The Other Side of Freelancing: Keeping Track of Clients

Anyone who’s been a freelancer for more than a few weeks knows that there’s much more to the job than simply writing, photographing, designing, or whatever sort of �ing� you’ve got going on these days. The administrative side of the freelancing is big, and as I’ve discovered over the past few months, it only gets bigger when your business does.

In fact, I’d say that I am now focusing about 75 percent of my work time on administrative work. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not complaining. In fact, during the big end-of-the-year meeting Lorna and I had last week, one of my goals was to be doing just that: about three-fourths admin and one-fourth writing (and only the topics of my choosing, to boot). It’s not that I don’t like the writing. I do. It’s just that doing more administrative work is pretty much the result of having a bigger client roster and making better money. And that stuff is good.

Of all the administrative tasks I do, one of my least favorite is client tracking. It’s certainly not the most complicated thing that needs to be done, but for some reason, it always ends up at the bottom of my to-do list. I have theories as to why:

1. Lorna has her own clients, I have my own clients, and we have clients we share. I’m not always in communication with those Lorna has, so I sometimes have to be all nag-gy and irritating with her in order to keep everything straight.
2. We get new clients almost every day. Now, that might seem like a bit of an overstatement, but it’s not. Our VA spends virtually all of her time bidding on jobs for us. Since she’s been at it for a few months now (and the holiday season is finally over) we’re really starting to see responses to these bids. That means that there are new clients, new potential clients, existing clients, and old clients to juggle simultaneously.
3. The bidding sites are not always freelancer-friendly. Guru, for example, keeps all employer information confidential. This means that we have three or four clients who pop up under the name of None. Now, once we get to know these businesses, we get access to things like their company names, websites, and email addresses (though not always), but for the time being, we’re seriously juggling three Nones.

In order to keep all this information straight, it’s important to have a continually updated list of clients. We find it best to divide them into the four categories outlined above:

Old Clients – These are the people who have used your services in the past. They may not have made any requests in awhile, but it’s still a good idea to drop them a line (or company-branded notecard) every few months to let them know that you still exist. This is a good time to offer some sort of discount for repeat business, as well.

Existing Clients -These are the people you’re working for right now. Keeping them in an organized list is the only way to make sure you know what is due, when it is due, when to send an invoice, and how much money might be past due. With tax season looming, this is even more important, since Uncle Sam might want to know who they are, too.

Potential New Clients – These are the people who may be considering you versus another freelancer or who are otherwise perched on the fence. This list needs to stay current because a lack of follow through is often the primary reason why they look elsewhere for their business needs. Persistence pays.

New Clients – We keep new clients separate from existing clients because we are unsure of them at the moment. A new business relationship is risky for both sides, and we never know for sure if we want to stay working for a particular client for longer than the original project. Keeping them in their own category is a good way to make sure you’re comfortable before you count them as a “regular.”

This may seem a little excessive to freelancers who only have one or two clients right now, but I can’t stress enough the importance of getting into a habit of keeping good records. In the upcoming months, you may grow or you may not, but at least you’ll be prepared in case things suddenly start to explode.