Freelancefolder

8 Tips for Success When Freelancing On the Road

Posted June 30, 2009 in Lifestyle, Productivity 27 Rockin' Comments »

Let’s face it, most of us freelancers do what we do in order to have the potential to work and play on our own terms. I love setting my own hours so I can enjoy life, and I also love slogging away on projects that I’m really passionate about. One aspect of play that many of us want to take up is to be able to freelance and travel at the same time.

In fact, that’s exactly what I’m going to be doing in a few months when I start my 1 year (hopefully) journey around the world. I don’t start this adventure for a while, but it’s good to have everything organized before I back my bags and take off.

In order to help me prepare for my upcoming trip, and to provide a resource for any of you who might be traveling and working in the future, I decided to put together this checklist of what you’re going to need when traveling.

Some of the following items are more important than others, and some may not apply to you. I wanted to put together a list that covered as many situations as possible without being too bloated. If there’s something I missed or you have your own suggestions, please share them in the comments!

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How To Be Genuine and Nice in a Web 2.0 World (and Why It’s Important)

Posted June 29, 2009 in How-To, Marketing 21 Rockin' Comments »

In the past, we’ve posted here about the importance of monitoring your online reputation. That post was mainly about knowing and responding to what others are saying about you, or about your business, online.

There’s a whole other dimension, however, of online reputation management that doesn’t often get discussed.

It’s the dimension of how you, as both a professional and individual, behave online.

It may surprise you to know that some of the worst hits to your freelancing reputation occur, not as a result of what others say or do online, but actually as a result of what you say or do online.

Sadly, the reputation damage that you do to yourself can often be more severe than the reputation damage that others do to you.

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Open Thread: Do You Have a PDF or Web Portfolio?

Posted June 26, 2009 in Business, Open Thread 29 Rockin' Comments »

A good portfolio is a freelancer’s gateway to the world. It’s the primary factor that clients evaluate when hiring for a new project, and it’s the first thing peers and friends look at to determine a freelancer’s skill.

With the obvious importance of a portfolio, it’s no wonder most freelancers spend hours, days, or weeks creating something that looks awesome. Having a good portfolio is just that important.

But there are a number of different ways to create a portfolio — and not everyone agrees on the best choice. You could create a PDF with your top designs, so you can easily attach it to email sent to prospective clients. Or you could build a custom portfolio into your website (popular with designers) so you can simply link to that and be finished. Many freelancers do both.

Alternatively, there are some websites built specifically to showcase the work of freelancers, be it design, photography, or writing. Two popular sites of this type are CarbonMade and Coroflot.

How do you handle your portfolio? Do you use a PDF with all of your work, or a custom built website with your designs? Maybe both? Or, do you use something entirely different?

Share your thoughts and expertise in the comments.

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Five Mini-Vacations That Won’t Cost Much or Disrupt Your Schedule

Posted June 25, 2009 in Lifestyle, Productivity 16 Rockin' Comments »

Relaxation is important. There’s a certain level of stress inherent to freelancing, and the freelancer who refuses to take a break risks developing burnout and stress-related health problems.

Despite relaxation and breaks being so important, going on a vacation is a difficult thing to do for many freelancers.

For one thing, we freelancers don’t get paid vacation time like most salaried workers do. A beginning or struggling freelancer might not even have enough money to go on a vacation in the first place.

Also, as business owners we have to worry about being out of touch with our clients for an extended period of time. What if a client or a potential client contacts us with that “big job” while we’re gone? What if something urgent comes up that must be dealt with?

Fortunately, it’s not always necessary to go away on a long or expensive vacation to get the relaxation that every freelancer needs.

Here are five low cost or free vacation options that will help you relax and de-stress.

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Increase Your Freelancing Income by Narrowing Your Focus

Posted June 24, 2009 in Business, Productivity 20 Rockin' Comments »

It seems to make logical sense that the wider you cast your net, the more fish you can catch. Subsequently, this is the approach that many people take in all areas of life — including business. When people start freelancing, for example, it’s common that they’ll try to expand their market as wide and as far as possible — all in the hope of catching more clients.

They offer more services than anyone else. They focus on more traffic sources than anyone else. They try to get more clients than anyone else (no matter what they are paying). Because this ‘more mentality’ makes sense logically, a lot of people stick to it.

Today, however, I want to go against the grain.

Instead of telling you to do as much as you can for as much as you can get, my advice is actually quite simple: increase your income my narrowing your focus.

Allow me to give some examples…

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25 Must-Read Blogs for Freelance Designers

Posted June 23, 2009 in Graphic Design, Tools/Resources, Web Design 33 Rockin' Comments »

So far at FreelanceFolder we’ve had a showcase of 20 Must-Read blogs for Freelance Writers, and also a showcase of 20 Must-Read blogs for Online Entrepreneurs — so it’s only fitting to add to this collection of lists and showcase 25 must-read blogs for freelance designers.

It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to sharpen your skills as a vector designer, a photoshop designer, a website designer or if you’re just looking for resources, inspiration and freebies (like brushes & icons), the websites below will give you everything you’re looking for. I’d definitely suggest checking them all out and subscribing to each of their RSS feeds (I’ve got them all in my feed reader).

Vector Design Blogs

Below are some great blogs specifically written for those of us who are looking for vector tutorials and resources.

AI Burn

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Learning To Say “No” Nicely — How to Keep From Burning Bridges

Posted June 22, 2009 in How-To, Productivity 19 Rockin' Comments »

It’s scary to turn work down from a client.

Saying “no” could easily upset them, and it’s very possible that they might even get mad at you. For all you know, they might write you off as a freelancer — never to call on you for work again.

No freelancer that I know ever wants to risk losing a client because they turned down work.

For this reason, and many others, freelancers often agree to take on projects that they really don’t have the time to do properly.

However, squeezing the new work into an already full schedule could mean making mistakes (or even worse, compromising on quality). The result is often disappointment on the part of the client and frustration on the part of the freelancer.

It seems to be a problem with no good answer, but is it really? Is it possible to keep a client even after you’ve refused work from them?

Let’s examine some steps that you can take when a client contacts you with work that you don’t really have time (or desire) to do.

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Are You Trapped In The Wrong Freelancing Profession?

Posted June 19, 2009 in Business, Lifestyle 21 Rockin' Comments »

People often feel trapped in their nine-to-five corporate jobs, but I’ve known that “trapped” feeling to happen to freelancers too.

Feeling trapped can happen to a freelancer when he or she takes on a freelancing career for the wrong reasons. Some of those wrong reasons might include:

• Starting a freelancing career just because someone you know or have heard was successful in that field.
• Starting a freelancing career solely for the money
• Starting a freelancing career based on a single experience that you liked

Whatever the reason, feeling trapped by your freelancing profession is no fun at all.

Fortunately, freelancing is very fluid. If you do feel “trapped,” don’t despair. You have more options than you may realize.

In this post we’ll provide some information to help you decide whether you are really in the wrong profession, or just suffering from burnout. We’ll also discuss what your options are if you truly find that you have chosen the wrong freelancing profession.

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How I Used Blogging to Land $20,000+ Worth of Clients

Posted June 18, 2009 in Freelance Stories, Marketing 26 Rockin' Comments »

There are numerous ways to expand your client base and increase the size of your portfolio. Common tactics used to do this include utilizing your contacts, taking part in relevant discussion forums, being active in freelance marketplaces and even watching industry specific job boards.

One idea that is implemented by some people but certainly not by everyone, is blogging. Sharing your abilities with the world in the hope that the right person finds what you have to offer. Through my experience though, quite a few people fail to have any success when trying to use this strategy.

Today I want to share my own story, and how I made over $20,000 in 4 months when my only source of clients were through blogging. To some, $20,000 might not seem like much, I really don’t know what your own income looks like. Yet, when I tell you I did this at 17 whilst working in my bedroom, it might make blogging look a little more promising.

Whether you run a blog or are considering starting one, I hope this post gives you a fresh look on some ideas you may have missed.

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