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A friend dropped me an email about a new site he was launching, StudentFreelance.com, and it got me thinking about my own freelancing experiences in college…

For my money, students comprise one of the most overlooked and underutilized freelance communities. Even though tons and tons of students are learning extremely valuable (and marketable skills) on a daily basis, we seldom think about college students as potential freelancers, particularly when it’s time to fill the next freelance gig.

Back in my own college days, when I wasn’t hitting the books or drinking eggplant juice (my older brother somehow convinced me it would help with hangovers – it turned out he was just messing with me), I was fortunate enough to freelance on a fairly consistent basis. While my java pressing compatriots earned their beer money concocting frappacinos at Starbuck’s, I was discovering amazing synergies between my studies and my work. Like the time I was able to use a class on VRML to impress a client who only wanted a “3D-looking” kiosk menu programmed in Director, with a real immerse/interactive 3-D world! (For those not fluent in “tech,” allow me to translate: I did something pretty awesome.) Not only was it rewarding for me to apply skills from the classroom to the real world, but I feel pretty confident that I was providing my clients with high-quality services.

Certainly, some old and grumpy types might stereotype college kids as too young to understand the responsibilities that come hand-in-hand with freelancing. (These are probably the same types that don’t appreciate re-runs of Seinfeld or a good “yo mamma” joke.) But for those of us with even a little bit of open-mindedness, college kids represent an incredibly useful, and underutilized, talent pool. Continue Reading

Emails are ubiquitous. Approximately 183 billion emails are sent every day, which translates into two million every second. For those keeping track at home, that’s officially a boat load of emails. Or, dare I say, a cruise-ship load?

Not surprisingly, a large percentage of these emails are business-related. Solicitations, time confirmations, follow-ups, thank yous, adulterous propositions (often followed by sexual harassment legal notices), the list goes on ad infinitum. However, years of experience as an entrepreneur and discerning email sender/receiver have shown that the majority of emails, even those that are business-related, are not –- I repeat, not –- effectively written.

The pitfalls vary, but the consequences are always the same: a poorly written email leaves an equally poor impression. And, as a freelancer, when your source of income is entirely dependent upon your relationships with clients, often grounded in your email correspondences, you absolutely cannot afford to be less than stellar.

Granted, many people couldn’t identify strong email writing if hit them over the head with a Mac truck, a bulldozer, and Queen Latifah attached. (Dang, that would hurt.) But even if these people can’t identify it, strong email writing will inevitably make a positive impression over time and produce meaningful results for your business.
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