Freelancefolder

Uh-oh! Seven Steps to Deal with an Unhappy Client

Posted March 4, 2010 in Managing Clients, Marketing 39 Comments »

It can happen to the best of us: a client is disappointed with the work we turned it. Perhaps we completely missed what they said they wanted. Or, maybe we’ve been tired and didn’t produce stellar work. Maybe said client was having a bad day.

Whatever the reason, the bottom line is, your client is unhappy with your work. You’re at the brink of losing this client and everybody else he would have referred to you.

All is not lost. In fact, if you handle the situation correctly, you could end up with a client who respects and admires you even more.

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Bad First Impressions That Can Drive Potential Clients Away

Posted March 3, 2010 in Business, Managing Clients 42 Comments »

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Those initial defining moments can be the determining factor for whether or not a client hires you, so it is critical to make them count.

When a potential client makes first contact–by email, phone, IM, social media or in person–everything you do and say will have a lasting impact on their perception of who you are, how you operate, and more. It is important to ensure that this impact is positive, and not the opposite. This post will point out some of the worst first impression mistakes a freelancer can make and give some direction for ways to avoid them.

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Making Your Code as Beautiful as the Design Itself

Posted March 2, 2010 in Productivity, Programming 87 Comments »

A website’s design gets all the glory. When someone visits a site, you’ll hear them talk about how awesome the design is–but, do you ever hear someone talk about how awesome the code is? Never!

Regular people can’t see code, nor do they care to see it or what it looks like. It’s precisely this reason that there’s so much ugly code in the web world today. People don’t see it so developers don’t believe that clean code is important, but it is.

It’s quite rare to find a clean coded site, even from huge companies who should have the budget to pay for a good developer. However, it’s just as important to have beautiful code as it is to have a beautiful design.

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Seven Reasons Not to Meet with Prospective Clients

Posted March 1, 2010 in Managing Clients, Marketing 52 Comments »

Should you meet a prospective client face-to-face?

There’s an ongoing debate about whether or not having a face-to-face meeting with a client is beneficial. Many freelancers believe that a face-to-face meeting is crucial to landing new clients. Other freelancers choose to work virtually, never meeting their clients in person.

Which is better?

From my perspective, the answer is: it depends. While there are definitely some instances when a meeting may be what clinches the deal with a prospect, there are other times when a face-to-face meeting is not wise.

Here are some instances when a personal meeting with the client just isn’t worth it.

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Open Thread: Who Would You Like Us to Interview Next?

Posted February 28, 2010 in Open Thread 23 Comments »

Freelancers can and do learn from each other. It’s often best to learn from someone else’s mistakes rather than make those mistakes yourself.

One of the things that makes the Freelance Folder community strong is how we all share ideas and information with each other. Each time I see a reader jump in with an answer to a question for another reader, it makes me proud to be a part of this community.

Another way to learn from each other is through reading the experiences of prominent freelancers who have achieved a measure of success.

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MarketMeTweet: Will It Help You Find Clients on Twitter?

Posted February 26, 2010 in Marketing, Social Media 38 Comments »

Lately, I’ve been playing around with MarketMeTweet, a new Twitter application for marketing and branding.

MarketMeTweet allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts to promote your business. You can send tweets, as well as get your replies and direct messages, retweet, and send messages to others. It works with PC, Mac, and Linux.

Will MarketMeTweet help you find clients on Twitter? The short answer is, “Yes, but….”

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New from MediaLoot: Incredibly Detailed Free Icon Set

Posted February 25, 2010 in News 11 Comments »

I know some of you might be getting tired of seeing MediaLoot announcements on FreelanceFolder, but a free icon set is way to useful to pass up, right?

With the launch just weeks away, these 30 free icons are some of the most impressive resources we’ll be releasing outside of the paid membership. The icons come packaged as 128px transparent PNG files, and should be really useful for just about anyone right out of the box.

Jump on over to MediaLoot to preview the full set →

Why I Failed at Freelancing

Posted February 25, 2010 in Freelance Stories, Inspiration 70 Comments »

This time around, I have been a pretty successful freelancer if I do say so myself. My bills stay paid, my clients are happy and I’ve never been happier in a career.

Unfortunately, my first attempt at freelancing left me unhappy, in debt and desperate. I took several full-time jobs between my last attempt at freelancing and this one to teach me some valuable lessons and make my way out of debt.

I made many mistakes the first time around and, like any good freelancer, I learned from them and now I am a better, stronger worker. In this post, I’ll share some of the mistakes that caused me to fail as a freelancer the first time around.

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Eighteen More Helpful Twitter Applications for Freelancers

Posted February 24, 2010 in Social Media, Tools/Resources 36 Comments »

Most freelancers agree that Twitter is a fun and useful social media tool that can help you network with peers and potential clients.

Twitter applications can help a freelancer to get even more benefits from Twitter.

Last summer we took a look at 15 Useful Twitter Tools for web workers. This post examines 18 more Twitter apps that freelancers might find useful and briefly explains what each one does.

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