One thing I have a hard time with is getting my invoices to my clients. On one hand, sure I can keep a spreadsheet in Google Docs that I spent 2 hours at Starbucks working on a mini website for Joe the Plumber -- but how do I turn that two hours into $50?
So I've hooked up with Harvest; it does time tracking, expense reporting and invoicing. All in one. And the price, twelve bucks a month, is great. I don't need more than the Solo plan.
Although, if I can figure out how to get Ted (I met him on LinkedIn) to handle some of my design problems, I can use Ring Central to send some of the phone calls to him, and then use him like a subcontractor and pay him for design.
Yes, that would be good. Just gotta get my workflow right, and then start paying him when my clients pay me. That's a terrific idea!
Thursday
Friday
Business Cards
After I got that Virtual PBX, I figured I'd better get some business cards with my new number. So I signed up with VistaPrint and ordered them. They were cheap, which is good because this coffee is not. But drinking the coffee here gives me permission to suck on their wireless internet.
They should be here in a few days. In the mean time, I'm putting some posts up on Craigslist and building a little website to show some code samples and some client testimonials. I've set up a filter for callers; "Dial 1 to hear my services. Press 2 to leave a message. If your my mother, press 3." And I'm setting up a LLC. Everyone should have a LLC. You too.
They should be here in a few days. In the mean time, I'm putting some posts up on Craigslist and building a little website to show some code samples and some client testimonials. I've set up a filter for callers; "Dial 1 to hear my services. Press 2 to leave a message. If your my mother, press 3." And I'm setting up a LLC. Everyone should have a LLC. You too.
Thursday
A lead!
Someone got through on my Ring Central line! And they've offered me a contract; $500 for building a little mobile site for them. Fantastic! Probably about 20 hours of work, testing it on all those little devices. I hope I can find enough emulators; my budget won't stretch far enough for real handhelds. But I can look at it on my iPhone.
That's, uh, my car payment and the visa, and the natural gas bill! Wow, this virtual PBX thing just paid for itself.
I'm excited to get this done. I'll talk to you tomorrow!
That's, uh, my car payment and the visa, and the natural gas bill! Wow, this virtual PBX thing just paid for itself.
I'm excited to get this done. I'll talk to you tomorrow!
Wednesday
Virtual PBX
What's a virtual PBX? Yeah, I asked that too.
Basically, I signed up for a phone number that anyone can call. And I can forward it to my home phone, my iphone, mom's house, even when I go over to Carla's house for martinis. I could set up a little group of people and pretend I'm a bigger company. You know, press 1 to talk to Frisco. Press 2 to talk to Frisco's dog. That sort of thing. I tried skype but the echo and static was terrible. And I felt silly talking into my laptop.
Primarily, I'm using it to get faxes and to make sure people can always get ahold of me. I'm going to try doing some prescreening, "hi, I'm a php programmer with some ruby experience, no java, happy to take on whatever projects you want..." but really it's to keep me talking to people.
Because I needed faxing, I signed up for Ring Central. But you should make your own decision about mobile 800 numbers. It's cheap; I only need the $9.99/month plan.
No leads yet though. But maybe now that they can get hold of me, I'll start picking up some work. Wish me luck!
Basically, I signed up for a phone number that anyone can call. And I can forward it to my home phone, my iphone, mom's house, even when I go over to Carla's house for martinis. I could set up a little group of people and pretend I'm a bigger company. You know, press 1 to talk to Frisco. Press 2 to talk to Frisco's dog. That sort of thing. I tried skype but the echo and static was terrible. And I felt silly talking into my laptop.
Primarily, I'm using it to get faxes and to make sure people can always get ahold of me. I'm going to try doing some prescreening, "hi, I'm a php programmer with some ruby experience, no java, happy to take on whatever projects you want..." but really it's to keep me talking to people.
Because I needed faxing, I signed up for Ring Central. But you should make your own decision about mobile 800 numbers. It's cheap; I only need the $9.99/month plan.
No leads yet though. But maybe now that they can get hold of me, I'll start picking up some work. Wish me luck!
Tuesday
What happened?
So there I was, pounding away at this new PHP class designed to connect from our site to authorize.net. I had my headphones on, and was rocking out to some tough Rammstein. And then there was a tapping on my shoulder. "Jim wants to see you," Carla said when I took out one earbud. I didn't know that sad smile she was giving me was also my pink slip.
Not enough work, they said. Well, at least I have unemployment insurance. And a few dollars in savings.
That was last Monday. Tuesday I was at the unemployment line, looking for work. Wow, that was frustrating. I put my name out on Craigslist for some jobs, and hit up odesk and rentacoder. But the "real jobs" are kind of slim. I'm going to try this freelancing thing.
Not enough work, they said. Well, at least I have unemployment insurance. And a few dollars in savings.
That was last Monday. Tuesday I was at the unemployment line, looking for work. Wow, that was frustrating. I put my name out on Craigslist for some jobs, and hit up odesk and rentacoder. But the "real jobs" are kind of slim. I'm going to try this freelancing thing.
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