Open Thread: Does Education Matter for Freelancers?
photo credit: sansreproache/flickr
Rockable Press recently shared some statistics from their up-coming freelancing book, Freelance Confidential, with their mailing list. The book includes results from the survey conducted here at FreelanceSwitch a few months ago that polled 3,200 freelancers on every aspect of their work. There were a lot of nifty facts about freelancing in there, but nothing generated more heated discussion more than this simple line:
44% of freelancers are self-taught and never received any university or technical college training in their field.
Some responses were shocked that the number was that high and saw it as a bad thing for the industry. Others thought it should be higher and that education adds little value for freelancers. I thought the responses were so strong that it would be great to open it up to a discussion for the FreelanceSwitch community. So tell us what you think!
- Does a freelancer need a college education or technical training to be successful?
- Is there a difference between self-taught freelancers and freelancers with formal training?
- What value does formal training or education add for freelancers?
What do you think? Continue Reading
The Benefits of a Business Checking Account
Credit: Arjun Kartha on sxc.hu
As a freelancer, it’s incredibly tempting to do everything as cheaply as you can — especially when you’re first starting out. That can include just running client payments and business expenses through your personal checking account, rather than taking the time to get a business checking account.
Even if you’re only freelancing part-time, though, I’d encourage you to open a business checking account and get serious about separating your personal finances from your business finances.
Product Review: Low Cost High Impact Photography eBook
In my away-from-the computer life, I’m an avid bicyclist. Talk about a gadget-centric activity. It seems as though there’s always another nifty, lightweight bike to buy. Or, if you already have a bike or two, there’s some must-have accessory that you just can’t live without.
Which means that an affordable form of transportation – or recreation – can get pretty expensive. Same goes for photography. If it isn’t a new camera to buy, it’s one of those gizmos that will improve your shooting.
Enter Steve Johnson. An Englishman who now lives near Chicago. Johnson is the creator of the popular Minimalist Photography 101 blog. It’s the sort of place that frugal creatives will feel very comfortable visiting because Johnson’s into getting the highest level of results at the lowest cost. He’s just written an eBook that presents his minimalist photographic philosophy in a very readable format.
Freelance Radio Returns
After a hiatus, Freelance Radio is pleased to be back on the air and returns with a new name, The Freelance Radio Show (okay, we’re creatives, but we’re not that creative!) With a lively panel and topics that any freelancer can relate to, the show continues to draw an audience of engaged freelancers.
The Freelance Radio Show started as an Envato production and is pleased to tell loyal FreelanceSwitch.com readers about the podcast’s return.
Top Freelance Jobs from Job Board – Week 2, March
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 interactive development, web design, web content writing, 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!
Linkswitch #60: Spec Requests, Productivity, WordPress Plugins
10 Productivity-Enhancing Apps from the Chrome Web Store
Google launched their Chrome Web Store last year to some well-received notice. But in reality, it serves only as a glorified directory for web apps accessible on any standards-compliant browser. And that isn’t necessarily a downer. In fact, with little intervention needed to work on Chrome, many web apps were immediately available via this store — including a bunch of awesome apps that can enhance anyone’s productivity.
Prove It: Handling Tests and Spec Requests from Clients
I was called recently about a freelance job for a local corporate entity and met to speak with the marketing director. After a few days, I received an e-mail informing me I was one of six “finalists” for the assignment. The message contained a list of several advertising campaigns, a rebranding of the logo, signage and billboards. It said all finalists were to do these for a presentation in two weeks. My first thought was…not fit to be printed here.
Ask FreelanceSwitch: First Clients and Conferences
Credit: Dennis Hill
In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, this week, we have two questions from the same freelancer, answered below. We’re looking at landing a first client and attending conferences. 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.
4 Tips: Go From Temporary Help To “Trusted Ghostwriter”
Credit: J Wynia on Flickr
Some great long-term client relationships, for writers, originate from the client’s lack of time rather than their perceived lack of skill. In other words, they bring on writing help because they do not have the time to handle all the internal demands for writing services. This may be a chronic overload, or it may be a short term bulge in demand.
Either way, the more quickly you demonstrate that you can write in the client’s voice – that you can not only “write,” but you can “ghostwrite” — the more likely that you will become a trusted resource for that client.
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Thriving on a Code Marketplace
The Simple Newsletter System
Hi folks. My name is Dave; I’m currently in my mid 20′s, and am living in Australia. I went straight from High School into a Bachelor of IT at University, and then worked full-time in the IT industry for four years. Over the past two years, however, I’ve transitioned to a freelance web developer, and am making a good portion of my income by selling code snippets and scripts: newsletters, themes, shopping carts…you name it!
CodeCanyon is like eBay for web developers.
CodeCanyon is like eBay for web developers. They sell a wide range of top quality scripts, widgets, plugins and Javascripts. Authors (like myself) create digital items and upload them for sale. Website owners and developers from around the world can then browse, demo and purchase our items to enhance their website (or their client’s website).
What’s neat is that, from time to time, authors will update their items with new features. Once a buyer has purchased an item, they can download all future item updates for free!
Prove It: Handling Tests and Spec Requests from Clients
Credit: ilco on StockXchng
I was called recently about a freelance job for a local corporate entity and met to speak with the marketing director. After a few days, I received an e-mail informing me I was one of six “finalists” for the assignment. The message contained a list of several advertising campaigns, a rebranding of the logo, signage and billboards. It said all finalists were to do these for a presentation in two weeks. My first thought was…not fit to be printed here.
I contacted the marketing director and asked if he was serious about asking for such an amount of work, in such a short amount of time, on speculation. I pointed out that no bid had been discussed and without knowing the fee structure, even working on speculation was too risky. He replied that I could do as much as I wanted, but the person who did the most would probably win the assignments.
I asked if he was willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement that indicated I was to retain the intellectual property. He replied that the legal department was “out of town” and wouldn’t “be back in time.”
I knew what they were trying to do, so I wrote up a marketing plan that showed why the outline they had handed out was flawed and how I would approach it. I did not design one thing they asked.
Top Freelance Jobs from Job Board – Week 1, March
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 development, After Effects animation, web design, 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!
