It’s a new year, finally, and, despite coming off a rocky year, there is room for hope and anticipation for the year ahead. This pandemic will pass and life will resume. It always does. Eventually.
Work will resume too. I know many of us (me included) took a beating last year, losing contracts, work, and facing grim prospects. But this too will change. All you need is patience and some preparation so you’re ready to grab opportunities as they appear. And they will appear. Trust me.
Here are 12 actions you can take to prepare for the new year:
Update Your Samples
The first thing clients want to see are samples of similar work. The quicker you can comply with these requests, the better. Review and curate your samples into categories. Format them for easy sharing. And look for samples you may have misplaced or forgotten and add those to the mix. For me, those missing samples are usually the more recent projects that I have not pulled yet or considered adding to my sample file. Look at everything and create a sample archive.
Update Your Website
Refresh your website. Update old content and add new clients to your client list. Consider reorganizing your content or switching out old samples with new ones. Now that you have updated your samples, this task should be easily handled.
Organize Your Files
Tackle your files. It’s easy to have multiple copies on various devices and redundancies in the cloud. I take January each year to review my files and reorganize those documents that are still on my desktop or sitting randomly in the cloud. It’s a good idea to review how your are organizing your files too. Is there a more logical way to organize your documents? Are they easy to find when you need a particular document? If not, brainstorm new ways to organize so you don’t waste time this year looking for what you need. A general rule is: If you need to use the general search function on your computer to find files, it is time to reorganize.
Organize Your Emails
Clean our your email boxes. It is too easy to let those emails pile up, but the truth is, you will never go back to them. If you do want to save some emails (say from clients about a specific project or emails with subscription details) sort them into dedicated files (or mailboxes) on your computer. I like to use a system similar to what I use for my regular files so I don’t have to think about where to look to find specific emails. The simpler your system is, the easier it will be to use. But don’t make it so simple you have to search through hundreds of emails to find the right one.
Organize Your Business
Get your business documents in shape. Make sure you have your business license, corporation documents, county licenses and permits, legal documents, invoices, receipts and other business papers organized where you can find them. You can do this digitally or physically. I use a hybrid method depending on how I receive the information. I include information about any subscriptions I have with their renewal date, hosting agreements, domain name information, and other business-related information.
Prepare to Track Financials
January is a great time to set up new documents and spreadsheets to track proposals, projects, invoices, submissions, payments and the like for the new year. I create a multi-page spreadsheet in Numbers to track my invoices, expenses and bids so my financial information is in a single file. When I first started freelancing (so many years ago), I used to use the shoebox method. I’d shove all my receipts into a box and sort it out at tax time. It was miserable. Now I track everything and keep my receipts stored digitally so they are easy to find come tax time. It’s best if you can use the same categories for your expenses as the deduction categories on your taxes.
Update Your Project Management Systems
Every year, I update my PM trackers. These are the spreadsheets and programs I use to track projects, proposals, submissions, publications and the like. I love seeing the open spreadsheet and filling it in as projects come my way. I use Todoist to track project elements and keep my To Do list organized and sorted. Notion is great for tracking documents assigned to a project and for planning. I also use Scrivener for planning and writing. For my financial and client tracking, I tend to use a spreadsheet in Numbers. Each year, I update everything to make room for new work. I archive the older files for reference. This helps when clients return for new work, so I can pull up that client’s file and access their brand, likes and dislikes, links to pertinent information, their client profile that I update with each project, as well as lessons learned from previous projects.
Create Your Mission Statement for the Year
This is a simple, but effective way to define your year. What kind of projects do you want to pursue? What are your aspirations? What is your focus in the coming year? Your mission is not the same as your goals. Those come later. Your mission statement is what you want your year to look like for your business and the shape your goals will take when you make them.
Set Hard Goals
Once you know your overarching aspiration, you can set hard goals. These are specific milestones you want to achieve and the specific tasks you need to take to get there. This is the strategic planning portion of your goals. For example, say you want to publish 12 articles this year. That would be your hard goal. Under that goal, you would list the steps you would need to take in order to do that. For example, research publications/blogs to approach, brainstorm articles ideas, write queries, pitch your idea, etc. The more specific you can be, the better. Being specific does three things for you: 1) it breaks down the process into manageable pieces, 2) it turns a potentially overwhelming process into an actionable To Do list, and 3) it gives you a clear path to success. Not to mention how great it feels to mark each step off your list. You can set up goals and step-by-step tasks in ToDoist or other similar task management apps. Or you can go old-school and create a simple To Do list digitally or in your planner.
Identify Potential Clients
Knowing who you want to work for is important. Having a target list helps you focus your energy on those clients/agents/editors/publishers who suit your talents. Define your area of expertise or services and match those to potential clients. Creating and curating your list can take time. Be patient. And be accurate. Make sure to check your information. Is the person’s name spelled correctly? Are they still at the company? In that position? Do you have the correct contact information? Do your homework. Even if you are planning to make most of your contacts through LinkedIn or other social media, do your research. There is nothing that kills a job quicker than making a simple mistake, like calling a woman “Sir” or vice versa.
Establish a Routine
This one is even more important this year. After months of isolating from the world and doing business in our PJs, it is vital to have a routine to follow. Establish good habits. They will help you achieve your goals. If you leave your business to chance or only focus on it when you feel like it, it will show. Set a strong work routine and systems to help you stay on track. I fear it’s going to take all of us a bit of effort to return to the world as we knew it, but it will happen at some point this year. Getting into a routine now will help you make that transition.
Get Into the Right Mindset
Lastly, get into the right mindset. This past year was tough. It was depressing and demoralizing on so many levels. But we have a brand new year now. We have hope for positive change. Embrace that hope and use it to anticipate a better year ahead. With your goals, systems and organized life, you will succeed.
These are the steps I take every year. This year, I am going a bit deeper and will be redesigning the Figments & Fables web site. The site will continue to have the same type of content as always, but with a refreshed look. Look for that soon.