Nicola Balkind

Freelance Writer & Content Specialist

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Top 5 Most Popular Posts of 2015

By Nicola Balkind

2015

The end of 2015 is nigh!

Today I’m sharing my Top 5 most popular posts of 2015 – as voted for by you. You may not have known you were doing so, but as in any good capitalist economic enterprise, you voted with your clicks.

If you missed any of these, you’ve got some catching up to do. Here goes!

 

1. Freelance Finance

Freelancing & Finances
In November, I returned home from a holiday to find that my biggest client had terminated my contract without notice. I take my finances seriously and I always plan for the best but prepare for the worst.

With that in mind, I figured it was high time to share some of my tips on handling money as a freelancer.

 

2. How I Start

Getting Started
Working for yourself isn’t always easy, and often it takes a lot of willpower.

After writing about my sticking point – Getting Started – I followed up with another post on how I tackle the urge to procrastinate.

 

3. Making Time For Personal Projects

projects
Two winters ago, I wrote a book while working full time. This year, I started a podcast. Throughout my 5 years freelancing, I’ve kept up a personal blog and, to some extent, a YouTube channel too.

During that time I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how to make time for personal projects while freelancing full time. Here, I shared them.

 

4. How I Use Evernote (Updated)

evernote-logo
I struggled with the right way to use Evernote for years. After finding some really useful pointers, I restructured, tried again, and fell in love. Try them out for yourself!

 

5. How to Dramatically Reduce Email

email envelope
You guys really love these technical tips! How many emails do you get in a day? Want to divide that by 10? Check out these tips and techniques – I bet you can get them set up before 2016.
 
 
Finally I want to say a big THANK YOU all for reading and joining in the conversation here on nicolabalkind.com during 2015!

 

Your Turn

What was the most useful post for you on the website this year? What would you like to see more of next year?

Filed Under: Notebook Tagged With: content, content strategy, freelancing, social media

Skilling Up

By Nicola Balkind

Skilling Up

I’ve written a lot about my freelance journey and about a lot of my favourite resources for running a microbusiness. In addition to my mantra about working on my business as well as in my business, I have to keep on top of the latest trends and relevant skills. As freelancers, we have to work on our skills without a board member to send us to a seminar or call in a training squad. Here are my tips on skilling up.

There’s a lot of talk about digital natives – oh, we millennials and our innate skills and internet prowess. But the truth is that almost everything I know about working in digital content and marketing, and all of my related skills, are learned. I can navigate around faster than the average 40 year-old, sure, but no-one is born knowing how to craft an excellent call to action or photoshop an image.

Skilling up is important to me, and this year I’ve focused a lot on multimedia, particularly audio and image editing – but more about those below. Here are three resources that helped me to skill up this year.

 

Business Training & Mentoring

Last year, I won a place on the Flourish programme from the Cultural Enterprise Office here in Glasgow. The programme included 4 days of business training along with private sessions with a mentor.

The time and space it afforded me to refine my business model, think about customers and plan growth was so welcome, and the mentoring sessions were a lot like business therapy. Whenever things are slow or I’m struggling with a recurring problem, I have advice to remember and apply to the new situation. It has been invaluable.

 

DIY Practice-Based Learning

Being a digital autodidact is a great asset, particularly these days. There’s tons of great software, online and off, that’s easy to use when you put in the time to learn to use it.

This year I embarked on a new audio project with my friend Holly. Making our podcast, Bookish Blether, has given me a chance to work on my audio production skills, particularly the use of GarageBand for audio editing. Now I feel ready to move on to more professional software and am looking into more options to up our game even more.

I’ve also taken visual content more seriously, creating my own header images and video thumbnails. I have a reasonably good eye but have never been happy with my artistic skill. While my cobbled together header images aren’t necessarily works of art, they’re eye-catching, and trying harder and making that extra effort was necessary so as not to be left behind. It has also raised the bar for the standard of content I’m willing to publish.

The secret? I’ve been using the free online software at Canva.com – give it a shot yourself.

 

E-Courses with CreativeLive

Another audio-related course I’ve taken this year is Alex Blumberg’s Power Your Podcast With Storytelling with CreativeLive. It’s up to you to make time to work on these, and it has taken me a while to work my way through this one. However I found it’s a great way to gee yourself up when you’re feeling uninspired, and I learned a lot from this one.

CreativeLive is a great platform that brings in experts to teach 1–3 day workshops across creative disciplines including photography, video, design, business, and audio. You can log in and watch live online workshops free in real-time, or you can purchase the course materials and watch the training in your own time. Some of the courses are quite entry-level, while others are more advanced, so even if you’re just thinking of starting up there might be some workshops that are relevant to you.

They also have a fantastic blog, by the way.

 

Your Turn

How do you skill up in your business? How do you decide which skills you need or want to add to your personal toolkit?

Filed Under: Microbusiness Tagged With: freelancing, how to skill up, resources, skilling up, workshop

Freelance Finance

By Nicola Balkind

Freelancing & Finances

Let me tell you a story about freelancing and finances…

Last week I returned home from my holiday to find that one of my long-term contracts was being terminated without notice.

Usually, when setting up a new agreement, I specify one month notice from either party. However in this case I had signed the client’s standard contract. I hadn’t anticipated that it’d be terminated early – but when you are a contractor there’s always risk involved.

Fortunately, I’d already been offered a few pieces of work to get me through the end of the year, but I was also prepared in other ways.

Although it’s never fun to lose work, it’s important to plan for the best and be prepared for the worst. With that in mind, here’s my brief guide to freelance finance.

 

How to be financially prepared

1. Forecast your income

My contracts can run for anything from one week to a year, so I track my clients and number of contracted days as I go.

On my wall I have a calendar for the year. Under each month I list my client names alongside the number of days or fee for that month. At a glance I can see how many days are spoken for and how much I’m due to earn.

I also keep a spreadsheet with invoices due, sent, and paid where I can track my income, all of which keeps me right when it’s time to file taxes, too.

 

2. Know your essential costs and income

My basics are rent, bills, travel allowance and food. You may have others, like childcare or a car or a mortgage.

These basic costs amount to an average of £1000 per month. To account for tax and savings (see next point), I need to bring in at least £1400 per month to cover it. (I also work on the assumption that I can and aim to make a little more than that to cover things like clothing, cleaning supplies and maybe even some social engagements.)

Here’s a simple formula: work out your essential costs, divide by your day rate and you’ll have the minimum number of days’ work you need to live. Voilà!

 

3. Set money aside

I have a rule for getting paid: don’t even look at what’s come in before detracting the basics.

For me the basics are:

  • 20% for business savings (these cover taxes and National Insurance);
  • 10% for expenses (this will depend on your overhead);
  • 10-20% for personal savings (depending on how much is coming in).

After those are spoken for, anything over and above your basic costs can go towards the finer things in life.

 

4. Limit stress: have a float

Most sources suggest saving enough to cover your basic expenses for at least 3 months before going freelance.

I have a couple of personal savings accounts: one for fun stuff like holidays and treats, and another as a nest egg / rainy day fund which acts as my float. Having a float is vital for any unexpected expenses: loss of business, illness, a broken computer – you name it.

Let’s be real. When you freelance, you probably won’t have a reliable income. Payments will be late, contracts will break, or other life hazards might get in the way. Unless your business covers sick pay and leave, you’re probably not going to be earning while you’re sick or taking a break. Have a float, save, and plan for those instances and cover yourself for those things large and small.

Knowing you have a float can make setbacks (like the one I’ve just experienced) so much easier to deal with. It can still be a blow to the ego, but I know that financially, I’m fine and I have time to find a new opportunity.

 

5. Don’t kid yourself

Now a general point: have a good relationship with your money.

The worst thing you can do is to be dishonest with yourself about your finances. Even if you think you aren’t “good with money,” you need it to live. You must be good with money to freelance successfully.

 

6. Avoid the time = money trap

Time is money. It’s a cliché for a reason. When freelancing, time often does have a direct correlation with money – but please don’t let it control you. I see a lot of freelancers give up opportunities to work on their business, or just to relax, because they are too busy working in their business.

Know how much you want to make, how much time and effort it takes to make it, and how far you can reasonably stretch it. Save for rainy days and factor in holidays, research days, professional events and any other time-costs you encounter. You’ll be saner for it.

 

Your Turn

Did I miss anything? What are your best tips for dealing with freelance finances?

Do feel free to share them in a comment below, tweet me, or shoot me an email and we’ll chat.

 

I’m available!

As you may have guessed from the story above, I have some availability through 2016. Want to work with me? Get in touch!

Filed Under: Microbusiness Tagged With: finance, freelance, freelancing, how to organise money while freelancing

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Testimonials

Nicola and I worked together across several projects in the Yomgeo community management team. Nicola is great to work with, her attitude towards projects is always amazing and she is incredibly efficient, Her work is always of the highest quality, and I’ve learned a lot from working with her.
Catherine CarriganYomego
Nicola was an important member of the Edinburgh International Film Festival Marketing Department and was key in the communication delivery of the Festival. In such a dynamic and demanding environment, Nicola delivered great content and was dependable throughout, an invaluable asset to the Festival.
Ross PerthEdinburgh International Film Festival
Nicola’s contributions to our projects for Channel 4 were invaluable: her huge knowledge of social media developments and online trends, together with her editorial flair and excellent writing skills made her invaluable in roles that encompassed community management, social media marketing, content strategy and product development. Her dedication, creativity, forward-thinking and attention to detail made her a major factor in the success of these projects. It was a pleasure to work with her, and I hope to work with her again!
Laura GraceMint Digital
Nicola has worked with Purplefeather on various social media and copywriting campaigns. She is creative, reliable and professional and can be completely trusted with the voice of your brand – rare qualities indeed!
Andrea GardnerPurplefeather
Nicola has been my number one go-to for freelance community management and social media… She is incredibly efficient, she is clear with costs, time estimates and invoicing and completely reliable. She is a breath of fresh air in an industry which is plagued by self-promoting “social media gurus”: her range of skills and experience is broad and authentic. I really appreciate the way Nicola is uncomplicated to work with: she asks quick, straightforward questions about what’s required then sits down and gets the job done without fuss. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Nicola and would certainly work with her again.
Annie MacfarlaneTOMS Europe
Nicola was a pleasure to work with. She managed a number of our clients social media and content strategy with a brilliant flair to adapt her creative skills for each of their brands guidelines. She also provided social media training which was highly informative and engaging. Nicola is highly knowledgeable and is constantly in touch with the forefront of all social media developments. She provides all her work in a professional and timely manner. Nicola is comfortable presenting and talking to clients. I would have no hesitation in recommending Nicola. Great person to work with!
Lorraine WaddellSERPS Invaders
Nicola is an experienced creative copywriter, with a great ability to produce quality pieces quickly and at short-notice. She has a great knowledge of social platforms and ability to apply this knowledge. Nicola is an absolute pleasure to work with and brings her creativity and personality to everything she does.
Kaye SymingtonMint Digital & Stickygram
Nicola is crazy talented, knowledgeable and efficient when it comes to Social Media and Copywriting. I had the pleasure to work with Nicola on several online marketing projects over the course of almost two years. Not only is she a fountain of knowledge regarding latest trends and best practices for both Social Media and online writing – she is also able to put abstract ideas into action. Any team looking to improve their online presence would be lucky to get their hands on Nicola.
Eva MartinSERPS Invaders
Nicola helped transform EIFF’s web vision at a time of change. She is assured and confident with her tactics in an ever-evolving industry and, more importantly, generates great content with results. Allied to Nicola’s strategic savvy, it’s a winning combination.
Colan MehaffeyEdinburgh International Film Festival
We’ve employed Nicola’s services several times at Yomego and every time she has been absolutely fantastic in both outputs and attitude. Supporting our community management team, Nicola has added invaluable expertise in creating customer focused strategies for our clients and helping to draft truly compelling content plans. I have absolutely no hesitations in recommending Nicola’s services for anyone that places important on ensuring outputs are consistently exemplary.
Sam Macleod

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