Site: Shoeboxed

In this interview learn from Taylor Mingos about cloud based apps that can help your freelance business. Shoeboxed is the company he runs, which can save you time by scanning and organizing your business receipts for you. It integrates with Freshbooks and other affordable, open standards online apps as well. Taylor discusses quite a bit about launching a startup, filling a niche market’s needs, and expanding abroad. So for those of you looking to expand beyond freelancing and launch your own business, this interview will be especially interesting.

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Site: Men with Pens

In this interview learn from James Chartrand of how to take your freelancing to the next level. She outlines ways you can grow from a freelancer into an agency, sell your own educational products, and increase your revenue. She runs Men with Pens where she manages a team of creatives that deliver copywriting and graphic design services.

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So often when people think of writing, they picture novelists or journalists. But have you considered medical writing?

There is a great deal of opportunity to thrive as a medical writer, and build a career in this arena, for those that take the necessary steps, such as getting to know the field, attending conferences, and networking in this niche.

Cyndy Kryder, a medical writer hailing from the Philadelphia region, got into the field as a way to leverage her health industry experience into a flexible career. Along the way, she’s helped others get into this booming industry. Meet the “accidental medical writer” herself….

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At just 26 years old, Scott Gerber is revolutionizing the way that people think about work. He is the founder and CEO of Gerber Enterprises, an entrepreneurial development and venture management company that has launched several successful businesses.

But his passion goes beyond business–he wants to help other young business people and thus founded the Young Entrepreneur Council, an advocacy group made up of many of the world’s top young entrepreneurs that works to help young people overcome the devastating effects of youth unemployment and underemployment by teaching them how to build businesses. Did I mention he wrote a book, too? There’s so much to tell–so I asked.

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Meet Jennifer Gallagher, a Virtual Assistant (VA) living her dream by working from home helping clients be incredibly successful. Since March of this year Jennifer has been working as a freelance VA through Contemporary-VA. Was becoming a virtual assistant what she planned on? No, but the benefits outweigh any obstacles she thought she had. It might, possibly, be the most fun she has had working in a long time. Continue Reading

I am always fascinated by a freelancer that dominates his or her field. For Oliver Weiss, it’s illustration. This award-winning freelance illustrator from Germany has plenty of insight into securing well-known clients–and also some tricks for surviving the professional award circuit.

How did you get into illustrating?
I have always wanted to be an illustrator, but had no idea of how to get there. I ended up doing my Master’s degree in electrical engineering in Munich. My little illustration business on the side got started after two or three years into my university years, and managed to yield enough money to more or less support myself. I remember seeing some cartoon-style images in a university publication, and thinking, “I can do that!” So I sat down and developed a fun little character that would keep me going through the coming years, and sketched out several dozen black-and-white drawings — that’s basically how everything got started. Continue Reading

For today’s featured freelancer, we are going to meet Stephanie Gonzaga.  You’ve probably seen her comments of your favorite posts. She’s usually providing great feedback, useful tips, or much-needed words of encouragement.  And her post about working for Clients in Other Countries was very well received!

We are pleased to present Stef Gonzaga:

What kind of freelancer are you?

I’m a freelance writer, specializing in blog ghostwriting, web content writing, and catalog copywriting.

I enjoy writing for online stores

How did freelancing change your life?

Well, let’s just say I’m a “virgin freelancer”, meaning I never went through the corporate life as most people have. I started freelancing during my second year in college (I’m still a university student) because I wanted to be independent from my parents financially. It worked and gave me so much more, such as creative freedom, access to a lot of knowledge, and time to spend for my family. Continue Reading

In my ongoing quest to learn more about the various ways to freelance, I keep finding interesting and helpful people right here on FreelanceSwitch.  I’m grateful that you have given me the opportunity to share what I have learned about these talented individuals.

Today I would like to introduce you to Michael Saathoff.  You might recognize his name if you have browsed through the comments on many of the posts here on FSw, as Michael not only provides positive feedback, but he’s helpful, too!

I present to you – Michael Saathoff

What kind of freelancer are you?

I’m a Web Developer/Designer.  I’ve been working with flash since 2004, when a friend of mine tossed a Macromedia Flash MX2004 manual to me.  That was the same month that MX2004 came out, and I’ve been working on flash since then. Continue Reading

Like I’ve mentioned a few times, I’m still a bit new to freelancing.  One of the things that I love about FreelanceSwitch is the interaction and feedback from you, the readers.  No matter what the article, the comments are positive, encouraging, and for the most part – useful!  I probably spend more time reading the comments and checking out your links than I do on actual work.  Maybe I should fix that, but since I’ve decided to skip sleeping, I have much more time to review your awesome sites and portfolios.

Since you are way more interesting than I could ever dream of being, I’ve suggested that we do a feature article on a selected member of the elite Freelanceswitch audience. This week’s victim subject is Mike Vardy, author/editor/productivity specialist:

What kind of freelancer are you?

I am a Freelance comedic/satire writer, and I have created a productivity parody site called Eventualism.com – doing to productivity what Colbert does to politics.  I have been cast as an extra in featured movies, done corporate presentations, written for GTD Times, and most recently, been hired as the editor for WorkAwesome.com – FreelanceSwitch’s sister site, where you can learn how to be awesomer at being more productive at everything you do. Continue Reading

Looking to get big-name clients? Hear what Briant Grant, the creative director at Anisometric, has to say. Brian took his time to get experience and leveraged that agency experience into a thriving design firm based in London.

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Jon Reed is a knowledge goldmine, having published his own business books and running his own business. He may not freelance in the sense that we are all used to, but his perspective on dealing with corporations is especially valuable for contractors.

The author of Free From Corporate America: A Tactical Guide for Success on Your Own Terms has a lot of advice to offer when it comes to tackling the mindset of corporate America.

Read on to find out more about how you can embrace the benefits of corporations while still maintaining that freelance freedom we all love.

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After a grassroots start in the design arena and some time with agencies, Joshua Murphy chose to take the freelance road.

Now, at 32, this Phoenix, Arizona-based art director is making a name for himself as top talent with Element3Media.com. And he’s got some really useful tips for establishing communication with clients and getting clients to take you for off-site work. Read more at his blog, www.joshuamurphy.com, or check out his design community at www.designstar.org.

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