Freelancefolder

How to Make the Most of Google Alerts

Posted March 25, 2011 in How-To, Productivity

As a freelancer, your business revolves around the online world. From working with online companies to keeping up with the latest trends, you would likely be lost without the assistance of online searches. However, while you may depend on internet searches to remain a successful freelancer, you may not be using searches in the best or most efficient manner.

Specifically if you haven’t yet harnessed the power of Google Alerts, you’re missing out on many benefits such as better results and reduced search time. The following are five ways Google Alerts can benefit your freelance business and why you should begin using them today.

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5 Ways to Always Be Highly Motivated

Posted March 10, 2011 in Inspiration, Productivity

Work for me is not work. Why? Because I love what I do. Sure, I expend effort. I’m up early, before the rest of my colleagues, creating, planning and strategizing.

Even as I prepare this article I am seated in one of a few of my favorite cafes at 7 a.m., as is my habit, writing.

I’ll be at my office around 8.30 a.m., and before I get there I will have already written yet another ‘winning’ article designed specifically to help others to reach their full potential.

How do I do it? In this post, I’ll share what motivates me. It may work for you too.

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How to Find and Use the Information You Really Need

Posted March 3, 2011 in How-To, Productivity

Overcoming information overload is a huge challenge for most freelancers. Let’s face it, we’re all exposed to far more information that we can practically absorb or apply.

Having too much information has become even more of a problem then when I first wrote about it a few years ago.

The Internet is vast and growing. Freelancers have more information available to them than ever before. The popularity of e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook only add to the problem because now information is just a few clicks away. Even the iPad has e-reader capabilities.

And, just like a few years ago, the question is still–what’s a freelancer to do?

What IS a freelancer to do about all of the information that we are surrounded with? We want to make the best use of information, but we certainly can’t use every bit of info that is available to us–there simply isn’t enough time.

In this post, I revisit the problem of how to deal with having too much information and present a few new solutions to the problem.

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Kill Your To-Do List

Posted January 28, 2011 in Productivity

We’re all well acquainted with the concept of the to-do list. Whether or not we get along with them is another matter entirely.

Sometimes to-do lists just don’t cut it, and at the end of the day, the checked boxes are buried amongst all the empty ones. Well, gee, if that isn’t a morale boost, I just don’t know what is.

In this post, I’ll discuss a to-do list alternative–The Single Day Schedule. I’ll explain how freelancers can use this better system to become more productive.

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Six Areas of Technology All Freelancers MUST Stay Current With

Posted January 27, 2011 in Productivity, Tools/Resources

Freelancers operate in a rapidly changing technological environment. I don’t use the same computer software and hardware that I used eight years ago, and neither should you.

Freelancers who don’t keep up with the changing technologies may soon find themselves out of business. While you don’t necessarily have to be on the cutting edge of new developments, neither should you lag too far behind.

In this post, I’ll identify several areas of your business that you should monitor regularly to make sure that your technologies are current. I’ll also list some resources to help you keep up.

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How to Make Sure Your New Year’s Resolutions Succeed

Posted December 27, 2010 in Inspiration, Productivity

It’s that time again. The New Year is upon us and as we look back at all we set out to accomplish in the past 365 days we also look forward and begin creating resolutions and goals for the year ahead.

Unfortunately, very often our resolutions list looks very similar to last year’s. In fact, although I don’t know the exact statistics, it is likely the percentage of New Year’s resolutions that are actually achieved each year is unbearably low.

Yet, each January we try and try again to get our lives back on course in whatever direction we want to head. After enough failed resolutions, it could be enough to keep us from creating any new lists at all! However, in this post I want to challenge and encourage you to not only make your resolutions for 2011, but also discover ways to achieve your goals this year and for years to come.

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What You Should Say to Your Client When Their Payment Is Delinquent

Posted December 8, 2010 in Managing Clients, Productivity

Even if you have had a successful run with the most appreciative, responsible and compassionate clients in the history of freelancing, you will almost certainly eventually have a client who takes a payment to the point of Past Due. When this happens, it births a situation ripe with potential for all kinds of problems if not handled correctly. In this post, we will look at some ways to get that late payment into your hands without damaging the relationship with your client or short-changing yourself.

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Why Freelancers Should Secure Their Data

Posted November 22, 2010 in Productivity

Imagine this:

You’re working in your favorite coffee shop, typing away at your laptop (just one of the many perks of being a freelancer). You take your grande Caffe Americano and bring it to your lips. It is much hotter than you expected, you jerk it away from your face… and promptly spill the whole thing over your shiny computer. You drop your shoulders in defeat as the brown liquid quickly slithers from the keys into the electronics of the laptop.

“I’m dead.”

Yes, you are as far as your work goes. You’ve just lost everything that you’ve been working on. And that’s why you need to think seriously about securing your data.
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Freelancing Accountability Tips to Help You Stay on Target

Posted November 7, 2010 in Accountability, Productivity

Many complain about the inconvenience of working corporate hours, but freelancers understand best how having a rigid schedule can help with focus and productivity. The advantages of working your own hours and sitting wherever you call your “office” also bring many detractors and a constant need for self-imposed focus. Here we offer tips for moving forward–rather than sideways –with your projects.

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