Starting A Freelance Business
By Jennifer Henczel
Know Your Industry
The next thing you need to do is get to know your industry thoroughly. Become familiar with all the top resources, tools, associations, organizations, and contacts affiliated with your field of expertise.
For example, if you want to become a trainer or instructor, you would first find others who are successful in that field and ask them what types of opportunities are available. Brainstorm with them to determine the possibilities. In this particular field, you could teach workshops through the continuing education department of a public university. You could teach through private colleges, or through government funded organizations. Profitable options include training in a corporate environment, speaking at conferences, or presenting for business groups and associations.
Once becoming established as a trainer, instructor, speaker, or presenter, you quickly learn that these careers fall under the larger umbrella of the profession called: Adult Educator. As an Adult Educator, besides specializing in a field of study, you also need to have many unique teaching tools on hand. Having a variety of teaching methods makes learning more enjoyable for students and learners in your workshops. A website called Adult Educators www.adulteducators.com offers a wide range of teaching links and documents that will save you time and make your workshops more fun. It has training games, lesson plans, PowerPoint templates, speaking tips, research links, and so on. This is one small glimpse of what it's like to get really involve in a niche area.
Stay Disciplined
Being a Freelancer allows you to have freedom over your time and schedule. There are pros and cons to this aspect of freelancing. While you work hard for your clients, in the end you are working for yourself. While you have complete freedom, you must also have complete discipline. Discipline around every portion of your day. There is a time and place for everything.
Time - If managing your time is an issue, don't worry. There are many resources available on and offline to help you learn how to manage your time. It may take a few tries to find the time management method that works for you, but keep at it. Some enjoy online methods of schedule keeping such as Outlook Calendar, while other still enjoy carrying a hand written journal. And others, such as myself, enjoy a combination of both; a double entry system is the only way for me, lest I forget something.
Place - Start with making sure you have a dedicated place to work. A home office is best for work that requires focus. What ever type of workspace you have, make sure it's ergonomic. If your work involves a computer station, then make sure you have the right chair and keyboard for your body. If you are a freelance artist, make sure you have proper lighting and studio space to work creatively. Being comfortable in your space will help you to stay committed to the project you are working on.
Be prepared and have all the supplies you need within your work space. This will help you to avoid becoming distracted.
Avoid Distractions, Be Prepared
Be prepared and have all the supplies you need within your work space. This will help you to avoid becoming distracted. This is especially true if you work from home.
Oh, we've all done it:
We lean back in our office chair to find a fixture is coming loose and needs tightening. After looking through all the drawers in our home office, we leave the office to find one. Before we know it, we're tidying the garage (in the area around where we eventually found the screw driver), signing permission slips, helping with homework, putting a load of laundry on, and so on. By the time we make it back to our project, we've lost our focus and have to regain precious momentum.
Consider Your Health...
As a freelancer, you rely on only yourself and your talents to bring in income. Therefore, YOU are the business. Protecting yourself is a priority. You can protect your health in 3 ways:
1. eating healthy foods - do not give in to the convenience of fast food. Prepare a container of vegetable at the beginning of every week so they are always available to you, as needed, for a snack or as part of a meal.
2. Getting some exercise. Walk to the mailbox instead of stopping in your car on the way home. Some people like to walk their pet. Some people go the gym faithfully, some of us don't,...so find something that does fit into your schedule. My mother took up bike riding at the age of 57 - she loves it! Don't let anything stop you.
3. Get some kind of health and life insurance.
Remember, freelancing is all about you, and you have to take care of yourself, because...who else is going to do it?
About the Author: Jennifer Henczel is an International Trade Consultant and Business Trainer, known as the Import Export Coach. She offers business and professional development training services, as well as trade consulting to companies who want to enter new global markets. She also fulfills the roles of Writer, Webs.
Go to this page on my website for Additional Freelance Resources:
http://www.businesssmartstart.com/freelance_business105.htm
Source:
www.isnare.com 
