Linkswitch #75, Creative Blogging, Guide to Google+, Inspirational Writing
17 Pillar Articles to Help You Master Creative Briefs
Creatives need a detailed brief. Without it we are feeling in the dark, with little clue of our destination. We need targeted information from our clients to deliver high quality finished work that meets the client’s expectations. We want to deliver polished work and we need the right information to do that.
Are You a Creative Blogger?
It doesn’t take a genius to stroll around cyberspace and quickly find that the World Wide Web is littered with junk. There is a lot of “stuff” out there, most of which isn’t very good. On the flip side, though, there are still many amazing gems hidden beneath the rubble. The magical ingredient that marks the divide is creativity. Creativity isn’t just part of a fairytale that only children believe in. It really exists, and is the one thing that will polish you into a masterful blogger.
10 Effective Steps to Amazingly Inspirational Writing
What’s it like when you remember a moment in time when you read a book or an article that made your heart sing? There was something about the writing that touched something deep inside and inspired you to view the world from a different perspective. Inspirational writing is something every writer is capable of. Yes, that means you, too.
Orman Clark and the Business of Free, Video Interview
View awesome conference lectures, engaging how to discussions, and high quality freelance business advice via video here on FreelanceSwitch. This week we look at Orman Clark and the Business of Free by Freelancejam. Can you give great stuff away and expect to make any money? In this video Orman Clark discusses how he does it on a daily basis through his site Premium Pixels. In this episode we dig deeper into how Orman has crafted a site full of self-created freebie graphic files and used it to drive sales of his premium WordPress themes.
Ask FreelanceSwitch: Firing Clients and Providing Hosting
In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, we look at firing clients and providing hosting. Ask FreelanceSwitch is a regular column here that allows us to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.
Question 1
How do you deal with clients who refuse to accept that you’ve decided to end the relationship? We have a client that we formally terminated contracts with for a number of reasons, but this client refuses to accept that we are no longer interested. He has been very passive-aggressive, making very subtle, veiled threats, and then saying he needs us because we do such wonderful work.
We initially responded to his e-mails politely and firmly, but ignored his last two e-mails. We’re wondering if we should respond at all anymore. It’s a bit challenging, because this client and our company are in the same community, so we have the same circles of contacts and friends. We will certainly run into this client time after time and certainly don’t want to burn bridges.
We are concerned, however, about this client’s persistence and instability. How do we get it through his head that we will never work with him again even if he were the last person on the planet, without involving legal resources or having him wreak havoc?
Unfortunately, you’re already doing pretty much everything you can in this situation. Because you’ve already addressed his emails and formally terminated your contract, it’s acceptable to simply stop replying to his emails. You may also want to prepare a standard response, in case one of your shared contacts asks you about the situation, something along the lines of ‘it just didn’t work out.’ You may also need to prepare yourself for the fact that you’ll probably encounter this person at events in the future.
Ask Questions to Build Fan Relationships: Successful Facebook Marketing
Editor’s Note: Skellie is the director for the Envato Tuts+ network and drives the social media promotion for nine brands with over 100,000 Facebook fans. This article is an excerpt from her newest book, Successful Facebook Marketing, sold by Rockable Press.
Your goals with Facebook should not only be to get more Likes and more traffic. One of the first things people learn at Business School is that it costs much more time, energy, and often money to add a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer. Keeping your fans loyal and happy is just as important, if not more important, than finding new fans. For this reason, it’s important to use your Facebook Page to build more loyalty among your existing fans, and to gain a better understanding of them.
As I mentioned earlier, comments are one of the most useful ways fans can interact with your Facebook posts. Every time a fan leaves a comment it is shared on their profile and in their friends’ News Feeds. While you’re building brand loyalty and interacting directly with your audience, you’re also creating pathways for new fans to find your Page. For this reason, content that encourages discussion will be one of the best possible additions to your Facebook Page. Continue Reading
17 Pillar Articles to Help You Master Creative Briefs
Credit: Yuri Arcurs on Photodune
Creatives need a detailed brief. Without it we are feeling in the dark, with little clue of our destination.
We need targeted information from our clients to deliver high quality finished work that meets the client’s expectations. We want to deliver polished work and we need the right information to do that.
As freelancers, it’s up to us to direct our clients on how to deliver an informed and detailed brief. Often this means putting together a questionnaire that clients fill out. This could be a website form, PDF, or text document, whichever you and your client are comfortable using. Ultimately, you need to collect the information needed for the project brief.
Only experienced clients will be familiar with compiling creative briefs and most clients will need some hand holding through the process. Whether you use a formal questionnaire, or ask questions over the phone, will depend on you and your clients. However, don’t discount the need to collect this project brief information, it’s how every one of your projects should get started.
Is Talent a Myth?
Credit: Sharon Mollerus on Flickr
For as much as it seems that talent is a real driving force that allows people to excel at certain things I am equally convinced that it is totally overrated. Sure, some people have developed a knack for certain types of things. In my opinion anyone can learn to do anything and in reality talent is irrelevant and a myth.
If you happen to be pursuing something you feel you don’t have a talent for then you will likely find this perspective encouraging. I for one have come to make a living off of writing; something I most definitely don’t have a talent for. As such, I can’t help but consider how it is that I have succeeded at it, and ultimately what the real formula for success might be.
Starting a Niche Blog
Credit: feverpitch on Photodune
So you want to start a blog. You’ve decided on WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, or whatever, which is a good first step. Before you start blogging you need to think about how you’re going to differentiate your blog from the thousands of blogs out there in the blogosphere.
Many writers spend their day writing copy for their clients that isn’t particularly interesting to them—sometimes it’s downright boring. A blog allows them creative freedom to write about whatever they want. But sometimes, it’s that overwhelming freedom that dooms their blog from the start.
What you need to do is find your niche and blog about it. Creating a niche blog allows you to hone into your expertise, your passion, and write about it. As a freelancer, your blog should be another way to market yourself to potential clients. That doesn’t mean you can’t write about what you love—be it knitting, parenting, or shopping local—it just means you need to have a plan.
Feeling Challenged, Can You Maintain Steam?
Credit: Vestman on Flickr
Something every freelancer has to face is the sense of dread when things start to go south in their freelance life. It happens for so many reasons: unexpected emergencies, clients backing out, or the Bill Monkey on your back wanted to remind you they were still around. Regardless of the scenario, you feel panicked, and begin to reconsider your efforts to freelance.
Instead of letting this bring you down, try to use it as a motivational tool to complete tasks and re-align your freelancing career! Today, I’m going to list and explain some of the ways I’ve been able to achieve this; and hopefully assist anyone who’s channeling a certain captain when they say: “It never goes smooth. Why don’t it ever go smooth?” Let’s keep that freelancing train chugging smoothly down the tracks, and running at full steam.
The Design Transplant: Setting up in a New City
Credit: Dimitry B on Flickr
Pursuing a design career sometimes means uprooting a life and moving it somewhere new. Opportunities are more obvious in larger cities, where meeting new people, taking risks, and getting involved in a design community are more the norm than in small towns. And sometimes a small town offers the respite necessary to push through creative blockage.
As someone who has made the transition three times, crossing two international borders, I can confidently say it isn’t as easy as it looks. Here are a few things I’ve learned along the way.
Ghostwrite For Your Freelance Peers
Credit: Yuri Arcurs on Photodune
“I find it painful to write.” That’s the first sentence in an e-mail I received from a training consultant, asking me for editing help on a guest column she was asked to contribute to an e-zine. That column would put her in front of hundreds of prospects, with the endorsement of a leading trainer in the field.
And the training consultant is not the least bit reluctant to make presentations, do coaching, step into the classroom or into the room to engage, educate, and inspire. She’s terrific at working with people.
But she needs help to create written content that is equally engaging and inspiring. She either puts it off indefinitely, giving up many opportunities to promote her business, or she forces herself to do it, but the results are not so great.
Top Freelance Jobs from Job Board – Week 4, June
Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.
Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in SEO, Web Development, Mobile Development and more!
To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable $7 a month. See something you like? Join now!
