A guide to client management for freelancers

From handling emails, meetings and agreeing working hours, client management can feel like a full-time job as a freelancer. If you have multiple clients all bidding for your time, it can feel really overwhelming too.

Whether you’re new to freelancing or have worked as a freelancer for years, client management is one of the most important parts of a successful freelance career. Our guide covers managing multiple clients, keeping track of working hours and ensuring your invoices are paid on time.

How do I manage multiple freelance clients?

One of the many perks of working as a freelancer is being involved in multiple projects at one time, but this involves balancing a lot of clients. We’ve put together the top 5 tips our team at YunoJuno believe helps achieve successful client management, so you can concentrate on getting the work done.

1. Create a client workload document

Our first tip is an easy one - create a physical list of all your clients and the projects you’re currently working on. If you’re more traditional and enjoy a pad and pen, monthly or even yearly planners are a great way to keep on top of your clients and their workload.

If you prefer working in Excel, planning out a month-on-month schedule is another great way to keep on top of your to-do list. Or why not try an online project management tool that allows you to add daily tasks and set deadlines to help you stay on top of multiple tasks at any one time.

There are loads of project management tools available so pick the one that best suits your ways of working. There’s no point investing your time setting up a new tool if you don’t use it.

2. Establish your “working hours” for emailing/ taking calls

Our next tip for managing your clients is establishing a ‘working hours’ with them so they know when it’s appropriate to contact you. If you’re a freelancer who loves working a more traditional 9-5, let your clients know you’re free for meetings during those hours.

If you prefer working ad hoc or at night, manage expectations for your clients and make sure you let them know they don’t have to respond to those 3am emails!

Communication is key when it comes to client management so just be clear from the get-go and avoid any misunderstandings or panic emails.

3. Automate your invoices

Another top tip is to make good use of automation! Automating your invoices saves valuable - and paid - time. It means you can stay on top of important admin whilst saving time having to write out new invoices every time.

There are some great accounting tools available to freelancers that don’t cost the earth. Of course, another option is using a project management tool like our very own at YunoJuno and let the tool automate your invoices for you.

Automation is a great time-saving tool when it comes to invoicing and using YunoJuno means you’ll get a weekly reminders to send those precious invoices too!

4. Plan your month - and deadlines

Another top tip to multiple client management is to plan your month ahead either using project management tools or simply writing them on a planner on your desk.

Highlight any deadlines you have with clients if you use a pad or add deadlines to your personal online calendar and set reminders so you don’t have any chances to miss them.

Using your email calendar online to plan deadlines is a great way to share your capacity with clients too, as well as reminding you what you need to be working on that week.

5. Join YunoJuno!

If you’re a seasoned freelancer and still struggle with multiple client management, then why not sign up to YunoJuno. Our platform automates and updates the end-to-end process from accepting briefs, sending weekly timesheet reminders and the all-important invoicing.

Using just one platform to track your working week keeps your project management on just one easy-to-use platform and means you know exactly what you should be working on each week.

Managing multiple clients at any given moment is just part of the freedom freelance work can bring but it doesn’t need to be time-consuming or complicated.

Why not sign up to YunoJuno today and enjoy the endless benefits that using one tool for client management can bring.