How to fall in love with the admin side of freelancing

As I celebrate my 7th business birthday, I came to the realisation the admin side of things pretty much flows in my freelance business. French specificities aside, through the years I’ve created a system to make things easier for me, and I thought I’d share what this looks like right now. The goals for this system are to:

• Make sure I’m playing by the rules

• Take care of myself financially

• Offers smooth administrative experience for my clients

Learn the rules (and follow them!)

I mean, you have to start there and do your very best to learn and understand the rules and laws in your country. If I could figure it out, you can too.

Get some help from the experts

Hey, you’re probably not an accountant (if you are, hi! 👋). Whether it’s to figure out the ins and outs of accounting, or something specific regarding your situation, get help. Administrative tasks can be scary the first time you have to do them and one hour with an accountant can change everything.

Use the Profit First method to avoid stress

For years, I used one bank account for all my business stuff. I would half wing it, half recalculate how much I needed for taxes and to pay myself every month. It was a mess.

Then I stumbled upon a post by Alice Benham where she mentioned a book called Profit First. Simply put, it’s a method for managing business finances that works like the envelopes budgeting system, with an emphasis put on automation and well, profit.

I’ve been using a customised version of this method for a few years now and it took tons of mental load off my shoulders. Here’s the way I do it (for now):

I set aside fixed percentages of my income

I distribute my income in 4 accounts:

• Profit → This goes on a savings account. Every quarter I take 50% and this money is solely used for fun stuff for myself. Think of is as my quarterly bonus.

• Owner’s compensation → This is for my monthly salary. I transfer a fixed amount every month to my personal account for my regular expenses. I keep 2-moths worth of salary on the account and every quarter I put the rest on a savings account.

• Tax → You guessed it, it’s for taxes. This includes quarterly tax payments, yearly tax payments and VAT. It’s also on a savings account.

• Opex→ This is for business expenses and it’s the smallest percentage of the list.

What do those percentages look like? The distribution of the allocation of money evolves with time. It’s tricky for me to give you an exact figure because it has changed and will continue to move around as my needs evolve.

That’s where you’re going to say: “Thanks, but how on earth to I determine my percentages?” Here’s how I proceeded to find my first distribution, hopefully it can help you too:

1. Look at how much you earned in the past year or so, and look at your expenses. How does that look like?

2. Start with taxes. This should be a fairly easy number to figure out. Remember to add in extra “forgotten” taxes, not just the quarterly or monthly ones. For example, in France we have a once per year tax for office spaces that somehow always comes as a surprise to me. Well, not any more. If you consistently invoice VAT, add that in also.

3. Then move on to your personal monthly expenses. How much do you need to earn from your business to live? Do a bit of math, add in a little extra for personal savings, do a bit more math and that’s your owner’s compensation number.

4. With what is left, allocate a MINIMUM of 1% to profit. That’s where I started. That’s your personal “have fun, you deserve it” money.

   Fun fact, the first thing I bought myself with that money was a limited signed edition book I’d been eying for ages. Before, I saw it as a 100 € extravaganza I didn’t need in my life. After, it became a 100 € investment in my happiness and a gift from my business to myself. See what I mean?

5. Then, whatever is left is your opex money, the money you will use to get your business running. You might have a feeling that it’s not much, and you’d be right. As it turns out, you can run your freelance business in a very cheap way!

NB: If what you have got left for your business expenses does not cover your basic expenses, check the following:

• Are there ways to do some stuff cheaper? Do you need a fancy accounting software? Can you cut out a few coworking space days to work from home?

• Are you sure you integrate the cost of your tools in the services you offer? Aren’t you undervaluing your services?

What if money starts to pile up in one area? Every quarter, I make sure to keep a maximum of 2-months worth of salary on my owners compensation account. The the rest goes to savings. If this situation happens more than once, I recommend re-evaluating your percentages. That doesn’t mean the extra money should all go to your opex account! That means you can pay yourself more and set more money aside for your personal projects 😉

How long does this take? The setup took me a few hours, mainly because my finances were all over the place. To maintain this system, twice a month, I take 10 minutes to distribute the money I received in each account. I have a little Google Sheets file that does the calculations for me.

Every quarter, I take 50% of the profit account, pay my taxes, and make sure the current percentages I use still work for me. For example, I recently realised I was putting too much aside for taxes and adjusted the ratios.

Other money goals to consider

I’ve just scratched the surface here, but you should also consider researching the following:

• Emergency fund: that’s enough money to get you through 3 to 6 months - or maybe more - or living expenses, in case you get sick, if you have a rough period or if everyone suddenly decides AI can do your job and you need time to understand they got it wrong.

• Fuck you money: this is similar to an emergency fund, but it’s sole purpose is to enable you to say no to a project you don’t feel like doing, or to fire an bad client in a way that puts a smile on your face 🙂 Check out this episode with Olga Zarr and Myriam Jessier to learn more.

Celebrate the wins, all the wins

I often get caught up in the day-to-day tasks and forget to take a step back to celebrate my accomplishments. However, celebrating wins is an important part of maintaining a positive mindset and staying motivated. Here are a few ways I do this:

Keep a record of your achievements. I track all my projects in Notion and have a template for each project that I complete once the project is done. This includes what went well, what were the challenges, what I learned, positive client feedback, etc. It also includes some SEO-related information, like the strategies used in the project, key findings and first results.

Share your wins with others. Whether it's with friends, family, or fellow freelancers, I try to share my accomplishments. Not in a bragging way. But since I pour my heart in my business every day, I ought to share with the ones that support me the good stuff.

Celebrating your wins doesn't have to be a big production. Even taking a few minutes to acknowledge your accomplishments can go a long way in maintaining a positive mindset and staying motivated.

Create the perfect admin flow for your clients and yourself

Admin is probably not the primary reason you started freelancing and it shouldn’t take you too much time.

For me, this starts by creating client proposals that excite me. There’s nothing motivating in having an excel file with more numbers than personality. So I try to make my proposals interesting, descriptive and enthusiastic, that work for my client, and for myself.

My proposals answer nearly all questions my clients might have. Every time someone asks a new question, it goes in the proposal template

Once the proposal is accepted, I use an accounting software to create the quote and the invoices. They are simple and straight to the point. Any regular invoice is sent automatically on a monthly basis to the client.

When it comes to payment, my clients have all the necessary bank detail on all administrative documents, and have the option to pay by Stripe by card in just a couple of clicks.

In the unfortunate event that I don’t get paid in due time and need to send a reminder, I send it through my accounting software, using a template I tweak in under 30 seconds.

Creating the perfect admin flow in an on-going process. I still haven’t figured out how to get client testimonials on a regular basis or how to create a custom proposal in record time. I’m open to suggestions 🙂

Set a recurring events in your calendar

Twice a month, I have a recurring 30-minutes time slot in my calendar to go through invoices and make sure I’ve been paid on time. If not, that’s when I send a reminder. I also do my profit first bank transfers at that moment, using a simple spreadsheet to calculate everything for me.

Most of the time, this really takes less than 15-minutes.

Every quarter I have a time slot to pay my taxes and check my Profit First percentages. I also look at my calendar and count the number of days I took off the previous quarter. It’s important to take time off and to actually track it. Think of it like a meeting your manager, except you are the manager.

I personally try to take at least as many days off as required by French law.

Finally every 6 months, I promote myself. I look at the projects I’ve accomplished, my wins and areas of improvement, training I did and training I could do, conferences I attended, etc. With all this in mind, I always decide to give myself a promotion, even if it’s a small one. This can mean updating my prices, increasing my salary, or even giving myself benefits.

You might be thinking I’ve gone crazy, but hear me out. If I were the top manager at a thriving company, they’d want to keep me as long as possible. Compensation aside, I might stay longer if I got some privileges: better coffee (that’s an important one for me), extra paid leave, a upgrade in my working environment, etc. I don’t yet have a specific process for this, but that’s when I plan interesting upgrades to buy for my home office (new keyboard, larger screen, better lighting…). The thing is, if I don’t take the time to improve my working conditions, no one will do it for me.

Be open about your finances with your clients, peers and close ones

To your clients, be transparent about the importance of being paid on time. Make sure you are clear and upfront about your payment terms. Your job is not to chase money. You should also take deposits before starting any work. I always take a 50% deposit for one time projects.

To your peers, talk about money! The more you share the better for everyone! The cake is big enough for everyone to get a good slice, so do your part and make that cake bigger!

To your close ones, be transparent. Freelancing means irregular income and they should be aware of that. It’s added stress and a different perspective on owning your income.

As a freelance you are 100% in charge of your income. You are not subject to annual reviews or wonky promotions (hello +50€/year as a thanks for working your butt off 👎). So, be proud of what you earn, no matter the amount. Going freelance is a very brave move and you should be amazed at how far you’ve gone. I sure am.

I went slightly overboard…

I started this post think it would be a nice and short one. Turns out I’ve poured 7+ years of learnings in over 2000 words! 😅

To conclude, falling in love with the admin side of freelancing is not as hard as it seems. By learning the rules, seeking help when needed, using the Profit First system to manage finances, celebrating wins, mastering your admin flow, automating, and being open about your finances, you can make the admin side of things run smoothly.

Remember that freelancing is a brave and challenging journey, and you should be proud of yourself for taking that leap of faith. Celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small, and keep learning and growing.

PS: I’m considering offering a mentorship program at some point in the future, for freelancers, SEOs or SEO freelancers. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, let me know!

I'm interested in the mentorship program

Mentorship interest

Celebrating 7 Years of Learning and Growing as a Freelance SEO Consultant

What does it take to succeed as a freelance SEO consultant? As I look back on my seven years in the industry, I've realised that it's all about persistence, dedication, and a willingness to learn and grow. This journey as a freelance/consultant/business owner has been an incredible ride, full of challenges, successes, and most importantly, the support of my clients, colleagues and friends.

Although I’m still not exactly sure which job title I should use after all this time, I thought I’d take you on a trip down memory lane and share with you some insights about this journey.

To celebrate this milestone, I took my partner and friends out for a very French evening at a local wine bar. 🍷

Photo credit: Julie Capon

Back in 2016, I started working as a digital marketer for international markets in Paris. I was excited to learn more about the field and make a difference in the industry. The same week I started working there, I got my first client and started freelancing on the side. At the time, I was doing a bit of everything, testing the waters, and working a couple of evenings and weekends here and there.

After two years of hard work, my freelancing business brought me enough income to consider a different lifestyle. This meant that I could work from anywhere in the world, on my own terms, and make a living out of it! So my partner and I left Paris to travel around Europe, and set base in Strasbourg 3 years ago.

The first years were not easy, and this job is still pretty challenging. I can’t say I’m the worst boss I ever had, but I’m certainly not the kindest! As a independent consultant, I had to work hard to establish myself and build a reputation in the industry - as well as learning about the intricaties of admin life. I spent countless hours researching and experimenting with different SEO techniques, watching webinars, reading blog posts or newsletters and traveling to conferences to make sure my clients were getting the best service possible. With persistence and dedication, I slowly began to build a loyal client base, to attract fun projects to work on, and to grow confident in my skills as an SEO consultant.

Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with some amazing clients, from small startups to large corporations, businesses or agencies, and from all over the world. I've helped them improve their website rankings, increase their online visibility, and ultimately, grow their businesses. I've also had the opportunity to collaborate with some incredible colleagues in the industry, who have challenged me to learn and grow as a consultant.

I have always strived to be as transparent as possible with all my clients, setting realistic expectations and creating solid SEO strategies that stand the test of time.

My consulting path even lead me to start sharing my knowledge a couple years ago, whether by teaching classes to students or speaking at conferences.

Of course, there have been challenges along the way as well. The SEO landscape is constantly evolving, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices is a never-ending task. But I've always been passionate about this field, and I've always been willing to put in the work to stay ahead of the curve (hello AI!)

As I celebrate my 7th anniversary as a freelance SEO consultant, I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but I'm also excited about what's yet to come. I'm constantly learning and growing as a consultant.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey, from my clients and colleagues to my partner, friends, and family. I couldn't have done it without your support, and I look forward to many more years of growth and success in this amazing field.

PS: Mom and Dad, I think I turned out to be an actual business owner!

---

Thank you for taking the time to read about my journey as a freelance SEO consultant. If you're in need of SEO consulting services or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me through my website or social media channels. Let's work together to take your business to the next level!

I’m launching a newsletter!

I promised myself I’d do a better job at sharing my expertise this year, so here we are!

This has been in the works for months. I searched for the right name, asked my clients what they were expecting and benchmarked my entire email archive.

For those who have followed me for a long time, you may remember I used to have a newsletter called The Pragmatic SEO up to early-2020. Unfortunately, I lost my rhythm with the pandemic and wasn’t able to pick it back up again.

Since 2020, a lot of things have changed, I am now a more experienced SEO and business owner with lots to share, more of my own opinions and resources.

This is the goal for 100% Organic: to share with you my tips, expertise, knowledge and methodologies, to help you build a better website, not just for Google, not just for your users, but to sustain your business in the long run, in an organic way.

So, what’s the plan with this newsletter?

The name: 100% organic

SEO is all about organic traffic, it’s what I’m really good at and the area I want to focus on. 🤓

What will this be about?

The plan right now is to share with you my expertise and knowledge, in the most practical and actionable way for you. This will probably include:

• SEO tip of the moment: something you should look up, check out, work on, or simply be reminded of, that can take you a bit further in your SEO journey.

• SEO news: a handpicked selection of 1 to 3 articles, guides, tools or resources I found interesting and actionable.

• Recent blog posts: case studies, webinars, podcasts, events, guides, articles from my blog

• Now: a quick summary of what’s been going on in the business, topics I’m investigating, work I’m doing with clients, etc.

I’m very open to feedback and this newsletter will evolve with your needs.

How long is it going to be?

I get a lot of newsletters each week and tend to keep only the ones that I can read in under a minute or two. I’ll do my best to be as clear and practical as possible.

How often will you receive 100% organic?

I’m aiming for 1 to 3 emails per month.

Where can I subscribe?

Right below! ↓

2021 in review

2021 is now over and it is time for me to take a look back and see how this unique year has gone. I’ve divided my reflections in sections, so feel free to have a look around!

What happened in 2021

Long term collaborations

I started collaborating on a monthly basis with the Jetfly group in 2020, and we continued working together all through 2021. Projects ranged from monthly reporting, SEO audits, SEO check-ups before new website launches, and I tagged along as they launched new ad campaigns in Europe on Google Ads and social media.

New Projects

In 2021, I worked with agencies in the UK, France, and even Dubai on projects in industries like:

• Bedding and household linen

• Firewalls and cybersecurity

• Household cleaning supplies

• Aviation

• Tourism

• Architecture

• Training programmes

• Pensions and savings schemes

New clients

My clients this year were mainly small companies in:

• Photography

• Cryptocurrency

But also a medium-sized company in the private aviation industry.

New territories

Through my clients and the projects I worked on with SEO agencies, I was able to dive deep in markets from all over the globe! I feel really lucky to be able to incorporate such a huge part of international projects to my work.

Place I’ve (virtually) been this year:

• My home region: Alsace, France

• Our neighbouring region: Lorraine, France

• United Kingdom

• Luxembourg

• Switzerland

• Belgium

• USA

• Canada

• Australia

• New Zealand

• Abu Dhabi

2021 clients and project in Europe

2021 clients and project in the world

New connections

2021 was also about connections. I joined Alice Benham’s ON IT crew that provide monthly calls and check-ins with fellow entrepreneurs to talk and exchange ideas about our businesses. I got to meet lots of new friends!

I have also had incredible conversations with women from the Women in Tech SEO Slack group, and I was fortunate enough to be hired through their freelancers list.

This year was also the year I launched my professional Instagram account! You can find me at @alizeebaudez.seo. The idea behind this account is to help entrepreneurs understand more about SEO and regain control over their organic visibility.

Finally, I was able to attend BrightonSEO last September. I had missed these conferences so so much! It was amazing to talk to people again, see them in 3D and connect. My tickets are ready for the April 2022 edition!

New partnerships

Early 2022 I reconnected with a former classmate from... at least 10 years ago, when I started my studies in Annecy. He is the co-founder of Bolk, a branding and web agency that works with many freelancers. I got to collaborate with them on various projects this year and we get along really well.

The main advantage of being part of this community, is that I can now have access to tens of freelancers that can help out my clients. I’m very proud to be able to offer additional value like this.

New offers

As with any business, my services evolved in 2021. I created packages to simplify my offerings, and streamlined many processes. For 2022, I’m currently refining my services. I’ll make sure to keep you posted. 😉

Knowledge transmission

I’ve always found that teaching skills were very important in digital marketing, and especially important in SEO. This field is pretty complex and you can’t just get good at it with a couple of blog articles. When I work with clients, I always take to time to explain new concepts and how the Google algorithm works. That’s one of the reasons I opened a dedicated Instagram account.

I was very happy to be able to bring those skills to students again this year. I taught digital marketing and SEO to students from Epitech and my former business school: EM Strasbourg. I even taught to students in class! That was definitely a big change for me, as I had only taught classes online so far.

On of the classes that was the most fun to teach, was a project-based program about SEO, where students had to participate in a Google ranking competition I created around one made-up keyword. That keyword referred to a role-playing world I created with deep lakes and misty mountains, castles and creepy forests. Each group had to create a fake company in the tourism industry in this world. It was so much fun to read about the dragon cruises, the medieval city tours and even the carriage Uber of the region! Send your payment by pigeon mail and your carriage will come straight to your door, providing you with a knight for protection on the sketchy roads. 😂

Creating space for growth

2021 was also the year I worked on my branding with Marine from Nevermind Studio. It was about time I had a proper branding for my business that reflects my ambitions for this company moving forward. The result is cheerful and cosy, which is the kind of experience I aim at giving my clients.

Along with the new branding is a new website, of course. I’m leaving behind Wordpress and all the sys admin to focus on the content, and I chose to migrate to Squarespace. Time will tell if it was the right choice!

This year was my first full year of implementing the Profit First method for my finances. In a nutshell, it consists in working with different “buckets” to better budget through the year, and having one “bucket” dedicated for profit. This money is for my enjoyment only, and a way to reward myself as a business owner.

So far, with this method, I rewarded myself with weekend getaways, 2 spacial editions of Harry Potter books, a solo trip in the mountains and craft supplies. The kind of things that make my heart happy and filled with joy!

---

What the year looked like

Intentions and goals

My intentions for 2021 were for my business to be financially stable, less dependant on my time and more aligned with my values. I set myself goals each quarter that sometimes didn’t work out, but always move my business a step closer to what success meant to me.

Financially stable

With the implementation of the Profit First method, and with a bit more communication, I managed to double my revenue this year, but also set aside 6-months worth of expenses. I feel way more relaxed now as a business owner and I can allow myself some time to relax and work on strategic topics.

Less dependant on my time

Time is the thing you can’t get back right? My business was always meant to fit my lifestyle, whether I’m traveling or staying at home, whether I’m having the best day ever or a complicated moment.

To sustain this, I knew I needed to automate a few things and streamline some of my processes. I switched to a new accounting software (Freebe) that freed a lot of time for me each month and started playing around with project dashboards for my clients. It’s not perfect yet, but I’m working towards offering the best experience to my clients while having as much flexibility in my day to day as possible.

Aligned with my values

At the end of 2020, I felt like my business wasn’t reflecting my values enough. I worked all through 2021 to figure out what my ideal client would be and how to get in touch with them. A few A3 sheets filled with arrows and bullet points later, I contacted many branding experts and settled on Nevermind Studio to create a brand for me that would reflect what I wanted my business to look like. So far, this has been a great decision and I’m getting contacts from people I truly connect with.

---

Lessons learned

We all like a bit of an end of year conclusion, right? So here a few lessons I learned in 2020:

• Resting is the key to performance. Sound paradoxical at first, but this has proven to be true so many times !

• It's okay to double your yearly income, but don't get greedy and aim at x2.5 😅

• Working ON the business is as important as working IN the business

• I am not my business, I am the captain of a ship I built myself, but it's just a ship 🙂

• The more you pay attention to and take care of your money, the more you get 💸

• Investing in my business feels great and brings results

• Pitching to talk at a conference isn't so hard after all (even though I didn’t hear back yet 😁)

But also... What I said no to

A big part of running a business is saying no to some projects opportunities. Here are a few things I said no to in 2021, no hard feelings but no regrets either.

• Working on wonky projects that would have taken 3 times the time to complete than what I would have been paid for

• Working with notoriously toxic humans or people that didn't respect my boundaries before we even had a signed contract

• Working on projects that didn't fit my skills or felt like too much of a set back regarding my expertise

• Working for companies I didn't feel like a good fit or in industries I do not believe in

---

What about 2022? 🎉

I’m still in the process of figuring out what 2022 will hold for my business. So far, I know that I want to sustain all I have created last year, but also explore and develop new ideas that have been on the back burner for a few months.

Thanks for being part of my journey as a freelance and entrepreneur. ❤️

If you would like to get in touch, feel free to send me an email at hello@alizeebaudez.com or book a call with me whenever it suits you best: https://calendly.com/alizeebaudez/30-min

A Freelancer's guide to preparing a professional photo shoot

As freelancers, we have to be know how to sell our skills and personality. Most of us have a website or an about.me page where we explain briefly who we are and what we do for our clients. We have social media profiles on every platform, all promoting our personal brand in a way or another.

But there comes a time in your freelancing career, where selfies at the beach or cropped group photos don’t represent your personal brand enough anymore. A time where you might want to be more public about your work, speak at a conference, write an ebook or start a course.

In short, a time where your face will appear more often on the internet, and you might want some professional shots of yourself instead of your old portraits from the university.

I recently did my first professional photoshoot for work, and wanted to share the whole process I went through.

8 steps guide to a freelancer's professional photoshoot

1. Determine why you need a photoshoot

2. Define your budget

3. Create a mood board

4. Find a photographer

5. Find locations

6. Gather your props

7. Be at your very best

8. The day of the shoot

9. Get your first edits

10. Share your pictures with the world

1. Why do you need a professional photoshoot?

As with any project, you should first define why exactly you are doing it. For me, I wrote down where I wanted to take my freelancing career and what goals I had for the next 2-3 years. 

In a nutshell, I want to speak at conferences, take on long-term projects that really appeal to me and stick to my values, and share my knowledge by creating a few online courses. As you can see, some goals will require some pictures of myself for communication purposes. 

In the case of conferences, it’s likely the communication won’t be done by me, so I won’t have much control over what image of me is being shared around the internet. I figured I might as well have a quality media kit to give away instead of having teams scrape pixelized versions of my old profile pictures.

I also believe that the key element of differentiation between 2 freelances with equal skills is their personalities, and what better way to show your personality than with a personal website with high-quality pictures of yourself?

Okay, now you know why you want to spend a couple of awkward hours with a huge lens pointing at you, let’s get move on to my next point: money.

2. Define your budget

Your freelance activity is a business, and you are going to invest in your communication. As with any business project, you should be budgeting your photoshoot wisely, as prices for photographers can vary a lot.

From my experience, I knew I wanted to use those pictures for 2 to 3 years. That’s how old my previous portraits are, that were kindly taken by a colleague in a coffee shop near our workplace. Given my current communication expenses - mainly consisting of this website, costing around 50 euros per year, and given my current earnings, I knew I could spend up to 200 euros comfortably for a photoshoot.

Now, that might seem a lot to you, or really not enough. As I said, prices vary a lot for photoshoots. You can easily have a beautiful set of portraits done by a skilled friend with a smartphone in a park, or head to a famous photo studio in Paris. I suggest looking a how much you can afford first, and then find a photographer in your budget.

3. Create a mood board

If I tell you to think of a nice portrait of yourself, you probably already have a very precise idea in your mind. Perhaps it’s a combination of photos, locations, and people you like.

What clothes are you wearing? Are you standing or sitting? Are you working? Do you have something in your hands? Are you eating or drinking something? Are you at a big or small table? Are you inside or outside? Are you smiling, laughing, or being serious? Are you alone or are there other people? Are you at home or in a public area? What colours do you see?

These are elements your photographer will need to know to make sure he or she gives you the result you expect, and it might be complicated to express in an email the idea you have in mind. That’s why you should create a mood board.

If you are not familiar with the concept, a mood board is essentially a collection of pictures, illustrations and colour palettes that reflect the ambience, the vibe of the result you want to achieve.

At first, I gathered pictures that resembled the result I was aiming for on Pinterest. I found it was the quickest way for me to build an easily shareable image collection, but you can use whatever tool suits you best. What I liked also about Pinterest is that they will suggest images related to the ones you already set up in your board, and you can add your own ones you found elsewhere on the internet also.

For extra clarity on my expectations, I split my board into two parts: Poses and Locations. I knew exactly what kind of attitude I wanted to show and the type of environment I wanted to be in. A lot of my inspiration came from Emma Gannon's main photo on her website, where she seems to be in a cosy bar with a bright yellow jacket. I really loved the idea of a cosy place with a bright colour popping out. I am also very productive and happy in hipster coffee shops, so that's the kind of place I wanted people to see me in.

With that in hand, your photographer should be able to understand your vision.

4. Find a photographer

I travel a lot and change home every couple of months, so I knew I couldn't ask around for a photographer, I had to find one from scratch. The good news is we have the internet and finding someone to take pictures of you is not very complicated if you have Google and Instagram.

While you are searching for the perfect photographer, keep in mind the style of pictures you want. You can't expect good indoor portraits from someone specialized in nature photography. Have a look at their previous projects and their style, and choose someone you resonate with on an artistic level.

Instagram

I started by searching by location, in this case, Vilnius, Lithuania. I mainly looked for fashion-related posts as I knew I needed a photographer used to working one-on-one with women. Sometimes the posts were made by the photographer him or herself, sometimes by the model, who usually tags the photographer somewhere in the caption. If the people I found had a website or portfolio, I would also check them out.

I contacted a few directly by DM, explaining clearly what I was searching for.

Facebook

I actually found my photographer on Facebook, despite the fact we both rarely spend any time of this platform. It turns out Facebook search works quite well and I was able to find at least two interesting photographers there. Since their pages are often linked to their Instagram profiles, it was easy for me to check out their work, websites and contact them through Messenger.

Upwork

I never had the opportunity to be the one hiring for a job, so I tried posting a job on Upwork for this project. I found a few interesting people, mainly art students searching for side gigs. Even if the people I found there were interesting, I didn't move forward with them and found the process of posting a job quite tedious.

Google?

I'm really not sure Google is the right place to find a photographer. It will depend a lot on your location and you can't be sure high-ranked photographers will be the best fit for you. In any case, a quick search is always useful so you might as well give it a go.

What should you ask them?

Here is the message I sent to photographers I was interested in:

Hi,

I am a digital marketing freelancer and I travel full-time around Europe. I am spending the summer in Vilnius and I am searching for someone to take photos of me for my professional website. Would you be interested by this kind of project? Alizée

Who was my photographer?

I ended up working with a talented young photographer from Vilnius, Lithuania: Elvinas Dalala. We met for a first contact a couple of weeks before the shoot and he was very attentive to what I wanted from the photo shoot. During the photo session, he was super professional and kind, helping me relax and look my best. If you are searching for a photographer in Vilnius or a photographer in Switzerland (he travels often there), I couldn't recommend Elvinas more!

Elvinas Dalala Photographer

5. Find locations

When you established your mood board, you probably already had a few locations in mind. In my case, I knew I wanted to be in "my natural environment", somewhere I feel at ease and where I like working.

For me, that meant no parks, beaches, office spaces, no super cliché digital nomad places you see in news articles. By the way, do people still believe you can work with your expensive laptop from a beach?! Not to mention the sun reflection in the screen, the lack of wifi and the dangerous sand that can ruin your machine...

I love working from home, but also from coffee shops. I find I am much more productive with a good coffee and the surrounding buzz of a good coffee place, so that's where I wanted to be photographed.

I started looking for locations right after my first meeting with the photographer. I googled coffee shops around me, checked out their photos and, if the place wasn't too far away, took a walk there. I met with one owner in person, to whom I asked what was their less busy moment in the week and if they would accept a small 2-hour photoshoot in their establishment. The response was positive.

In the following days, I made a list on Google Maps of places I liked, sorted them by preference and contacted them by phone or on their Facebook page one after the other.

Here is the message I sent to coffee places I was interested in:

Hi, I'm a French freelancer in Vilnius for a few months, and I'd like to come next Tuesday morning to take some professional photos for my website. It would be just myself and a photographer. Would you agree for us to come a take a few shots?

Side note: Tuesdays are usually the less busy day of the week for local businesses, and mornings between 10 am and 12 pm are also quite calm for coffee shops.

I would suggest adding the following information in your message:

• Name

• Activity

• Why you want to have pictures taken, what is the nature of the photoshoot

• Where these pictures will go

• When you want to come over

• How long it will last

• How many people will there be

Also, always double-check with the person in charge once you arrive at the location. In my case, we always had a quick chat with the barista to make sure we weren't causing any trouble, and of course, we always ordered coffee for both the photographer and I. A good latte art makes a great prop too!

6. gather your props

Having a few familiar objects to play around with and give dimension to your shots is a great idea. You will feel more at ease surrounded by "your stuff" and it will give the photographer some ideas to work with.

Here is the complete list of the props I took with me:

• Blue Moleskine notebook

• Red notebook

• Beige notebook (I really like notebooks)

• MacBook Pro 15" because that's what I work with, I have a case on it for extra safety at airports security that I took off obviously

• Black Magic Mouse 2

• A nice coaster I have and use every day for my coffee mug

• A leather pencil case

• Pens, lots of pens with different textures and colours

• A hardcover book

• My Kindle

• Bose QC 35 headphones

• Swell water bottle

• Second pair of glasses

• A pair of sunglasses

We ended up not using most of the props I brought, but I was glad to have them with me just in case. I also brought a second outfit and some accessories like a scarf and jewellery.

7. Be at your very best

Of course, you want to look your best on the day of the photoshoot. Preparation can vary from one person to another, but to give you an idea, here are the different things I did to prepare.

Hair and makeup plan

I planned my makeup and hair ahead of time and tried a few options at home before going to the shoot.

Here is what I planned:

• Nails: simple manicure with a simple light nude pink shade

• Hair: washed on the morning of the shoot, then blowdried and lightly straightened

• Makeup: light and natural, yet concealing my blemishes

I also took with me my hairbrush and bobby pins, my lipstick for on-site retouches, some chapstick and concealer.

What I did before the shoot

3 days before:

• Do my nails

• Pluck my eyebrows

• Iron my clothes

• Get to bed early

• Drink a lot of water and no alcohol

• Eat healthily

• Pre-order the Uber to get me to the photoshoot location

The day before:

• Moisturizing facemask

• Clean all the accessories with a microfiber cloth (especially screens)

• Prepare the bag with all I need for the photoshoot

8. The day of the shoot

R-E-L-A-X. If you are like me, the idea of having someone focused on you for a few hours is highly stressful. Being the centre of attention is not easy and I spent a lot of time in front of the mirror figuring out poses. I suggest checking out Sorelle Amore's videos of posing in photography. Have a chat with your photographer beforehand about your fears and insecurities. Be transparent with him/her about that elbow you think looks wierd or that little tummy everone finds cute but you hate in photos. You might also find you have a favourite profile and that your hands are such an asset for your portraits!

If your photographer is anything like mine, he/she will start by taking a few random shots to get the lighting right and to get you comfortable in your new model career. Have fun with the poses and situations, keep in mind a checklist of the shots you want, and ask for feedback. It really gets on my nerves when people say "Just be yourself", but in that case, it's true. Work on your laptop, tell an anecdote, have a laugh, take a sip of coffee and write something in your notebook, grab a book, look outside, and enjoy life!

I would also suggest having a quick hair and makeup check-up once in a while as moving around can mess things up.

My photoshoot lasted 2 hours and I was exhausted at the end. Turns out being self-conscious is quite demanding in terms of energy levels!

9. After the shoot

A few days after the shoot you should get your first edits from your photographer. We had settled with my photographer that he would send me a few different versions of the edits for 5-10 photos so I could tell him which kind of edit I preferred. I also made a selection of the shots I preferred - there were over 300 pictures taken! He then edited the shots I had selected and I paid him.

The editing process can vary depending on the photographer. I suggest discussing the terms of the editing process with him/her beforehand to avoid too much back and forth.

10. Share your pictures to the world!

Now you have tens of beautiful pictures of yourself, it's time to share them! Update your profile pictures on social media, update your website, and post in the comments on how the process went for you!

What I loved and hated about my full-time job

This Saturday will mark my first unemployment birthday. Well, my first “not-working-full-time-for-someone-else” birthday to be honest, because it’s not like I have been slacking for the past year, on the contrary.

Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash

So here is everything I loved about my full-time job, followed by all I hated about it, in no particular order.

• Having a fixed amount of money on my bank account each month. What a luxury! Knowing you will get paid even if you didn’t perform as well this month as the previous one feels very reassuring.
• My colleagues and our inside jokes, our little lunch routines too. I worked with extraordinary people who always supported me and helped me grow both as a human and as a professional.
• The Friday free breakfasts and the free coffee. Each last Friday of the month we had a ginormous breakfast to enjoy, organised by our office manager. Those days, things went slowly, people stopped to chat and shared good food and a sweet moment, away from the stress of the job, even if most of the conversations were work-related anyway.
• Friday afternoons. Yeah, you guessed it, Fridays were a special day for us. On Friday afternoons, we would have workshops organised by some team members. Most of the time, it would consist of a presentation about a specific topic related to digital marketing, or sometimes a discussion about a new design for a website. In any case, those were long moments dedicated to learning and sharing good practices, and I believe they were the reason why this particular team performed well.
• The daily passionate discussions with like-minded experts. Related to the whole learning and knowledge sharing topic, having people super excited about their job and happy to share their knowledge daily meant a lot to me.
• Teaching my interns about this ins and outs of the job, still with a strong sense of knowledge transmission. I had a great time sharing my work with my interns and witnessing their progress each day. Luckily, I still have great relationships with them, and I’m proud I was able to play a part in their training.
• Being encouraged to innovate every day by my manager. In my team, we had room to try out new things and discover new ways of doing digital marketing, and I think this is very precious in any organisation.

I could go on, but those are the main things that made me wake up every morning. As you can see, they are very much related to the people I worked with, and in case I didn’t stress this enough, they were the reason I stayed working there for two years.

---

Now for the fun part, let’s move on to all the things I hated…

• Not being able to earn more with more work. Even if I put in extra hours and outperformed, I couldn’t make more money. Well, of course, I would have to wait for my annual review to try and negotiate some extra income with my manager, who by the way didn’t have much of a say in this. In the end, pay raises when they were approved of were very low in this company and in no foreseeable future could I have earned substantially more.
• Not being able to save money because I lived in an expensive city. Mind you I had a decent salary, but I was always on a budget. That’s one of the main reasons that pushed me to change my lifestyle. With a decent income in Paris, living with my boyfriend in a 28m2 apartment, paying out my student loan (which was quite low compared to what some close friends had to pay each month), without going out, no bars, no nightclub, the occasional pizza delivery, no movies, very rare drinks with colleagues after work, no smoking and a lot of home-cooking, I barely saved any money. After a year and a half of work and the occasional weekend at my parents, I wanted to go on vacation with my boyfriend, something nice and relaxing but not extravagant. We took a 10-day vacation in a hotel in Greece, at the very end of September, just before they closed for the winter. I paid for this vacation with money I had made on weekends from my freelance gigs, not from my 9-to-5 job. That was a wake-up call for me. This life was not sustainable long-term.
• The politics of work and the tens of hours spent debating on someone’s behaviour at the coffee machine. The daily gossip and the fuss around minor events that happened around the office take away a lot of time in the day and don’t benefit anyone.
• Having to shamingly ask for vacation days months ahead of time, feeling judged if you’re taking them when it’s not right for the company and stressing about whether or not they will be accepted. Also, not feeling allowed to take a day off without notice because you are unwell. You could go to the doctor to have a day off, but in France, if the doctor says you can’t work for three days or less, you simply don’t get paid. So if you need a day to get over the first day of your period, you better have a very understanding manager and thought of taking your laptop home beforehand to work from home. And be sure to be marked as “available” on Skype all day to avoid any criticism from co-workers once you get back. That little green dot has a lot of power.
• Office hours. I am not a morning person, never was and never will be. After months of working for myself, I discovered my productive hours are 9.30 am to 1.30 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm. I am useless after lunch, and won’t get anything useful done no matter how hard I try. But I wouldn’t go back home most of the afternoon to recharge right? Or leave the office to read a good book in a café nearby? No, I would stay at my desk, open some spreadsheets and suffer all afternoon trying to get something done, and suddenly, past 5 pm, when people are slowly starting to go back home, have a Eurêka moment and do all I had to do in a couple of hours maximum.
• Open offices and their war to get the best chair or spot to work from. That’s the big issue with open offices and hot desks. You never have an ergonomic space to work from. People will use your chair if you are away for a day and change your settings. You will have to re-adapt your workspace each day. Also, you probably won’t ever get a high-end chair adapted to your needs or standing desk setup for the sake of uniformity. The ones that manage to negotiate for better equipment are generally frowned upon.
• Like I just said, you can’t choose your hardware, and you have to select software to use that is in the not much up to date list from the IT department. Needless to say, if you wanted to try a new software — which happens a couple of times each year in digital marketing — you’d have to test it on your personal computer.
• Having to wear makeup every day — not that I had an obligation to. Clothing and makeup are very important in the workspace, and any change you make to your style will be noticed and discussed. Not in a bad way. I have never heard of someone criticising someone else’s new haircut, but just the fact that it has to become a discussion topic is tiring. There is more to people than a new shirt.
• The routine. Waking up every day at the same time, often super tired, taking a quick shower, spending time doing my hair, putting makeup on to hide the bags under my eyes — which will eventually receive some comment during the day anyway, choosing an outfit, maybe having a coffee if I am early-ish, running to the metro and squeezing in with other tired people, some of which definitely don’t live by the same hygiene standards as I do, running in the cold to my office and sitting at my desk after saying hello to some friendly faces while also catching a few judgemental looks because it’s 9.15 am, and I’m 15 minutes late, that’s not what I call a happy start to the day. Around 11.30 am comes the eternal question of “What will we have for lunch?” That moment when most people doubt where to go, no one wants to eat alone, even if that means spending 13 euros on a croque-monsieur and industrial fries you will stuff yourself with hoping it will bring you enough energy to stay awake for the rest of the day. By 4.30 pm things start to move gently. Young parents leave the office of tippy toes, on the verge of saying sorry for leaving early but at the same time eager to fetch their true purpose at the daycare. Around 5 pm, some confident guy will stand up and leave with a big smile, heading for the gym after a perfectly productive day. At 6 pm, a quiet rumble of chairs moving and tired “good evening” leaves the office too, ready to cramp in overcrowded metros and trains for an hour of a ride back home in the suburbs. And by 6.30 pm, only the ones working on massive projects, or the ones with different circadian rhythms and a sense of professionalism stay up to 7.30 pm. After that, if you are caught working in the open office when the top manager comes downstairs, you might get the chance to have a quick chat with him, and he might remember your name when the annual reviews come up.

---

As you probably have understood by now, I didn’t leave my 9–5 job because I hated it, but because I am not made for the way traditional businesses are run. A year ago I decided to stop sacrificing my lifestyle for safety nets I didn’t have use of. I re-evaluated my real needs and ambitions and took the leap towards a different future. Maybe not a better future, but at least one I have chosen for myself and on my terms.I probably won’t have a collection of branded business cards to display on my big marble desk at the top of a Parisian skyscraper by the end of my career. I guess I won’t either ever receive a medal for my seniority in a company — yes, you can get those in France sometimes, like, proper decorations, like in the army! I suppose my path in life will be filled with ups and downs, turns and zigzags, but that’s okay. I don’t mind taking risks in my career if it means staying true to myself, to my values.