Freelancefolder

An Ideal Holiday Gift List for Freelance Writers

Posted November 28, 2011 in Lifestyle

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The holidays are upon us once again. Believe it or not, one of my favorite things about this time of the year is finding the perfect gifts for everyone on my list.

If you have freelance writers on your gift list, then read on. I asked my freelance writer friends and readers what they wanted that would help them succeed as freelancers and came up with this blog post. (But while this list is specifically for writers, other freelancers would love to receive some of the items here as well.)

Here are the top 10 things freelance writers want to see underneath their Christmas trees:

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5 Unique Benefits That Freelancers Offer to Their Clients

Posted November 27, 2011 in Getting Clients, Marketing

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Small businesses (and let’s face it, most freelancers are small businesses) really have it tough when it comes to competing with agencies and other large businesses. For one thing, the larger companies tend to have a much larger marketing budget.

Freelancers, on the other hand, tend to have a very small marketing budget–if they have one at all. Instead, they rely on networking and word of mouth.

But, does a small business or a lone freelancer stand a chance when competing with a larger organization for a client?

I think they do. Bigger isn’t always better. In this post, I ‘ll list five unique benefits that freelancers can offer to their clients.

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10 New Guidelines for Web Designers for 2012

Posted November 25, 2011 in Design, Web Design

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Web design has become a profitable niche for freelancers in the last few years, especially with the popularity of the WordPress platform. Tech blogs, e-commerce sites and general information sites all prefer to have a custom-designed blog to help sell their offerings worldwide.

To capitalize on the earning potential of web design industry there has been surge in the number of custom service web design providers. However, only a handful of freelancers are able to sense the change in the industry dynamics and add value to their creative ideas during implementation.

In order for you to stay competitive, effective, and yet innovative with your web designs I propose the following ten guidelines:

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Happy Thanksgiving to Our Readers!

Posted November 24, 2011 in News

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For those of you located in the United States, today is a holiday dedicated to giving thanks. It’s also a time for getting together with friends and family. Here at Freelance Folder we are thankful for you, our readers.

Those of us on the Freelance Folder team who are located in the U.S. are taking today off. We’ll be watching the parades, following some football games, and getting together to spend some quality time with our friends and families. We even hope to get a slice of yummy pumpkin pie. :)

If today is a holiday for you too, then Happy Thanksgiving to you. If you are working today, have a wonderful day as well!

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with our usual posting schedule. In the meantime, we’ll share our favorite Freelance Folder post about saying thank-you–Two Special Words That Will Make Your Clients See You Differently.

Image by SanFranAnnie

All About Deadlines

Posted November 23, 2011 in How-To, Managing Clients

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Probably nothing else in the freelancing experience creates as much stress as deadlines.

If a freelancer tells you they are up against a deadline, then you know that it’s time to back off and give them some space so that they can get your work done.

We all have deadlines, but we rarely talk about them. Yet, there’s quite a lot to talk about.

In this post, we’ll look at deadlines from various angles including types of deadlines, how to negotiate a better deadline, how meet your deadlines, and what to do if you miss a deadline. I hope you’ll also chip in with your own experiences and tips about deadlines.

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Get Inside Your Client’s Mind

Posted November 22, 2011 in Managing Clients

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Wouldn’t freelancing be so much easier if we could read our clients’ minds?

Then we wouldn’t need to hem and haw about our quotations, worrying if our fees are too high or that our clients can’t afford them. Or too low so that we look like sub-par freelancers.

Neither would we second-guess our work, wasting precious minutes and energy wondering if it’s good enough.

If we could read our clients’ minds we would know what to say so every project proposal we submit gets approved.

Every project we complete would be a huge success, and our clients would thank us for changing their lives forever.

Unfortunately, all this is not possible all the time. But we can get pretty close. With a little extra effort, freelancers can get a clearer understanding of our clients’ needs, problems, and desires–so our work can go as smoothly as possible.

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Time for Freelancers to Become More Social and Play the Game

Posted November 21, 2011 in Marketing, Social Media

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For freelance writers, there are a lot of avenues available to promote their work.

Social media, however, should be the first and foremost tool to spread the word about interesting articles, searching for individuals to interview, gathering new story ideas and more.

Some of the challenges that freelance writers can face with social media are which outlets to use, how often to use them, and where and when to promote them. Although social media is not rocket science, it can be challenging at times, therefore stop writers from effectively using the various tools at their disposal.

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20+ Helpful Google+ Brand Page Resources for Freelancers

Posted November 20, 2011 in Marketing, Social Media

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A few weeks ago Google+ rolled out their much anticipated brand pages. These brand pages are intended for company and business use (in contrast to the original Google+ profiles, which had to be registered to an individual).

Many big brands have jumped on the bandwagon and set up their Google+ Pages. Many freelancers have also set up pages for their blogs and businesses. You may be wondering if these pages can help you build and strengthen client relationships.

If you haven’t looked closely at the Google+ Page functionality yet, you may be wondering if this feature is for you. While I can’t make up your mind for you, I can provide you with information to help you decide whether a Google+ brand page is right for your freelancing business.

In this post, I identify over 20 resources on Google’s new brand page feature. I’ve sorted this information into categories so that you can easily find the information that is most useful to you. Of course, this information is changing all the time, so feel free to add your own Google+ information resources in the comments.

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The Freelancer’s Holiday and Year-end Dilemmas Revisited

Posted November 18, 2011 in Lifestyle, Managing Clients

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The holiday season should be a time of happiness and joy, but for many freelancers the holiday season brings with it some freelancing dilemmas.

If you’ve freelanced through a holiday season before, you may already be asking yourself, “what am I going to do about the holidays this year?” That’s right. It’s that time of the year! We’ve reached another year-end. (I hope your freelancing business did well this year.)

I’ve written about this topic before, but these problems are real, so the topic is worth revisiting.

Even freelancers who don’t normally celebrate at this time of the year are affected by the year-end activities. In this post, I’ll discuss seven dilemmas that freelancers face during the holiday season.

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