Photo by Geekgirly.

We all know how many responsibilities a freelancer has and how many different hats we have to wear (client work, invoicing and finances, marketing, customer service, etc.). It can be easy to forget that we all have strengths and weaknesses because we spend so much time trying to be good at everything.

In order to do our best work and to maximize efficiency and productivity, we need to recognize what we do well (and what we don’t) and avoid trying to be all things to all people.

From what I see, our weaknesses can be broken down into two categories: 1) specific types of projects, and 2) the various tasks of freelancing. On this first point, most of us have a particular type of service that we specialize in. A designer/developer may be best at designing high-end flash-based sites, and may not be so skilled at designing an attractive website with a minimalist approach, or vice versa. Freelance writers will typically have certain topics or types of writing that they are more experienced with, and so on.

On the second point, we all have certain aspects of freelancing that we excel at, and others that are more of a struggle. For example, you may have a hard time with keeping your invoices and finances organized, but you may excel at dealing directly with clients.

Regardless of what our strengths and weaknesses are, we need to recognize them and realize when we’re not able to do an effective job on a particular project or a specific aspect of freelancing. Click to Continue »

Freelancers are more likely than most people to love Moleskine notebooks. We need to keep and manage our own schedules and to-dos. We’re creative, so we need a place to store and expand ideas. We need to take notes at meetings with clients–or at least look like we are. We need to appear productive and busy in coffee-shops–even when we aren’t.

Moleskine notebooks rank alongside the MacBook Pro, money and caffiene on our fictional list of ‘Most Beloved Freelancing Tools’. It’s a shame, then, that many Moleskine owners don’t realize the full potential of their little black book… much like many brain-owners don’t realize the full potential of their squishy salmon-colored companion.

Don’t be one of those people!

Inside this post you’ll find a goldmine of mini-hacks, recommendations, visual modifications, organizational systems, uncommon uses and creative tomfoolery, all for your Moleskine(s)! Click to Continue »

You know you want one.

You can already imagine yourself walking into a client meeting and pulling out your new, slick toy. Hear the ‘oohs and aahs’ as you swivel the screen and disengage your tablet’s stylus. Hoisting the plastic pen like a techno-geek’s Excalibur, you ready yourself to unleash your chicken scratches on an eagerly awaiting world.

Reality-check time. A tablet PC can easily cost twice as much as a regular laptop. Do you really need the functionality of a tablet? Are you going to use it enough to justify the additional costs? For the good of freelancers everywhere, I decided to find out — by purchasing my first tablet PC, the Asus R1F. Click to Continue »

Photo by Stewart.

Let’s face it. Some freelancers don’t always want to be freelancing. Some want out. How about you? Is freelancing what you really want to be doing, long term? Is it a means to an end? Do you have something that you’re gearing up to do? Maybe you haven’t decided yet what comes after your freelance career.

If you have decided where you’re headed — whether it’s into freelancing, out of freelancing, or into a different type of freelancing — do you have a plan for your career transition? Even if you do, you know better than anyone how much time client work takes up, and how much “free time” is left over. You might feel confident that your next career will happen, but do you really have the time to make the switch, and do it properly?

The sum of those parts usually means that many freelancers do not follow their dreams. It’s been said many times before that if you’re sufficiently complacent in your life right now, you have little motive to change it (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). You’re not “hungry” enough. The spirit of your goal might stay with you, but it’ll never have form beyond that unless you “get hungry” and take action. However, that action doesn’t have to be painful, or rushed. Click to Continue »

Photo by Guylaine2007.

I was updating my LinkedIn profile the other day and couldn’t help but notice that under the “Independent Professional” heading was the time stamp: 2 years.

Has it really been that long? It sure doesn’t feel like it, but it gave me pause to sit back and think about my career so far and what lessons I’ve learned that can be passed on to others.

Like most people fresh out of college, I focused all my energy on finding the 9-5 staff job. Problem was, returning home from a unpaid newspaper internship in another city, I barely had enough money to put postage on resumes, let alone gas to drive to job interviews.

It was a few days after my return that I woke up to my phone ringing. It was my editor from the out-of-town paper. Something related to their coverage area was happening near me and… could I cover it? Click to Continue »

Photo by Robert Scoble.

Recently, Logan Strain wrote at Freelance Switch about the four reasons he doesn’t want to be a freelancer anymore. It’s probably true that most people are not born to be a freelancer — many just fall into this career and are happy with it. Others find it’s not for them, despite what they thought. But can you go back to salaried work?

Vangelis Bibakis of Mainframe.gr offers some great freelancing tips in an unnumbered article dating back to December 2006. However, there’s one point I can’t agree with, from hard experience. It’s in the one titled “Be ready to fail” (numbered with “θ“, theta.) and it says, “If by any chance you see things looking black, don’t despair. You can always switch back to a ‘proper’ job at anytime.” Click to Continue »

Photo by thepretenda.

I’ve been freelancing for about five years now, sometimes only part time, and sometimes in a serious attempt to rake in all the cash I can before I drop dead from project overload. Yet when I read the freelancing sites out there I hardly ever find mention of my situation. You see, I’ve always managed to freelance while working a paid job. I don’t mean I’ve worked, then gone home and beavered away – I mean I’ve gone to my paid employment AND freelanced at the same time.

I deliberately hunt for positions that I call “Empty Jobs”. These are the oddball, or even plain boring, non-career focused jobs that most people overlook. The pay isn’t great, and it’s likely to be a dead end as far as career progression. But I love them. To me it’s like a glorified Work For the Dole program. I turn up, I do the pea-sized brain job I was hired for, I take my paycheck. And with all of the spare hours I have, I write, or research or do whatever takes my fancy.

But wait, I hear you cry. Isn’t this unethical? Surely I’m stealing from my employers if I’m also pulling in paid freelance work. I’m double dipping. Well, yes. The trick is to find the right Empty Job – with a boss and work culture that allows you the freedom to fill in your spare time in whatever way you see fit. For me this means my basic food and shelter are always covered and I’m protected from the absolute highs and lows of the freelance world. I satisfy my creative urges *and* my desires to afford a nice house and new pyjamas at the same time. Click to Continue »

The ‘TUTS family has indeed been expanding rapidly of late. Our newest baby is AUDIOTUTS, featuring free magazine-quality tutorials on production, mixing and mastering, sound design, DJing and everything audio related. If this sounds like a fit for you–no pun intended–head on over and sample our first tutorial on creating a reverse reverb effect.

As editor of AUDIOTUTS, I’ve spent the last month or so hard at work sourcing-out exceptional talent to produce tuts for the site. The work seems to have paid off. Our assembled team of tutorial-wizards have written for industry magazines like Computer Music, Future Music and Music Tech, run hugely successful websites and YouTube channels, owned their own record labels, designed sound effects for Platinum selling video games, remixed Top 10 hits, worked with famous and well-respected artists, and otherwise stamped their name on the industry.

In addition to the work of our staff writers, we embrace contributions from the community. If you’re a Reason ninja, a superstar DJ, a Logic magician or a Cubase champ, you could earn $150 sharing your knowledge and passion with us.

If you like what we do, head over to AUDIOTUTS and help spread the word and the love by commenting, linking, or passing a social media vote our way. As always, your support is much appreciated, and received with thanks.

Photo by Clearly Ambiguous.

And How a Little Experiment Turned into a Multi-Million Dollar Enterprise

Sure, pushing papers for the Big Boss mortifies us. But every freelancer knows that calling our own shots isn’t pure bliss either. I don’t know about you, but on at least two occasions, I’ve nervously looked “bankruptcy” in the face and by pure luck or karma, bypassed it by mere centimeters.

In my more cautious years, I’ve learned to develop systems, test them, then expand them. Yes, this even applies to freelancing.

How? Because turning a prospect into a client is a process-based on a system. Identifying deliverables and executing campaigns for a client is a series of tasks based on a system.

Create the right system and you can almost flawlessly guarantee success and satisfaction every time.

It was in the spirit of such experimentation that I stumbled upon the singular system largely responsible for turning my struggling personal consultancy into a multi-million dollar venture that is scheduled to land and manage over 100 projects every month and has won clients like the NFL, BlogTalkRadio, and best selling authors like Christine Comaford-Lynch. Click to Continue »

Most people think about creative careers when they consider freelancing. But not Melody A. Kramer. She’s the Co-Founder of the National Association of Freelance Legal Professionals, and has cracked the code on how legal eagles can break into freelancing, too.

Melody, A 42-year-old resident of San Diego, California, got the idea for the organization after working as a freelance attorney for other law firms for years to supplement her own solo practice.

“I started to realize that there were many attorneys, paralegals and other professionals who could use support in doing their jobs. Legal freelancing can be a means to creating a meaningful work-life balance, something seemingly unattainable for workaholic attorneys,” says Melody. “We are changing the entire landscape of how law firms work by raising the profile of freelancers’ role in a successful law firm business model.”

Workaholics? That pretty much includes us all, so even if you’re not in the legal arena, read on to learn about how she carved out her own career. Click to Continue »

Photo by udono.

If you’d asked me on January 1st what my plans for this year were, the word “freelancer” wouldn’t have appeared.

No, I was going to launch a wildly successful weblog, make a fortune from Google AdSense, and sign a six-figure book deal…

…I’m not quite there yet.

But I have managed to arrive somewhere wholly unexpected. I’m earning money from staff-writing on two blogs, both major players in their niches (Diet Blog and Daily Writing Tips) and my own blog has a small but regular readership. I’ve made about $800 so far; not “quit the day job” money, yet, but enough to make me realize that freelance blogging could be a viable way to earn a living.

You might well have a blog, though perhaps it’s a personal one based around a hobby or passion, rather than a professional one. And since you’re reading this on Freelance Switch, I’m guessing you have some interest in freelancing. If you’ve read through the “Getting started” articles, if you spend hours staring at your cubicle walls and dreaming up your next blog post (or typing away on the sly), and if you’re waiting, waiting, waiting for that first job, first client, first check, you might be closer than you think. Here’s how to fall into freelance blogging by accident… Click to Continue »