While flipping through an industry magazine I found an article by David C. Miller titled, Are You in a Slump?

He outlined five fundamentals to get out of your slump:

1)  Take a break.  Sometimes we need to get away from our game and focus on other aspects of life.

2)  Take care of yourself physically.  If you’re not taking time to take care of yourself, you will find yourself in slumps more often.  Give yourself permission to exercise, eat right and get enough sleep.

3)  Master your mindset.  Our thoughts and beliefs directly impact how we feel and, ultimately, what we do.  Slumps effect our confidence. We must be vigilant to combat the beliefs that dis-empower us.

4) Do the “little things” every day.  Practice the fundamentals of your business or career.  This means doing the little things that have worked in the past.  Things like picking up the phone and following up on leads, writing an article or setting up a speaking engagement.  Identify three to five daily fundamentals that you know work and do them each day.

5) Get support.  Get the support of a friend, partner or coach to help you stay with the first four fundamentals.  No one gets successful alone.

A great list, surely!  May I add one small thing David?

This little trick I learned from Michelle at Here’s to You!  She was kind enough to let us use her location for a networking group I’m a member of and she even shared with us one of her favorite talks.  (By the way, Michelle gets it too!)

Along with self talk Michelle also discussed catching yourself when you are in a *powerful* frame of mind.  Cashing in on a powerful frame of mind means positioning yourself to succeed when you have the most positive energy to achieve success.

When do you think your most powerful juices are flowing?

Directly after a workout?

When you listen to certain types of music or specific songs?

While you are wearing a certain tie?

Make a list of times you feel powerful and start using these times to your personal and professional advantage.  If you all share so will I!  Some of them are pretty personal.  :)

Nibbling away -

Sundi

If you don’t normally start a book on p. 116 then you should hit these posts first: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.  Hey, if you normally start a book on p. 116 then you’re cool, carry on!

This is it!  The end of the Even freelancers need a team series.  You made it!  When you finishing reading this go check out Freelance Folder and get yourself a copy of The Unlimited Freelancer.  That way you won’t miss one single little tidbit – besides that your favorites are sure to be slightly different than mine.

Before I get on with the series I have to tell you a story.  Well, really I just want to share part of on email with you.  I received it yesterday from a potential client of mine.  Since then I’ve wondered if she has been reading my blog.  It is official!  I’m part of a team!

Following an email from Sundi, I realized Shirley could help with some design work and allow Sundi to do the work she is good at and allow me to go ahead and keep working on my own work!  Shirley and Sundi – I hope you will work together to be my North Work Team!

Is that not the coolest thing?  Some people are getting this teambuilding thing.  Yah for freelancers everywhere!

Alright, enough party!  Back to the series…

We talked about the Big Question and the Big Answer, suggested reasons why you should work with others, asked another Big Question (to which only you know the answer), busted some myths, covered the different ways to build your team and now we are going to talk about building the relationships of your team.  Amazingly enough it will sound similar to being a good employer with a few freelancer tweeks!

• Reward people.  If the job was well done then say so.
• Reward people more.  If it is frequently top-notch then take the next step to show even more appreciation.
• Relax.  We’re freelancers!  Not co-workers.
• Be prompt.  Don’t be the thing that keeps your teammate from hitting the deadline you imposed!
• Be a team player.  A freelance team is way less competitive than a team in Corporate America.  You’ve picked each other after all, so act like it!
• Accept feedback.  This isn’t criticism.  Your teammate genuinely likes you.  Really.
• Offer feedback.  Life is just better on a two-way street.  After all, if you live on a one-way street, half the time you venture out you’re traveling the opposite direction of the way you wanted to go!
• Give testimonials.  You’ve used your team members services so act like a customer.  Talk them up so they can truly build their business.
• Be sympathetic.  Because freelancers tend to work off hours we all understand a call on a Sunday afternoon might interrupt a family dinner.  Be sensitive to their boundaries.
• Take a day off.  If your team is local make time for ‘tinis together.  Now this is teambuilding in the true sense of the word!

That was the list from Mason and James.  You know I have two cents, right?

Since becoming an itty biz owner I’ve met some of the coolest people.  Seeing these cool people grow a great business gets me all excited.  I’m not talking about just clients – I’m talking about real people I get genuinely excited to see succeed.  There are tons of successful itty biz’s out there and the world is a better place because of it!

Build your biz, build a team and conquer the world!

Nibbling away -

Sundi

I recently purchased The Unlimited Freelancer at Freelance Folder.  One of the authors touched a soft spot on my heart by saying he was getting married and needed money for his honeymoon – well, it was a great deal too!

I’ve read it three times now, find a new favorite tidbit each time.  Then I realized all my favorite stuff was coming out of section three – Building a Freelance Team!

We’re going to talk about team building Freelance Folder style, mainly, “how to outsource, partner and work with other people to create a scalable team.”  Granted, you aren’t going to get the entire section here.  Just my favorite pieces.  If you want the whole shebang you’ll have to click over to The Unlimited Freelancer and get yourself a copy – proceeds will probably go towards paying off wedding debt!

The Big Question

Do you run your business like this:

YOU receive a project from your client, YOU do all the work, YOU wrap it up and deliver it to your client.  [This is all you baby!]

Or do you run your business like this:

YOU receive work from your client, YOU design the content and concepts, outsource the pieces you don’t love like copy writing, design work, binding and shipping, YOU wrap it up and deliver it to your client.  [This is you minus half the time which you can spend an another project!]

The Big Answer

If you run your business like the first option wouldn’t you rather run it like the second option?  Just think how many more clients you could serve if you were present for only items you had to touch and only parts you love!

Obviously you wouldn’t want someone else accepting a project on your behalf and, if delivery is something you love, you want to provide the final product too.  But what about the stuff in the middle like copy writing, design, binding and shipping.

This is where building a team can help you be more productive and profitable!  Build a team of fellow freelancers who love to perfect your content, to make things beautiful and create the final product.  That way, you’re left to deliver it with energetic flash to your satisfied customer.

As a Virtual Assistant I consider myself a team member with many of my clients.  I’m in the process of building a team for my Virtual Assistant business too.  Think of this series as my positive self-talk (a smack down on my inner critic!) which you’ll learn something from too.

Next time…Why the heck should I do this?

Nibbling away -

Sundi

The running monologue in our minds runs at a staggering rate of 500 words a minute!

Wow!  I actually said it out loud I was so surprised.  Think how long it took me to say it out loud compared to if I’d simply thought it!

I know I’m my own worst critic.  I’ve also been around long enough to realize my self-think gets me where I am, not where I actually want to be.  Isn’t it horrible to think we can do that to ourselves?  Just think of what a great source of income the Inner Critic is for coaches of all types!

I’m going to try some new self talk.  Call it my Half-Year Resolution.  Ok, we aren’t to the half-way mark yet.  How about the Self Improvement Goal for May?  Yes, you’re right.  I missed that by a few days, didn’t I?  Alright, it doesn’t have to have a name because I’m not going to wait on one.  The sooner I do this the better.

I’m going to start with the toughest one first…rejecting social ideals.  Saying no is a big one for me.

There are times my accommodating scores are off the chart and I know this.  For example, when I answer the phone during a time I’ve been deep into finishing a big project.  I get distracted by the ringing phone and answer it with the intention of wrapping up the call quickly so I can get back to where I’m centered.  The next thing I know I’ve said yes to just about anything the caller wanted and by the time I get off the phone I’m so distracted by what I’ve committed myself to I can’t get back to work anyway!

Here comes my Inner Critic beating me up about why I answered the phone, why I agreed to anything and, finally, why I can’t get back to work.  Wouldn’t it have been easier to reject the initial social ideal that I need to answer the phone simply because it was ringing?

The second thing I’m going to work on is balance.  Yeah, I know.  That word is probably the most over used one around!

Look at it this way though…If I focus on stopping the negative comments I’ll always be concentrating on the negative comments because I’m trying to stop them.  Isn’t a better way to achieve this actually by concentrating on positive comments and injecting them when my self talk expresses a negative one?  That way I’m following up the negative with a positive.

With this train of thought about half my 500 words a minute will be positive.  I’m half way to every word running through my head being positive.  Even if I never make it the other half way I’ve surely reached a healthier place than everything being negative!

That’s it.  Two small steps for me.  What two small steps can you take to help shut down (or up) your Inner Critic?

Nibbling away -

Sundi