Freelancefolder

Should You Meet With Prospective Clients?

Posted February 11, 2010 in Managing Clients, Marketing 54 Comments »

“Can you come by this week? We’d like to meet you.”

If you’ve been a freelancer for some time, you’ve probably heard this request more than once from a prospective client.

To some freelancers, meeting requests are a clear sign of legitimate interest. They are a critical step in their selling process.

But other freelancers cringe when they get such requests. For the most part, they view in-person meetings as a waste of time and would rather discuss the project or opportunity over the phone.

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10+ Tips For Using Twitter To Grow Your Freelance Business

Posted February 10, 2010 in How-To, Social Media, Tools/Resources 62 Comments »

Like it or not, social media is here to stay — at least for a while. More importantly, if you are not using the various social media tools that are available to grow your freelance business, you are missing out on a prime opportunity. The audience is global, the tools are almost all free and, with proper time management, the return on your investment could be phenomenal.

I have heard from numerous peers of their struggles to grasp the reigns of the wild stallion that is social media marketing, but I have had measurable success learning how to utilize Twitter in ways that have increased my clientele, enlarged my network of connections, and strengthened my standing as a member of the freelance and design community. In fact, without Twitter I would not be writing for Freelance Folder!

In this post I will share some basic transferable principles I have discovered that could help you not only get your feet wet with Twitter, but quite possibly could open doors you thought were locked to you and your freelance business.

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5 Bad Work at Home Habits: Are You Guilty?

Posted February 9, 2010 in Lifestyle, Productivity 115 Comments »

Isn’t working at home great? That’s why so many of us are either already doing it, or dreaming about doing it. We know it’s just the thing for creative types who don’t like structure and hierarchy. Working at home has its perks.

However, working at home also brings many temptations that can sabotage our productivity, creativity, sanity, happiness and even our health.

Below are what I consider to be the five most common pitfalls of working at home, why they’re bad for us, and how we can avoid or overcome them.

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10 Free Project Management Applications

Posted February 8, 2010 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 73 Comments »

How do you make sure that you get all of your work done on time?

As freelancers, we wear many different hats. In addition to performing our freelancing specialty for the client, we’re also the sales staff, the manager, the support team, and the accountant all rolled into one person.

For many freelancers the project planning tasks that go along with freelancing may seem kind of overwhelming (especially if they’ve never done any project planning). Other freelancers may find that they need to provide the same kind of project plans to their clients that would have been required of them in the corporate world.

Either way, project planning can be a lot of extra work for a freelancer. The project planning task is difficult to handle without good tools to work with.

In this post, I list some project management tools that are either freeware or open source.

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How to Make Your Portfolio Better Than the Competition’s Portfolio

Posted February 7, 2010 in Business, Web Design 38 Comments »

Competition is fierce in the world of freelancing. In the clients’ eyes, one of the few factors that differentiates you from the competition is the quality of your portfolio.

While much of what makes up a portfolio is both subjective and based on personal preferences, there are still several surefire ways to distinguish yourself in the sea of freelancers.

Let’s takes a look at some ways you can make your portfolio better than your competition’s portfolio.

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Staying Sane While Freelancing With a Loved One

Posted February 5, 2010 in Business, Freelance Stories 17 Comments »

Two years ago, I was the full-time web guy at a conservative insurance company. My wife could see my frustrations there and encouraged me to quit and pursue a freelance career. She suggested that we could use her income as our base if things got really tight, financially. I’ve never been happier.

However, during the last two years, I’ve seen her deal with the same frustrations in her current work situation that I experienced two years ago. I realized our situations were reversed, and since she rescued me from my previous work situation and offered me a better career and better life, it was time for me to do the same for her. I encouraged her to quit and help me in my business. It’s only been about a month, but it’s been a month filled with lots of lessons on how to deal as a freelancing couple. So how did we get through our first month without divorce?

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Mastering the Art of Client Relations

Posted February 4, 2010 in Managing Clients 43 Comments »

How comfortable are you with your clients?

Do you feel like you understand what they need and want? Would you rate your communication with your clients as being excellent? Do you think they would come to you for ideas? Are you the first freelancer that your clients turn to when they need something done?

If you’re like most freelancers, you probably don’t know your clients very well. You do your best to make your clients happy and provide quality work, but your communication is limited to when there is work being done.

Many articles have been written about client relations, but not all of the advice that is out there works all of the time. Every client is different. What works for one client may not work for another. In fact, developing good client relations is more like an art than a science. In this post, we’ll discuss the art of client relations and how you can take some steps to master it.

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What to Do When the Client Is Wrong

Posted February 3, 2010 in How-To, Managing Clients 41 Comments »

Sooner or later most freelancers will have the pleasure of working with a client who seems to have forgotten why they hired you in the first place. This client may ignore or overrule all of your recommendations and even dictate decisions on the project that you, as the experienced professional, are certain will be detrimental to its overall success. Despite your objections, explanations and warnings, the client steamrolls the project toward something less than what your normal standards would require, all the while assuring you that they have a better idea and understanding of what their project needs than you do.

How should you handle this situation? Do you refuse to bend and lose or “fire” the client, refunding any payments? Or, do you submit to their demands and hope for the best?

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Do You Recognize the Early Warning Signs of Freelancer Burnout?

Posted February 2, 2010 in Lifestyle, Productivity 34 Comments »

You just love your job as a freelancer, but lately it seems like you really have to force yourself to get the work done. Perhaps you’re getting sick all the time–you always catch whatever illness seems to be going around. Maybe you don’t have any problems getting started on your projects, but seem to find yourself spending a lot of time on Facebook, or Twitter, or playing online games.

If you can relate to these problems, then you could be suffering from freelancer burnout.

If you’re suffering from freelancer burnout, it could be serious. Burnout, when not dealt with, can threaten your business, your relationships, and even your health.

In this post, we’ll discuss the reality of freelancer burnout and describe a few steps you can take to ensure that it doesn’t snuff out your freelancing career.

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