Erika Dreifus

Kelly James-Enger, the expert behind the Dollars & Deadlines blog, has a wonderful New Year’s gift for freelancers. As she recently explained:

Regular readers of my blog know I’m all about working as efficiently as possible…as least most of the time. When I set my business goals for 2011, I included an overall financial goal, a daily financial goal (a/k/a the “daily nut”), and an hourly-rate goal. The latter two goals–making a minimum amount each day, and averaging a certain per-hour rate–are what help me meet my “big” goal, my annual income.

To hit my daily nut and my hourly rate, I need to work fast whenever I can. One way I do so is by using templates. I don’t want to have to recreate the wheel every time I write a query, send a follow-up email, pitch a new client, or write up an invoice for a reprint sale. So I have a stash of templates I use, which save me time both marketing and running my business.

So, January will be a month of templates as well as resolutions. Tune in for samples you can use and adapt for your own freelance business in the weeks to come.

I’m certainly tuning in, and if you’re interested in freelancing, you should, too.

Meantime, here’s wishing you a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.