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Asynchronous meeting platforms have the opportunity to make a big impact for consultants and businesses of all types. From small and mid-sized businesses and solo freelancers to large legacy organizations, startups, and teams of all shapes and sizes, leveraging the power of an asynchronous meeting platform can increase focus, boost productivity, drive better results, and contribute towards higher revenues and profits.
In this post, we’ll examine the positive impact an asynchronous meeting platform can have for freelancers, side hustlers, and those participating in the gig economy.
Side-hustling and the gig economy is here to stay
There’s no denying the growth and importance of the side hustle or gig economy. Rising costs-of-living and Gen-Y's (or “Millennials''”) impact on the world, along with Gen-Z entering the workforce in droves, has undoubtedly shifted the landscape. Gone is the common thought that salary or hourly pay from one job is going satisfy financial requirements and workers’ passions.
Now, side hustles, gigs, and other types of freelance work are helping workers fund their passions, pay off mountains of school loan (and other) debt, and create a future for themselves where they’re in control.
Check out these statistics, gathered by SmallBizGenius.net:
- About 36% of U.S. workers are now involved in the gig economy.
- U.S. freelancers contributed $1.28 trillion to the American economy in 2018.
- 90% of freelancers think the industry has an even brighter future ahead of it.
- If the gig economy keeps growing at its current rate, more than 50% of the U.S. workforce will participate in it by 2027.
- In 2018, U.S. independent workers spent a billion hours per week freelancing.
- 42% of young people freelance.
Side-hustlers, contractors, freelancers need a better way to meet
While there’s certainly a large number of participants in the gig economy focusing their side-hustle efforts on ride sharing, delivery networks, and other platform-based services, many are offering services that require frequent meetings and communication with clients. And, therein lies the problem a growing number them will face.
Whether you’re coaching or consulting, freelance writing, or offering some other type of service-based side hustle, time is extremely limited and crucial to your success — no matter your goal. If your goal is to work your side hustle outside of your 9-to-5 to create a better path for your career success, meeting and communicating with your clients is going to be extremely difficult during their off-hours. If you’ve already said goodbye to your day job and corporate life, you know well the balance of working in your business vs. on the business and how important efficiency is in completing good work.
Relying heavily on synchronous meetings with clients will be a challenge that’s difficult to overcome for so many would-be side hustlers. Fortunately, there’s a better way.
Freelancers and side-hustlers should leverage the power of an asynchronous meeting platform to drive business processes
Side-hustlers, freelancers, and those working hard in the gig economy have a seemingly-bottomless tool box to choose from in order to get their wide variety of jobs done. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies make tools for web design and development, email, marketing, invoicing, and finance readily available to side-hustlers.
But, until now, there have been no tools that help side hustlers and freelancers meet asynchronously with their clients. Asynchly’s asynchronous meeting platform puts side hustlers, freelancers, and others working in the gig economy in control of the communication, collaboration, feedback loop, and meeting expectations that come from working with clients.
Our asynchronous meeting platform makes it easy to meet and lessen a reliance on traditional synchronous meetings held in-person, via phone, or by video-conference by focusing on simple objectives, the right contributors, aligned deliverables, clear communication, fair turnaround times and run-dates, and freedom to focus on priorities.
Let’s run through three use-cases that showcase how a side-hustler, freelancer, or member of the gig economy should leverage the power of the Asynchly asynchronous meeting platform to enhance their business:
Freelance writer working with regional bank CEO, ghostwriting thought-leadership articles
OK, so let’s pretend you’re a freelance writer and you do your work on early mornings, nights, and weekends when you’re away from your job as a sales coordinator at a local logistics company. On your side hustle to-do list is generate leads, build proposals, manage clients’ expectations — and that’s all before you actually do the work you’ve committed to.
In this use case, it’s imperative to connect regularly with the CEO to establish strategy, theme, and tone of each published piece. Between her chock-full calendar and the fact that you work in your sales coordinator role from 8-5, Monday through Friday, it’s going to be nearly impossible to effectively meet a convenient time. And, given your full plate on top of one that’s already full, you certainly want to make every minute you spend on your business as efficient and lucrative as possible.
Leveraging the power of an asynchronous meeting platform like Asynchly, you could complete your work during the off-hours and hold asynchronous meetings as required with your busy client. You’ll get the feedback and inputs needed to do more good work, and the client CEO will spend less time in meetings and more time seeing articles published!
Contracted web designer working on website redesign for large regional home improvement business
Now, let’s pretend you’re a web designer for a software company but also take on clients on the side to help pay off your mortgage. You work a busy day pushing software and after the kids go to bed, you sit down to work on a client’s redesign. Applying the same framework as noted in the previous use case, you can establish asynchronous meetings to provide status update, gather feedback and perspectives, and see the redesign through while limiting the amount of time you need to meet synchronously. You’ll get more work done quickly so you can move on to the next project. Your client will get a super-efficient redesign and an awesome new website.
Sales consultant helping startup improve sales pipeline with monthly contract
As a sales consultant, your everyday could very easily be filled up with 30-60 minute meetings. From individual and team status updates to feedback, to quote requests, proposal reviews, and beyond, there are seemingly endless needs to meet.
But, what if you’re a one-person show? What if you’re working with multiple clients? What if your consulting business was another nights and weekend effort? You’d need to be as efficient as possible.
As a sales consultant helping a startup fill their sales pipeline, you could very easily leverage an asynchronous meeting platform to knock off 50-60 percent of your synchronous meetings. That would leave much more room and mindspace to achieve a rarity in this modern business world: really good synchronous meetings.
With such a large percentage of the workforce either needing to or wanting to build a side-hustle business to power their passions, pay off debt, or simply “get ahead,” time and energy to achieve goals is going to be parmount. It’s time we all committed to smarter meetings. The Asynchly asynchronous meeting platform is designed to take the dread out of meetings and put a clearer focus on a meetings’ objective so all involved can get back to their work and return to their lives.
Are you a freelancer or side hustler looking for a more efficient way to interact with clients and limit the amount of meetings you’re attending? Connect with a member of our team to learn more about the Asynchly asynchronous meeting platform and how it could elevate your side hustle.
