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Balancing Your Time Between Clients and Yourself...

by Zabrina
20 replies
I love time management systems (I'm a bit of a geek, I know ), but this one is giving me trouble.

I started a Warrior for Hire thread for writing services a while back that's almost too successful. I'm getting a good number of loyal customers from here (thanks, WF!), which is great... but almost too many to handle at times!

In addition, I've found two systems to help me increase my passive income and joined several JVs (site flipping, writing, etc).

The first passive income system requires a little work, so it isn't actually entirely passive. The income potential from this is amazing though, when compared to the amount of work it takes. For each hour I devote to this, I may get (not guaranteed) $100/month, but it'll require another few hours here and there every month, and it probably won't pay off immediately. It's a lot less certain, but so easy that it's worth the effort.

The second system requires a full day at a time -- I could break it into chunks, but I tend to lose motivation and get distracted if it lasts longer than that. But after that full day, there's not much work I'll have to do, and I expect on average to earn $200/month, beginning about a month after that full day of work. Should be almost total autopilot -- a bit of advertising, possibly networking, no biggie. Some of those days invested will turn out to earn more, some less; I hope to have it average out at $200/month per day invested.

I can't afford to just take a week straight off and work on the second system, and my brain wouldn't be able to handle it anyway.

Obviously, I see the great potential in both of these opportunities... but I also love working with clients. I get to research cool, obscure niches... I get immediate, upfront money... I get to know that I helped rocket people into IM success... that feels very cool.

So how should I balance my time between clients and myself? :confused:

I'm thinking about either limiting the number of clients I take (maybe temporarily closing my WFH thread after the last six discounted spots are taken) so I can focus on these two newer, lower-effort opportunities or trying to work around clients.

Take one day off per week to work on the second system for myself, then fit some work on the first system around clients? Say smeg it and try to do the second system in chunks?

I'm at a bit of a crossroads, so any pearls of wisdom fellow Warriors may have would be super-helpful.
#balancing #clients #management #time
  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Zabrina - everyone who offers a service certainly hits this croassroads in their business (assuming they are successful...)

    Here are a few suggestions that may help you to make more with less time

    1. Can you systemetize your client work...two ways to do this...a) raise your prices on the work (in effect offering a PREMIUM service) which will allow you to look at outsourcing some of the work so you become the operator of your writing franchise instead of doing it all yourself or b) Help teach others to do what you do...so you end up running a train-the-trainer program that you sell as a program and turn into a product so you leverage your time. I aim to have every client service designed to support or to be turned into a product so I work once and sell it often.

    2. Instead of doing the research and writing for your clients, why not do a few of these projects for yourself so that you leverage your talents - turn them into your own ebooks, books or even membership sites (since ongoing content generation would be easier for you than many).

    Franchising or converting more of your effort into product creation would be the two methods of expanding your business while leveraging to free up more of your time.

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author chibuzor
    Hello Zabrina,

    I have encountered this kind of crossroad on my internet business career. But here are my recommendations and I hope it helps a little:

    Do not limit the number of clients you take as this would insinuate that you are not equal to the task. Rather, increase the duration you agree upon delivery any project you so that you can have enough time to work without making mistakes which you don't make now.

    Secondly, just like Jeff advised, it could be a great idea when you turn your ideas into a digital product like e-books, reports or membership site.

    Thirdly, you can design a site that offer high quality fresh articles to clients whereby they pay and download fresh articles for themselves without you sending it to them. All you do is to update your articles once a download is made in order to keep it fresh again.

    But all the same, focus of delivering quality jobs and outsource work loads to other writers. It can help. take care of yourself!
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    • Profile picture of the author Zabrina
      Thank you both for your thoughtful replies!

      Originally Posted by jbsmith View Post

      Zabrina - everyone who offers a service certainly hits this croassroads in their business (assuming they are successful...)

      Here are a few suggestions that may help you to make more with less time

      1. Can you systemetize your client work...two ways to do this...a) raise your prices on the work (in effect offering a PREMIUM service) which will allow you to look at outsourcing some of the work so you become the operator of your writing franchise instead of doing it all yourself or b) Help teach others to do what you do...so you end up running a train-the-trainer program that you sell as a program and turn into a product so you leverage your time. I aim to have every client service designed to support or to be turned into a product so I work once and sell it often.

      2. Instead of doing the research and writing for your clients, why not do a few of these projects for yourself so that you leverage your talents - turn them into your own ebooks, books or even membership sites (since ongoing content generation would be easier for you than many).

      Franchising or converting more of your effort into product creation would be the two methods of expanding your business while leveraging to free up more of your time.

      Jeff
      Glad to hear I'm not alone!

      I've considered outsourcing before, but at this point I'm not sure how comfortable I am with it. I haven't found any high-quality outsourcers with whom I'd like to work long-term, and I'd run into problems with keeping the style consistent, etc. I definitely will think about it, however. Teaching others how to write sounds interesting to me and I'm going to explore that at some point, but right now I'm juggling things and trying to figure out how to maintain this income while freeing up time to work on such a training program.

      Your second suggestion is along the lines of what that second passive income system I mentioned will be. The problem still is making the time to create my own projects while working on clients'. *sigh* After I get a few up and running I should be able to afford to spend more time on my own projects, but right now almost all of my income is based on me continuing to actively provide services.

      Originally Posted by chibuzor View Post

      Hello Zabrina,

      I have encountered this kind of crossroad on my internet business career. But here are my recommendations and I hope it helps a little:

      Do not limit the number of clients you take as this would insinuate that you are not equal to the task. Rather, increase the duration you agree upon delivery any project you so that you can have enough time to work without making mistakes which you don't make now.

      Secondly, just like Jeff advised, it could be a great idea when you turn your ideas into a digital product like e-books, reports or membership site.

      Thirdly, you can design a site that offer high quality fresh articles to clients whereby they pay and download fresh articles for themselves without you sending it to them. All you do is to update your articles once a download is made in order to keep it fresh again.

      But all the same, focus of delivering quality jobs and outsource work loads to other writers. It can help. take care of yourself!
      I'm glad others have successfully navigated this point in their businesses.

      Hmm, interesting idea about increasing the turnaround times. One of the things I've prided myself on is consistent 48-hour turnarounds, so I'm not sure if changing this would affect my USP. I like the idea of the site that delivers fresh articles, I might look into how to set that up. Thank you!
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Hi Zabrina,

    I have a simple system for this.

    The mornings are mine - the afternoons are for clients.

    I like to read and write books and play golf, so I use the mornings for things for me and afternoons for work for clients, students etc..

    It's simple but works for me and people know not to call me about work stuff in the mornings.

    Andy
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    • Profile picture of the author Zabrina
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      Hi Zabrina,

      I have a simple system for this.

      The mornings are mine - the afternoons are for clients.

      I like to read and write books and play golf, so I use the mornings for things for me and afternoons for work for clients, students etc..

      It's simple but works for me and people know not to call me about work stuff in the mornings.

      Andy
      Hmm, good system. I guess this would be the best solution for the time being. I've always had trouble sticking to a specific schedule, but I tend to do better when I'm on one, so I'll try it out for a week and see how it turns out. :p Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author thatgirlJ
    This is something I've gone through many times myself I have two kids, so I have very limited hours I can work. It's taught me to make the most of my time, but there is still a balancing act between my own projects and client projects. I take the same view as you do -- I love working for clients because it's fast income and you get exposure to so many different types of projects. I find it fun

    I focus on one project at a time, whether it's for me or a client. I finish that project to completion and then start another. It can be hard because I put client work ahead of my own, so finding time to do my own is a challenge
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan D
    Banned
    I would just raise my prices on the writing. If the demand is high and time is limited, then that's the next step.
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    • Profile picture of the author Zabrina
      Thanks to both for your responses! I spent the remainder of yesterday on my own projects, and it felt great. Off to do so again this morning and try andyhendry's system -- I'll post back here when I know how it worked out for me.

      Originally Posted by Jenn Dize View Post

      This is something I've gone through many times myself I have two kids, so I have very limited hours I can work. It's taught me to make the most of my time, but there is still a balancing act between my own projects and client projects. I take the same view as you do -- I love working for clients because it's fast income and you get exposure to so many different types of projects. I find it fun

      I focus on one project at a time, whether it's for me or a client. I finish that project to completion and then start another. It can be hard because I put client work ahead of my own, so finding time to do my own is a challenge
      Thank goodness I'm not the only one, haha. I have a bit of ADD sometimes and find it difficult to focus on one thing at a time, particularly my own work when client work is due. I do put their work first like you, so that's just what I mean. Maybe there isn't ever going to be a pat solution -- I suppose it's another fact of life as a freelancer.

      I hope that after my passive income projects start paying off, I'll have the finances to gradually shift my focus from active to passive projects.

      Originally Posted by Ryan D View Post

      I would just raise my prices on the writing. If the demand is high and time is limited, then that's the next step.
      Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure how I feel about it just yet, as I think I'd like to stay at $0.05/word for a while (plus a Warrior discount I've promised for all of 2010 makes it hard to change). :p But I do believe that after my extra discount is finished, things will slow down just a bit due to the discount-seekers being satisfied. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Kheifets
    Zabrina,

    the problem you're facing with your coaching business is a problem
    every successful coach experiences sooner or later in their coaching
    career.

    What you do is simple: rase your prices! Fix the capacity problem by
    raising your prices and taking on less coaching clients who pay more.

    That way-you're freeing time and your income rises.

    Igor
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    • Profile picture of the author Zabrina
      Originally Posted by igorhelpsyousucceed View Post

      Zabrina,

      the problem you're facing with your coaching business is a problem
      every successful coach experiences sooner or later in their coaching
      career.

      What you do is simple: rase your prices! Fix the capacity problem by
      raising your prices and taking on less coaching clients who pay more.

      That way-you're freeing time and your income rises.

      Igor
      Thanks for your advice, Igor! Actually, I'm not coaching many people actively right now. A couple of people, but for free to help them out and not for my primary business income.
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  • Profile picture of the author Leslie B
    Zabrina,

    It took me awhile to find a healthy solution for this problem too. But now I've worked it out how it works best for me. On normal days, days that my client to do list isn't too high, I divide the day in two and do my own work in the morning and client work in the afternoon.

    On days my client list is small, I'll do the client work first and spend the rest of the day doing my own jobs and when my client to do list is large, I will start with client jobs and do my own jobs in between, to "take a break" as I call it LOL. This works for me, and I can adapt it to the needs of the day itself.

    Leslie
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Zabrina, the way I've learned to tackle this is to simply "hire myself" as another client to be scheduled in along with the rest. If I know I need a day to do something on a project, I schedule it in, and that day is unavailable when calculating client due dates.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ross Bowring
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        Zabrina, the way I've learned to tackle this is to simply "hire myself" as another client to be scheduled in along with the rest. If I know I need a day to do something on a project, I schedule it in, and that day is unavailable when calculating client due dates.
        John, I really like that idea. I'm adopting it today. Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    At some point you realize that you either outsource or choke back your progress. Lining up good people you can trust is a long and sometimes painful process. It MUST be done to take your success to the next level. It took me over a year to find the most reliable, best people for the tasks I need done. It was expensive, time consuming, frustrating, and ultimately worth it. Now I have an excellent team and we crank out the work like nobody's business.

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author JJ Rendon
    This is one of my problems lately,but I guess time management made it a bit easier for me. I have 6 clients to work on plus I am getting married on December. I always make it a point to start my clients task separately before jumping to the other, and make sure everything is done already. After working on my clients projects then this is the time for my wedding preps.. so far I am doing this for more than a year now and everything is well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary King
    Remember Zabrina, in this case you are your own client. ;-)

    You are working on client projects but also on projects for another client - you!

    Perhaps try to schedule things with that in mind?

    Hope it helps.

    Gary
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    • Profile picture of the author Zabrina
      Wow, so many new replies while I was away. I did great yesterday -- split the day up into morning (my own work) and afternoon (clients' work), and got everything done that I wanted to. I'm rather impressed and I'm going to trial a whole week of it starting Monday.

      Originally Posted by Leslie B View Post

      Zabrina,

      It took me awhile to find a healthy solution for this problem too. But now I've worked it out how it works best for me. On normal days, days that my client to do list isn't too high, I divide the day in two and do my own work in the morning and client work in the afternoon.

      On days my client list is small, I'll do the client work first and spend the rest of the day doing my own jobs and when my client to do list is large, I will start with client jobs and do my own jobs in between, to "take a break" as I call it LOL. This works for me, and I can adapt it to the needs of the day itself.

      Leslie
      That sounds very reasonable, I like it a lot! I think my problem was that I was trying to set aside whole days rather than using chunks of time like that.

      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      Zabrina, the way I've learned to tackle this is to simply "hire myself" as another client to be scheduled in along with the rest. If I know I need a day to do something on a project, I schedule it in, and that day is unavailable when calculating client due dates.
      Good suggestion, but I've found I don't tend to think of myself the same as other clients. I schedule myself in, but when the due date comes along, I say, "Oh, that's for me, I can wait a bit..." and never actually follow through.

      Originally Posted by tommygadget View Post

      At some point you realize that you either outsource or choke back your progress. Lining up good people you can trust is a long and sometimes painful process. It MUST be done to take your success to the next level. It took me over a year to find the most reliable, best people for the tasks I need done. It was expensive, time consuming, frustrating, and ultimately worth it. Now I have an excellent team and we crank out the work like nobody's business.

      TomG.
      Ultimately, I think you're right. Later this summer I think I'll start work on finding good outsourcers. Thanks for the advice.

      Originally Posted by JJ Rendon View Post

      This is one of my problems lately,but I guess time management made it a bit easier for me. I have 6 clients to work on plus I am getting married on December. I always make it a point to start my clients task separately before jumping to the other, and make sure everything is done already. After working on my clients projects then this is the time for my wedding preps.. so far I am doing this for more than a year now and everything is well.
      Wow, congrats on the marriage -- big weddings take lots of planning, hope it all goes smoothly.

      Originally Posted by Gary King View Post

      Remember Zabrina, in this case you are your own client. ;-)

      You are working on client projects but also on projects for another client - you!

      Perhaps try to schedule things with that in mind?

      Hope it helps.

      Gary
      Thanks for the advice, Gary. Like I said above, I do schedule myself in... but then I ignore deadlines since it's "only me". It's rather annoying. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Benjamin
    You know, there are few people like you who, even
    with success doing services want to take it to the
    next level.

    So many people "settle" with doing graphics, writing,
    etc and never move forward to the point where they
    burn themselves out.

    As far as how you should manage your time?

    That's totally up to you. However, just know that
    YOU are in control of YOUR time, not your clients
    so...you can do whatever the hell you WANT to
    do.

    You don't need me, or anyone here to tell you how
    to do that because, a leader in business makes time
    to do the things he or she wants regardless of what
    other people might think.

    I know you want some sense of direction, but I got
    a sense that you already know where you want to
    go. Your not an employee. You decide if you want
    to take on a second project and stop freelancing or
    freelance and do what you love at the same time.

    Congrats for thinking outside the box. So few free-
    lancers do.
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  • Profile picture of the author JayPeete
    Originally Posted by Zabrina View Post

    Take one day off per week to work on the second system for myself, then fit some work on the first system around clients? Say smeg it and try to do the second system in chunks?
    I think that you already know what you should do. It is your paragraph above. It's what I would do.
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    • Profile picture of the author Zabrina
      Originally Posted by André Silverspoon View Post

      andyhenry's system is commendable to balance work and fun, or manage a price increase of your service
      Yeah, I like it a lot so far.

      Originally Posted by WhoIsBenjamin View Post

      You know, there are few people like you who, even
      with success doing services want to take it to the
      next level.

      So many people "settle" with doing graphics, writing,
      etc and never move forward to the point where they
      burn themselves out.

      As far as how you should manage your time?

      That's totally up to you. However, just know that
      YOU are in control of YOUR time, not your clients
      so...you can do whatever the hell you WANT to
      do.

      You don't need me, or anyone here to tell you how
      to do that because, a leader in business makes time
      to do the things he or she wants regardless of what
      other people might think.

      I know you want some sense of direction, but I got
      a sense that you already know where you want to
      go. Your not an employee. You decide if you want
      to take on a second project and stop freelancing or
      freelance and do what you love at the same time.

      Congrats for thinking outside the box. So few free-
      lancers do.
      Originally Posted by JayPeete View Post

      I think that you already know what you should do. It is your paragraph above. It's what I would do.
      You know what? ...You two are right. This is the best way to handle it -- do both by continuing to split my days like others have recommended, then cut back on whichever is less effective. I do have a sense of where I want to go, so I think I'm going to follow it and see what happens.

      Thanks to all for your help. I think I have a sense of direction.
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