Freelancing is a fantastic career choice for an introverted personality type. A freelance lifestyle often involves long periods of time working alone (usually at home) interspersed with bursts of social activity. Many introverts thrive on working solo and don’t require the same amount of social stimulation their extroverted peers need.
People leaning towards introversion can quickly become overwhelmed and exhausted in open office and group-based environments. Constant chatter, noise, action, and face-to-face demands, day after day, which extroverts thrive on, can quickly lead to depression and anxiety in introverts. It’s for this reason, freelancing is perfect for the introverted, as the work can be completed in a location of their choosing.
Problems freelancing introverts face
Are you an introvert? Despite the many benefits of freelancing for the introverted person, there are still times when social activity of any kind feels too much. You may have had a busy weekend filled with family activities or spent a whole morning meeting with a talkative client. All you want to do, as a result, is focus on your work in peace and solitude.
Yet somehow there’s always a client who needs a question answered, an edit completed, a quick call made, or facts confirmed. And despite the desperate need to quietly recharge, you’re forced to step out of that tranquil space and make that call or compose a message. Fortunately, our Invoice Ninja platform can come to your rescue.
Ways Invoice Ninja can help introverted freelancers
Interactions with clients are part and parcel of working as a freelancer or solopreneur, but thankfully there are ways to reduce the frequency of communication. These can be hugely beneficial when you’re in recharge-mode and simply want a whole afternoon with as little chatter as possible.
At Invoice Ninja, we have just such tools and features to help introverted freelancers work in as much peace as they need. As a result, you get to choose exactly when you’re ready to comfortably converse with a client, and when it’s time for quiet focus.
Here are 6 Invoice Ninja features that can help you:
- Automatic late payment email reminders
One of the stickiest issues for freelancers, of any personality type, is chasing after late paying clients. There’s nothing more frustrating than waiting for a payment to be made, especially when you’re relying on a smooth cash flow. For some introverts, the act of initiating a reminder (sometimes repeatedly) can be stressful.
With Invoice Ninja, you can write a series of late payment email reminder templates, which are then automatically sent out after a set number of days after the payment due date. You only need to write these once, and then our system does the rest, until the third and final reminder.
- Automatic late fees on unpaid invoices
To ensure you get paid promptly, it’s good practice to add late fees on unpaid invoices. This means after a set number of days after the payment due date, you add on a small extra charge to the invoice if no payment is forthcoming. Which is all well and good, except for the fact it can be an unwanted distraction, especially for shy introverts who hate confrontation.
No need to stress. When using Invoice Ninja, you can simply setup late payment fees to be automatically added to unpaid invoices. Our system takes care of the addition and the late paying client is informed. It’s one less form of direct real-time communication to worry or think about.
Note: It’s important to stipulate clearly in your Terms & Conditions about the late payment fees prior to working with a new client.
- Automatic recurring billing
It can be difficult for extroverts to understand, but at times even the act of writing and sending an email or invoice can be draining for some introverts. When you’re in re-charge mode, after a busy few days of social activities, any form of communication feels like an uphill struggle. But invoices need to be sent and payments accepted.
When you use Invoice Ninja, you can create automatic recurring invoicing and auto-bill clients for ongoing work. This is ideal if you work with clients on a retainer and bill them every week, month, or quarter. You simply let our system do all the work. No need to actively do anything.
- Payment gateway integration options
When a client doesn’t understand how they can quickly and easily make a payment, they’re more likely to give you a sudden phone call out of the blue. For extroverted freelancers, this is nothing, but as an introvert, this can be a shock to the system when you’re in a quiet and private mode.
The best way to avoid unwanted calls (especially if you have phone anxiety) and emails is to ensure the payment process is as clear and seamless as possible. With Invoice Ninja, you can seamlessly integrate more than 45 different payment gateways (incl. Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net) and allow your clients to pay directly from the invoice itself, with just a click of a button.
- Fully customizable invoices
Like with confusing payment options, when a client fails to understand invoice details, they will likely phone you up. It’s important to ensure an invoice is easy to read, is factually accurate, and contains all the required information a client needs to make the correct payment. Anything less and you’ll waste time and emotional energy talking to a frustrated client.
Invoice Ninja’s template invoices are professionally designed and fully customizable. You can easily itemize and describe different services and quickly input all the price data and other standard information an invoice needs. A professional and accurate invoice is usually paid quickly and without extra communication hassle.
- Secure client-side portal
It’s natural for some types of clients to worry about the status of payments and general expenditures. This is especially the case if they’re not the most organized of people. This worry can translate into questions about previous, current, and future transactions, which can be frustrating for introverts when trying to focus on work and recharging.
Invoice Ninja has solved this issue by creating a client-side portal. The portal can be accessed securely by your client and contains all the details of their transactions with you. They can also view pending invoices as well as quotes and other account details. All this equals fewer emails and phone calls to respond to as well as increased client confidence.
Invoicing tools for the introverted freelancer
When you really need a rest from social interaction, including from clients and colleagues, it’s essential to use the best tools to help you get away from it all. As an introvert, you may really enjoy interacting with clients, but there’s a limit to how much you can take before your energy levels are depleted. This is especially the case after a busy time with family, friends, or travelling.
With Invoice Ninja’s cloud invoicing software and the abovementioned features, you can take back more of your time and much needed nurturing solitude, in order to recharge those batteries.
