The Best Books for Freelancers
Starting out as a freelancer? Having a reference manual on your bookshelf will make the process much easier. There are great resources — both books and ebooks — that will provide you with all the information you need to start freelancing in one place. From what you need to get started through how you can continue to grow your business, these books will provide any freelancer with a wealth of information.
Linkswitch #9
Breathtaking Typographic Posters:
“You can’t design without type. However, yon can use only type (or mostly only type) to create breath-taking designs. In fact, many graphic designers and artists take exactly this route to communicate their ideas through their works. The results are sometimes crazy, sometimes artsy, sometimes beautiful, but often just different from things we’re used to. Thus designers explore new horizons and we explore new viewing perspectives which is what inspiration is all about.”
8 Tips and Resources for Managing Your Business Finances:
“One area many business owners struggle with is keeping track of their finances, but it is one of the most important areas given that cash flow is the lifeblood of the business. Small mistakes and a lack of knowledge and resources can be costly and problematic.”
Our Biggest Launch of the Year!
In the last three years our Envato Marketplaces (FlashDen, ThemeForest, GraphicRiver, AudioJungle and VideoHive) have grown like gangbusters, with big communities, huge libraries of files and lots of activity. So when we set out to redesign them earlier this year everyone on the team knew it was going to be big. What we didn’t realise was HOW big it would eventually get! Today it gives me great pleasure to show you …
Errors and Omissions Insurance: Do Freelancers Need It?
Sometimes a project can go wrong in a big way: a website can go down at the worst possible moment, a brochure can get printed with the wrong information, or you can otherwise end up with a very unhappy client. You can do everything you can to solve the problem, but at the end of the day, if your client isn’t happy, you can be facing some major trouble. Depending on the circumstances of the project and the problem, your client may be in a position to sue you or otherwise demand compensation for the problem – a financial burden that many freelancers just aren’t equipped for.
4 Steps to Better Filing
I’ve inherited the hoarding gene. I hoard an unmanageable number of pieces of paper containing “useful” bits of information that I claim will one day be useful.
I’ve just come down to Sydney to visit my Dad in hospital, and after we took him home, I was graphically reminded where I inherited my hoarding. Hundreds of VCR tapes containing recorded television shows line the walls. Piles of books and magazines fill the spare room. Tons of unopened dog show prizes adorn his home. If hoarding was a sport, Dad would be in the Olympics!
FreelancerPro Interview: The Art of Long-Distance (Freelance) Relationships
After a grassroots start in the design arena and some time with agencies, Joshua Murphy chose to take the freelance road.
Now, at 32, this Phoenix, Arizona-based art director is making a name for himself as top talent with Element3Media.com. And he’s got some really useful tips for establishing communication with clients and getting clients to take you for off-site work. Read more at his blog, www.joshuamurphy.com, or check out his design community at www.designstar.org.
How to Decide What to Include in Your Portfolio
Remember when you graduated from school or first decided to become a freelancer? You likely didn’t have much work to show and had to scramble to fill your portfolio. If you now have a few years under your belt, you’ve probably started to build up quite a collection of finished pieces.
The importance of having a professional portfolio website has been discussed on FreelanceSwitch – it is essential for the modern freelancer. But how do you decide what to include in your portfolio? If you fill your site with only your favorite work it could be focused in the wrong direction and not attract business. If you only display giant commercial projects it may feel like a sterile presentation with no heart. Somehow you need to show that as a freelancer you are both capable in your skills and able to produce high quality, creative results.
9 Ways to Make Your Writing More Compelling
You don’t need to be a freelance writer to have a good reason to improve your writing skills.
Whether it’s marketing copy for your client, a sales pitch to a client, or a cover letter for your resume, all of us need to write in a way that is compelling, interesting, and unique.
If your cover letter is enthralling, you get the interview. If you’re persuasive, you make the sale. If you’re convincing, you get a slice of the new budget (maybe).
Here are nine ways to make all of your writing more compelling and interesting:
Background Checks & Security Clearances
Every so often, I come across a request for a freelancer who can pass a background check or has a security clearance. The background check is more common: especially with clients more used to working with full-time employees, it’s standard practice to ask a freelancer to submit to a background check. There are also situations in which a freelancer might be working in a sensitive situation where a background check isn’t just a matter of a client who just reused HR hiring procedures for full-time employees.
There are also occasions where clients might ask for a freelancer with a security clearance. The cases in which a freelancer actually might need a security clearance tend to be rare — long-term projects for government contractors are just about the only possibility. I have seen some occasions when clients who weren’t particularly familiar with the differences between clearances and background checks asked for a clearance but meant a background check.
Linkswitch #8
50 Ways to Get Your Website Noticed:
“This article aims to show you how to attract users and make them hungry for more. Who is this post for? Anyone with a web site. Not all of the items listed below will apply to you and your business, but they are, at the very least, a source for inspiration.”
Outsourcing: The Path to Efficiency and Greater Income:
“It’s quite common for a potential client to approach you asking for a service that you may not offer, or an extension of your service which you don’t offer. For example, if a person requests you design a website for them, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be doing the (x)HTML/CSS for it or the back-end coding. What tends to happen in such a situation is the freelancer will simply do the section they can, and then refer someone they know who can do the rest.”
