Simplify Freelance Work with Motiv: An All-in-One Solution

Note: This post was first published on the Jan 23, 2015.

As a freelancer, managing your tasks efficiently is essential. Beyond meeting deadlines and communicating with clients, there are numerous administrative tasks that can eat into your productivity, such as contracts, invoicing, and timesheets.

If you’re overwhelmed by the tedious tasks associated with freelancing, such as drafting contracts, creating invoices, tracking time, and managing proposals, Motiv is the solution you need. Motiv simplifies these tasks, transforming how you work. Let’s explore what Motiv can offer to streamline your freelance business.

Getting Started with Motiv

When you start using Motiv, you’ll follow a simple 5-step process. It begins with selecting a template from the dashboard, which includes options like contracts, invoices, projects, proposals, forms, or quotes.

I selected the invoice template and easily created an invoice by filling out basic details like the client’s name, price, project, and date using the Motiv invoice creator.

Once the invoice details are complete, you can choose to download the invoice as a PDF, send it via email, or print it. This page also includes a discussion section and an invoice history section, allowing you to track changes and updates.

Motiv invoices can be set up for payment through PayPal. A standout feature is the ability to view stats, showing whether the invoice was viewed, how many times it was viewed, and whether payment has been made.

Creating Contracts

With Motiv, building a contract is straightforward and organized through these four steps:

1. Basic Information
2. Contract Sections
3. Fee Schedules
4. Contract Design

These steps simplify the contract creation process, and you can also add custom sections to tailor the contract to your specific needs.

Once the contract is created, it can be sent to clients for electronic signing. Like invoices, contracts in Motiv come with stats that show when they were viewed and whether they’ve been signed.

Time-Tracking Made Easy

You can set up timesheets to log hours and generate invoices instantly with Motiv. The time-tracking feature is available both in the web app and as an installable application for Windows and Mac, saving you time by keeping all your invoicing and time management in one place.

Additional Features

Client Dashboard

Clients often misplace or forget documents, but with Motiv, they can log into their own dashboard and access all necessary documents. This eliminates the need to resend documents or deal with scanning and emailing.

Custom Domains

To enhance your branding strategy, Motiv allows you to use a custom domain with your business document solution. Setting up a custom domain is easy and helps boost your company’s reputation.

Pricing

You can try Motiv for free for 30 days. After the trial, you can sign up for the $15 per month plan, which offers comprehensive features for all users.

What I Liked

• Time-tracking feature simplifies invoicing.
• Ability to pay invoices via PayPal.
• Option to integrate your website domain with your Motiv account.
• Tracking feature to see if clients have opened your documents.
• Clients can create accounts to view documents needing their immediate action.
• Custom branding with your logo on Motiv site and documents.
• Contracts include crucial terms and clauses to protect freelancers.

What Could Be Improved

• No support for Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, or OneDrive integration.
• Limited communication options – no messaging feature within the platform.
• No support for Stripe payments.

Conclusion

Motiv truly redefines how you manage invoices, contracts, proposals, and quotes. With its array of features, you can easily create professional contracts that protect your business, all for a reasonable flat fee. I highly recommend Motiv for freelancers and businesses of all sizes to centralize your invoicing and document management needs.