It’s a Ripoff: How to Handle Work that Infringes on Your Own
The web has made it easy for copyright infringers: it’s the work of just a few minutes to copy an image, an article or even an entire website design. That leads big companies to establish big legal departments devoted to chasing down copyright infringement. As a freelancer, however, your legal department may amount to an hour or so that you can devote to such problems each week — bringing in a lawyer is rarely worth the cost.
You don’t have to let someone get away with stealing your work, though. There are steps you can take that will help resolve such problems. Continue Reading
How’s Your Follow-Through?
You’ve undoubtedly heard the old adage that it takes ten times as much effort to convince a stranger to buy as it takes to convince a devoted customer of yours to do the same. Usually, this strategy is applied to big companies looking to sell more of their products, but the adage applies to freelancers.
If you’re trying to get a project lined up for next week, it’s going to be a heck of a lot more difficult to find a brand-spanking-new client and convince that person to hire you. It’s going to be a lot easier to convince a client who’s worked with you before, who likes your work, and who already knows that you’re a pleasure to work with.
So how do you get old clients coming back to you when you need them? You perfect the art of the follow-through.
The Care and Feeding of Subcontractors
There will come a time in your freelancing life when you’ll tackle a project that’s too big for you to handle alone. Which may make you feel like the project is tackling you.
You can eliminate that tackling-you feeling when you think of those extra-big projects as extra-big opportunities for you to bill higher than ever before. And, since I’m well into the sports analogies realm, this article will show you how to build a virtual team for handling the work.
Why Doing Your Homework Leads to More Sales
I recently received a prospecting e-mail from a Tucson photographer I’ve never heard of. His message noted that I’m included in the website developers directory in this city’s Book of Lists.
If you’re not familiar with these books, they’re published by the weekly business journals in many American cities. They list the top 20 firms in various fields, but truth be told, I wasn’t nominated for such an honor. I filled out the business journal’s information form, and, lo and behold, my studio appeared in the Book of Lists a few months later.
Enough about the Book of Lists. Back to that photographer’s e-mail. He referenced his website and concluded with an invitation to contact him regarding my photography needs.
Getting Equipment on a Freelancer’s Budget
There isn’t exactly a checklist of equipment you must have as a freelancer: for some freelancers, an old computer is more than adequate as long you’ve got chairs and a table where you can meet with clients. For other freelancers, a laptop loaded with the latest software is crucial, but everything else in the office is negotiable. No matter what end of the spectrum you’re on, though, there are some ways to make getting equipment and furniture a little easier on a freelancer’s budget. Continue Reading
Tuning In to True Wealth: Optimizing Your Freelance Business
I recently started reading The Wealthy Freelancer and the book is chock full of fabulous information and ideas. It’s got me mulling over the way I do business, and how I can improve my freelance operation.
The book is not just about building a financially viable business; it’s about achieving true wealth, which includes living the lifestyle you want.
Freelance Radio, Episode 44: Negotiating a Freelance Contract
The latest episode of Freelance Radio, the official FreelanceSwitch podcast, is now available! This episode, the panel (John Brougher, Dickie Adams, Kristen Fischer and Von Glitschka) talks about negotiating a freelance contract. Subscriptions to the podcast are available via iTunes and an archive of all podcasts will appear in the podcast section. We hope you enjoy it!
Continue Reading
Starting a Project With the End in Mind
Sometimes, a client will come to you with a fabulous project: something that you want to work on that just happens to be open-ended and will pay a nice chunk of your bills for months to come. You go in very excited about the project and the money and generally it’s a good gig. But the ending might not always be what you want. Maybe the client puts a sudden end to the project. Maybe the client has been following your every step and taking notes in the hopes of handling everything in house as soon as he’s learned all he can.
These situations are not necessarily bad, but if you plan for them from the start of the of the project, you can make the final transition for the project much easier when it does come around.
Ask FreelanceSwitch #7
In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at the budget selector and what to do when the client isn’t adhering to the contract.
Ask FreelanceSwitch is a new regular column here that allows us to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.
Ready! Fight!
Continue Reading
