Freelancefolder

How To Keep Mistakes From Ruining Your Freelance Career

Posted April 18, 2008 in Business, How-To 19 Rockin' Comments »

“You made a mistake on that project!”

Believe me, those are the very last words that any freelancer ever wants to hear. After all, mistakes mean rework and rework cuts into your profit (to say nothing of the effect on customer satisfaction). However, sooner or later, every freelancer does hear those words. How you respond to them could determine the future course of your freelancing career.

I remember finishing a particularly challenging project a few months ago. I don’t normally ask family members to read my freelance writing. (They find it boring, imagine that!) This time, because I had worked so hard on the project, I persuaded a family member to read through my project after I had already turned it in.

As they read, I reread the piece over their shoulder. To my horror, as I read I saw two typos that had escaped my earlier rounds of proofreading. [Click Here to Read More...]

Let Your Creative Style Include How You Look – Dress For Success

Posted April 17, 2008 in Lifestyle 11 Rockin' Comments »

Have you ever given thought to how your appearance plays into getting work as a freelancer? Maybe you should. Even though graphic designers, photographers and writers have fallen into a more casual style of dress, today’s business world demands a professional attitude as well as aptitude.

If your idea of dressing for success includes a clean pair of holey jeans and a T-shirt spouting the latest rock band, chances are you need to reexamine your wardrobe. Unless you never get out of the house?

Many graphic designers, photographers and writers make a living working from the comfort of our own little corner of the world in comfortable clothes and drinking way too much coffee. We do our best work in our pajamas with no one to interfere with the creative process at three in the morning. [Click Here to Read More...]

5 Useful Things You Could Do Tomorrow

Posted April 15, 2008 in Productivity 17 Rockin' Comments »

With my previous guest post, I have explained that there are all sorts of useless tasks which end up making maximizing results as far as your personal productivity level is concerned next to impossible. I have referred to 5 of the absolutely useless things which most people do on a daily basis and, as a logical follow-up, here are 5 extremely useful things which you could start doing tomorrow:

1) Get Up Earlier

Let’s face it: would it kill you to get up earlier tomorrow (of course, that means that you should also go to sleep earlier tonight)? You’d be surprised as to how incredible the results you could be experiencing may be as a result of such an approach.

Use the extra free time you gain however you see fit: spend more time with your beloved ones, work on a certain project, the possibilities are virtually endless and, as a result, getting up earlier tomorrow will definitely prove to be a decision you will not regret. [Click Here to Read More...]

Why Your Rates Are Painfully Lower Than They Should Be

Posted April 14, 2008 in Business 21 Rockin' Comments »

When you take on a new project, you take on a very specific per-hour rate – either an agreed upon rate ($40/hr, and I told the client it should take about 10 hours) or a per project rate ($400, but I think it will take 10 hours, so that’s $40/hr). But for far too many freelancers, that rate is never, ever achieved. In fact, most will face the reality that they make far less than their intended rate. Why so? Because a) they fail to estimate the scope of the project correctly, and b) they don’t get honest with how long things really take.

The Accidental Lies We Tell Ourselves

Take web design for an example.

• You think back to the last site you made and think, “Hell, I did that in 10 hours. Easy peasy!”
• You tell Mr. Client it’ll be $400.
• You get to work.

Then reality sets in. [Click Here to Read More...]

I Got My Roadmap! Do You?

Posted April 13, 2008 in Business, Marketing 2 Rockin' Comments »

Have you ever gone on vacation without the roadmap? Drives you nuts in short order, doesn’t it? You stop at the first gas station and pick one up and whoever is sitting in the navigator’s seat gets to studiously mark out the route.

Or if you are lucky enough to have one of the newer vehicles equipped with navigation tools would you consider leaving home without having it hooked up ready to go? Probably not!

You may ask yourself why I started this article in just such a manner, and the answer is this: If you plan your vacations or road trips right down to the route you are taking and a roadmap to get you there, don’t you think it’s a good idea to map out your route as a graphic designer? [Click Here to Read More...]

How To Get (And Keep) A Business Mindset

Posted April 11, 2008 in Business, How-To 16 Rockin' Comments »

Many people start a freelancing career, but few succeed. Do you ever wonder why?

If you ask a freelancer to list the biggest obstacles that they face, then you’ll get a lot of different answers. Some will say “lack of confidence”, others will list “ stiff competition for jobs”, or “gaps between projects” as their biggest challenges.

While there’s some merit to all of those answers, I’m convinced that the biggest obstacle that most freelancers face is the lack of a business mindset. As a freelancer you might not realize it, but you are running a business. This is true even if you freelance part-time. It’s important to understand what running a business really means.

Here are six tips to help you get (and keep) a business mindset towards your freelancing career: [Click Here to Read More...]

5 Useless Things You Did Today

Posted April 10, 2008 in Lifestyle, Productivity 29 Rockin' Comments »

Are you interested in getting more things done? Does it seem that the day should somehow have more than 24 hours so that you can complete all of the tasks on that to-do list of yours? Well guess what: you are wasting valuable time each and every day with useless activities which are simply not worth it.

Actually, here are 5 useless things you may have done today, let’s analyze them and see if they sound familiar:

1) You Have Watched Too Much TV

I personally hate TV and consider it one of the most dangerous time-wasters. First of all, it should be clear that, when watching TV, you are not doing anything productive. Honestly, do you think that staring at a screen just for the sake of it is worth it? [Click Here to Read More...]

Ten Reasons You Should Learn MS-Visio

Posted April 9, 2008 in Uncategorized 8 Rockin' Comments »

After almost fifteen years in the Information Technology field, I have come to respect both out of the box ($$) and open-source programs. However, there is one product which goes unmatched by open-source competition, and that is Microsoft Visio. It is relatively cheap and easy to use and will boost your software efforts in all ways. Here are ten reasons why you should start putting MS-Visio to work at your business or in your studies if you are a student:

1. Brainstorming. Visio has a powerful template that allows for simple brainstorming and the recording of ideas. Simply tremendous.
2. Block Diagramming. Visio has a powerful template that allows you to subdivide your ideas and represent them in “blocks”. Indeed, to divide is to conquer.

[Click Here to Read More...]

Welcome To Mason Hipp And Small Fuel – New Advertiser

Posted April 9, 2008 in News 2 Rockin' Comments »

Hey everyone, I’d like to welcome a new advertiser to the Freelance Folder family: Small Fuel Marketing.

This site is run by Mason Hipp and Natalie Miller. I’ve actually met (online) Mason some time ago, and I’ve been an avid reader of the Small Fuel blog since. (a blog I urge you to check out!)

[Click Here to Read More...]