10 Tips for Becoming a Freelancing PowerHouse
Posted August 26, 2009 in Business, How-To 45 Rockin' Comments »
When it comes to freelancing, most people assume it’s all fun and games. The thing that many forget to realize is that when you are setting your own hours and being your own boss, responsibilities double. If you work from home, I am sure you know what I am talking about.
Working from home is great, and setting my own hours couldn’t be better. However, there was a point when it almost felt like it wasn’t worth it. Not anymore. I made some changes to the way I do things and since then it has been all fun and games (besides occasional work stress).
I have been working from home for a couple years and I really do enjoy being there for my family when they need me. In this post I’ve listed a few tips that will help you conquer the pitfalls of freelancing and turn you into a freelancing powerhouse.
The Simple Truth About Success
Posted July 28, 2009 in How-To, Inspiration, Lifestyle 16 Rockin' Comments »
Success.
That elusive, intangible thing that we’re all searching for day after day, month after month, year after year.
What is success? How does one achieve success? How long does it take? Is it even possible?
5 Tricks That Make You More Attractive to Clients
Posted July 20, 2009 in How-To, Marketing 54 Rockin' Comments »
It’s been talked about over and over again — if you want to run a successful freelance business you have to find and win good clients.
In this article, I want to focus on the ‘winning good clients’ part. Specifically, I want to share a few tips that will make you more attractive to potential clients. Assuming you have a prospect or two that you’d like to work with, these tips should help you close the deal and get the check.
Winning a new client generally isn’t as difficult as it seems. Prospects usually only have a few specific needs to be met, and if you can handle them you’ll generally be good to go. In some cases, it can take a little bit extra — and that’s where these tips can come in handy.
Working With Friends and Family — Can It Ever Work?
Posted July 17, 2009 in How-To, Lifestyle 29 Rockin' Comments »
Sooner, or later, it’s bound to happen. If you’ve been freelancing for any length of time, then you know that eventually your friends and family are likely to request to work with you.
The request can come in several different forms. Your friend or family member might actually want to work with you as a partner or an employee (this is becoming increasingly common in today’s troubled economic times). Or, they could want you to do work for them — typically for less money than the market rate for your services.
Whichever form the request takes, most freelancers that I know dread working with close friends or family since they know that involving relatives or close friends in their business could have serious negative repercussions in their personal lives. However, there are some freelancers who successfully work with friends and family.
10 Productivity Tips That Work Surprisingly Well
Posted July 14, 2009 in How-To, Productivity 34 Rockin' Comments »
Productivity is just one of those qualities that we all yearn for. As freelancers we have to be productive in order to get projects done before the deadline approaches. The more productive we can be, the more money we earn — it’s a simple equation.
We’re all productive to a certain extent, but there are always a few things that we know but often fail to apply. Of the many things I’ve tried to boost my productivity, some have failed and some have worked wonders.
The ten tips that you are about to read are the ones that I practice regularly in order to keep my business going. Some of you may already practice these and, if you don’t, I hope this post serves as a productivity-boosting reminder.
Retention During The Recession: 20 Ways to Get And Keep More Clients
Posted July 7, 2009 in How-To, Marketing 26 Rockin' Comments »
The recession is a scary thing. Mentioning the word recession makes peoples’ eyes bulge and their body language switch from open and happy to reserved and timid. Is it the fact that the super big businesses across the world are closing or filing for bankruptcy? Or could it be that the smaller businesses are closing shop and leaving entire strip malls across America vacant?
Whatever the reason behind it, I am sure the recession has scared all of us at one point or another. The nervousness we get when we look at our financial records and wonder if they’re going to be dipping to an all time low. The uneasy feeling we get when all of our leads have dried up and we do not know what to do next. Or the view of the freelance world from the outside looking in — the first time freelancer who doesn’t know if they should take the jump now because times are so hard.
Before continuing with this article, you should be sure that you want to freelance during a recession. From there, the steps in this article will feel a lot easier for you. My goal is to help calm all of those fears with ten sure fire ways to get more clients and keep them. The steps are simple — and in some cases, downright easy, however most of us have either overlooked them or have been too wrapped up in other things to apply them. Now is the perfect time to change all of that!
Negotiating With Clients 101
Posted July 6, 2009 in How-To, Marketing 29 Rockin' Comments »
After freelancing for a while, many freelancers find themselves at a crossroads — asking themselves a single important question: how can I get better projects?
It’s an important question, but fortunately it’s also a question that is fairly easy to answer. You can get better projects, better pay, and better terms through negotiation.
Unfortunately, many freelancers just don’t negotiate. It’s much easier to complain after the fact, but it’s much more productive to negotiate better terms before even getting into a bad situation. Here are some of the most common complaints:
- “I don’t really have enough time to get my project done.”
- “The project was sure a lot of work — too much work if you ask me.”
- “I wish that could have gotten paid more for that work.”
Too often, we freelancers just accept the project terms that are dictated to us by the clients without question. However, accepting projects with too short a turn around, too little pay, or too much work can lead to freelancer frustration and burnout.
Freelancers needn’t be afraid of negotiating better project terms for themselves. In this post, we’ll show you why. We’ll also give you a few pointers that might help you start winning better projects.
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.
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.
Try searching "Getting Clients" or "Productivity"
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