Freelancefolder

Four Freelancing Mistakes You Don’t Need To Make

Posted September 30, 2009 in Business, Freelance Stories

We rarely like to admit our mistakes, but if we fail to admit them and learn from them then they’re likely to be repeated. In this article I want to admit some of my mistakes to you, and share my experience so that you can avoid making them.

My journey has taken me from the highs of doing what I love every day to the lows of chasing monthly payments and then back again. To say that my journey has followed the typical freelance rollercoaster would be an understatement.

Making mistakes along the way is a big part of freelancing, though, and I’m sure many of you can relate when I say that these failures and mistakes help to make your business successful and teach you a lot along the way.

Today I want to share four that I’ve personally had to learn to avoid, and it is my hope that in sharing these you can avoid them yourself without having to go through them first.

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Does a Freelancer Need to Be Hypercompetitive to Succeed?

Posted September 29, 2009 in Business, Marketing

Competition.

The very word can strike fear and excitement into the heart of even the seasoned entrepreneur.

“What is the competition doing?”

“How competitive are we?”

“How can we beat the competition?”

These are all questions that every businessperson wonders at one time or another. There’s no doubt that a freelancing business must be competitive in order to survive.

But, what does being competitive really mean?

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20 Inspiring Personal Portfolio Sites You Should Explore

Posted September 28, 2009 in Inspiration, Web Design

When it comes to working online there is one thing that’s more important than just about anything else — a beautiful portfolio site. Showing off the best examples of your work is a must when you’re trying to win clients online, and whether you are a designer, photographer, or writer, it is critical to have a central portfolio that can do just that.

It’s often tempting to throw up a free theme and get started quickly, but when it comes to creating a first impression, a solid portfolio is the key. Even if you’re new to the world of freelancing, you should consider how to create a portfolio site that not only shows your work but also appeals to your prospective clients.

Here is a list of 20 personal portfolios that will hopefully inspire you and give you ideas for your own portfolio site:

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Why Online Friends are Important to Freelancers

Posted September 25, 2009 in Lifestyle, Marketing

“What a total waste of time!”

The sharp words the hung in the air between us. My offline friend had just watched me check in at some of my favorite social sites.

Of course, her sentiment shouldn’t have been a surprise to me. She’d mentioned before that she didn’t see any value in sites like Twitter and Facebook. To say that my friend didn’t get social media would be a complete understatement.

For the freelancer, online friends are not a waste of time. Rather, they are a very valuable part of a freelancer’s networking. While freelancers can always benefit from networking locally, social media sites allow us to connect with individuals and organizations that we might not otherwise have the opportunity to connect with.

Online friends are very important to freelancers.

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Open Thread: How Do You Handle Phone Calls?

Posted September 24, 2009 in Business, Open Thread

In these open threads on FreelanceFolder we like to discuss some of the very basic areas of freelancing that matter to you guys on a daily basis.

Take, for example, answering the phone.

What seems like a simple part of every freelancer’s day can actually be quite complex in practice. Do you use a cell phone or a land line? Do you have a number dedicated to business, or just a catch-all line? Do you use call forwarding? How about an 800 number? How do you deal with voicemail?

Figuring out how to handle the phone is not only daunting for a new freelancer, but it can also have a significant impact on the way more experienced freelancers do business. A good telephone strategy combined with the right technology can offer huge time savings and other benefits for the freelancer, whereas a bad setup can hold your business back.

So let’s compare notes and figure out the best way to do things. Share your answers to the following questions:

1. What’s your overall system for handling the phone?
2. Do you use any special software or tools?
3. Cell phone or land line? Is it dedicated to your business?
4. Do you use call-forwarding or an 800 number?
5. What tips or tricks have you learned for managing the phone?

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Your Business Backup Plan — Why You Need One

Posted September 23, 2009 in Business, Productivity

Many of you have been in this situation before: you have your workweek all planned out, you know exactly what you’re going to do and exactly when you’re going to do it. Everything is going right according to plan.

Or, so you thought.

Suddenly and without warning, a single event can change everything. Before you know it your entire week is turned upside down. What you thought you could do when you planned your week is no longer be possible.

It really doesn’t even matter what the event is. Many things can go wrong when you freelance. Here are just a few:

• You could receive an urgent phone call from a sick friend or relative
• The power and/or internet connect go out
• You could wake up in the morning as sick as a dog
• An accident could damage your car, your home, or (heaven forbid) you
• Your computer could suddenly quit working

You name it, and it’s possible (and even likely) that something will eventually go wrong and mess up your plans. I’m sure that you can think of disruptive events that aren’t even on my list.

This is where a backup plan comes in.

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5 Simple Steps To Rock Social Media

Posted September 22, 2009 in Marketing, Social Media

If you’ve ever wondered whether or not social media can help you as a freelancer, the simple answer is — absolutely. Being social on the web has many rewards; including connections, community, interaction, exposure, and trust. These five elements are critical for a business to survive, and with social media you can make sure you are building all of them.

If you’re new to the idea of social media for freelancers, or aren’t sure how it can help out your business, I recommend you look into these social media basics to get a better idea of what this is all about.

Once you’re familiar with the idea of using social media for your business, then this post is for you. Here are 5 simple tips that can make a big difference to your success with social media.

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10 Ways To Make Your Freelance Business Fail

Posted September 21, 2009 in Business, How-To, Humor

As I wade through the many blog posts and articles written about freelancing, I notice a very definite trend. While there are ample materials written for the freelancer who wants to succeed, there seems to be virtually nothing written for the freelancer who wants his or her freelance business to fail.

It seems a bit unfair, really. I can picture some poor freelancer miserably trapped in his or her success and desperately wanting to get out. Where can they turn to for advice?

Before today, resources for freelancers wanting to fail were scarce. Today, however, we’re going to fix that problem right here at FreelanceFolder.

If you’ve ever thought to yourself this business would be perfect if it weren’t for all of my clients, then this post is for you. We’ll give you a list of tactics that will drive those pesky clients away and quickly lead to your ultimate goal: freelancing failure.

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Why You Aren’t Landing Clients You Want (And What To Do About It)

Posted September 18, 2009 in Marketing

A few days ago I had the idea to go through all of my past client and prospect communications. My plan was to see if I behaved and communicated differently when I managed to land the best clients, and to see how it differed from when my attempts were unsuccessful. After going through around 50 emails I came to a conclusion — I couldn’t find a clear dividing line between the two.

Sometimes I had sent a huge pitch in PDF format and the prospect loved it, practically begging for my address to send a check. In other cases I had done the exact same thing, and never heard from the person again.

There were times when people contacted me with a budget, a timescale, and exact outline of what they wanted. I didn’t have to convince them, they knew they wanted my services already. Yet there were times when I had to work my socks off close the deal (which, of course, didn’t always work out).

Before I did give up on my quest to find some kind of useful information from all of this, I came to a realization that I think will benefit all of us. I know the following statement will cause some discussion but I stand by it 100%.

The way you communicate with your prospects doesn’t matter as much as how your prospects found you in the first place.

Let me explain in detail.

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