Elegant Themes

“I created this website to provide WordPress themes of quality and integrity. I craft my themes with a goal of simplicity and professionalism and strive to inject each design with a dose of modest elegance. I believe that your website is not just a tool, it is an integral part of your identity.”

Freelance Feed

“Serving up delicious nuggets of hand-picked freelance wisdom on a daily basis.”

Review Interview: Collis Ta’eed (Envato)

“We had the privilege of asking Collis Ta’eed, founder of Envato, a few questions. We learned that he is more than an awesome entrepreneur with a bunch of great sites; he’s got a great sense of humor and a story that might be similar to yours (we certainly have a few things in common). Read on to learn more about his life before the founding of Envato, his advice for freelancers and plans for the future.”

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So you’ve hired a freelancer to help you achieve your business goals. Now what?

It’s vitally important that you, as the client, do your part in fostering a positive working relationship with your contractor. Embarking on a new project can be overwhelming, especially if it involves technical aspects (such as web design). That’s why you’ve hired an expert!

But in order to make your project a success, you need to develop a solid working relationship, and be aware of some basic “rules” when working with a freelancer.

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For many freelancers, records are the last things we think about. There’s a design to finish for a client or an accounting department to call about an invoice — there’s always something more important than handling records. But the fact remains that those records are important at some point. Whether you need to go back to an old version of a project for your client or you need to pull your copy of an invoice, having an organized system is crucial.

The biggest problem we face in getting our records into order (and keeping them that way) is that most of us work on our own. It’s hard to find time for tasks like filing when it’s just you. These tips will give you a few ways to streamline your record keeping.

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Looking to get big-name clients? Hear what Briant Grant, the creative director at Anisometric, has to say. Brian took his time to get experience and leveraged that agency experience into a thriving design firm based in London.

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Freelancing From The Road: The Tools to Take With You

“One of the great things about being a freelancer, is the freedom that comes with having chosen this career path. As a freelancer you can take to the road when you need, and the best part is, that you can also take your job with you! Now this is conditional on being able to put together the proper toolkit to take with you on your journey.”

How to Work ON Your Business, Not IN it

“We get so caught up in the daily life of running a business, it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. Not that you have a choice! You’re fighting fires, handling a pissed-off customer, rending your face over an emergency bug-fix, the website just went down, and the accountant is coming tomorrow and the books are in shambles.”

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Flexibility is one reason many of us became freelancers. The idea of being your own boss, choosing your own hours, and having room in your life for other options are all very appealing.

Rockall Recruitment’s Freelance Guide lists flexibility as one of the benefits of freelancing:

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One of my favorite things about being a freelancer is the flexibility it brings. Having control of who you work for and when is one of the boundless joys of freelancing. Couple that flexibility with location independence, and it opens up all the possibilities that come with taking your business on the road.

But traveling while working is not all beer and skittles, it takes real planning and the willingness to roll with the unexpected. Knowing how to travel and work can mean the difference between enjoying your trip or needing a vacation from your vacation.
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Like many people on this blog, I’ve dreamed of becoming a professional photographer. Then I looked at the realities of the photo business. Here are a couple of sobering facts for those trying to break into the market:
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I haven’t thought about my 2008 tax return since April 15th. I probably would have continued to ignore it, except for the fact that last week I received a revised 1099 from one of my clients. It turns out that the form that they send me for my tax records was way off from what they had actually paid me, a fact that they hadn’t caught until just now. To make matters even more complicated, I haven’t actually worked with this client since May, 2008. I had to go dig out records from more than a year ago to figure out just how much trouble I was in. Continue Reading