Although freelancing provides a more independent and flexible pathway of work, it’s still vulnerable to insecurities that can hamper productivity. The long-distance relationship you likely maintain with your clients can make it relatively easy for mistakes to occur if certain precautions aren’t taken.

From staying in touch with clients to managing invoices, there’s a lot to keep track of, and things can become more difficult to handle as your client base grows. Keeping your papers and documents in order will help you both maintain sanity and be prepared to

Safely Store All Communication With Your Clients

Save all your communication with clients in a safe place. A flash drive can be a handy storage tool to use. Cloud storage software, such as Dropbox, can be beneficial, too. Following this tip can allow you to look back on previous conversations and remind yourself of every expectation your clients have about work. Email applications like Gmail and Outlook have exporting tools to allow you to easily download your archives.

These saved documents can also help you clear up misunderstandings about things said in the past. They are especially useful for dealing with legal disputes that may occur in the future.

Log the Work You Do for Clients on a Regular Basis

Documenting all the work you do will further help you stay on track. It’s ideal to do this on an hourly basis to highlight the fine details of your efforts. This practice encourages you to develop a greater sense of accountability over time.

Also, passing these notes along to your clients can help them stay in the loop with what’s going on behind the scenes. In a sense, it is proof that you’re committed to reaching their business goals. Just make sure your documentation is thorough and easy to understand.

You might find a project management tool helpful for scheduling and logging your tasks. There are some awesome web tools out there, including  Freedcamp, Asana and Podio, to name a few. These tools are free to sign up for, and will even allow you to manage shared tasks with partners or freelancers you’ve teamed up with.

Keep Track of All Your Invoices

Keeping track of all your invoices is an important practice of financial stability as a freelancer. Doing so can help you identify changes with how much you earn and realize a greater earning potential. It will be easier to construct a sufficient budget around invoices. Also, you’ll be able to hold clients accountable for late payments with greater confidence.

Don’t forget about tax season. Filling out tax forms is much more challenging without having exact calculations of earnings. Create a filing system to manage your invoices in an organized fashion. Online payment services typically provide automated invoicing. Hire a responsive, helpful and knowledgeable bookkeeper from your area to make sure your finances are in order. A bookkeeper who’s used to working with freelancers will have all the information you need to handle your taxes, invoices and payments.

It’s challenging enough to avoid freelancing scams during the job search. But protecting yourself on the job is also a challenge worth taking, especially when working for international payments from foreign clients.

We were recently contacted by veteran oDesk freelancer and Payoneer account holder Lois Eva Adongo, regarding her experience using Payoneer as a payment solution for oDesk. Lois offers affordable business plan writing services on oDesk and is also the digital content strategist at the “Make a Living Freelancing” blog.

This is what she shared with us:

My name is Lois Eva Adongo. I am a thirty something Kenyan currently living in Yangon, Myanmar. 

I have  hands-on experience with startups as well as with established organizations; in the conceptualization, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of mobile, telecommunication, and branchless banking services in emerging economies including Uganda, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Kenya. An MBA graduate, I have also been providing small businesses with affordable and high quality business plan development services.

In April of 2009, I decided to move my business plan consultant services online through the oDesk platform in an effort to utilize knowledge from my MBA days. Almost immediately, I started getting contracts. But the greatest challenge I had was how to get paid for my freelancing services.

Initially, I used to request for electronic bank transfers to my Kenya shillings account. This proved to be a very costly option; so naturally, I started hunting for alternatives. Before long, I landed on Payoneer’s Prepaid Debit Mastercard. I applied for a card and in less than one month, I had received it.    

 Are you satisfied with Payoneer? Do you have any comments?

Sure. No regrets whatsoever. I’m an avid traveler who is also a risk taker. I have travelled to 30+ countries and lived in some very difficult ones. But one thing I love about Payoneer is that it never failed me even once. Anywhere there is a Mastercard logo, I have been able to use it. Even while I lived in Afghanistan back in the day, I was able to use my card. Additionally, when I wanted to verify my PayPal account, I used my Payoneer card. Thank God by then I had earned some cash from oDesk so I didn’t have any problem with topping it up.

Would you recommend Payoneer to other oDesk freelancers? If so, why?

Absolutely. So far, Payoneer is the cheaper option when it comes to withdrawing funds from oDesk.  In Kenya for instance, to receive your oDesk earning via bank transfer costs a whooping US$30, while with Payoneer, it can cost as little as US$1 if you are patient to wait for 2 working days. Otherwise, it only costs US$2.50 for immediate loading. And the best part, you get your money in US$, so no foreign exchange losses incurred.

Besides, Payoneer offers a safe and convenient way to pay for online purchases. I use Payoneer all the time to book my airline tickets and hotel accommodation.

Last but not least, Payoneer through its Refer-a-Friend program is an opportunity for earning extra income for telling others about the card’s benefits. Personally, I have earned substantial commissions by promoting the card to my blog’s visitor.

This is my 5^th year of using Payoneer Prepaid Master Debit Card and I have nothing negative to say about it.