Freelancefolder

Happy New Year from Freelance Folder!

Posted December 31, 2009 in News 11 Rockin' Comments »

2009 is ending. 2010 marks the start of a brand new year.

For some, this new year will mark the start of a new venture. You’ve been a freelancer for a while, but this year you plan to expand and grow your business.

For others, 2010 may be your first year as a freelancer. You’ve been reading the posts here for a while, and at last you feel that you ready to get started.

Regardless of your plans for 2010, all of us at Freelance Folder wish you a Happy New Year!

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How To Start a Freelance Design Business: A Getting Started Guide

Posted December 30, 2009 in News 10 Rockin' Comments »

Well, it’s been almost 6 months since we released our first getting started guide for writers, and I’m finally happy to announce that our second getting started guide for designers is ready and available for purchase!

If you’ve been considering a starting a career in freelance design (I know some of you who are out there) then this guide is written just for you. This is in the same 50 page format as our writing guide, and is basically a step-by-step manual for starting a freelance design business. We’ve include resources, checklists, information from experienced designers, and much more — all packed into a handy guide for starting your business.

Think you might want to become a freelance designer? This is definitely the guide to check out.

Open Thread: How Do You Choose Who to Follow or Friend on Social Media Sites?

Posted December 30, 2009 in Open Thread 22 Rockin' Comments »

Here at Freelance Folder we write quite a bit about social media — and with good reason too. Most freelancers are involved with social media in one way or another.

Most freelancers would also probably agree that social media can be a helpful marketing tool, a good way to connect with other freelancers, and even a unique way to find work. Fortunately, freelancers who are seeking to grow their business through social media have many choices ranging from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, and more.

No matter what social media platform you choose to get involved in, there’s one question that you will need to answer. Who should I follow or friend?

We’d like to get feedback from the readers on this one:

How do you choose who to follow or friend on social media sites?

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How to Save Money While You Get Your Freelancing Business Going

Posted December 29, 2009 in Getting Started, Lifestyle 26 Rockin' Comments »

Are you struggling to make ends meet as a freelancer?

You’re not alone.

Let’s be honest. Getting a freelancing business off the ground can be really difficult. The feast or famine cycle catches many who’ve been accustomed to a regular paycheck by surprise. It’s also pretty hard to budget when your income is irregular.

You can get through those first difficult months as a freelancer, if you know what to expect and how to manage your money properly. In this post, we discuss those first difficult months and share some tips for getting through them.

We’ll begin by discussing what you should do before you start freelancing.

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10 Ways Freelancing Has Changed in the Last Decade

Posted December 28, 2009 in Business, Inspiration 18 Rockin' Comments »

Freelancing has been around since Sir Walter Scott coined the term in Ivanhoe—but the lances of medieval mercenaries have long since given way to pens, paintbrushes, and whatever creative tools of the trade we can wield.

As much as freelancing has changed over the centuries, the changes have been many and major over just the past ten years. Here are ten ways the industry has shifted since Y2K came and went, but all of them are at least indirectly caused by one major development—Internet supremacy.

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Productivity Tips for Freelancers with Toddlers Underfoot

Posted December 27, 2009 in Productivity 35 Rockin' Comments »

If you’re the freelancing parent of a young child, you’ll find that many productivity books are simply not applicable. They were probably written by either ultra-productive people without children, or those who are never expected to change a diaper during the daytime.

Advice like, “shut your home office door and focus on the task at hand,” is clearly not for the one who’s primarily responsible for the care of an infant, toddler or preschooler who needs constant attention 24/7.

Yet, you’re a professional who works at home. You do need to get stuff done, or else, how are you gonna make any money? Day care is not an option, because you chose to stay home so you could be with your child in the first place.

Boy do I know how you feel. I began freelancing when my youngest child was 20 months old. Since that time, I’ve discovered a number of things that help me squeeze a few hours of productive time per day. I still don’t work eight full hours a day (I know other freelancers work much longer hours), but I’m not tearing my hair out with frustration either.

In this post, we’ll give you some tips to help you become more productive.

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Happy Holidays from FreelanceFolder!

Posted December 24, 2009 in News 5 Rockin' Comments »

On behalf of everyone who is a part of FreelanceFolder, I want to wish you all a very happy and enjoyable holiday season. For those of you over-achievers out there, now is the time to stop working and take a bit of time off :-)

Go ahead and eat too much food, have fun playing with your little cousins, and get some rest while you can. Happy Holidays!

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21 Fun Distractions for Freelancers

Posted December 24, 2009 in Inspiration, Lifestyle 15 Rockin' Comments »

Can distractions actually help a freelancer to get more done?

Most of the time at Freelance Folder we talk about how to avoid distractions. That’s because most of us have deadlines and distractions can keep us accomplishing everything that we need to get done.

However, sometimes a distraction can be welcome. This is particularly true after an especially long or difficult project. A break can actually help by letting a freelancer relieve stress and return to work with a fresh perspective.

With this in mind, we’re sharing twenty-one fun online distractions in this post that we hope you’ll enjoy.

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When and How to Draw the Line When Everything Is an “Emergency”

Posted December 23, 2009 in Managing Clients, Productivity 14 Rockin' Comments »

Clients usually turn to freelancers because they prefer a more ‘personal’ approach than agencies or larger organizations can offer. The relationships and sometimes even friendships that come from working closely with clients to bring their vision to life are always a satisfying element of my business. Unfortunately, the expectations that accompany the client’s desire for personal service can grow to nightmarish proportions if not managed correctly.

Every client wants to be treated as though they are your top priority. This isn’t unreasonable. Striving to help clients feel valued and even “special” will almost always benefit your business reputation and inspire authentic word-of-mouth recommendations. But, there are some clients that appear to ‘forget,’ or never realize in the first place, that theirs is not the only project being worked on. This can result in unreasonable and outrageous requests, unachievable deadlines, and intense emotions for all  parties involved.

Some clients fail to grasp that for a freelancer to successfully serve all of their clients their projects must be carefully balanced. For various reasons these clients operate under a mentality that everything on their agenda is an ‘emergency’ and that the freelancer they hired should treat it as such. Their constant emails, impatient phone calls, instant messages, and so forth, can result in a terrible experience for everyone.

In this post, we share some suggestions for dealing with those so-called client emergencies.

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