Freelancefolder

Should You Freelance in a Recession?

Posted May 8, 2009 in Business, Lifestyle 26 Rockin' Comments »

Most economists have decided that the United States and even some European countries are in the midst of the worst recession in decades. No matter what you want to call our current economic situation, though, almost everyone agrees that these are difficult economic times.

Many workers are facing the loss of jobs or underemployment with a subsequent cut in income. Many current freelancers are seeing their income from client projects dwindle. Many others wonder – could freelancing be the best solution to my financial problems?

I have to admit that freelancing has been good to our family. Freelancing gave me the flexibility to be at home when my children were young. Freelancing allowed me to be available for my sick father before he died. Freelancing provides our family with a nice amount of money each month to add to the family budget.

Is freelancing the best solution to your financial problems? Should you freelance in a recession?

The answer is not simple. Whether or not you should decide to start or continue in a freelancing business in the current economy depends on many factors. The best answer to the question of should you freelance in a recession is this: it depends.

With this answer in mind, I’ve come up with two lists of questions that may help guide you in deciding whether or not freelancing in this economy is for you.

The first list is for those who have never freelanced before. The second list is for those who are currently freelancing.

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The Freelancer’s Battle: Fighting Distractions and Staying Productive

Posted April 24, 2009 in Lifestyle, Productivity 32 Rockin' Comments »

Whether you’ve been freelancing for two months or two years, it’s likely that you fight an ongoing battle with distractions. To succeed as a freelancer, it’s vital that you gain control over those distractions.

I think that freelancers face a particularly difficult battle against distractions because we often work independently. If we get off track, there is no one there to notice or to remind us to get back on task.

Working from home, while having many advantages, can also lead to distractions. If you work from home, how many times have you started the day focused on work projects and sort of drifted into doing errands instead? (If you can relate to this scenario, you’re not alone.)

Winning the fight against distractions can keep you from missing deadlines, having to rush to keep up, or making mistakes due to your own procrastination.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps that you can take today to overcome your distractions.

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Is Fear Stopping You From Being Successful?

Posted April 3, 2009 in Inspiration, Lifestyle 21 Rockin' Comments »

Fear is a powerful obstacle to freelancing success.

Fear can keep you from starting your freelancing business. Fear can keep you from expanding your freelancing business. Fear can also keep you from adequately promoting your freelancing business.

As an example of fear, here is a story from my childhood:

I grew up in a house with a basement. (Here in the south where I live now, most houses don’t have basements.) Despite the fact that the basement was finished with a fireplace and my parents had even put a ping pong table down there for us kids, for several years I refused to go into the basement.
 
I didn’t go into the basement because I was afraid. The furnace made loud noises when it turned off and on. The stairs creaked when you walked on them. To my seven-year old mind, this was enough to convince me that the basement was haunted.

The truth is that when I was a kid I missed out on some really good times because of my fear.

As an adult, fear also delayed the start of my freelancing career. Despite the fact that I had highly marketable skills and peers even commented that I had the self-discipline and business savvy that made me well suited to self-employment, I was afraid to get started.

My fears very nearly caused me to miss a great freelancing career.

Fear is a very real obstacle for freelancers. For most of us, fear has a mental and a physical component. With some extra effort and the right strategy, most of us can also overcome fear of success.

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Overcoming Loneliness: How To Develop a Flesh-And-Blood Support Group

Posted April 1, 2009 in How-To, Lifestyle 29 Rockin' Comments »

My friend leaned across the table. In a low voice she said, “I could never work from home like you do. I’d miss being around people too much.”

Actually, she has a valid point. At one time or another, most freelancers do face the problem of loneliness.

While it is great having virtual friends and colleagues from all walks of life and all over the world, there comes a time when most of us want to be around real people.

Loneliness might happen during a work-related crisis, a family-related crisis, or a personal crisis. Or, it might just be the consequence of spending too much time in front of your computer. Whatever the cause, that virtual contact just won’t do. You need a flesh and blood support group.

I’m fortunate in that I have several good friends that I can meet for lunch about once a month. So, I don’t really feel as isolated as I could feel. I can say this though, it’s a real treat for me to get out of the office and get face to face with another person. My local friends serve as sort of a support group for me and I appreciate their willingness to listen.

Since many freelancers work from home, we don’t often get the opportunity to make friends locally. Consequently, some of us don’t have a flesh and blood support group.

That’s where this post comes in handy.

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How To Know When A Project Is Complete (And Avoid Overworking)

Posted March 26, 2009 in How-To, Lifestyle 40 Rockin' Comments »

When is a project done? Do you really know how to tell when you should stop working?

New freelancers often ask me nervously how many times they should check over their work. My own commitment is to look at a project at least three times before turning it in.

However, caution can be overdone. Many freelancers are guilty of overdoing their projects without really intending to. If you tend to be a perfectionist (like I am) it is really easy to overdo it. Rechecking over your work usually means redoing, and redoing it, and redoing it. . .all in the hopes of “perfecting” it.

Sometimes a minimalist approach is really the best answer.

I think that there is an awful lot of overwriting, over programming, and over designing going on in the freelancing world. Overwork happens because freelancers tend to be quality-driven (and in general, that’s a good thing).

However, sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Unfortunately, all of this extra work takes a lot of time. It can cost the freelancer in terms of lost opportunities. It could even cause the freelancer to miss deadlines.

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Four Ways To Find More Personal Time

Posted March 12, 2009 in Lifestyle, Productivity 28 Rockin' Comments »

You’ve worked really hard to build up your business for months, maybe even for years. At last, your freelance business has taken off. Finally, you can kick back and relax. Finally, you can work on your personal projects. Finally, you can spend time with friends and family. Right?

Wrong!

If you’re like most successful freelancers, then you probably already know that relaxation doesn’t happen automatically once you’ve succeeded. In fact, you may find that suddenly there is not enough time in the day to get everything done that you need to do.

Successful freelancers can find more time for themselves. To do it, however, you will need to adjust both your behavior and your mindset.

Here are some suggestions to help:

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Open Thread: How Long Have You Been Freelancing?

Posted March 6, 2009 in Lifestyle, Open Thread 59 Rockin' Comments »

Freelancers come in all shapes and sizes. Some like to freelance part-time, others like to freelance around the clock. Some have been freelancing for a few weeks, and others have been freelancing for decades.

At FreelanceFolder, we’ve seen just about every type of freelancer — but which type are you? Have you just recently started freelancing, or has it been so long that you can’t remember what a ‘job’ even feels like?

In this Open Thread, let’s compare our different freelancing situations. If you’re an experienced freelancer, let the newer freelancers know if it gets any better :-) If you’re new at freelancing, feel free to ask any questions you might have about what it’s like a few years down the road.

See you in the comments…

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Open Thread: Where Do You Get Health Insurance?

Posted February 20, 2009 in Lifestyle, Open Thread 41 Rockin' Comments »

One of the biggest challenges of freelancing is finding affordable health insurance that offers the coverage you desire. There are many options out there, and all of them seem to have different benefits and drawbacks. Most are very expensive.

Some freelancers choose to go on an ‘emergency only’ health insurance plan, where you would have high deductibles and relatively minimal coverage based on the idea that you would only use that coverage in case of extraordinary hospital bills. Of course, because of the minimal coverage, this option isn’t right for a lot of people.

Another common method of getting health coverage is to go through a group like NASE or a local chamber of commerce. In this way you can usually get into a plan and receive benefits closer to those that might be provided by an employer. The group rates also apply, so you can probably find something reasonably affordable too. The downside to this option is that you are putting a great deal of faith in the organization or group that you go through, and will need to do your research before selecting an organization.

Yet another choice is to open a Health Savings Account, or HSA, which would provide you with a way to save tax-free dollars towards your future medical expenses. This option has its own quirks, and in some cases doesn’t even come with insurance (though I’d recommend at least getting an emergency plan to go with it).

How do you get your health insurance?

Which one of these methods do you use for your health insurance? Are you satisfied with what is provided? Is it reasonably affordable? Any advice for newer freelancers?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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The 8 Most Common Freelance Questions (With Answers)

Posted February 16, 2009 in Business, Lifestyle 51 Rockin' Comments »

This post is a direct follow-up to the open thread we ran last week where we asked for your freelance questions. We said to pretend that there was a panel of freelance-gurus who could answer anything about freelancing, and then asked you to post your top question in the comments.

While we don’t really have a panel of freelance gurus over at FreelanceFolder headquarters, we’re at least going to take a shot at answering some these questions. As forewarning, we’re probably also going to rely heavily on the community and other articles to help out with the answers :-)

Here are the 8 most common questions from our open thread, along with their answers:

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