Freelancefolder

Can Freelancers Benefit from Learning a Second Language?

Posted September 9, 2011 in Inspiration, Lifestyle

Freelancers face an increasingly global marketplace. Unless you work with local clients only, chances are that sooner or later you will end up working with someone in a different country and odds are that their native tongue may be different than your own.

This being the case, you may wonder whether your freelancing business would benefit if you became fluent in another language. Of course, many freelancers already are bilingual, and I invite them to weigh in on this topic.

In this post, I’ll discuss the freelancing pros and cons of learning a second language.

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Is Talent Enough?

Posted September 8, 2011 in Inspiration

How important is talent? Is it enough to let you succeed as a freelancer?

On the one hand, we’d love to believe that sheer talent automatically leads to freelancing success every time. Who doesn’t like a story of someone who rises from obscurity solely because of their outstanding ability? That’s the stuff movies are made of.

As freelancers, however, we are reluctantly forced to admit that such stories of “overnight” success are the exception rather than the rule. Most success depends on lots of hard work.

In this post, we’ll discuss the role that talent plays in success and explain how you can make sure that you reap the success your talent deserves.

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Why It’s Okay to Be Small

Posted September 6, 2011 in Inspiration

Lots of freelancers go to great lengths to disguise the fact that they’re a one-man (or one-woman) operation.

They may refer to their business decisions in plural (“we decided to…“), give themselves a fancy title (Chief of Operations), or even create a fake persona to screen phone calls. It’s almost as though they are ashamed of being a freelancer.

However, being a small business isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Freelancers should not feel that being a solo professional is something they need to hide.

In this post, I’ll explore what it really means to be a small business. Next, I’ll list some advantages that small businesses offer that large companies usually cannot offer.

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My 12 Biggest Freelancing Fears That Didn’t Come True

Posted August 29, 2011 in Freelance Stories, Inspiration

Fear kept me from freelancing for a long time.

Colleagues and even acquaintances would comment on how my skills were perfect for becoming a freelancer and still I hesitated. I just “knew” something major and bad would happen if I left my comfortable corporate job for the uncertainty of freelancing.

Well, it turns out that I was wrong about something bad happening. I’ve been freelancing for over nine years now. Most of my biggest fears never came true at all.

In case your fears are keeping you from taking that next step, I’m sharing them here in this post.

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The Accidental Blogger

Posted August 25, 2011 in Inspiration, Writing

Have you ever started something that didn’t seem to work out, only to later experience great success in that same area? Have you ever thought about blogging professionally?

If you answered “yes” to either question, this post is for you. It’s the true story, in her own words, of a professional blogger and how she got started.

Let’s begin. Here is Sharon’s story…

I sometimes describe myself as an accidental blogger. That’s because the first time I started a blog, it didn’t go so well.

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Find Your Forgotten Treasure

Posted August 11, 2011 in Inspiration

Everyone loves a treasure hunt!

Movies, stories, and even games have been created around the concept of hidden treasure. The attraction is simple–somewhere that nobody expects something very valuable is hidden.

It can be fun to watch a movie about a treasure hunt or to take part in a scavenger hunt, but did you know that you may be overlooking things of value to your freelancing business?

In this post, I’ll list some freelancing treasures that you may have forgotten about. I’ll also explain how you can discover some of these hidden freelancing treasures for yourself. Some of them may be hiding right under your very nose!

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Mindset Busters That Make Freelancers Fail

Posted August 9, 2011 in Inspiration

One of the first things I learned as a freelancer was the importance of mindset.

I study successful people and I’ve noticed a few things. Many of them are talented, but some of them are average, at best. Neither do they have mind-blowing academic achievements. Some of them aren’t even good looking.

And yet, they attract hordes of loyal “fans.” They seem to beguile clients and hypnotize them into opening their wallets to pay their sky-high rates.

What sets “them” apart from struggling freelancers?

I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the most important ingredients to success in freelancing–in life–is mindset.

Mindset is the way you think about yourself, others, and the world around you.

Often, we’re unaware of these thoughts. Yet they play in our minds every minute of every day and affect the decisions we make and how we behave.

Below, I’ve listed a few negative mindsets that could be standing between you and your freelancing success. What I present below are practical ways in which you may be sabotaging your own success. Read on.

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10 Kind Things You Can Do Today to Help Another Freelancer

Posted August 5, 2011 in Inspiration

One of the characteristics of freelancing is that freelancers don’t see their peers every day. In a traditional work environment, you may find yourself housed in a building that not only includes your peers, but other workers as well.

While working alone can have its advantages (no noise, fewer interruptions), there are some disadvantages too. For example, if you need advice from a colleague there’s no one right there to help out. If you’re feeling a little down, a nearby coworker isn’t there to cheer you up.

Well, just because freelancers work alone doesn’t mean that we have to totally do without the kind of help that coworkers traditionally give each other. As freelancers we’re not really alone. There are a lot of us out there (and our numbers are growing every day). Through social media and other online connections, we can help each other out.

In this post, I list ten kind things you can do today to help another freelancer out.

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Five Fast Facts About Freelancing

Posted July 31, 2011 in Getting Started, Inspiration

You’re thinking about becoming a freelancer. Or, maybe you’ve already started your own freelancing business.

Good for you!

This means you’re doing something positive about your dreams. You’re taking action (or about to take action). Taking action is a very good thing.

Freelancing can provide a wonderful life. But freelancing also has its ups and downs–the downside just doesn’t get mentioned very often.

In this post, you’ll learn a few fast facts about freelancing that you may not have realized before.

This post lists some of the difficult truths about freelancing that no one really wants to talk about. However, really understanding these fast facts will put you ahead of the game as a freelancer.

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