You’ve got a problem. What has started out as a straight forward design and development job has hit a sudden snag. While the client originally promised to take care of all their content, they’ve come to realize that it is actually pretty hard to write about their services. Now they’ve come to you to bail them out.

What do you do?

While you may initially think of running for the hills or waving your contract in the clients face, refusing to be involved in helping with a website’s content may be leaving money on the table. And while you may not think of yourself a great writer, eBook author Donna Spencer shows you how to get the job done in Rockable Press’ book, How to Write Great Copy for the Web.
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Twitter seems to have a very polarizing effect on people. Some love it and some hate it. Some even love to hate it when they haven’t even tried the service yet. What makes Twitter so divisive?

Recently, actor Sir Patrick Stewart came down on the usefulness of Twitter in his life calling it too simplistic to reduce life to 140 characters. But whether you agree with the Captain or not, Twitter – when used correctly – can be a extremely beneficial tool for your freelance business.

With its growing list of books, Rockable Press recently released Twitter Up Your Business: How to Market Your Business on Twitter. The mini-book promises to teach you how to use the service, and explains how Twitter can help your business. Let’s see how it delivers.

Engage!
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When I first heard that the Smashing Magazine was putting together a book, I naturally wondered what it could possibly contain. Pages filled with 100 Outstanding Websites that are Yellow? 50 Really Cool Wine Websites?

Perhaps they were putting together an inspiration picture book?

For those that have been following Smashing Magazine over the years you have probably noticed a subtle shift recently towards less Digg bait and more solid article writing. It is fortunately this style of writing that makes an appearance in the Smashing Book.
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Marketcircle recently released Billings Touch for the iPhone to accompany their popular invoicing software Billings. When you first open up Billings Touch, you have two options. If you have Billings already set up on your computer, you can connect your iPhone to that account. By using that information, you can check up on your invoices easily from your phone and generally use your phone as a mobile extension of your laptop, when it comes to invoicing clients.

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Everyone hates it when their work gets blatantly ripped off. Although it’s one thing to look to others for inspiration, it’s a completely different story when ideas get stolen lock, stock and barrel.

So what recourse are you left with when you find your intellectual property stolen? Your first reaction may drift towards baseball bat justice. But while baseball bats can be enjoyable, it rarely fixes the problem. Better yet, you can use a service like Myows to deal with cases of infringement.
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While there are great resources out there for anyone interested in freelancing, working as a graphic designer can have a few twists that makes it worth your while to take a look at books that specifically offer information geared towards freelance graphic designers. These books can provide an education on the nuts and bolts of the freelance graphic design business.

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My name is Travis King and I hate WordPress.

A few years back you would have definitely heard me utter that phrase. Countless hours spent trying to manhandle free WordPress themes left me feeling very bitter about the whole experience. But recently, I’ve turned my attention to premium and freemium (is that even a word?) themes, and I’ve started to make reconciliatory gestures towards WordPress.

Enter Thesis, a premium theme framework that is supposed to make site construction a snap.
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Over the last ten years the face of marketing has undergone some major changes. What was once a craft dedicated to blasting your message to as many people as possible through traditional mass media, has had to adjust to media savvy customers who no longer want to spend their time watching another Dairy Queen commercial.

The Web has played a major role is this marketing shift, and Site Point’s recent book Online Marketing Inside Out helps introduce some of the core areas available for promoting your business online.

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Having the right billing and invoicing tools is crucial to a freelancer. Your options can be very different, depending on what type of computer you’re working on. For those freelancers working on Macs, there are several applications worth investigating. It’s just a matter of choosing which will fit best with your billing habits.

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Every successful freelancer knows their productivity is closely tied to the tools they use and the workflow they implement. So when a company, like Adobe, releases new versions of their suite of applications, we each have to make the decision to purchase, upgrade, or wait for more. With Creative Suite 3 only a couple of years old, the question is: are the gains worth the upgrade price? Is it time to buy, or time to wait? In short, will the money you invest now increase your productivity into the future?

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As a freelancer I sometimes lay awake at night tossing and turning over thoughts about secondary revenue streams. That tells me two things:

1. In this current economy it’s always a good idea to be looking ahead for new revenue opportunities.
2. I must be pretty dull at parties.

Lately I’ve been putting together a new travel and information site called I Heart Japan. And while it has been coming together I’ve been looking at good ways to add advertising revenue streams to the site.

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Digital nomadry, location independence, beach front business in Saint Lucia—call it what you will, freelancers worldwide have long aspired to take their business with them and hit the road.

But there is a great deal of planning and preparation that goes into working remotely. Just having a laptop, plane ticket, and a moleskin full of dreams does not guarantee success. How will you get access to your bank account? How will you keep in touch with clients? How will you get new business? What about cell phones, time zones, internet access, and office equipment? You know what…maybe I’ll just stay home.

Hold on. Don’t unpack your sunscreen just yet. It’s time to dive in to Lea Woodward’s Build a Location Independent Business Course.

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