6 WAYS FREELANCE DESIGNERS CAN PREPARE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

It is highly likely that you became a freelance designer to enjoy more freedom professionally and personally. Realistically, however, when the holiday season rolls around, you may find yourself either with too little or too much work to do. So what can you do to prepare?

1) Front load your work

FreelancersUnion.org provides this smart tip: “You can’t control what your clients do, but you can do extra prep now to reduce chaos later. Get invoices pre-loaded and ready to send. Aim to finish up projects and meet deadlines before the holidays hit.”

Putting in some extra time upfront will help you relax during the holiday season. And having their projects completed a bit early is a nice little year-end bonus for your clients as well.

2) Gather preliminary information for your year-end tasks

If your client work slows down just before the major holidays, you can take advantage of your extra time to organize your business affairs for year-end activities. Save yourself some stress by getting all your tax information together for the year. Review your receivables. November and early December are excellent times to review your invoices and ensure all your clients are up-to-date with their payments. You can send out your Payoneer payment requests to clients ahead of time, detailing the advanced due date for payment.

Additionally, you might want to take a look at your resume or portfolio and polish it up for the New Year. If you have had trouble getting organized in the past, a holiday lull in your projects might just give you the extra time to you need to tame your freelance office.

3) Use your talent to spread the cheer

Put your mad skills to work by designing holiday-themed cards and gifts for your clients, family, and friends. Not only does it delight the recipients, but designing something that is not your usual style may spark your creative juices and make you even more productive next year.

4) Volunteer your time or talent

The holidays may afford you some time to volunteer in your community. Whether it is working at the local soup kitchen or designing the props for a local holiday play, you can enjoy using your time and talent to give something back to your community.

5) Do some networking

If you are a social butterfly, consider the holidays as your time to shine. Take advantage of the season’s parties and gatherings to network and do some face-to-face marketing for your freelance design business. An easy way to do this is to design a knock-out gift for your host that creates a buzz among the other guests. When they ask where you got it, you have a great opportunity to show your stuff.

6) Own your work space

If you find it necessary to work during the holidays, be sure to have all your tools at the ready. When traveling, pack all the essentials for getting your work done easily.

If you will be home for the holidays but entertaining guests, carve out a set time each day to excuse yourself from the festivities to do some work. Make your office space off limits during this time. Your guests will not mind, so long as you arrange something else to occupy them.

Keeping Things Merry All Year Long

The holidays are a great time for freelance designers to enjoy a change of pace. By planning ahead, you can organize your projects effectively and get some needed extra time to handle year-end matters. You can also use the time to design thoughtful gifts to clients, family, and friends and to volunteer in the community.

Whatever your plans for the end of the year, Payoneer can help you get paid. We make it easy for freelancers around the globe to enjoy the fruits of their labor with smooth payment processing year-round.