Some people want to increase their earning potential. Some people want to start an empire. Others are simply looking for a way to spend more time with friends and family. Still others may start freelancing for an entirely different reason.

Every freelancer has a set of goals that is unique to them. The beauty of freelancing is that with a little talent and a lot of hard work, it’s likely that you can achieve your goals as a freelancer.

That’s why today we’re asking you about your unique set of goals. We’d like to hear:

Why did you become a freelancer?

Your answer could be one of the reasons I listed above, a combination of reasons, or something that I haven’t even thought about.

Share your answers in the comments.

Image by Andi Sidwell

You name a type of business, and a freelancer has probably worked with them at some point. However, in this post I’d like to shift the focus a bit.

What I’ve been wondering is this:

Have You Worked for Another Freelancer?

Do freelancers hire each other very often? If they do, do they treat each other well? What challenges do they face?

If you’ve worked with a freelancer before (or are currently working with a freelancer), share your experience in the comments. Share any tips that you may have learned. Naturally, leave out any specific names.

Also, if you’ve hired another freelancer, feel free to share that as well (leaving out names).

Image by Johan Larsson

Freelancers can, and do, find clients in all of those ways. We asked this question over two years ago (and we got some great responses), but as you probably would agree, the economy has changed in two years.

So, for today, we’d like to know:

Where do you find your freelancing work?

Share your preferred method for finding clients. Which technique has been the most successful for you?

Be sure to add your freelancing specialty as well so that we can all tell if there any differences between the specialties. If you use a combination of methods, it’s okay to share several ways that you use to find freelancing work.

It will be interesting to see how (and if) things have changed in the last few years…

Whether it’s a tool that’s general to business usage (such as an accounting package) or something specific to your field (such as a graphic design package), I’m sure there’s one software tool that you absolutely couldn’t run your business without.

For me, I think that tool would probably be the Microsoft Office suite. Yes, I know there are alternatives (and I’ve tried a few of them), but it still seems that most clients want their files compatible with MS Office.

Our question for you is this:

What Software Package Is Absolutely Necessary for Your Freelancing Business?

Share your answers in the comments and we can all learn from each other’s answers. Who knows? You may discover a software tool that you’d never considered before.

Image by Gustav H.

We’ve talked about mindset, talent, integrity, and customer service. We’ve even talked about factors outside of the freelancer such as having a great portfolio and using social media effectively.

As freelancers ourselves, we know that all these things work because they’ve worked for us. But now it’s your turn to chime in and tell us what you think is the most important. What makes you different?

What we’d like to know is:

What one thing makes or breaks a freelancer?

What’s on your freelancer must-have list? We’re looking for that one thing that every freelancer needs–no matter their field or how long they’ve been freelancing.

Share your answers in the comments.

Image by ♥ellie♥

Well, times have changed. Most of the social media platforms have added new features in the past few years.

More people than ever are using social media. There are also many new apps out there for social media. And, of course, Google+ has added a potential new platform to the freelancer’s arsenal of networking tools.

It’s time to ask your opinion about social media again. What I’d like to know is this:

Have you changed how you do social media?

Are you using new platforms (such as Google+)? Do you spend more (or less) time on social media than you did a few years ago? What is your favorite social media platform?

Share your answers in the comments.

One of the main issues characterizing the time that we live in, and in particular, this year is the poor economy. While the economy may be improving, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I feel that today’s economy is rougher than it was when I first began my freelancing business.

Of course, a rough economy isn’t always bad news for freelancers. In fact, it could be good news if companies replace the employees that they’ve let go with freelance workers. (And I believe this is often the case.)

So, what I’m wondering today is:

How has the economy affected your freelancing business?

Things have changed a bit since we first asked about the economy in 2008 and we’d like to hear what freelancers have to say about the economy today.

Have you had to make any adjustments or changes to your business due to the 2011 economy? If so, what were they?

Has your freelancing business benefitted in any way from the economy?

Share your answers in the comments.

This time we’re inviting you to answer the following questions:

• What’s your freelancing specialty?
• Where are you from?
• Do you consider yourself a beginning freelancer, or are you more experienced?
• What’s your biggest freelancing challenge?

If you have a website or blog that spotlights your work, feel free to link to it in your comments.

I’ll start. Here are my answers:

• My freelancing specialty is writing. Although I’ve been a writer for over twenty years, I’ve only been freelancing for just over nine of those years.
• My business is located in the Southwestern United States (specifically, in Texas), although my ultimate goal is to someday be completely location independent. My clients are currently all over the U.S. and I’ve even worked with international clients.
• I consider myself to be a moderately experienced freelancer.
• My biggest challenge would have to be time management–there never seems to be enough time to get everything done.

Now, it’s your turn to share about yourself. How would you answer the questions?

I can’t wait to get to know the members of our freelancing community better.

Yet, proper accounting is a vital part of running a freelancing business. An accounting mistake can have serious consequences for a business. Good accounting practices can mean the difference between having a profitable business and losing money.

There could even be negative tax consequences for not keeping your bookkeeping records correctly.

I was discussing this topic recently on Twitter with fellow freelancers @SHurleyHall and @leslieajoy. Both agreed that they would love to know more about accounting.

Which causes me to wonder about our freelancing community here on Freelance Folder.

How do you handle your accounting tasks?

• Do you use an application like Quickbooks, Freshbooks, or something else?
• Does someone else handle your accounting and bookkeeping tasks for you?
• Do you handle your own accounting?

Share your answers in the comments. If you use an application, be sure to share the name of the application.

Image by Horia Varlan

There’s no doubt that marketing is vital to freelancing success. Without marketing, there are no clients–and we all need clients to survive. Right?

But, every single freelancer handles the marketing task differently. You probably use different marketing techniques than I do. A third freelancer probably has yet other marketing methods that work for them.

Those differences in marketing techniques are why today we’re asking you:

How Do You Promote Your Freelancing Business?

Share the marketing tips that work best for you. Your tips can be some of those listed above, or something completely different.

Let’s learn from each other. :)

Share your answers in the comments.