Freelancefolder

Super Easy Timesavers for Super Busy Freelancers

Posted February 8, 2012 in How-To, Productivity

Like most freelancers, my time is important. I have to spend it wisely if I want to earn a profit.

Most days I face a challenging to-do list with more tasks on it than I could possibly accomplish. That’s why I make it my mission to work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The alternative, working extra hours or missing a deadline, is just not acceptable.

Of course, a mountain of self-help books, blogs, videos, and other materials already exists to help us learn to manage our time more effectively. The trouble is, like most freelancers, I just don’t have enough time to go through all those resources.

In this post, I pulled together some of the quickest and easiest time save hacks that you should be able to use right away. If you’re looking for even more time saving tips, you can find some more here.

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Three Easy Tips to Help You Effectively Estimate Project Time

Posted January 27, 2012 in How-To

Do you know how much time your next project will take? As a freelancer, you should at least have an idea.

If you’re freelancing, you must be able to effectively estimate the time each of your projects will take. If you can’t do this you won’t know how much to charge for your work or how to best schedule your time.

Estimating is one of the core freelancing skills, yet it is one that many freelancers struggle with. If you have trouble in this area, you’re not alone.

In this post, I’ll give you three easy tips to help you improve your estimating skills. I’ll also briefly share task-based estimating.

If you’ve ever underestimated the time it takes to complete a project, this post is for you.

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How to Deal with the Unique Challenges That Freelancers Face

Posted January 25, 2012 in Getting Started, How-To

Sure, everyone faces some challenges from time to time. But, due to the unique nature of freelancing perhaps freelancers are a bit more susceptible to some challenges than others.

If you’re properly prepared, though, you can handle most freelancing challenges that come your way while minimizing your stress.

In this post, I’ll outline some of the common challenges that freelancers face. I’ll also discuss how to handle those challenges that are most unique to freelancing.

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How to Set Personal Boundaries When You Work From Home

Posted January 20, 2012 in How-To, Lifestyle

Do you crave a balance between your work and your personal life?

Most freelancers do, but the challenges of working from home can sometimes make life/work balance seem unattainable. You may feel like you are constantly being pulled towards both family and work commitments–a bit like being in the middle of a tug-of-war.

One answer that can help you achieve better balance between your work and personal life is boundaries. In this post, I’ll explain how boundaries help freelancers. I’ll also list some of the areas where you should consider establishing boundaries in your own freelancing business.

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Do You Make These 5 Common Negotiating Mistakes?

Posted January 16, 2012 in How-To, Managing Clients

Negotiations are key for successful freelancers. Nearly every project starts with negotiations (or if it doesn’t, it should). Freelancers who can’t negotiate a profitable deal are at risk for losing money, or even worse, going out of business.

So, it stands to reason that negotiating skills are also important. In this post, I identify five common negotiating mistakes that freelancers often make. Read the post to make certain that you’re not guilty of making any of these errors yourself.

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What to Do About All that Stuff

Posted December 28, 2011 in How-To, Lifestyle

You know the stuff I mean: ebooks, videos, books, training materials, blog posts you mean to read, and so on…

I have a small confession to make. I’m not new to freelancing, but I’m a repeat victim of the Shiny New Object Syndrome. Simply put, I love to try new things–whether they be ecourses, new social media tools, books, and so on.

You’ve probably guessed this about me already by reading some of my posts (especially those posts about trends).

The trouble with trying new things is that, if they aren’t managed properly, they can take clutter up your workspace and take all your available time.

In this post, I’ll discuss this problem and share a few simple tips that help me manage all that stuff.

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5 Easy Tips to Increase Your Bottom Line

Posted December 21, 2011 in How-To, Productivity

Do you want a bigger bottom line?

As a freelancer business owner, you probably DO want bigger bottom line–you just may not know how to get one. In case you don’t know, in a nutshell your bottom line is the money left over after you meet your expenses. (Who wouldn’t want more of that?)

In this post I share five easy tips to help you increase your freelancing bottom line. Feel free to share your own tips for improving the freelancing bottom line in the comments.

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How to Find the Right Freelancer for the Job

Posted December 15, 2011 in How-To

You’re thinking about hiring a freelancer. That’s why you’re reading this post.

You may be a freelancer yourself (because freelancers do hire other freelancers). You may be a small business owner, or you might be the representative of a large corporation.

If you’ve never hired a freelancer before, the process might be a little bit confusing. There’s a ton information out there–some of it conflicting. How can wade through it all and find the best freelancer?

This post will take you through what I believe is the best freelancer hiring process, step-by-step. At the end, I’m inviting our readers (actual freelancers) to add their own advice. The result should be an invaluable resource on hiring freelancers.

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How to Devise the Perfect Freelancing Social Media Strategy for You

Posted December 14, 2011 in How-To, Marketing, Social Media

How can a freelancer develop an effective social media strategy with a reasonable investment of time?

As freelancers we rely on social media to interact with clients, potential clients, and other freelancers.

Social media is a great tool for freelancers (and since social media is most often free it’s very budget-friendly). But if you’re not careful, social media can also take up a lot of your valuable project time.

Of course, strategies will vary for each individual freelancer. However, over the past few years I’ve put a lot of thought into social media strategy. The tips in this post should work for most freelancers.

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