Freelancefolder

2007-09-02 Sunday Links Folder

Posted September 2, 2007 in Uncategorized 3 Rockin' Comments »

Sunday again folks, hope you had a productive and lucrative week. Here are 6 posts/articles that I find are definitely worth reading. Please take some time to check out those blogs, I’m sure you’ll learn something new (I did).

But first, my good friend David Airey, who runs a really popular graphic design blog, is holding a contest. His blog just turned one! Congrats David!

• 15 Quick Ways to Give Value and Make a Positive Impression
• 5 Tips for Giving Feedback on Creative Work
• Dialogue Jump-Start Tip #1: Be Curious George - 1st post of the “Dialogue Jump-Start” serie by Tammy Lenski
• 50 Practical Home Office Feng Shui Tips
• Five Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies for Your Business or Website
• What I learned from starting my own business

[Click here to read more →]

We All Love Free Stuff - Give Some Away And Get More Business

Posted August 31, 2007 in Business, Marketing 4 Rockin' Comments »

Most companies out there will give you free samples of their products as an incentive to make you want to buy it, or buy something else they have. Even if you’re selling your services, and not necessarily products, you can still give some stuff away, and it’s a pretty effective way of getting new clients, or re-enforce the business relationships between you and your existing clients (get them to hire you again for their next project).

Your cell phone company will give 3 months of unlimited calling when you sign-up, when you go to the grocery store you get a little sample of that new product (mmm, peanut butter), you can find tons of free wordpress themes out there. Heck, even drug dealers will give you samples! [Click here to read more →]

Effective Communication With The Non-Creative and Non-Technical Folks

Posted August 30, 2007 in Business 4 Rockin' Comments »

It is very common to hear people say their last client was a pain, or that he didn’t “get it”, or “it looks ugly now because the guy wanted me to change this and that“.

Yes, I’m guilty, I said stuff like that many times before. But I probably shouldn’t have, and instead apply what I’ve learned from working in sales and marketing (5 years).

It’s usually the result of misinterpretation and a lack of communication between the creative and also technical mind (which would be you) and the non-creative mind (the client). [Click here to read more →]

Attention Grabbers - Posters And Flyers

Posted August 29, 2007 in Uncategorized 5 Rockin' Comments »

Quite often we (bloggers, designers, writers… ) forget that there are other ways to get customers than advertising and marketing our services/products online.

See, we spend a lot of time on the net, working from home, so usually when we think “advertising” we think “online advertising“.

• Let’s try to find ways to market my services online
• How can I get more people to see my website?
• What site should I join or visit to get more exposure?
• Where can I showcase my online portfolio?
• Where can I buy ads, on what sites?

Sure, advertising online is great. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it works well if you know what you’re doing.

But what about offline advertising? Yes, I mean to actually design a poster, print it, make copies, and plaster your super awesome, attention grabbing posters everywhere. Campus, store, computer shop, poster board, everywhere! [Click here to read more →]

How Chains Can Boost Your Profits Every Month

Posted August 28, 2007 in Marketing 6 Rockin' Comments »

As captain of your own ship, you’ve got to find your own customers. You can’t expect them to just call you up out of the blue, excited, pre-sold and ready to hand over their cash to yours truly.

Just kidding - that’s exactly what you can expect them to do. Here’s why … [Click here to read more →]

Online Reputation Management: A Necessary Evil

Posted August 27, 2007 in Uncategorized 3 Rockin' Comments »

The Internet has spawned a whole new profession. It’s called online reputation management. Even if you don’t do business online, have a website, or have an e-mail account, you still need to think about your online reputation.

Consider this:

Anyone can go online at any time and post a negative comment about you on a blog or message forum and if you have no other information about you online that’s what people will find when they look for you. One non-profit manager found an anonymous blogger posting about an alleged scam the manager was in. It turns out there was no evidence of the allegations and the anonymous blog was written under the nickname of the person they were accusing. The idea was to rank highly for the nickname, a black hat SEO trick. [Click here to read more →]