Organizing Tips for Bloggers
For the regular blogger, especially somehow who manages multiple blogs, keeping everything organized can be quite the challenge. You’ve got to deal with posting schedules, brainstorming and all that other fun stuff that goes along with a presence in the blogosphere.
But here are some ideas to keep article ideas straight and hopefully keep that blog up-to-date.
Create a “To-Blog” Bookmark Folder or Tag
A popular feature on any blog are links to pages that readers might not otherwise have found on their own, but when you’re the writer, how do you keep track of all the pages you want to mention as you’re browsing the vast web?
I personally use del.icio.us to manage my bookmarks and have recently created a “to-blog” tag, which I quickly throw on any site that seems noteworthy for one the blogs I write for. When it comes time to post (or when I’m low on ideas) I just run down the items in that tag and remove them as I write about them. Kinda of a to-do list of bookmarks.
Of course, this works with any bookmark manager, though others require the creation of a folder, whereas I prefer the speed of del.icio.us’ tag system.
Continue Reading
LinkSwitch – A Roundup of Great Links Across the Web
Time for a roundup of useful links from across this beast we call the world wide web:
If I had to choose one person in the world to learn about business from, it would have to be Steve Jobs. Lifehack has 10 Golden Lessons From Steve Jobs that will hopefully turn us all into billionaires.
Savita Iyer wonders whether she should Freelance Or Work Fulltime with kids.
Jamie Huskisson tells us 10 Things You Hope Your Client Never Says. I’ve heard 7 out of 10 – let us know your scores in the comments 
The Bootstrapping Blog has some very good advice for newbie freelancers (and even some old hats) in their 10 Steps To Making That First Sale.
Finally, Matt Huggins has the 55 Essential Articles Every Serious Blogger Should Read. There are some great articles in here _ especially if you’re a blogger who enjoys reading blogs on their downtime from blogging.
If you have a useful link or article that you think FreelanceSwitch readers would be interested in, Send It In!
20 Time & Energy Drains You Can Eliminate
By Leo Babauta
It’s amazing how we can while away our days by doing practically nothing, and feeling busy and stressed while doing it.
And then, at the end of the day, we are so tired we zone out in front of the television or Internet until we’re ready to drop off to sleep.
If any of this sounds familiar to you, it’s possible that you’re the victim of time and energy drains — things in your life that drain away your energy and your time without you really thinking about it. Eliminate those drains, and you’ll find yourself much more productive, much more energetic, much happier. In fact, even if you’re pretty productive already, it’s very likely that you still have time and energy drains that you could eliminate to improve your life.
What are your time and energy drains? It’s different for each person, of course. The best way to find out what your time drains are is to do a little time log. Now, before your eyes glaze over at this idea, I don’t recommend a detailed log, unless you’re good at doing that. For the rest of us, it’s easier to just keep a blank sheet of paper or notebook by your side and just jot down what you’re doing. You don’t need to write down the time or keep track of the minutes — just write down the activity. At the end of the day, look over your list and you’ll see the kind of things that are taking up a lot of your time without giving you much benefit in return.
Energy drains are a little tougher, but if you go over a list of the things in your life, and give it a little thought, you can probably identify some of the things that are draining you unnecessarily and find ways to change your life accordingly.
Some of the most common examples are listed below.
Continue Reading
5 Ways to Speed up Your Development
They say that time is money. So logically, one wants to find ways to improve their speed and make more money with their time. If this is your goal, then here you’ll find a list of what I’d recommend for the toolbox of every software-developing freelancer.
Automation
If you’ve had to do something twice, automate it. Whether it’s recreating a database, transferring new files to the web server, or just crunching a handful of data, doing it by hand twice is already once too many.
Learn a scripting language, get comfy with the automation tools your applications offer you (think snippets in TextMate or macros in Photoshop), and start using them, so that you can focus your valuable time on the important things.
Imagine your tools doing the work for you in the background while you’re sitting in the sun with a coffee, and reading everyone’s favourite freelancing site.
Continue Reading
Taking Payment with PayPal, Escrow and other Online Options
These days a lot of freelance work is happening online, often internationally and often without you and your client ever meeting. Thanks to the web we now have access to a much larger client pool which is great news, however it does present a whole raft of new problems in terms of payment options and trust. Laws about payment, fees and facilities for transactions and legal fallbacks for chasing payment all differ around the world.
In this post we’ll look at using payment services such as PayPal, Escrow, Moneybookers and others to relieve your client’s wallet with a lot less hassle. And while I bring up the topic because of international transactions that I’ve recently had to pursue, all of these payment options would work equally well in a local setting, so don’t feel you need to be a jetsetting freelancer to make use of them.
Bank and Cheque Processing Fees, and Effort!
When it comes to taking payment from international clients, your number one enemy is processing fees. It differs around the world, but certainly here in Australia processing a cheque from overseas or receiving a bank transfer can incur significant fees. For example recently I processed a US$100 cheque at a local bank, the total of fees I paid came to AU$33 which is about US$25. So basically close to a quarter of the cheque went to the bank. Continue Reading
Punk Rock Public Relations
Jennifer Mattern knows a thing or two about online promotion, particularly in the niche markets.
She promotes her solo public relations business by blogging on that very topic at NakedPR, then shows off some business writing on BizAmmo. She rants on Fad Marketing, runs technology and music blogs, a writing community, podcasts and well…put simply, this woman has a LOT of web sites.
Along with all the sites, she somehow finds time to do promotion work for clients as varied as indie and punk musicians to a former NFL offensive lineman.
What follows is an interview where we discuss going solo, learning the ropes of the interwebs and of course, a lot of personal branding, promotion and marketing ideas.
Continue Reading
The FreelanceSwitch Blog Writing Column has Moved Blogs
For those of you interested in blog writing, you probably recall that Leo had been writing an excellent set of articles on the subject here at FSw.
Recently we decided that the column was a little off topic for FreelanceSwitch. Fortunately FreelanceSwitch now has a sister site about blogging at NorthxEast.com (which used to be my personal blog!).
Leo has just published his most recent blog writing article called 12 Ways to Turn a Boring Post into Pure Gold which you can read over at NorthxEast.
Some of his popular posts on the subject here on FSw include:
- The Sexy Art of Writing Headlines that Kill
- How to Write a Popular Post
- Bring your A-Game to Write for Blogs
For those of you who are curious you can also read a little commentary about our experiences with growing FreelanceSwitch in Building a Super Blog part 1 and part 2.
10 Essential Steps To Get To The Top Of Your Field
By Leo Babauta
Every freelancer can get better, but only a handful are at the top of their field — the best writers, the best designers, the best marketers, the best tech guys, the best artists, the best photographers. That’s where you want to be, if you want to succeed in your field.
Be the best, and someday others will be emulating you.
For now, if you’re not already at the top of your field, there are some essential steps you can take today to get there. Whether you’re just starting out or even if you’ve been doing what you do for over a decade (like I have), there’s always ways to improve.
Here’s how.
Continue Reading
Work on Hold – Sort Of
Okay, I’ll admit it. My wrist is swollen and I’m still typing. Of course, a deadline is a deadline, and I’m not one to miss them.
It all started last week when I took a break from writing to paint the trim in my house. After tackling a doorway per week, I decided to go for the gusto and complete a hallway’s worth of doorways in a mere six hours. I ignored the pain. Two days later, I broke out the ice. Then the bandage. Then I stopped working altogether for a few days.
While I was lucky to be able to take time off because my workload permitted it, I have to tell you that I wasn’t always so in tune with my body. I used to push myself hard until a project was done. But I’d crash really hard.
Even though I took a break this weekend, this aching wrist is a reminder that I need to take care of myself in the midst of an injury. And as a self-employed writer—and a self-defined workaholic—that’s kind of hard to do.
It’s easy to take a break when you’ve got a few hours of down time during the day, or when you have a vacation schedule. It’s not so simple to do so when you want to work but can’t. When you have to do nothing. Oh, the dreaded doing of nothing at all!
So I’m bringing you some tips to help you cope with the times when you have to take some time off, and may have to work during a trial. Whether it’s a family emergency, a stubborn cold or even a busted up wrist, there comes times during this self-employment journey when you have to be the one to pace yourself before your body really retaliates.
LinkSwitch – A Roundup of Great Links Across the Web
Time for a roundup of useful links from across this beast we call the world wide web:
For all you designers out there, I thought I’d mention a great agency we’ve come across recently that makes our hearts smile. As a designer, I’ve always wondered if making things pretty so people would buy them was perhaps a little shallow. I’ve always added a hefty dose of charity clients to lighten the ethical load. Studio 7 Designs serve socially minded companies around the world, which is pretty nifty. Even better, their work reflects an appreciation of the natural world which is great to see. If you are a designer and want to see individuals who are walking the talk and making it work financially, then go check them out.
Banner Blog – Where Banners Click, is an Australian blog that showcases the best in banner advertising. If you’re interested in innovative advertising then check them out.
For those of you working towards a freelancing career, or any of us who set goals, sometimes things don’t go quite as we plan. The Simple Dollar tells us How To Deal With Not Meeting Your Goals And Set Yourself Up For Success The Next Time.
The incredibly talented Christine Kane tells us How To Get Nothing Done. This is a must read for those of us who put off doing the really important things.
For bloggers, anyone working on their portfolio site, or copywriters, Molt:n has Six Tips For Writing Content For Search Engines.
If you have a useful link or article that you think FreelanceSwitch readers would be interested in, Send It In!
What’s Your Client Relationship Like?
Client relations aren’t easy, just as personal relationships can be challenging. But are they that different? When looked at closely they actually seem pretty similar:
The Friendship
The Good: You’re best buds, you’re both pretty sure you can talk about anything, tell each other everything. Problems are there to be talked about, so that’s what you do, usually over a beer. You seal deals with a handshake, since friends don’t need any contracts, quotes, or other written documents.
The Bad: Money is a weird issue for you. It feels uncomfortable to charge a friend, right? So you avoid it, postpone charging till the last possible opportunity, and even then it doesn’t feel right. Smaller jobs are not worth charging for anyway, so you do some of the work as a favour for them, because that’s what friends do. Over time the work adds up, and you realise that you really could have used the money you haven’t charged but are afraid to bring it up – because that might lead to:
The Ugly: After you realise you have money problems, you want to talk about it, but your friend points out the obvious: You are friends and friends don’t charge each other money. Plus, you don’t have anything signed to prove it. You charge him anyway, since you need the money. Things get messy, and you have to go to court. You go separate ways afterwards and never call each other again.
Continue Reading
