It’s that time of the year at the moment and over here at Eden HQ we’re launching sites by the bucketload. This time last year it was FreelanceSwitch, FaveUp and PSDTUTS. In 2008, we’ve got a much bigger stack of launches ahead!

Today though, we’ve launched probably one of our biggest sites in the form of AudioJungle which is a site where anyone can buy and sell music loops and sound effects. Over the coming months we’re going to be building this into a powerhouse audio community, to match our main FlashDen site.

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Photo by Vu Bui.

Performance anxiety is a part of life. We all have it. It drives us to work harder and improve at what we do, but too much of it can also kill your creativity, drain your energy and severely impact productivity.

Freelancing comes with its fair share of anxiety provoking conditions. The solo aspect of it alone can be scary, not to mention the variability in income, and if you’re new at it, the inevitable learning curve when it comes to business skills.

A healthy level of performance anxiety that gets your heart pumping and sharpens your attentiveness can be an asset if you know how to make the most of it. But how do you regain control when anxiety starts to run the show? Continue Reading

Photo by Please! Don't smile.

Dear Aunty,

We’re halfway through a project and I think the Art Director is going to kill the Technical lead. We can’t get through a day without constant sniping, terse words or snippy emails cced to the whole office.

Yesterday, the technical lead poured his slush puppy over the art director’s head and unplugged his laptop in the middle of a presentation causing the art director to cuss wildly about the cost of his suit and the state of his hair. It didn’t help that the client was sitting in the meeting room watching the presentation at the time.

Is there any advice for this? I’m the PM by the way. Continue Reading

Artwork by Freeparking.

Maintaining enthusiasm, productivity levels, a sense of humor and general sanity can sometimes be a challenge for career freelancers!

Here are ten lessons that every successful freelancer has learned: lessons that will help keep you on the right track in the world of going it alone.

Have you learned these lessons yet?

If you haven’t, start today! Continue Reading

As more and more people turn to environmentally friendly solutions for their lives, more self-employed people are making this a focus for their businesses.

At just 25 years old, Angela Ferraro-Fanning has done just that with her graphic design business, 13thirtyone Design. As the Principal of the enterprise, this Hudson, Wisconsin, resident not only makes environmentally savvy choices for herself such as cutting out a commute by working at home, but she helps her clients find earth-friendly ways to do business.

If you’re looking to put a little green in your business, read on to learn how this innovative creative has succeeded in doing just that. Continue Reading

Photo by srboisvert.

So, you’ve got a good idea; a creative solution for a brief. Or you’ve just won a pitch. Fabulous. Now you’ve got to build the thing. If you can do that with the effortless lubrication of motivation from start to finish you’re lucky (and a bit unusual). If, like most of us, you find there are parts of the process where drive is a struggle, read on …

Take a look at these five key motivations for the creative process and work out where the force is strong with you. Tailoring your work to suit your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses can mean jobs become rewarding activities rather than laborious headaches.

Most people are strongly motivated by only one or two of the following. It might help to imagine recent projects from your own work. Think of examples where you were involved in the job from start to finish and see if you can spot any patterns. Continue Reading

Photo by Thiru Murugan.

Let’s face it. It’s trendy to “be green.” Companies across the US are trying to sell customers with their green-washing; “we’re eco-friendly,” “good for the earth,” “we’ve gone green”, etc. With all of the slogans, it’s hard to know which services and products are actually dedicated to helping the environment.

Consumers are listening to these messages and studies have shown that now-a-days people are making more of an effort, as a whole, to be environmentally conscious. So you’ve decided to join in. Whether you’re looking to give your company a green-overhaul, or whether you’re just doing your part here and there, I have a few ideas that may help.

What if you could take part in the race to save the earth just by bettering your marketing materials? It’s surely a small step in the right direction.

The following is a list of ideas that will not only help you to be a greener person/business, but they will help you to promote your business as well. Continue Reading

Photo by *Solar ikon*.

I am a coward.

Despite the prevalent American ideals of self-reliance, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, and industriousness, all I want is a decent job that gives me a steady paycheck and my own personal slice of quiet desperation. I even gave that a shot right out of college, securing employment at an online retail company for two years before I was laid off due to the struggling economy. I gave it another shot after that, this time working at a large law firm, before I was let go again two months later.

So, with no real immediate job prospects, I started surfing job boards for freelance writing gigs. Somehow, even though I was just looking for a way to make some food money until I got my real job (which never came despite hundreds of resumes sent to companies in every industry imaginable), I wound up getting enough work to freelance full time eventually.

But while most people might have been glad that they got fired when they did, thus leading down this unexpected path of self-employment, I’m a little less enthusiastic.

Why? Continue Reading

Photo by FABIOLA MEDEIROS.

Although there are numerous bright aspects to freelancing, day in day out it’s not easy to keep focused and keep producing your best work for clients. Focus can easily be lost, direction shortsighted, and shortcuts taken. There are a few things you can do to relieve a major chunk of this pressure and stress and start leading a lot more simple freelancing life.

Take Away The Unnecessary

Keep asking yourself, does this “something” add anything to my life? If you have to think about an answer to the question for more than a few seconds, it doesn’t. Remove it from your life. Throw it away. Clear out the space visually and mentally.

There’s no use keeping around a piece of digital material (RSS feed, song, file, bookmark) if it’s not adding anything to your life or helping you in some way. Try to simplify things down and keep only the essentials, both in the material and the evolving digital world. Continue Reading

Photo by Arwen Abendstern.

After placing the last plate in the dishwasher yesterday, I poured in the detergent, set the dial, and burst in to tears. It was not the chemicals or the hormones. Okay, probably a little bit of the hormones. Okay, probably mostly the hormones. But it was also because it’s been almost a full year since I made the freelance switch, and I was ready to admit to the kitchen sink that I am, in fact, lonely.

Look, I don’t get lonely. I clutch jealously at control of my life and my time like the One Ring. Days and days will go by and I’ll happily not leave my office except to go to Mass, at which point I’ll pile my purse and jacket in the pew next to me and daaaaare you with my eyes to sit on the other side. And if you do plop yourself there, you keep your sticky paw to yourself. I will genially wish you peace from my five-foot bubble of personal space, my brother. And also with you.

Nonetheless, yesterday I realized that I cannot remember the last time I have been shopping with another woman, and surfaced in tears because of it.

“But,” said my husband as I wept on him over this, “you don’t like to shop. We couldn’t afford to shop even if you did.”

“I knoooooow.” I covered my face with my arm.

“Aren’t I your friend?”

“You don’t understand about shoes.” Continue Reading