2011 Freelance Industry Report

Tens of millions of workers remain unemployed around the world. But the freelance segment of the workforce is not only growing, it’s actually thriving.

That’s just one of the many interesting facts I uncovered when I recently surveyed more than 1,200 freelancers in 37 different professions.

The findings of this survey are summarized in the just-released 2011 Freelance Industry Report, which is sponsored by the International Freelancers Day online conference.

This 53-page study (which is available free here) uncovered some very surprising and encouraging information about who freelancers really are, what we charge, how we work, what our biggest challenges are, how we feel about the solo path and why we do what we do.

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Each month, we bring together a selection of the best tutorials and articles from across the whole Tuts+ network. Whether you’d like to read the top posts from your favourite site, or would like to start learning something completely new, this is the best place to start!

Cgtuts+ — Computer Graphics Tutorials

Vehicle Rendering With Fryrender

Rendering realistic vehicles is no easy task, the complexity of the surfaces and high reflectivity make getting good renders a time consuming, and often frustrating process. So we’ve enlisted the help of author Shaun Keenan to guide you through the process of creating a high quality, realistic vehicle render using Maya 2011 and Random Control’s physically accurate Fryrender.

Epic Blender Tutorials

We’ve scoured the web in search of the best Blender tutorials out there and compiled a list of 45 of the most epic we could find. This collection includes a variety of tutorials covering everything from modeling and animation, to rigging and VFX. So grab a coffee and savor the Blender goodness!

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It’s kinda crazy to think, but our little internet startup, Envato, has been on the air now for five years. We started back in 2006 as four very enthusiastic and totally green entrepreneurs with a shoestring budget and a love of the web. Fast forward five years and while we’re hopefully a little less green, we’re still incredibly passionate about Education, Marketplaces and the web! It’s been an amazing time and we’d like to share a look inside our Melbourne HQ offices, some stats about Envato and a big thank you to the community.

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It’s Envato’s 5th birthday and we’re ready to celebrate! With another year comes another Bundle, and this year’s Bundle is bigger and better than ever with over $500 ($507 in fact) worth of awesome files all for only $20!

With the recent public launch of Envato’s stock photography marketplace PhotoDune, we’ve been able to include even more great files. Our team have handpicked picked some super cool stuff from around the marketplaces and have worked tirelessly to cram them into our 5th Birthday Bundle. See the full list of files on the Birthday Bundle page!

Read on for a quick look through what’s inside this year…

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Credit: Lifeonwhite on Photodune

A bad review, whether it’s posted on a portfolio site, or just shared by word of mouth, can ruin your whole day. It’s easy to dwell on it, turning everything over and over again in your mind. But as a freelancer, how concerned should you really be about bad reviews?

For a hotel or a restaurant, one bad review can decimate the number of customers that come in. People routinely look at reviews for where they’re going to stay or eat, making reviews crucial to business.

Freelancers don’t have quite the same situation, but it is necessary to pay attention to reviews of your services.

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It’s been almost five years since we launched Envato, the company behind this site and many others, and in that time we’ve built eight digital marketplaces for everything from WordPress Themes to Background Music. With our fifth birthday coming up this weekend, we’re excited to announce the beta launch of our ninth marketplace: PhotoDune for royalty free stock photos. Continue Reading

I realize this may sound a bit absurd, but I don’t know Guy Kawasaki from Adam. In fact, I think I know Adam a whole lot better. So when the girl who was looking after our house mentioned that a book had arrived for me, and it was written by some “Apple dude”, my curiosity was piqued.

I’m happy to say that Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki is worth a read. Even if it was written by some Apple dude.

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With our Freelance Mac App bundle past 1000 copies sold, I wanted to take a quick moment to highlight the fact that as part of the promotion we have partnered with SmashingMagazine to give away completely free copies of their eBook: “Successful Freelancing”. All you need to do is send out a super quick tweet promoting the bundle and you’ll get your own copy of the book which normally retails at $5. It’s that easy!

Thanks to the wonderful guys at Smashing for allowing us to run this neat little promotion, and thanks to the hundreds of people who’ve already taken advantage of this offer!

Every freelancer knows that a good tool can make a dramatic difference in productivity. And for freelancers productivity = earnings. That’s why I’m super excited to announce that the first ever AppStorm Freelance Mac App Bundle is now on sale and it’s packed full of Mac Apps, files and eBooks that is unbeatable value for freelancers!
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For those of you in the know, you’ve probably noticed that Amanda Hackwith has moved to the Rockable Press side of our business following the release of her successful book Freelance Confidential: The Whole Truth on Freelancing. She’s still a full-time Editor at Envato, but is now putting her skills to use creating books and other Premium educational content.

I’ve taken over Editing FreelanceSwitch, which is really exciting. I’ve been in the drivers seat for a couple months now, so things are running smoothly. No big speed bumps in the transition. I’d love to hear any suggestion you all have, and I’ll drop some information about myself here so you can get to know me.

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Credit: elenathewise on Photodune

I have a confession to make. I’m addicted to caffeine. For breakfast I either have a can of Diet Coke or a small iced mocha with skim milk from Dunkin Donuts, which happens to be a 5 minute walk from my house or a quick drive on my way to the office.

I am well aware that having a can of Diet Coke for breakfast is not healthy. I should be eating poached eggs, whole grain toast, a banana, and a glass of pomegranate juice. Here’s the thing—I can’t eat first thing in the morning or I feel sick. Here’s the other thing—I don’t have time.

I suspect that many of you that work in the fast paced media world might also have a caffeine addiction and also don’t have the luxury of a breakfast that includes all of the food pyramid. Am I right? So coffee (or Diet Coke) it is.

I’ve created a list of some of the top coffee makers  that should perk up any freelancers day. And, depending on your lifestyle and taste, there is a coffee maker for you on the market; I guarantee it!

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Credit: Roger Byrne on Photodune

For many freelancers I know, social media is all-encompassing. We love to tweet about everything from our latest blog post to our favorite brand of coffee. Then there is the other group that never miss an industry workshop and seem to spend more of their time traveling than at home. There are many different types of freelancers and businesses—which type is yours?

In his latest book, The Referral Engine, author John Jantsch has a very interesting section where he talks about what he deems are two different approaches: There’s the business that relies on social marketing, email newsletters, blogs, and online communities—the techies; the other is built around face-to-face networking, print collateral, workshops, and seminars.

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