Newsletter #27 Why you need to be a secret systems nerd
Hi everyone
^^ After a wonky personalization attempt here last week I’ve gone back to the generic “everyone”. But by everyone, please know that I mean YOU!
If you haven’t seen the video about Zoom meetings that Laura Stack posted last week — get your Monday off to a hysterically good start and watch it now!
Warning: Contains possibly the only dildo ever seen on LinkedIn.
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Last week I spoke to a few other freelancers about what their systems and processes looked like behind the scenes.
Yep, I’m finally admitting that I’m a secret systems nerd.
The joy of running your own business is that there is no *right* way to do things when it comes to creating processes for running your projects smoothly.
You can opt to keep things lean with Google Workspace products and free apps (like me, because I’m a Scrooge unless it involves cheese or travel) – or you can go large and pay for software that helps you create slick, automated workflows.
It’s up to you!
Every successful freelancer I know has systems of some kind in place to help them standardise their client outreach and screening processes and run projects smoothly.
If you find yourself always creating things from scratch, you need to set aside some time and put a few standardized bits and pieces in place.
Trust me, future you will be thankful for this
At the very least, you need a folder where you can easily find templates for things like:
- Emails you send regularly for various client situations.
- Scripts and questionnaires to use for new client screening, sales calls, kickoff calls for new projects, customer interviews etc.
- Referral requests
- Testimonial requests
- Proposals
- Invoices
- Contracts for projects, retainers, and subcontractors
During my 1:1 coaching calls with a lot of freelancers, it’s clear that a lack of systems is getting in the way of them working faster and earning more.
If you don’t have a VA to help you, admin work can take up a ton of time every week. But it doesn’t need to be this way.
You can tackle this problem by writing down the exact steps you need to take for each of your most popular project types.
Many writers don’t do this — but it’s a freaking MASSIVE time-saver.
Seeing your workflow laid out in bullet points (or a flow chart, if you want to get fancy), makes it really simple for you to see which parts of your projects can be templated or automated.
And trust me, you’ll get more than a few AHA! moments when you can spot exactly how you can make life easier for yourself.
Productivity hack:
- Set aside 30 minutes this week and write down your start-to-finish process for the most popular service that you offer. Start from the moment a client contacts you about this project and end with the final thing you send at project completion. Simple bullet points in a Gdoc are fine.
- Create templates for everything in your bulleted list that you don’t have already. Base these templates on what you used for your last project to make things super speedy.
- If you keep your templates online, link directly to each one from your new Gdoc list. This way, when you close a new project you can pull up your workflow doc and click directly to each template when you need it, at every point of your project.
- Creating a workflow is also a super helpful method to ensure you don’t miss out any steps during your project (hint: like the bits where you ask your clients for referrals and testimonials so you can get more $$$ in!)
Here’s to a productive week 🙂
See you next Monday, Rachael
Memes Of The Week
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Curious to learn how to make LinkedIn work for you (not the other way around)?
This is the course I recommend without hesitation to freelance writers who want to get bigger and better clients, and gain more traction on LinkedIn — without burning out!
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