Freelancefolder

2007 – Nine Things Learned This Year

Posted December 29, 2007 in Business, Lifestyle

2008 is almost there! Usually at the end of every year I take some time to just make a list of things I did during that year, stuff I’m proud of, accomplishments and goals for the next year. Well in fact I do that on a monthly basis, I write things down and then take all this and compile it into one ‘master‘ list and then make another list with stuff I learned and things I want to learn/study and achieve in the next year.

#1 – I Learned To Say No

I’m a very happy guy, always smiling and willing to help people and I have a hard time saying ‘no‘, especially to friends and family. Well I learned to say no the hard way this year. A friend of mine (not a close friend) hired me to do a project for him, and guess what… lost a friend.

I learned to say no, and to make sure a I always have a contract or written agreement, even for friends and family.

#2 – Higher Rates Don’t Mean Less Clients

I gave myself a raise, which I should’ve done a long time ago. Not much, but $50 here and there can make a huge difference in a budget. I didn’t wanted to raise my prices afraid I would lose clients, but the thing is I made more money this year than I did in 2006, not working more hours, just different hours. Which brings me to #3. [Click Here to Read More...]

Question From A Reader – Amount Of Available Work

Posted December 13, 2007 in Lifestyle

A reader of FreelanceFolder who shall remain unnamed (let’s call him Bob for the purpose of this post) sent me an e-mail a couple of days ago, seeking advice. Bob is a writer with a newspaper background.

Here’s what he wrote:

I am a corporate communications professional seriously considering the freelance world, and the only thing holding me back is concern about the amount of available work.

I asked myself these questions many many times before I decided to take the plunge in the freelance world, and I am sure many of you reading this post did too at some point.

I can answer Bob’s question right away: there is always more work available than you could possibly take. The thing is you have to find it, which is not always easy. [Click Here to Read More...]

I Know You’re Out There My Friends!

Posted November 28, 2007 in Lifestyle

I just read one brilliant post titled ‘freelancer’s guide to sales: making friends‘. You guessed it right, the article is about building relationships and making friends, and it really is worth reading.

Here’s a quick excerpt from Shane’s article:

Most of our gigs don’t land on the initial contact, nor the second, not even the third. They come from having built a relationship with someone and being top of mind.

Think about it, how often do you get a gig ‘just like that‘? It didn’t happen to me really often. All the contracts I got, I got them because I took the time to network, make friends and build relationships, not even thinking about the business. Like Shane wrote in his post: sales is making friends. [Click Here to Read More...]

How Can We Help Save The Earth?

Posted October 15, 2007 in Lifestyle, News

Today is Blog Action Day, and I’m thrilled Freelance Folder is one of the 15,500 participating blogs (reaching over 12.5 million readers)!

There’s been a lot of talk about this in the “blogosphere” lately, and for good reasons. We’re all in this together, we all live on the same Earth. And it’s the only one we have…

I believe it’s not just about raising awareness, we’re already well aware of global warming and all, it’s about doing something. It has been said thousands of times, but I’ll say it again: there are things we can do! [Click Here to Read More...]