As a freelancer, many of us have the DIY (do-it-yourself) attitude. DIY means more work, more potential portfolio pieces, and most importantly… more money. But sometimes, the DIY approach, and taking on too much, can kill creativity and make clients second-guess their outsourcing needs.

It’s only natural for the everyday client to assume his/her freelancer’s ability. Take the following questions as prime example:

Example #1

“Since you’re designing my Website… Can you just write all the copy too?”

Example #2

“We love the photography! Can you put together a quick Web gallery so I can show all my friends and family?”

Example #3

“The last print ad you did for us was stunning. We loved your creative writing. Now we’re in need of a 40-page technical user’s guide to go along with a new product we’re launching.”

Any of this starting to sound familiar? When faced with everyday questions like these, it’s important to know your freelancing boundaries. Several questions need to be asked before a quick “yes” jumps from your mouth: [Click here to read more →]

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As you all know Freelance Folder turned one at the end of July, and we’re celebrating this with a contest!

We have well over $1,000 in prizes and a lot of people entered the contest already, but time is running out now! Today is the last day you can enter the contest!

Here’s a quick reminder of the prices we have for you:

• An EeePC 900 from the folks at Small Fuel Marketing
• A $50 Amazon.com gift certificate from Meryl K. Evans
• 2 licenses of Fruitfultime Task Manager 2 (worth $29 each)
• 1,000 matte business cards! (worth around $50) from UPrinting.
• 1 year of the Freshbooks Shuttle Bus package (worth $168)
• A Premium WordPress theme: Ice Cream Dream - from WordPrezzie (worth $89)
• $80 to spend at Behance Outfitter. That’s my own contribution! :)

[Click here to read more →]

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I’m a relatively new freelancer. The mortgage industry imploded, changing the way that I had to earn my income.

That gave me release from a job that only sort of fit anyway. I love the industry, but in December of 2007, I scaled back my origination efforts, and now I’m working on a bunch of new and exciting projects - some of them are for others (clients), and some of them are products that I’m selling and developing myself.

I’ve always wanted to be a freelancer, attracted to the romance of being a writer.

1. Get Control and Understanding of Your Budget.

This is the first thing that you gotta do! You have to know what your expenses are and what they’re going to be in the future. You need to leave room for paying taxes, and you have to set goals on how much you will earn on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. [Click here to read more →]

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Two questions that I’m often asked (and quite frankly, dread) are:

• “Do you think that I could succeed as a freelancer?”
• “Should I become a freelancer?”

I dread answering these particular questions because most people don’t realize that moving to freelancing generally involves a major lifestyle change. It’s nearly impossible to give a correct answer to the questions, and it’s certainly not possible to give a single answer that fits every individual and every circumstance.

It is possible, however, to provide some guidelines to those who are considering freelancing as a career option – so that’s what I’ll do in this post. I’ll provide the guidelines in the form of questions that you should ask yourself. (The information that I’m going to offer here should not be construed as specific advice for any one individual.)

Here are some questions to ask yourself before you decide to become a freelancer: [Click here to read more →]

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Go on. Admit it. You might be a freelance writer for now, but you’ve dreamed of being an author, yes? Some of you might even be authors already, but for those of you who are not, there are ways to transition into being an author.

Being an author has its own rewards but not always necessarily monetary. However, with the demand for premium content online, there are opportunities for those of you that can package an offer of a book with other types of “premium” content, as discussed below.

How Do You Become an Author?

For me, the process was a long one, though it doesn’t have to be for you. I’d been writing creatively and technically for a long time before my first book pitch in 1989/90. The Editor liked my outlining approach and hinted at the possibility of my writing computer programming books for him for a long time, including book revisions - a cash cow for authors back then.

He had plans to come to a big author’s shindig in Toronto, and when he landed in town, he called and left a message. Unfortunately, my roommate decided not to tell me for three or four days. I missed out on meeting him and several well-known novelists. [Click here to read more →]

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Managing your money and expenses is usually just a matter of prioritizing and keeping track of things for most of us who are full time freelancers.

Freelancing is not a ‘paycheck every two weeks‘ type of job. When you get a fixed income every month, it’s easier to plan things and manage your expenses. That’s not the case with freelancing where you can make get $50 today and a thousand next week from different clients.

Also considering the fact we freelancers don’t get all the various benefits and allowances that someone working at a day job might get, it is crucial for us to save money. Keeping that in mind, here are 6 easy ways you can save money every month and still eat and have some for entertainment. [Click here to read more →]

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