Jon Clayton:

What's your biggest challenge as a freelancer or sole practitioner?

Jon Clayton:

Dealing with tricky clients.

Jon Clayton:

Avoiding scope creep on projects, or maybe it's simply combating the loneliness

Jon Clayton:

and isolation of working from home.

Jon Clayton:

Being your own boss is not always easy.

Jon Clayton:

Thankfully, we've got some practical tips and a few stories that should help you.

Jon Clayton:

Uh, in part two of my conversation on freelancing with

Jon Clayton:

Angela lions on this episode.

Jon Clayton:

Of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

The weekly podcast for small firm founders who want to build their

Jon Clayton:

dream business in architecture and enjoy more freedom, flexibility,

Jon Clayton:

and fulfillment in what they do.

Jon Clayton:

I'm John Clayton, your host.

Jon Clayton:

I know that building an architecture business can feel hard, especially

Jon Clayton:

if you're a sole practitioner.

Jon Clayton:

The good news is that you don't have to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

In 2024, we launched our membership community to a small group of

Jon Clayton:

founding members, including architects, architectural

Jon Clayton:

technologists, and interior designers.

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We meet online each week and occasionally in person to support

Jon Clayton:

each other in building our businesses and to have some fun along the way.

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In 2025, we're opening the doors to a limited number of new members.

Jon Clayton:

If you'd like to join this supportive group of like-minded

Jon Clayton:

professionals, now's your chance.

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Just go to architecture, business club.com forward slash waitlist, or click the

Jon Clayton:

link in the show notes and enter your details so we can let you know when

Jon Clayton:

and how to join this incredible group.

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And if you have any questions, just email Jon that's, J O

Jon Clayton:

n@architecturebusinessclub.com.

Jon Clayton:

Now let's continue our conversation about freelancing.

Jon Clayton:

Well that's totally different, so that's A redesign, that's total redesign.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, but that's a revision.

Jon Clayton:

Like, where does it say in the contract that, you know, you said we could

Jon Clayton:

have as many changes as we want.

Jon Clayton:

And so, and that's where it can get a bit sticky, I

Ange Lyons:

Hmm,

Jon Clayton:

Have you had that sort of experience, Angie, in graphic design

Jon Clayton:

and branding?

Ange Lyons:

definitely, Um, I've had it recently with a website actually.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and I'd spoken to the client from the beginning saying,

Ange Lyons:

Are you sure you want this?

Ange Lyons:

Because it wasn't looking like how we spoke when we actually

Ange Lyons:

first started the project.

Ange Lyons:

And she was like, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Ange Lyons:

And then a few months down the line, it changed and it was a redesign.

Ange Lyons:

Hmm.

Ange Lyons:

And it's just interesting because it is uncomfortable but it is uncomfortable and

Ange Lyons:

I'm not we're all human um I wish I could be more ruthless in some things but I

Ange Lyons:

did it and I've included it in the price I've had to reflect that because but it's

Ange Lyons:

horrible yeah you see it gave you the ick talking about money it does but at the

Ange Lyons:

end of the day I won't go into Sainsbury's and say I'm just gonna take that pineapple

Ange Lyons:

um I'll pay you When I can, or, you know, you want your money, don't you?

Ange Lyons:

They want their money.

Ange Lyons:

So, um, it's the same with business and small, you know, being a

Ange Lyons:

freelancer, you've got to, you've got to, you've got to list out

Ange Lyons:

what you're going to give them.

Ange Lyons:

And even if it isn't, when you say revisions, list out

Ange Lyons:

what that revision entails.

Ange Lyons:

This is like, this is what, this will be, Um, I don't know what the word

Ange Lyons:

would be, say a tweak or a change to what we've decided on the first round.

Ange Lyons:

A redesign is something completely different.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and if you're not happy with that, maybe we need to have another sit

Ange Lyons:

down and discuss, um, payment options.

Ange Lyons:

Cause I know also with some clients, they might not be

Ange Lyons:

able to have it all in one go.

Ange Lyons:

Maybe discuss payment options.

Ange Lyons:

It's still going to happen.

Ange Lyons:

I'll still do it for you, but let's break it down into smaller payment plans.

Ange Lyons:

You know,

Ange Lyons:

so, um, so give them some options.

Ange Lyons:

So there's always options, but if they still say, well, I'm not doing

Ange Lyons:

it, I don't want that anymore.

Ange Lyons:

If you're going to break the contract, you break the contract, but make sure

Ange Lyons:

you get paid for what you've done.

Ange Lyons:

And if you can get paid up front, get the rest of it,

Ange Lyons:

because they signed the contract.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, it's so tricky.

Jon Clayton:

I

Ange Lyons:

It's hard

Jon Clayton:

had my fingers burnt with a client and They basically they said

Jon Clayton:

they already had some really specific ideas that they wanted for the renovation

Jon Clayton:

and extension of their home They they wouldn't share them Because this was

Jon Clayton:

really strange because normally it's quite a collaborative process with my clients.

Jon Clayton:

So and I, I mean, I don't really do much kind of architectural design work these

Jon Clayton:

days, but when I used to it's, it's been very much like client centric approach

Jon Clayton:

where we work together, but they were like, well, we want to see your ideas.

Jon Clayton:

We don't want, so they were like, we want you to basically, you know, this is kind

Jon Clayton:

of, The rooms and spaces were after, but we want to see your ideas and inspiration.

Jon Clayton:

That's what we're paying for.

Jon Clayton:

And a normal circumstances, it should have rung alarm bells.

Jon Clayton:

We did ring alarm bells, but the way that the, the opportunity to

Jon Clayton:

come about was through a, another company that I was hoping to foster.

Jon Clayton:

A long term working relationship with so I basically was like well, okay I'm feeling

Jon Clayton:

that this might be a bit of a prickly client, but i'll i'll work with it and

Jon Clayton:

we'll see where it goes Anyway, because there might be some other work that comes

Jon Clayton:

off the back of it And I really should have listened to my guts because they were

Jon Clayton:

a nightmare to work with I put my heart and soul into a design that I basically

Jon Clayton:

Met all of the points on their brief and they took one look at it and were like No

Jon Clayton:

we don't like it, that's not what we want.

Jon Clayton:

So we want you to just read all of the work you've done throw it in

Jon Clayton:

the bin and can you just now, here's our sketches that we wouldn't show

Jon Clayton:

you before we now want you to now produce all of the 3D model based on

Jon Clayton:

these sketches that we already had.

Jon Clayton:

Can you just do that?

Jon Clayton:

And because it wasn't, because I hadn't made it crystal clear in the

Jon Clayton:

onboarding with that client to say to them, actually, the way I normally

Jon Clayton:

work is, it's a collaboration.

Jon Clayton:

And you do realize that if you just leave me to go down this, come up

Jon Clayton:

with this design completely on my own, that if you don't like it, it will

Jon Clayton:

be fully chargeable for anything else because I didn't have that awkward

Jon Clayton:

conversation with them at the beginning.

Jon Clayton:

I was in an awkward position because they were like You said we'd get revisions.

Jon Clayton:

This is a revision.

Jon Clayton:

Well, you know, we, we, we just want you to, make these changes.

Jon Clayton:

And so I, I, in the end, I got really stressed about it.

Jon Clayton:

And then I decided that to just take a hit on it.

Jon Clayton:

And I did the same.

Jon Clayton:

I was like, and then after that, I was like, right.

Ange Lyons:

But

Jon Clayton:

going to make sure that that's, you know, robust now moving

Jon Clayton:

forward.

Ange Lyons:

I think both of us, in both those cases, we learnt from

Ange Lyons:

it and we've put things in place to learn from that experience.

Ange Lyons:

And again, it's tricky being by yourself and not having, you know,

Ange Lyons:

we've got so many hats in our business, just having that one.

Ange Lyons:

It's like, we're not legal people either.

Ange Lyons:

So now we've learned how to deal with a legal contract to say, this is

Ange Lyons:

the, this is the project and this is what's going to be in the projects.

Ange Lyons:

And if you do X, Y, Z, you're going to get charged that.

Ange Lyons:

So, but again, we both learnt from that.

Jon Clayton:

it's not mattered how clear I've thought.

Jon Clayton:

Something was like a contract or an agreement like you can always improve

Jon Clayton:

upon it and make it even clearer, you know Which actually that sort of nicely

Jon Clayton:

segues on to a follow up question.

Jon Clayton:

I was going to ask around Do you have any thoughts on sort of best

Jon Clayton:

practices around things like handling?

Jon Clayton:

Invoicing and contracts so that we can avoid some of these pitfalls

Jon Clayton:

that we've just been talking about.

Ange Lyons:

I would say invest if you can.

Ange Lyons:

Invest in contracts that you can either pay for or get someone, a

Ange Lyons:

legal person to have a look over it.

Ange Lyons:

And there are, um, solicitors that just deal with freelancers

Ange Lyons:

and smaller businesses that will look at their contracts.

Ange Lyons:

There are actually also freelancers and independent companies

Ange Lyons:

that just deal with that too.

Ange Lyons:

So I'd definitely say get contracts in place and not just

Ange Lyons:

get it's get them templated.

Ange Lyons:

So have a contract for each.

Ange Lyons:

part of your business that you think you're offering a service to.

Ange Lyons:

So for example, I offer, I've got a contract for brand and website.

Ange Lyons:

I've got one for brand.

Ange Lyons:

I've got one for marketing services.

Ange Lyons:

So in between all of those, and there might be one that's a bit

Ange Lyons:

ad hoc, where I'll just pull bits of the other contracts.

Ange Lyons:

But you put out, the basis is pretty much the same.

Ange Lyons:

I suppose the foundation is pretty much the same.

Ange Lyons:

But then you just actually build up what you're actually

Ange Lyons:

going to deliver to that client.

Ange Lyons:

And so.

Ange Lyons:

Again, going back to that website that I got done over with the redesign.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I've put in place where you decide upon this date, and then you pay me the

Ange Lyons:

next part of my invoice on this date, and then we decide again on this part, and

Ange Lyons:

then you pay another part of the invoice.

Ange Lyons:

So that is all spaced out, and we know where we're going from the

Ange Lyons:

beginning, and we break it down.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I do that in a system.

Ange Lyons:

I know a lot of people have CRM systems.

Ange Lyons:

Um, some people don't.

Ange Lyons:

You don't have to have a CRM system.

Ange Lyons:

But that's one thing I did invest in this year.

Ange Lyons:

It was, um, Moxi.

Ange Lyons:

It's a CRM system.

Ange Lyons:

And I get different templates in there.

Ange Lyons:

And also do my timings in there.

Ange Lyons:

I put my onboarding in there.

Ange Lyons:

I have onboarding forms, offboarding forms.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I don't do my invoices in there.

Ange Lyons:

Because I've got it all in another software.

Ange Lyons:

So, yeah.

Ange Lyons:

Um, in FreeAgent and I'll do my invoicing in FreeAgent and then I'll um, but

Ange Lyons:

then they'll kind of, not talk to, I've not got them to talk, you can do it

Ange Lyons:

through Zapier but I've not got them to.

Ange Lyons:

I'm, I'm fine enough to know that that's where my invoices, my invoices are and

Ange Lyons:

this is where my contracts and forms are.

Ange Lyons:

So at the beginning I, Again, I looked online.

Ange Lyons:

I got contracts online and people sell them templates, um, they

Ange Lyons:

could be legal contracts or you can invest in a legal person to go

Ange Lyons:

over your contracts while you can.

Jon Clayton:

the contracts, depending on what it is specifically

Jon Clayton:

that you do within architecture.

Jon Clayton:

So, um, some of the professional institutes have some contracts

Jon Clayton:

that their members can use.

Jon Clayton:

So if they're a member of, um, if they're an architect and they're a

Jon Clayton:

member of the RIBA, that they do have some contracts that people can, can use.

Jon Clayton:

And actually they do do some documents that.

Jon Clayton:

you can, you can purchase from them.

Jon Clayton:

Uh, so even if you're a consultant, you're not an architect, but you

Jon Clayton:

work within architecture, you can still use some of their paperwork.

Jon Clayton:

My, um, the professional organization that I'm in, CIAT, they also

Jon Clayton:

have some templated documents that their members can use.

Jon Clayton:

I'm not sure about some of the other organizations cause we've got, there's

Jon Clayton:

various, like for surveyors, there's the RICS, you've got CIOB, um, there's

Jon Clayton:

I'm sure that each of those institutes probably has some kind of templates

Jon Clayton:

or contracts that people could use as a starting point, but your advice and

Jon Clayton:

suggestion about finding somebody, a freelancer or a solicitor, somebody

Jon Clayton:

to look over it, because as good as those documents are that we can get

Jon Clayton:

from those institutes, they're not always a perfect fit for people.

Jon Clayton:

Your particular business and the packages and services that you offer.

Jon Clayton:

So I'd, um, previously used a combination.

Jon Clayton:

I'd used a contract that I'd got from CIAT, which they call their

Jon Clayton:

conditions of engagement, I think for like domestic clients, which is like

Jon Clayton:

people doing home renovation projects.

Jon Clayton:

But then also I'd used.

Jon Clayton:

A letter contract.

Jon Clayton:

So I'd sort of set out a template, which was a standard letter, which

Jon Clayton:

went into the T's and C's in a bit more detail, which then that kind

Jon Clayton:

of like had developed over time.

Jon Clayton:

Um,

Ange Lyons:

I know this, um, more so around, uh, architects, um, based

Ange Lyons:

podcasts, but there's also, um, IPSE, um, and there's also that's IPSE

Ange Lyons:

and there's also FSB and they're all good, um, um, I suppose organizations

Ange Lyons:

that help with small businesses.

Ange Lyons:

So there's the FSB is the Federation of Small Businesses.

Ange Lyons:

And I know that they also offer, if you pay for their membership, they

Ange Lyons:

also offer legal advice, um, especially when you're writing contracts.

Ange Lyons:

So if there's any problems with your contracts, um, I don't know if I'm

Ange Lyons:

allowed to mention it because, um, I'll just ask, I'll let you know.

Ange Lyons:

If there's any problems with people not paying contracts, um, or invoices, there's

Ange Lyons:

a solicitor's called Thomas Higgins.

Ange Lyons:

They're solicitors, they're proper legit.

Ange Lyons:

Engage with them.

Ange Lyons:

If someone's still not paying you, say for example, after three

Ange Lyons:

months, contact Thomas Higgins, set up an account with them.

Ange Lyons:

They will send out a letter of payment to the company.

Ange Lyons:

And normally, people, when they get this letter, because it looks very official,

Ange Lyons:

um, and it is official, they will pay up.

Ange Lyons:

Because they don't want to be taken to court.

Ange Lyons:

And to engage with Thomas Higgins, it is 25.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, wow.

Jon Clayton:

That's really good.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah.

Ange Lyons:

So, somebody, again, Sophie, I think, Sophie,

Ange Lyons:

yeah, she told me about them.

Ange Lyons:

Um, but pretty much most of my clients have paid.

Ange Lyons:

But, this is only in the jurisdiction of the UK.

Jon Clayton:

Right.

Ange Lyons:

I've had a client that's based in the Channel Islands and

Ange Lyons:

they've not paid me and Thomas Higgins said, oh, we can't help you.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, no.

Ange Lyons:

know it's annoying, but um, um, but yeah, if you're

Ange Lyons:

having any problems not getting paid, I'd say Thomas Higgins legal

Ange Lyons:

wise is a good place to start.

Jon Clayton:

That sounds good.

Jon Clayton:

We also, um, I've got another recommendation for listeners that we

Jon Clayton:

did an episode earlier in the year.

Jon Clayton:

Um, I can't remember which number, but it was, the guest was Rhonda Jackson

Jon Clayton:

and we talked specifically about fee recovery and about how to go about

Jon Clayton:

recovering fees if clients hadn't paid.

Jon Clayton:

So if you are struggling, um, you might want to, go and check out that

Jon Clayton:

podcast episode as well because there's some useful insights in there about

Jon Clayton:

specifically about recovering fees from clients that haven't paid and

Jon Clayton:

actually some preventative measures you can take, to make sure that they pay

Jon Clayton:

in the first place and you don't kind of have to, um, to go down that road.

Jon Clayton:

and something else that can be a challenge for freelancers is the social isolation.

Jon Clayton:

It can feel quite isolating, especially, you know, if you're

Jon Clayton:

working on your own at home.

Jon Clayton:

I wondered if we could just talk about that for a moment and to discuss like,

Jon Clayton:

if you've got any suggestions for how we can, how we can approach that.

Jon Clayton:

Because I've certainly experienced it over the years.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah, I say him.

Ange Lyons:

It's hard because you are working from home.

Ange Lyons:

Unless you engage, I think, in certain communities, you

Ange Lyons:

will still be by yourself.

Ange Lyons:

And that's, you know, that's, I suppose that's a fact.

Ange Lyons:

But if you start engaging with them, as I said before, locally,

Ange Lyons:

that's the best place to start.

Ange Lyons:

You could even like take yourself down to a local co working space.

Ange Lyons:

They're great places for meeting other, most, do you know what they are going

Ange Lyons:

to be small businesses there pretty much most of the time because if they're in

Ange Lyons:

a full time office they're going to be in their full time office with their

Ange Lyons:

colleagues, they're not really going to be in a co working space but, well they

Ange Lyons:

might be, but the majority of people in there are people of us that are

Ange Lyons:

freelancers, have their own business, I'd say take yourself off to one of those.

Ange Lyons:

If you can't, if there's nothing near you and you don't feel quite ready

Ange Lyons:

for that, there's online communities.

Ange Lyons:

I'm part of the Be In Freelance community.

Ange Lyons:

We often have co working sessions on Fridays together.

Ange Lyons:

And then there might be an in person meetup.

Ange Lyons:

There's also, I know there's a few portals online where you can, um, It's

Ange Lyons:

weird because when you, I don't know if people know about this, but when you

Ange Lyons:

co work online, you're on a Zoom call in a room with maybe 20 other, could

Ange Lyons:

be 5, could be 20 other freelancers, say what you want to achieve during the

Ange Lyons:

session, um, and then start working.

Ange Lyons:

And, um, I know when I told this, I told this to Emma Jones actually,

Ange Lyons:

she's part of Enterprise Nation.

Ange Lyons:

Actually, that's another really great organisation for freelancers to check out.

Ange Lyons:

They've got lots of lunch and learns on there.

Ange Lyons:

Um, so it's Enterprise Nation.

Ange Lyons:

So, um, I met Emma Jones, I was telling her about it this year and

Ange Lyons:

she was like, co working online?

Ange Lyons:

I don't quite understand.

Ange Lyons:

I was like, yeah, we're just literally on a Zoom call and we're working and

Ange Lyons:

then we check in with each other about 45 minutes in and then we'll have a chat

Ange Lyons:

and then go back and work and then, you know, Do another session 45 minutes and

Ange Lyons:

then be off on our days, but you've made a connection there with people online

Ange Lyons:

Another one that another Organization I work with is freelancer magazine

Ange Lyons:

and we do online co worker sessions.

Ange Lyons:

I'm a host of one of them we always like make people feel

Ange Lyons:

welcome and Everyone's just on a, you know, just on the same level.

Ange Lyons:

Everyone's just like working by themselves.

Ange Lyons:

No one's got no, you know, no frontal ears and graces.

Ange Lyons:

And do you know what the best thing out of that is like collaboration.

Ange Lyons:

Someone might find out that somebody else is down the road for them and

Ange Lyons:

they won't meet up for a coffee.

Ange Lyons:

It's so, it does happen.

Ange Lyons:

Somebody might say, oh, I need a copywriter.

Ange Lyons:

Oh, I know that copywriter's in that group.

Ange Lyons:

Let me pass on these details.

Ange Lyons:

So it's just, it's, you know, Again, that networking of just turning up and

Ange Lyons:

I've had freelancers come after the session and said, Oh my gosh, I didn't

Ange Lyons:

realise it was going to be like that.

Ange Lyons:

Thank you so much.

Ange Lyons:

And it's just, I know that's the one thing about meeting people

Ange Lyons:

is that some people just feel quite scared or nervous about it.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I try to welcome everybody.

Ange Lyons:

Well, I do try to welcome them.

Ange Lyons:

I do welcome everybody.

Ange Lyons:

Um, But, pretty much everyone's in the same boat, so don't worry about it,

Ange Lyons:

don't, try not to overthink it too much.

Ange Lyons:

Just come and say hi, and if that's all you say, that's good.

Ange Lyons:

If you just want to say hi, just say hi to somebody, um, but you're

Ange Lyons:

starting, and then you'll build on that.

Ange Lyons:

Um, what else around, loneliness, do you know what I offer, um, um,

Ange Lyons:

sometimes I offer Zoom cuppers.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and that's free, just if someone wants to come and say hello to me.

Ange Lyons:

I've got it on um, um, on my, on my Moxie site.

Ange Lyons:

I've built that in.

Ange Lyons:

So people can book in um, 15 minutes just to have a Zoom cuppa, um.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, that's nice.

Ange Lyons:

It's just sometimes you just, if you're by yourself, you just

Ange Lyons:

might wanna chat, 15 minutes, just chat.

Ange Lyons:

And then go about your day.

Jon Clayton:

Well, I think otherwise you can end up sort of stuck in your own head.

Jon Clayton:

And, um, I think that's the thing, isn't it?

Jon Clayton:

That sometimes just having the opportunity to just have a quick chat with somebody

Jon Clayton:

and sort of get out of your own head and maybe bounce a couple of ideas

Jon Clayton:

around and it can be really, really

Jon Clayton:

helpful.

Jon Clayton:

Remember, don't forget to join the wait list for our membership community,

Jon Clayton:

where you can meet other business owners who want the same thing as you.

Jon Clayton:

If a thriving business that gives you more freedom, flexibility, and fulfillment.

Jon Clayton:

just go to architecture, business club.com forward slash waitlist, or

Jon Clayton:

click the link in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

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Jon Clayton:

And if you're enjoying the show, then please leave a five-star review or

Jon Clayton:

rating wherever you listen to podcasts.

Jon Clayton:

Now, back to the show.

Ange Lyons:

And, um, I know there's, um, other groups that are, oh gosh, which one?

Ange Lyons:

Um, Bonnie, she does.

Ange Lyons:

Um, she, she doesn't really advertise it as much, but it's there if you want it.

Ange Lyons:

There's, she's a copywriter and she set up, um, zoom groups for,

Ange Lyons:

um, I think it's called bombs.

Ange Lyons:

Bonnie Bonds.

Ange Lyons:

Pos , hard to say.

Ange Lyons:

Bugs Pubs.

Ange Lyons:

And they're, um, set by the Pomodoro timer.

Ange Lyons:

So we do actually work on a timer and do work together.

Ange Lyons:

And then again, you meet people in those groups, so you don't

Ange Lyons:

even need to leave your home or your office or wherever you are.

Ange Lyons:

You can meet them, um, online.

Jon Clayton:

That's a good thing actually that, um, I mean particularly the online

Jon Clayton:

co working thing that we might be a lot of listeners thinking like what like

Jon Clayton:

you just You just meet on zoom and then you go off and do your own work and

Jon Clayton:

like, it's a bit strange, you know, you might not kind of get the head around

Jon Clayton:

it, but it does really work really well.

Jon Clayton:

As you say, there is the opportunity to connect with people, but also it's, um, if

Jon Clayton:

you struggle with Getting round to doing things or maybe if there's a task that you

Jon Clayton:

want to work on your business for an hour or so and you've been procrastinating and

Jon Clayton:

getting interrupted when that's scheduled on your calendar and it's like I'm going

Jon Clayton:

to that co working session and I'm going to work on that thing that I've not been

Jon Clayton:

getting around to doing it's a great way to help keep you accountable and to

Jon Clayton:

get things done and even that the simple thing of just turning your camera on and

Jon Clayton:

being part of a zoom room and just saying.

Jon Clayton:

I'm going to work on this thing.

Jon Clayton:

See you in an hour and a half.

Jon Clayton:

uh, it can really help get things done.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah.

Ange Lyons:

Definitely.

Ange Lyons:

Definitely.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and as you said, it's the accountability.

Ange Lyons:

And when I do my sessions, I always say to people, put it in the chat if you

Ange Lyons:

want me to check in on you, because I don't want to put anyone on the spot.

Ange Lyons:

But I always say, so if you want accountability.

Ange Lyons:

Put it in the chat.

Ange Lyons:

And I always say to them, and don't go on LinkedIn, or Instagram

Ange Lyons:

and start looking at cute cats.

Ange Lyons:

Um, we're here to work

Jon Clayton:

Do, do go on LinkedIn to market your business

Jon Clayton:

effectively, but not right now.

Ange Lyons:

but not right now.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Jon Clayton:

Do it later.

Ange Lyons:

Do it later.

Ange Lyons:

If or if that's, or if that's what you wanna use the session for.

Ange Lyons:

'cause I know some people have used the session to update their websites.

Ange Lyons:

They do their own Mark.

Ange Lyons:

Actually, that is a really good point.

Ange Lyons:

It's a lot of people, a lot of freelancers come to that

Ange Lyons:

session and this is their time.

Ange Lyons:

They've blocked out to actually do their marketing on their business.

Ange Lyons:

So it's either updating their website, writing that, starting

Ange Lyons:

that blog they want to write.

Ange Lyons:

I know tomorrow I'm going to join one because I've got my newsletter to write.

Ange Lyons:

So I'm going to sit down in that session and write my newsletter.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and if it is going on LinkedIn, I'm not going to, um, go in and go in and,

Ange Lyons:

you know, spend whatever you need to do.

Ange Lyons:

Whatever your time limit is on LinkedIn and do your marketing on there.

Ange Lyons:

Connect with some people, comment on some posts.

Jon Clayton:

That's a great idea.

Jon Clayton:

We touched upon the fact that freelancers are often juggling lots of different

Jon Clayton:

things and they may be trying to kind of wear many different hats.

Jon Clayton:

They might be juggling client projects and the admin side of their business.

Jon Clayton:

Have you got any thoughts on how freelancers can try and manage their

Jon Clayton:

time more effectively to try and Stay on top of those creative tasks

Jon Clayton:

that they might be working on as well as those necessary business

Jon Clayton:

tasks that might not light their fire

Ange Lyons:

Oh gosh, it's so hard.

Ange Lyons:

It's so hard.

Ange Lyons:

It's really hard because I, I think I've watched a meme of like

Ange Lyons:

somebody putting on a different hat and it was like, marketing,

Ange Lyons:

HR, um, actually doing the work.

Ange Lyons:

You know, finance operator.

Ange Lyons:

Um, what I do, um, I don't know if you can see it, but I've got various things.

Ange Lyons:

I have a wall planner.

Ange Lyons:

I My time is there, but I know what's coming in the day.

Ange Lyons:

I have a pad that I mark things out on, and I always have a post

Ange Lyons:

it note that stays the same.

Ange Lyons:

It says, do one thing today, and then I write down what that

Ange Lyons:

one thing is going to be today.

Ange Lyons:

If I've got to do that one thing, because we have loads of lists,

Ange Lyons:

but my one thing that I have to do today, I make that in bold.

Ange Lyons:

I'm like, do that one thing.

Ange Lyons:

But time wise, if I know that I'm Got a big project or I need to focus.

Ange Lyons:

I use Pomodoro timers quite a lot.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I also listen to podcasts while I'm working and I know that podcast

Ange Lyons:

might last, I don't know, half an hour.

Ange Lyons:

Then I'll get up, go for a walk, go for a cup of tea, come

Ange Lyons:

back and then I'll work again.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I'll time some music, anything and everything, a little bit of time,

Ange Lyons:

around time, um, I have a, oh my gosh, you think I must be like crazy, I've

Ange Lyons:

got lots of bits of paper on, I have this too, I have a time block where I

Ange Lyons:

put things in an hour, what I've got to do for that day, um, that really

Ange Lyons:

helps, because that really, so I have a weekly planning sheet and it goes

Ange Lyons:

from 6 o'clock to 11 o'clock at night.

Ange Lyons:

I don't, obviously don't do it that early and that late, not often anyway.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and then I will block out what is happening in that hour.

Ange Lyons:

And then it actually breaks down your time of what you've actually done.

Ange Lyons:

Um, but that's a, that's more of a, uh, I suppose a to do list.

Ange Lyons:

visual for me to try and get those things done in that hour,

Ange Lyons:

um, or in that time space.

Ange Lyons:

I do use the CRM system that I've got, Moxi.

Ange Lyons:

It's got a timer on it so every time I click the project that I'm

Ange Lyons:

working on, the timer will start.

Ange Lyons:

Not that I charge a client per hour, um, it's more so to know how

Ange Lyons:

long I've spent on that project.

Jon Clayton:

Useful for your benefit.

Jon Clayton:

You can look back and

Ange Lyons:

And then you can Exactly.

Ange Lyons:

And then you can even build that into your new contracts or your new, um, pricing

Ange Lyons:

because then you think, Oh gosh, actually that did take me a bit longer than, than

Ange Lyons:

I expected or it was a little bit less.

Ange Lyons:

Um, so it works both ways.

Ange Lyons:

Um, Oh gosh, I try and not to look at my phone.

Ange Lyons:

I really try hard, but it's very hard.

Ange Lyons:

Um, I know people use an app called forest, um, and that actually blocks

Ange Lyons:

out your phone from any messages and I've turned off all notifications

Ange Lyons:

on social media on my phone.

Jon Clayton:

Oh yeah, that's a good idea or you could use the Aeroplane mode you

Jon Clayton:

just press that button as if you're going on a flight and it just turns off the

Ange Lyons:

turns off.

Ange Lyons:

Perfect.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

yeah, I've I think I've got two options The notifications

Jon Clayton:

turned off on mine as well.

Jon Clayton:

Although I think that was kind of accidental But actually i've quite enjoyed

Ange Lyons:

left it.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, yeah I think I changed some settings somehow and it's just

Jon Clayton:

ended up turning them off and uh, I've left it that way and I quite like it.

Jon Clayton:

So

Ange Lyons:

yeah, I did that on holiday about, I think about three years ago.

Ange Lyons:

I turned off all my own social media notifications.

Ange Lyons:

I've not turned it back on.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah

Ange Lyons:

So I have to go into the app to have a look at it.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, well, you can, you can be a bit more, you can make a conscious

Jon Clayton:

decision if and when you choose to do that, rather than it sort of controlling

Jon Clayton:

you and pinging up and distracting you.

Jon Clayton:

Cause those distractions can really derail your day for sure.

Jon Clayton:

And this has been lovely.

Jon Clayton:

I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to chat with you about

Jon Clayton:

this because I think it's such an important topic and there's so many, um,

Jon Clayton:

particularly in architecture, there's so many that are working on their own.

Jon Clayton:

So, to be able to put This content together for them to help them

Jon Clayton:

with their freelancing journey, I think it's really valuable.

Jon Clayton:

What would be the, the main thing that you'd like everyone to take

Jon Clayton:

away from the conversation today?

Ange Lyons:

My main thing, I'd say you are not alone.

Ange Lyons:

I'd say you're never alone.

Ange Lyons:

If you don't want to be alone, you can always find someone out there.

Ange Lyons:

And I'm not saying go and join a thousand communities or go

Ange Lyons:

and join like big communities.

Ange Lyons:

Even if it's one freelancer buddy, a pal that you, that you feel comfortable

Ange Lyons:

with, don't work in isolation.

Ange Lyons:

I know we've got to do the work.

Ange Lyons:

We have our client work to do, but maybe Take, I don't know, a Zoom break or go for

Ange Lyons:

a coffee with them somewhere if you can.

Ange Lyons:

Um, but don't work alone.

Ange Lyons:

Um, you don't need to be there because it is very isolating and it

Ange Lyons:

can be quite depressing sometimes when you're by yourself all the time.

Ange Lyons:

So don't, don't feel like you're ever alone.

Jon Clayton:

that really resonates with me.

Jon Clayton:

I, and I also, I feel that this is an opportunity for me to make a shameless

Jon Clayton:

plug that the Architecture Business Club will be opening its doors to

Jon Clayton:

some new members in early 2025.

Jon Clayton:

So, please keep an eye out for that.

Jon Clayton:

And I will talk about that in no doubt in future podcast episodes.

Jon Clayton:

So, that's going to be something that if you are working in and around

Jon Clayton:

architecture that there's going to be a safe space, a community there for you

Jon Clayton:

that you are able to join to meet people online and occasionally in person too,

Jon Clayton:

where we can work on our businesses together and help and support each other.

Jon Clayton:

So that's something that I'm really excited about.

Jon Clayton:

The feedback from the founding members so far has been absolutely

Jon Clayton:

incredible, so I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes in 2025.

Ange Lyons:

Oh, such a great idea.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, I think so.

Jon Clayton:

Andrew, was there anything else that you wanted to add that

Jon Clayton:

we haven't covered already?

Ange Lyons:

Oh my gosh, what else have we not covered?

Ange Lyons:

Um, I can't think of anything else.

Ange Lyons:

Um, do you know what?

Ange Lyons:

I think Going back, actually, if you want to ask, I'll start again.

Ange Lyons:

Going back to the first few questions and conversations at the

Ange Lyons:

top when we're thinking of creative ways for marketing yourself, um,

Ange Lyons:

effectively, I'd say newsletters.

Ange Lyons:

I've just, well, I've been using MyLib newsletter for the last couple

Ange Lyons:

of years and it's, um, I think it's so underutilized, a form of marketing

Ange Lyons:

that people forget it's there and you can set newsletters up for free.

Ange Lyons:

Um, there's, uh, there's MailChimp, there's MailerLite, there's Qt.

Ange Lyons:

I'm not, you know, I'm not advocating any of those or promoting any of those.

Ange Lyons:

I'm just saying that they're out there and starter packs for them are free.

Ange Lyons:

Um, it's, what's the word?

Ange Lyons:

It's an easy way for you to create content that you want to be heard for and it's

Ange Lyons:

not, It cuts through, I suppose, some of the noise on social media because

Ange Lyons:

you're going directly into their inbox.

Ange Lyons:

Don't, I know there's a lot of email marketers out there

Ange Lyons:

that send emails every day.

Ange Lyons:

I normally unsubscribe from those, um, because I can't take it every day.

Ange Lyons:

But if it's every week or every other week, mine comes out every month, I can

Ange Lyons:

just about handle that, you know, and you, and you get to know people and you get

Ange Lyons:

to find out what they're about and what they do and how they sell their services.

Ange Lyons:

And if people say, Oh, I don't know what to talk about.

Ange Lyons:

There's always something to talk about.

Ange Lyons:

Start with a story.

Ange Lyons:

Tell people about who you are and what you do and tell that story.

Ange Lyons:

So I start with my newsletter, um, I'm going to be, my shameless

Ange Lyons:

plug now, um, Font Love Friday and other designery things.

Ange Lyons:

I always start the beginning of my newsletter with a little bit

Ange Lyons:

of a story and then I'll tie in a font or something designery around

Ange Lyons:

that, but people always like.

Ange Lyons:

People do mail me and say, Oh, that's so cool.

Ange Lyons:

Or I didn't know you did that.

Ange Lyons:

Or I'm going to tell my friend about that.

Ange Lyons:

And then, or I'm going to put this person in touch with that person.

Ange Lyons:

I'm like, wow, to see what the power of a newsletter did.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

to mind that I will, again, I usually start with a short

Jon Clayton:

story and it's usually just what is like the most interesting thing that

Jon Clayton:

I did that week, something like that.

Jon Clayton:

So something a little bit personal and then it will sort

Jon Clayton:

of segue into something of value.

Jon Clayton:

So you shall then just usually share the podcast episode

Jon Clayton:

and maybe some key takeaways.

Jon Clayton:

And then it will just usually end with.

Jon Clayton:

Some kind of call to action.

Jon Clayton:

So it might just be to book a chat with me or to tell your friends about

Jon Clayton:

the newsletter, you know, see if they want to sign up, or it might be that

Jon Clayton:

if I've got a product or a service that we're in the process of launching

Jon Clayton:

that you go and click here and learn more or sign up, that sort of thing.

Jon Clayton:

So it's pretty simple, really.

Jon Clayton:

Um, And it is, you know, it's a good way to kind of stay in touch with people.

Jon Clayton:

Cool.

Jon Clayton:

So, Angela, there's one other question that I wanted to ask, and

Jon Clayton:

it's nothing to do with freelancing.

Jon Clayton:

I love to travel and to discover new places, and I was just wondering if you

Jon Clayton:

could tell me about one of your favourite places and what you love about it.

Ange Lyons:

That's so hard.

Jon Clayton:

Yeah, I know, just one, but it can be near or far.

Jon Clayton:

It doesn't have to, doesn't have to be somewhere exotic if you don't want to.

Jon Clayton:

It could just be the end of the street.

Ange Lyons:

That's really hard because I have so many.

Ange Lyons:

you know what?

Ange Lyons:

It's going to be exotic.

Ange Lyons:

It's going to be St.

Ange Lyons:

Lucia.

Ange Lyons:

And that's where my parents are from.

Ange Lyons:

And I went when I was 12 years old for the first time and I was just blown away.

Ange Lyons:

First of all, I was blown away by the heat.

Ange Lyons:

I got off the plane, I didn't even get off the plane.

Ange Lyons:

I was like, what is this heat?

Ange Lyons:

And then I got off the plane, met my family and saw the beauty

Ange Lyons:

of the land, the sea colour.

Ange Lyons:

Um, the people are just so, just warm.

Ange Lyons:

Um, there's a rainforest, if you want to go and explore that.

Ange Lyons:

There's um, a non active volcano.

Ange Lyons:

And um, it's just such a beautiful island.

Ange Lyons:

It's so small, it's such a tiny little island.

Ange Lyons:

I mean we travel thousands of miles away from England to get there.

Ange Lyons:

But you can go around St Lucia in a day.

Ange Lyons:

You literally can.

Ange Lyons:

You can drive around it in a day, which I have done before.

Ange Lyons:

Um, but there's various points where you see different islands, different

Ange Lyons:

Caribbean islands, and it's just, it's so green and the sea is aqua

Ange Lyons:

blue and I just, I, I've got family there still, um, and I just love it.

Ange Lyons:

I just love St Lucia.

Ange Lyons:

And I know also Hotel Chocolat.

Ange Lyons:

I've got their hotel there.

Ange Lyons:

I haven't quite got the budget to go to that yet, but maybe one day.

Ange Lyons:

Um, but yeah, I was, um, It was so hard picking St Lucia, but I'd say

Ange Lyons:

that has to be the one because it's my um, It's my heritage and my home.

Ange Lyons:

Yeah.

Jon Clayton:

amazing.

Jon Clayton:

It's like we're recording this in December and it's quite kind

Jon Clayton:

of dreary and grey outside.

Jon Clayton:

And, um, yeah, just thinking about that kind of warm Caribbean

Jon Clayton:

sun and the sand and the sea.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, yeah.

Ange Lyons:

food the fruits, the fish.

Ange Lyons:

It's just, oh, the rum.

Jon Clayton:

Right.

Jon Clayton:

I need to kind of get on the, the travel agent site now

Jon Clayton:

and just, uh, get that books.

Jon Clayton:

I'm not sure what my wife would say, you know, where's our savings gone?

Jon Clayton:

Don't worry.

Jon Clayton:

We're going to the Caribbean.

Jon Clayton:

The kids and dog will look after themselves.

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

So Ange, um, if people would like to connect with you, where would

Jon Clayton:

be the best place to do that?

Ange Lyons:

Yeah, sure.

Ange Lyons:

Um, LinkedIn, I'd love if they want to connect on LinkedIn,

Ange Lyons:

um, more than happy to.

Ange Lyons:

If you send me a, if you do connect with me, tell me, um,

Ange Lyons:

how you, where you heard me.

Ange Lyons:

So tell me about this podcast.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and my website is lionscreative.

Ange Lyons:

co.

Ange Lyons:

uk.

Ange Lyons:

Bye.

Ange Lyons:

And you can also sign up to my newsletter if you're interested.

Ange Lyons:

Um, and that comes out again, I won't bombard you.

Ange Lyons:

It's, um, once a month and it's on fonts and designery things and a little bit

Ange Lyons:

about me and a little bit of my work.

Ange Lyons:

So yeah, those are, I'm also on Instagram and that's ange underscore lions.

Ange Lyons:

Um, where I post stories of what I've been up to.

Ange Lyons:

Well, I'm going to post this podcast actually in a minute.

Jon Clayton:

Ah, I'll

Ange Lyons:

Again, perfect marketing just to say if you want to be on

Ange Lyons:

podcasts or talk to people or You know, tell people what you've been

Ange Lyons:

up to, it's a good place to be.

Jon Clayton:

Brilliant.

Jon Clayton:

Oh, thanks so much, Ange.

Ange Lyons:

Oh, thank you so much John for having me, I've really enjoyed it,

Ange Lyons:

really enjoyed our chat and um, it's such a great topic to talk about and

Ange Lyons:

um, I'm glad you've highlighted it, so thank you and thank you for having me.

Jon Clayton:

You're welcome.

Jon Clayton:

Next time I chat with copywriter, Allie Sr, about PR.

Jon Clayton:

Thanks so much for listening to this episode of architecture business club.

Jon Clayton:

If you liked this episode, think other people might enjoy it.

Jon Clayton:

Or just want to show your support for the show.

Jon Clayton:

Then please leave a glowing five-star review or rating wherever you listen

Jon Clayton:

to podcasts, it would mean so much to me and makes it easier for new

Jon Clayton:

listeners to discover the show.

Jon Clayton:

And if you haven't already done, so don't forget to hit the subscribe button.

Jon Clayton:

So you never miss another episode.

Jon Clayton:

If you want to connect with me, you can do that on most social media

Jon Clayton:

platforms, just search for at Mr.

Jon Clayton:

John Clayton.

Jon Clayton:

The best place to connect with me online, though is on LinkedIn.

Jon Clayton:

You can find a link to my profile in the show notes.

Jon Clayton:

Remember.

Jon Clayton:

Running your architecture business.

Jon Clayton:

Doesn't have to be hard and you don't need to do it alone.

Jon Clayton:

This is architecture business club.