We’re looking for images of your freelance offices to be submitted to our FreelanceSwitch Facebook Group. This is for a post to run on FreelanceSwitch about Real Freelance Offices of FreelanceSwitch Readers in 2012. We’d love to see how your office looks.

Here are a few home office images we’ve received so far:

When submitting your freelance office photos be sure to include your name and what freelance work you do. We’re looking for 550px wide jpg images for the format.

Upload (or tag) your photo to the FreelanceSwitch Facebook group to participate.

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

This week we look at How To Find Good Clients by FreelanceJam. Freelancers not only need to know how to find clients, they need to know how to find good clients. In this episode, the FreelanceJam duo Brian and Dave break down the strategies that have worked for them over their years of freelancing. From working the job boards when you’re starting out, to building a strong referral network, and marketing yourself so that great clients come to you. 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 Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is. presented by graphic designer Chip Kidd. In this video we learn about the art of book cover design. Chip Kidd creates book covers that embody the book — and he does it with a wicked sense of humor. In one of the funniest talks from TED2012, he shows the art and deep thought of his cover designs. 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

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

This week we look at Startups on the Side with Toni Gemayel by FreelanceJam. In this inspiring video the FreelanceJam duo interview Toni Gemayel who has loads of experience as a freelancer and with launching successful ventures. He’s a full-time “startup scout” for Coloma Ventures which involves regular travel. He’s also someone who launches a lot of startups on the side, including ventures such as Fonadu. 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 getting started as a freelance marketing, building your creative mind, the power of weak social ties, and more.

The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Successful Freelance Marketer

Freelance marketers have one of the best jobs on the planet. There’s a never-ending stream of exciting new projects to work on and clients to work with, and at the end of the day, your work is about helping business grow, which means a better livelihood for everyone involved. Not to mention that if you’re doing well, the money is really good, too!

How to Create a Cover Photo for Your Facebook Timeline

Got a Facebook Page for your business? Freaking out about creating a good-looking cover photo for your Timeline? You’ve probably noticed that striking visual piece in the Facebook Pages timeline layout — a nearly-screen-width banner image, known as a “Cover.” On March 30, 2012, all Facebook Pages were converted to the timeline layout with the cover photo.
But you may have noticed that not every cover image is a home run …

4 Ways To Hack Into Your Mind And Become Infinitely More Creative

What if I told you that the biggest threat to your writing is not your lack of passion, your lack of creativity, or your lack of skill? What if I told you that the biggest threat to your writing is… your mind? That’s right. Your mind is the biggest obstacle standing between you and all the work you are trying to accomplish. Our mind is often the one that needs the most convincing that our writing is worthwhile. This is because our mind is hard-wired to protect us from any possible danger. You see, in order to protect us, our mind initially perceives anything it encounters as a threat—including your writing.

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 What to do if a Client Hates Your Design (and more!) by spoongraphics. In this video learn what you can do if your client dislikes your design work, what you can try to avoid back pain while working at your computer and whether it’s a good idea to label yourself as a Freelance Designer.. 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 Best Tips to Work Better, Not Harder by Lifehacker. In this video Adam Dachis and Adam Pash show us how to improve our freelance office setup, with ergonomic setup advice, cable management hacks, and processes for sinking your laptop and mobile phones. There’s more tips in this episode, including a hack on how to save money at Starbucks while getting the same caffeine buzz. Continue Reading

The FreelanceSwitch Facebook Page has almost 12,000 Likes and an active following. This is where we post links to our published material, as well as to freelance related posts from across the web. If you’d like to follow what impacts freelancers daily, our Facebook page is a great way to do that.

Today, we have some quick FreelanceSwitch reader news about our Facebook Page. We recently updated our page’s branding to meet the new Facebook format and guidelines, and to give the page a facelift. 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 Beware online “Filter Bubbles” by Eli Pariser. As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there’s a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a “filter bubble” and don’t get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy. For marketing online through SEO it’s critical to understand how search engines tailor results. 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 learning freelance web development, grammar goofs, working on the road, and more.

7 Steps to Learning Freelance Web Development,

So you want to become a freelance web developer. Maybe you’re already a front-end developer and want to dig deeper into web applications, or maybe you’re a copy wiz and are eyeing the countless developer positions out there. Either way, it’s an entirely new skill you’ll be picking up. Here’s how to do it successfully.

15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly

Making some grammatical errors just makes you look bad, and hurts your effectiveness. Assembled here (as a handy reference) are the 15 most egregious grammar goofs into one helpful infographic.

12 Things That Will Kill Your Blog Post Every Time

Blogging is a lot like fishing. Some people do it all the time and never catch anything…while others catch everything. Why is that? You know better than to say it is luck. So let’s call it what it is…when you look around at successful blogs…whatever industry or topic…there are several undeniable basics to success. And it starts with blog posts that kill it…rather than get killed. But what kills a blog post? Here’s a list of 12 things…ignore them and you will have a tough time being successful.

Continue Reading