Freelance business owners often struggle with the question of whether to hire a contractor or an employee. Many claim that contractors are the way to go, hands down; still others have only hire employees and claim they would never do anything different. So, what should you do when faced with this decision? Is there one that is better over the other, overall, or does the “right” choice depend on your type of small business?

When mulling over this decision, it is important to realize that you actually need to consider four simple questions. Answer these questions specifically to your business and you will be better educated and more confident in your choice between hiring employees or contractors as a freelancer. Continue Reading

The magazine I work for is looking to hire a part-time graphic designer to help the production department with creating print ads. The team has interviewed a few good candidates already, but nothing has stuck.

In fact, there was one woman who the team really liked. She showed us some great samples of her work, she had a flexible schedule, and looked like she would be the perfect hire to join our team. Our art director gave her a take home assignment on a Friday, hoping to see something on Monday. She gave this woman a logo, some copy, and a specific ad size to see what she could come up with in a specific amount of time. We never heard back from her.

Disappointed? Yeah! We were hoping this woman would knock our socks off. But she never sent in her graphics test. This led us to two conclusions: that she didn’t really want the job after all or she was creatively unable to do the work we needed her to do.

When I read this blog post on All Freelance Writing about freelancers providing a free sample to potential clients, it made me think about our situation. In this post, author Chris Bibey talks about a situation where he met with a client who wanted him to provide a free sample, based on their particular needs, within 24 hours. This is something freelancers should expect from time to time, Bibey says, as some companies will trust in your skills while others are more skeptical—especially when they have never worked with you before.

My advice is as follows: there is nothing wrong with providing a free sample to a potential client as long as you feel that it could turn into a paid gig. Unfortunately, there are people out there who collect as many free samples as they can from as many writers as they can find. When everything is said and done, they did not pay a dime yet have plenty of unique content. —allfreelancewriting.com

Over time, Bibey says, you will get better at discerning who is fishing for free content and who is a serious potential client. 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

Working as a contractor–or freelancing as it is often termed–is both a great stepping stone to running your own business and a viable career in itself. For the uninitiated, there can be numerous hurdles to overcome on the way to starting and having a successful freelancing career.

As a former freelancer myself and having employed more than a few, I have observed some of these hurdles firsthand. This article discusses some of the ins and outs of both freelancing and running a small business.

This article is also available in French. Pour nos chers lecteurs de la langue Francaise, je suis heureux de vous informer que vous pouvez lire une traduction complete de cet article: Le guide complet du débutant freelance. 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 pricing ecommerce web projects, creating remarkable guides, pushing past fear, and more.

Pricing Ecommerce Web Design Projects

It’s a common enough question, and one that always leads your average freelance web designer to take a deep breath and sigh ‘Well, let me see …’. There are many factors that influence the cost of an ecommerce web project, but when you communicate the vagaries to clients, there tend to be three that can have a huge impact – and are often only dealt with summarily: products, postage and payments.

On Criticism, Cynicism & Sharpening Your Gut Instinct

Time and time again, creative people are given two pieces of advice: (1) Listen to your critics and seek feedback, but also (2) Ignore your critics and follow your intuition. Clearly, there’s a powerful contradiction here in need of reconciliation.

Creating Ultimate Guides and Using Them to Build Your Marketing List

You’ve seen them – ultimate marketing guides to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and other important digital marketing resources. Creating ultimate guides are a great way to attract traffic, links, and social shares to your blog or website. The issue most people run into is with the number of blogs out there (especially ones on online marketing) – how do you create an ultimate guide if there are already tons of posts on a given subject?

Continue Reading

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

This week we look at A new way to think about creativity by Elizabeth Gilbert. In this video “Eat, Pray, Love” Author Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.. Continue Reading

Traveling for work can be a blessing—or a curse—depending on how you handle it. I have to drive a fair amount for my job, but many freelancers spend hours in airports, train stations, and bus terminals.

I found some handy tips on staying productive while traveling on Inc.com. I thought I would share some of them with you while adding some hard-learned lessons from my own time spent on the road.

Wear Comfortable Clothing

I don’t mean an all out sweat suit—though, really, what is more comfortable than that? Comfort to you will mean something different than comfort to me.

When I was flying through Madrid, I noticed something very different between myself and the other women walking through the airport. I was wearing black yoga pants and sneakers while all the other women were wearing skin-tight jeans and stilettos. Apparently, these women’s feet didn’t swell at all due to the change in altitude. Lucky them!

When I’m on a long flight, I need to be comfortable. That means layering. I find planes, trains, and even buses, to be ridiculously cold, so if it’s summertime, you’d better bet I’m packing a pair of socks into my carry on as well as something cozy for my arms. Continue Reading

You just finished a six week long project. You thought it came out great, so you didn’t expect their email, telling you they just weren’t happy with it. Now what?

Park your emotions. It’s easy to get worked up from negative feedback, particularly for a freelancer who is naturally quite tied to their work. But separating business and emotion are key to success anywhere. It’s okay to get heated up, but just give yourself some time to simmer down before you react. Go for a run, sleep on it, or vent to a friend until you feel more level headed. Continue Reading

Right now I am procrastinating. I should be working on writing a story about American Legion Baseball, but I’m writing this blog post instead.

I am not a serial procrastinator—in fact, rarely do I procrastinate. But when there is a story that I know I have to write on a topic that I’m not all that interested in, I tend to put it off. I KNOW that I will get it done, eventually, because I have to, it’s just hard to get started.

I’m sure many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Whether it’s writing a story, balancing your checkbook, or working on your website design—when it’s not something you’re totally excited about, it’s easy to push it to the side.

I wrote a blog post last month that talked about how procrastination can actually be essential to innovation. I have never been the type of person to thrive on procrastination to get stuff done. Heck—I have a full time job, a part time job, and I freelance! I don’t have TIME to procrastinate!

There was a great article posted on FastCompany.com about how to beat procrastination and get down to work. Their tips can help freelancers as well as anyone who has a tendency to put things off until later.

Knowing and acknowledging when you’re actually procrastinating, and knowing what’s likely to trigger it, is probably your best defense against the monster that makes you feel busy without feeling productive. —FastCompany.com

Catching yourself in the act of procrastination is the first step in getting past it. Here are some of their tips: Continue Reading

Ever worked a day job you couldn’t stand?

Me, too.

For years, I worked as a legal secretary for movie studios and talent agents. Before that, I scooped ice cream, worked at McDonald’s, and even sold aluminum patio awnings over the phone.

Every minute I worked these mind-deadening jobs, I thought it was a complete waste of time. I felt like I was using about three brain cells.

Most importantly, I was making no progress on my dream of writing for a living!

These jobs were just a necessary evil, a way to pay bills. Or so I thought.

Once I became a freelancer and started building my business, I realized I had learned a lot from those supposedly time-killing day jobs. I’d acquired useful abilities that helped me build a six-figure freelancing career.

Here are the skills I gained working day jobs that help me as a freelancer today: Continue Reading

Many freelancers have some dedicated space in their home in which to do their work. And setting up a great home office is key to your productivity, sanity, and professionalism.

Of course, some people don’t have an entire room in their home dedicated to a home office, but if you are serious about being a full-time freelancer, having this space makes business sense. Heck, I know people who have actually moved to a different home just so they could have a home office for their business. If this is something you are considering, read on… Continue Reading

When I first started freelance writing, I thought branding for businesses merely referred to having a consistent “look and voice”. With my partner, we put together a website, designed a logo, added social media accounts– and called it our branding strategy. But I learned that these are just functional elements to building a brand.

Brand building is a discipline that goes beyond what you say on your Twitter account and what colors you use on your website. It’s especially challenging for freelancers whose digital presence is often the first contact a client will have with them. For one thing, it can be extremely difficult for freelancers to set themselves apart from others offering similar services and products. Everyone is vying for the same market, armed with the same tools of the trade.

But branding can be a way for you to break through the slush pile of messages and logos, a way to differentiate yourself from other freelancers. Stop looking at branding as just catchy packaging– catchy logos and slogans–but as a strategic way to advertise and grow your freelance business.

Building a brand as a freelancer is both a creative art and a step-by-step science. Here are three questions to help you launch your own personal branding campaign for your freelance business. Continue Reading