freelance jobs, writing, design

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

Posted June 26, 2009 in Business, Open Thread 25 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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Increase Your Freelancing Income by Narrowing Your Focus

Posted June 24, 2009 in Business, Productivity 12 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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Are You Trapped In The Wrong Freelancing Profession?

Posted June 19, 2009 in Business, Lifestyle 20 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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25 iPhone Apps For The Mobile Web Worker

Posted June 17, 2009 in Business, Tools/Resources 18 Rockin' Comments »

One thing that most of us enjoy as a freelancer is being able to work from anywhere. There was a time when we would hit the coffee shops and start using the internet for a fee. That era was quickly replaced by the laptop packing web workers. Although phones are not quite able to replace the functionality and power of a laptop just yet, it’s getting closer day by day. Meet the new mobile friend of many freelancers — the iPhone.

These days iPhones are all the rage. Some people carry one to show how cool they are, and others due to all the possibilities it provides us with. I personally bought one a while back, initially just wanted to be a part of the cool group, however, after using it for a couple month it has slowly started to replace the need to take my laptop everywhere. Below is a list of 25 iPhone apps that I find myself using quite often, and that could be seriously useful to you as a mobile web worker.

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Four Professionals Who Can Help Your Business Succeed

Posted June 11, 2009 in Business, Getting Started 17 Rockin' Comments »

Freelancing is hard work — that much we know. The expectation, though, is that all of this hard work will lead to success.

Unfortunately, success doesn’t always follow hard work.

Sometimes the secret to success is getting help from the right people — the people who already know what you need to know in order to succeed.

As your business grows, you’ll find that you have questions that are hard to answer by yourself. You may look for the information on the internet and elsewhere, but it’s hard to be sure if what you find is accurate or up to date. Plus it’s a lot more time and work that you don’t necessarily need…

It’s time to get some extra help!

Fortunately, there are specialists who can answer your questions. In this post we will point you to the four big types that can help your business.

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How To Make Potential Customers Pick You Over ‘The Other Guys’

Posted June 9, 2009 in Business, How-To, Marketing 20 Rockin' Comments »

Worldwide, individuals and companies are tightening their belts. They are approaching new purchases cautiously — in many cases delaying, or even avoiding, new expenses.

Consumers and business buyers alike are looking to get maximum value for their dollar. The burning question at the back of every buyer’s mind is:

Why should I buy something from you instead of from your competition?

It’s more important now than ever to differentiate your freelancing business from other freelancing businesses. Differentiating your business is the key to winning clients from competitors.

To do this, you must first discover what sets your freelancing business apart from similar businesses. Once you discover what’s unique about your freelancing business you must express that information clearly and frequently to your customers and prospective customers.

In this post we’ll try to help you with both points.

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