 years! I’ve tried many-a-tools over the years and I’m going to share my list of most important resources for a new virtual assistant!

Thankfully, there are sooooo many apps out there that are free! I have chosen to pay for a few along the way, but you don’t need to do that getting started.

How do you even begin to figure out what you need?

You’re going to figure out what you need as you go. You’ll start to work on something, you’ll Google it, and you’ll find new potential resources. Maybe that’s even how you found this article!

You’ll figure out what you need, literally based on your needs! If you’re trying to design an image for a Facebook post, you’ll Google something like this: best free image creation apps.

What’s first on the list? Canva. YESSSSSS!!!! I 100% agree! If you haven’t tried Canva, you have to! I used the free version for years. I enjoy the perks of using the paid version, but I promise you’ll be happy with the free version of Canva!

Most important resources for a new virtual assistant

Canva aside, my two favorite resources are Trello and Clockify. Let me tell you about them…

Trello

Trello is an amazing free app that you can use to keep track of your projects and your clients. I have this app open all day long and skip around to whatever I’m working on.

It’s broken down into Boards, Lists, and Cards.

A Board would be your client. Inside each board, you have lists. My lists are titled Credentials, Daily to-do, Ongoing tasks, Brainstorming, etc. Then for each list, you can add multiple cards to fill out the list. Within a card, you can add links to anything with a URL, you can add attachments, and you can chat with people who you’ve added to the board.

Trello also has a mobile app (I’m on android but I’m sure iPhones have it as well). It’s very handy to be able to look things up on the go!

Clockify

A way to track your hours is a must! I used a time clock app on my phone for the first 5+ years of my business!

A couple of years ago, a client suggested I start using Clockify. I looked at it, but I was so used to my time clock app that I couldn’t get into it.

I kept on using the app on my phone until just recently. I was having an issue with the app and my go-to solution when I have a problem with my phone is to uninstall the app and reinstall it.

I don’t recommend doing that!!🤦‍♀️

When I went to re-install it, the app was gone!! I understand that’s probably why I was having an issue, but, I was still quite disappointed that I lost my favorite app!

I tried several other time tracking apps that day, all on my phone. None of them were worthy!

Queue the solution! Clockify!

What I love about Clockify

What I love about Clockify is that it’s a Chrome extension. So I don’t even have to log into the site to start using it! But don’t worry, if you don’t like extensions, you can use the website.

I spend a lot of time on business activities that aren’t billable. Sometimes at the end of the day, I feel like I haven’t gotten anything done. That can be a very crushing, defeating feeling.

But I have this handy timeclock that I can click on and keep track of EVERYTHING! I set myself up as a client and I now know where my time goes. It might not be billable time, but I’m still being productive and it’s important to see that!

I hope you discovered something new and useful! Let me know what you think! Do you have a free resource that you swear by? I’d love to hear about it!

12/22/202012/31/2020

Branding

The branding you choose for your business is the distinctive design that you use across all marketing channels. It’s how people recognize you!

In this article, I’m going to show you some resources to help you create your brand from scratch, or to rebrand.

Why create a brand

You choose a brand because you want to be consistent. Brand recognition is when people recognize the product or service because of the brand.

If you’re just getting started, you might not have any idea what you want for branding. Don’t let this hold you back from moving forward in your business!

Rebranding

We’re approaching the new year, so I’m looking at re-branding my business. My business isn’t just me anymore and I want to consider a fresh brand for my virtual assistant business.

Actually, I just recently worked on defining my brand for my side gig – a direct sales company. As I worked on it, I created a template which you can get here.

YVA Branding Template

In this template, I walk you through how to pick the vibe, name, colors you like, and potential icons. In this case, I was trying to choose a name for my direct sales team.

But you can totally apply this to any small business! I have a pretty good idea of what I like for my virtual assistant business (Your Virtual Associate, or YVA for short) but I will fill out the template and show you a couple of examples.

Branding Template Examples

First, you see the completed template for my direct sales team. I haven’t chosen a team name yet, so you’ll see in the logo ideas that the text still says “team name.”

Next, you’ll see my Branding Template filled in with my goals and ideas for Your Virtual Associate. As you will notice, I added an extra color dot. I couldn’t decide so I just added in another space and grabbed colors from the images I used.

When you purchase my Branding Template, you’ll receive instructions to walk you through the whole process!

Free Logo Design

Free Logo Design allows you to, fairly quickly, design a logo and download a low-resolution copy for free! I made a logo that I like and then I popped it into my template.

The logo I designed is in my template above, in the “biz logo ideas,” the first and last images. I downloaded the first one which I received by email. Then I edited it and promptly downloaded the new version without the text.

While we’re looking at the template I created, notice that the first image in the “images that inspire” section is the banner image on my website. I chose the other images searching in Canva for “work from home” and “home office”.

I think I chose the last image because of how clean it looks! Haha! Seriously, choose something that inspires you – either your current environment or the environment you aspire to!

Looka

Looka is another free logo creator. It’s not free to download though. But you can get a ton of digital materials starting at around $60.

I’ve enjoyed playing with this tool, but I just happen to be happier with what I created in Free Logo Design. Hey, it’s always nice to save a few $$$!

What do you think

What do you like for YVA? I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’m thinking Color group 2, B, and X. What do you think? When I decide on A vs B, I’ll probably go back and spend $39 to get the high-resolution copies. But in the meantime, I’m pretty happy with free!

Thanks for reading! If you haven’t joined my mailing list, please do! I send out weekly business tips geared towards small business owners!

And remember to grab the YVA Branding Template so you can hash out your own ideas!

11/02/201804/23/2020

Intro to Client Portal

Here's why freelancers should use client portal

I want to share a quick introduction to Client Portal. Have you heard of it? It’s a WordPress Plugin that was created by my client (there’s the first half of my disclosure;-)) Laura Elizabeth. You see, I’m a virtual assistant and Laura is my client!

So not only am I using it, but I’m working on the back side of it. I have quite a grasp of how it can be used by all different types of businesses. But since Laura created it for herself to use with her design clients, she has a very large design audience. What I want to focus on is how freelancers such as myself, can make use of Client Portal.

Top 3 reasons Freelancers should use Client Portal

Professionalism
Organization
Convenience

1 – Professionalism

Think to yourself – what does my business process look like to an outsider? That outsider being a new potential client. What do they see? Do you give them a contract? Are your invoices and documents neatly organized? Now think about what your competition is doing.

What if you present a portal as soon as you get off the phone with a potential client? Just a follow-up – “thank you for your time” message.

Hey, Potential Client ABC, I set you up in my system just in case we decide to work together. When you get inside my client portal, you’ll see our preliminary discussion, which you are free to add comments to if you feel I didn’t understand something exactly as you intended. You’ll see some grayed out sections which will become active if and when we start working together.

This shows Potential Client ABC that you are a professional, serious about your intentions to work with them, and organized!

2 – Organization

Client Portal will allow you to organize all of the documents that you use for your clients. I am a fan of both Dropbox and Google Docs. But I find I’m using Google Docs more and more. So what I’m doing is linking my doc right into the portal.

I can work on the doc from my Google Suite. But anytime the client wants to look at it, all they need to do is log in to their Client Portal.

I also have a link to their invoices. I’m still using PayPal to create my invoices, just like I always have. But I’m adding the URL to my client’s project.

So again, I look incredibly organized and professional. AND my client only has to go ONE PLACE to see everything that I’m working on for them – it’s so convenient!

3 – Convenience

I have a small handful of clients right now. If you’re a freelancer, you likely have a small handful of clients too, or maybe more. I have them all lined up in my Client Portal dashboard in WordPress. As I work on things for my clients throughout the day, I can easily switch to their project if I need to make any changes, like adding a module to keep track of a new project they just assigned to me.

But for the most part, I’m just working along like usual. The difference is that everything I’m working on is linked to their project. So any time they want to see what is current, all they have to do is log in to their secure project (password protected and private to each of them individually) and they can see the current version of basically everything we’re working on together!

I’m receiving fewer emails because my clients know they only have to look one place to find what they’re looking for. It’s convenient for them and I spend less time out of my day looking for something I sent them two weeks ago!

Do you want a Client Portal Discount?

Lucky for you – I have one! Follow this link to see more details about Client Portal and to purchase your copy today! If you follow my link, I will get a little kick-back for telling you about it, but it doesn’t change your price (and there’s the second half of my disclosure). If you’re gonna try it anyway, please help out a fellow freelancer and use my code!

When you get there, use discount code CARRIESdiscount to receive 10% off!

If you have any questions about Client Portal, you’re welcome to email me at carrie@yourvirtualassociate.com. Or you can send your questions straight to support@lauraelizabeth.co. Maybe I’ll still be answering your questions!