There are gymnasts, tennis players and other athletes who have been training in their sports for years — if not decades — who wouldn’t dream of working without a coach. Recently, a surgeon in New York decided to see if his work could also benefit from the analysis and suggestions of a coach. His answer was yes — which, in turn, leads me to wonder if freelancers can benefit from working with coaches.

A brief search turns up a few different types of coaches who make it clear that they work with freelancers. A lot of them fall into a sort of life coaching category: they are effectively cheerleaders there to work with freelancers who need more of a support structure than they may be getting elsewhere. That’s all well and good, but that’s not the type of coach I’m talking about. Continue Reading

Freelancing can be fun and exciting, especially when you’re first getting started.

You have a new income stream, a new amount of freedom and control, and if feels like you’re taking charge of your skills and talents.

Of course, those are just a pipe dreams if you can’t find a client.

So how do you get started? How do you actually go about finding that first client? I don’t have all the answers, but here are a few ideas for kick-starting your freelance career. Continue Reading

Engagement From Scratch! is a classic tale of learning from other peoples’ mistakes. Thirty professional bloggers prove that hindsight really is 20/20. And you can benefit from their advice thanks to Danny Iny.

I was pretty pumped that I was asked by FreelanceSwitch to preview this book. I had previously written a review for this site on Danny Iny’s online marketing course through his business, Firepole Marketing. I thought Iny’s product was really interesting and provided a lot of great tools, so I was interested to delve into Engagement From Scratch!

The premise is simple. Iny asked 30 bloggers from the very big (Brian Clark of copyblogger.com and Guy Kawasaki) to the up-and-coming (Onibalusi Bamidele from youngprepro.com) what they would do if they had to build a following all over again.

The overarching themes these bloggers shared were pretty straightforward, and nothing you probably don’t already know, such as:

• Be yourself.
• Comment on other blogs thoughtfully.
• Create great content.
• Know who your audience is.
• Find or create your niche.
• It’s not the size of your audience that matters, it’s how engaged they are.
• Write guest posts for other bloggers and have them write for you.

As I read through each essay, I’d nod my head, take some notes for this blog post, and read on. And I listened. I finally listened. Continue Reading

If someone came up to your clients and asked them, “What is that freelancer doing for you?” what do you think your client will say? Will they sing your praises or scratch their heads and wonder why they hired you in the first place?

While your clients can check your invoices for a list of accomplished tasks, invoices weren’t designed to explain why these tasks are important, nor do they justify the cost. A project proposal may contain these details, but this is written at the beginning of the project. Clients need to know what you’ve done for them lately – and they need a recurring reminder.

For your client to understand your value, you need to assert it yourself. You can do this by creating a “Monthly Value Report”. This document shows them how much you’re contributing to their business.

Continue Reading

Once a week, we feature a fantastic freelance-themed comic from the talented N.C. Winters. Why not also take a look at our comic archive? Continue Reading

Every other week we roundup some of the highest quality articles and resources that benefit freelancers from across the web. We present these articles here on various helpful topics. This week we have articles on top apps for transferring big files, how Google+ can help creative freelancers, new guidelines for web designers, and more.

Transfer Big Files: The Top 7 Tools You Should Use

If you work online, and most of us do in some capacity, it’s likely that you’ll have to transfer big files from time to time. Usually, the quickest way to transfer big files or share your work with someone is to email it to them, which means you just attach it to the email … right?

10 ways Google+ is Better than Facebook for Creative Freelancers

People are understandably hesitant about using Google’s recent addition to social networking in the form of Google+. Surely having a presence on Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter and more, is enough for sharing content and promoting ourselves! Facebook alone can prove to be an enormous time-burner.

10 New Guidelines for Web Designers for 2012

To capitalize on the earning potential of web design industry there has been surge in the number of custom service web design providers. However, only a handful of freelancers are able to sense the change in the industry dynamics and add value to their creative ideas during implementation. In order for you to stay competitive, effective, and yet innovative with your web designs I propose the following ten guidelines.

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View engaging conference lectures, interesting how to discussions, and high quality freelance advice via video here on FreelanceSwitch.

This week we look at Insight Design Conference-Quite Strong by Design Collective Quite Strong. In this video two members from the group, Jennifer Sisson and Jana Kinsman, share tips and and ideas on self promotion in the design industry.

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In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, we look at late-paying clients. Ask FreelanceSwitch is a 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.

Question on Late Fees

Quick question: a VERY good client forgot to submit my invoice to accounts payable. Since this a repeat offense, I think I need charge for this. Should I charge a percentage of the total invoice?

Unless you’ve already established with a client that there are going to be late fees, it’s not good business to spring a request for a late fee on a client after the fact. Especially since we’re talking about a good (read high-paying?) client here, it’s much better to warn him in advance that there are going to be some changes. Continue Reading

Thanksgiving is all about reflecting and recognizing all the great things you have.

Before you shut your laptop and start baking pies to bring to Aunt Selma’s house, spend a few minutes giving thanks for the little things that make the freelance lifestyle great.

Here are twelve to start you off:

• Quiet: Most days you can work unbothered by unnecessary meetings, ringing phones, or background chatter.
• Fresh air: You can get up when you want to walk the dog, get the mail, or just  feel the sun, rain, or snow.
• Diversity: With the freedom to re-slant your talents, you can stay current and adapt to the changing economic climate.
• Being there:  If you’re managing your schedule around your children’s school day, it’s all about being there every afternoon.

Continue Reading

Every freelancer out there has a bag of tricks they wouldn’t want to do work without—whether it’s their computer, useful software, or their favorite radio station. Find out what sorts of things help FreelanceSwitch.com contributors during their workday.

Perhaps their advice will inspire you to try something new, or reaffirm that what you currently use is the best in the biz.

Hardware

My Apple Kit

I regularly use a MacBook Air, iMac, iPad, and iPhone for work. I love the style and function of OSX and iOS, and the quality of these tools is just amazing.

I can enjoy a huge screen at home for digging into some in-depth work, and take the super lightweight MacBook Air on the road. My iPhone never leaves my side, and I’m constantly amazed at how much work I can get done on such a tiny device. –David Appleyard

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Starting out as a freelance writer is not as easy as it appears. Learning how to become a freelance writer requires business considerations, not just writing chops.

Beyond getting out there and securing contracts, you need to be self-motivated and organized. This is a difficult transition, especially if you don’t have colleagues or friends who have been in the field and can help you along.

If you’re just starting out and hoping to make your livelihood writing, take a look at the seven tips below. Keep in mind that these are geared toward beginners who are pursuing freelance writing as a full-time job—not for those who simply do a little extra writing on nights and weekends. Continue Reading

If you work online, and most of us do in some capacity, it’s likely that you’ll have to transfer big files from time to time.

Usually, the quickest way to transfer big files or share your work with someone is to email it to them, which means you just attach it to the email … right?

Not so fast my friend.

The problem, of course, is that most email clients have an attachment limit of 25MB. I’ve had Powerpoint presentations that are well over that limit. If you find yourself in a similar predicament, check out some of the following tools.

Whether it’s a presentation, a movie, or anything else, these tools will help you get the job done quickly.

1. Dropbox

Without a doubt, Dropbox is my favorite of this bunch. I integrate it with my daily work in many ways and it acts as a dual-backup system for everything I write. But if you’re looking to transfer big files, then Dropbox can play that role too.

Dropbox offers a free account of 2GB and, presumably, you could upload a 2GB file to your account and share it quickly with someone else.

All you need to do is click the “Share a Folder” button within your Dropbox account and then enter the email address of the person you want to share it with. Easy peasy.

Website: Dropbox Continue Reading