Freelance Radio Episode 3
John BrougherThe third episode of Freelance Radio, the official FreelanceSwitch podcast is now online and ready for your listening. As always, we cover a huge number of topics, from specialization to blogging, from fee structure to using your company’s clients. I’m a bit biased, but I’d have to say this is another can’t miss episode!
Subscriptions to the podcast are available via iTunes and an archive of all podcasts will appear in the podcast section. We hope you enjoy it!
Subscribe to Freelance Radio on iTunes
You can subscribe on other podcast aggregators by using our podcast feed–it’s simply http://feeds.feedburner.com/FreelanceRadio.
The Shownotes:
- Money Matters/Legalese:We talk about hourly fees and project fees–is there a preferred option? The Freelance Switch rate calculator will be of some assistance here.
- Word of Mouth: We talk about a particularly pressing question for freelancers in the Web 2.0 (and beyond) age: should I have a blog? Dickie mentions an article from GoMedia that’s worth checking out.
- Fantastic Forum Post and Mailbag: The panel reads through a great forum post asking about specialization and reads some listener mail.
- Giveaway: We announce the winner of last week’s giveaway and stipulate how you can win the giveaway for this episode (50 credits from FlashDen.net ).
- Freelance Radio Recommends…: Each panelist recommends a freelancing tool. John goes with Backdrop for Mac (check out Dropcloth via Lifehacker if you’re using Windows). Dickie suggests Meebo.com, a messaging assistant. Cyan recommends Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity, an autobiography. And Kristen goes with online store seejanework.com.
- Outro: This week’s song is by Amtek and is called Pirate Dreams. The song was submitted by Ahmed Sagarwala and can be obtained by going to Artform.ca.
And that’s the third, fairly frightening episode! If you like it, please feel free to rate it in iTunes or your favorite podcast aggregator or Digg our podcast, and don’t forget to email your questions/comments via the Freelance Radio form. If you’d like to record a question/comment or submit an original outro song, you can upload them via this form!
collis
October 31st, 2007
Damn these podcasts just keep getting better and better! Meanwhiles I realised today this thing is 90mb, going to be chewing through some serious bandwidth
Mark D Hiatt
October 31st, 2007
Guys, come on. This one weighs in at more than ninety minutes. MORE THAN NINETY MINUTES.
Just think how incredibly good the show could be, if only we whittled it down to a more reasonable amount of time? And think of all the other things that you all could do every week, if you weren’t spending so much of your time producing a podcast that so many of us are just going to skip by because we’re too busy!
In the unlikely event that there actually is ninety minutes (PLUS!) of freelance news every week, couldn’t we get it served up in more manageable portions? Maybe a half-hour podcast on Monday, and an hour on Saturday? Or maybe half an hour Monday, Wednesday and Friday?
I listen to podcasts when I’m walking, when I’m in the car, and when the phone isn’t ringing at the office. I always have time for “The Writers Almanac” at under six minutes each. I try to make time for “Mac Break Weekly” at an hour and something, but sometimes it sits for a day or two. “Dave Ramsey” is always, ALWAYS under forty minutes each. But an hour and a half… plus?!? I’m sorry.
I really hope you’ll re-think this, and aim for a higher quality, shorter quantity, CAN’T MISS IT podcast for the freelancers out there. Otherwise I’m totally on board with everything else–the terrific website and resources and feeds and so on. Thanks,
Mark D Hiatt,
Lincoln, NE
riki
October 31st, 2007
Excellent Podcast. I don’t think they celebrate Halloween in Japan, but we have Obon which might be similar.
Brian Purkiss
October 31st, 2007
You said you’d include a link to the Freelance Pricing Calculator…
Am Sagarwala
October 31st, 2007
I’m about half-way through this podcast and agree very much. In regard to fees, I totally round up to 15 minutes when the client is requesting a change that is outside of the agreement. I also use a pricing strategy according to the company type. For example, I charge less to non-profits / charities than I do for corporate design. Larger organizations have a lot more people involved in the decision making process, so I don’t feel bad doubling or tripling my prices.
Am Sagarwala
October 31st, 2007
Hey, I just realized you used my track! Much respect!
John Brougher
October 31st, 2007
@Brian
I’ve included that link–sorry about that!
@Mark
I really appreciate the feedback–I’m curious to hear what some other people think about long podcasts. I too tend to listen while walking and such, and I don’t mind listening to podcasts that are around an hour and a half. Our target is always around 1 hour to 1 hour and 20 minutes, but we usually end up covering something really important that we don’t foresee, and so we end up on the longish end.
As with Freelance Switch, Freelance Radio is for the readers/listeners–so if you all really don’t like the length, we’ll make some changes.
Hope you folks enjoy the podcast!
K3v
October 31st, 2007
Again, really pleased with the show!
I’m allways happy when I see iTunes is getting me new stuff to enjoy!
Now; about te podcast. The blogging topic comes exactly in time! Lately I have been thinking of starting my own blog, so I’d have a place on the web where I can let others show what I do and mainly know that I’m there. In my opinion it’s the perfect way to attract new people and show that you’re more than worthy!
About the showlength; maybe it isn’t such a bad idea to cut the show in two. I would be more than happy to spread Freelance Radio week by week instaid of listening to one longer episode in 2 weeks
Jessica
October 31st, 2007
I put these podcasts on at the end of my work day when I’m doing the “admin, invoices, promoting, liason” - all things mentioned in the podcast about what we don’t always bill for. It’s a great way to make these tedious tasks more enjoyable.
Honestly, I think you guys should think about writing a book with some of the things that have been blogged about as well as mentioned in the podcasts —- you have covered such a large range of topics that a book for ANY freelancer would be great and easily put together due to the extensive and organized way you maintain this website. With many writers on hand in your team, as well as plenty of members ready and willing to be interviewed, you could easily do this!!
I like reaching for the stars. Just a suggestion!!!
Brian Byrne
October 31st, 2007
I want to see some pictures of Dickie’s famous pumpkins!
kristen
November 1st, 2007
Mark, I really think that you’ll be more effective in your feedback if it’s polite and positive. Personally, I think the show is fine as is, and wouldn’t want to go below an hour. Two shows? We struggle enough to get one done every other week. Why not listen to one half at a time if it’s too long? My opinion aside, I think it’s important to keep this forum polite and upbeat.
I’m glad you all like the podcast!!
I want to see one of Dickie’s pumpkins, too!!!
Ahmad Alfy
November 1st, 2007
90 minutes of fun
Collis Ta'eed
November 1st, 2007
Meanwhiles I just checked and the subscribership is up to almost 1,000 listeners with many more listening through the site. I hadn’t expected so many people enjoyed podcasts, hooray!
Brian Byrne
November 1st, 2007
The next Podcast should include an update on the survey. I Can’t Wait! Even if it’s just another teaser of what you’ve found out?
Chad
November 2nd, 2007
Where were you guys 2 years ago? I needed you! Seriously good stuff.
On the length: Maybe aim for 45 minutes and come in at an hour or a little bit longer. The tangents are usually great stuff so I wouldn’t want them to disappear, but an hour and a half plus is quite a commitment.
Keep up the great work!
anycolor
November 3rd, 2007
Amazing job. Thanks.
bejamshi
November 3rd, 2007
I am not very sure about Dickys comments, He is very wishy washy about his policies.
It would be good to have more experienced freelancers on your show.
Emma
November 4th, 2007
Wow!! Thanks guys…each podcast gets more and more interesting. I’ve just recently started as a full time freelancer and I’m truly learning a lot from you all.
Thanks again!!
Emma.
:o)
James Kurtz
November 5th, 2007
Thanks for the great content. I look forward to listening in the future.
Ether (ˈēθər)
November 7th, 2007
What an impressively well done podcast! Thanks!
With a two-hour subway commute daily here in NYC, podcasts on my iPod have been a must for the past two years.
Having listened to so MANY podcasts, I’ve to say the Freelance Radio podcast is one of the most well organized / well thought out podcasts I have ever listened to!
I personally think your show is filled with excellent & quality contents. When I first saw the length of the first show, I was a bit skeptical about the quality of it, as I have listened to many 40+ minutes podcasts that the hosts just dragged it on & on. But I was pleasantly surprised! As someone who had done a few podcasts with people across the globe, I can totally see the amount of preparation you’ve put into each show & I really appreciate that!
Having said that, I can also see how it could be a bit long for some listeners. May be you can cut each show in half by “just simply” (I’m sure it’s easier said than done) doing the part 1 / part 2 thing? So we’ll hear the “professional practice” topics & “mailbag” in part 1 & “contests” & “recommendations” in part 2. Something like that. Then that way, you guys can keep the conversation going without losing momentum, while some of us can still benefit from your show without having to set aside too much time at once! Just a thought!
And lastly, in response to the comment about Dickie’s “wishy washy” answers, I have to disagree. I also disagree about how Dickie is inexperience. I don’t know where that came from. My impression of him just from the 3 shows alone tells me he knows about freelancing more than most people out there. I feel that with so many different types of freelance work & so many different types of clients, it’s almost impossible to give “the golden answer” to many freelance-related issues.
But to help some listeners understand better about that specific nature of freelance work, may be questions to the panel can be asked differently in the future? Instead of asking “should we do this or do that,” like with the “we vs. I” question or “hourly vs flat fee”, the question can be “when should we do this & when should we do that.”
Last, I would like to throw a suggestion/request to you guys regarding the contract. I would love to see a place where readers/listeners can submit their versions of the contract, may be organized by work type (like “graphic design,” “copywriting,” “web design,” etc.)? I thought Kristen’s contract was awesome (very lawyer-ly sounding too!) but I’m not a writer. In fact, I’m only a graphic design student. I haven’t been able to find anything like it, but I’d love to see a community-contributed resource/database that freelancers can share their sample contracts & also see what others do on their contracts for different types of work. May be for a graphic designer (or GD student), he/she would be able to see what others do on their contracts for jobs like logo or brochure design or multimedia work. Since different fields & works have different requirements & needs, I think this would be a tremendous resource for ANY freelancer out there. Of course, I can’t possibly expect you guys to cover every type of contract on your own. So I thought this might be something that the community can contribute to.
Anyhow, it’s just a thought that I came up with while on the subway.
Once again, thanks sooooo much for what you do! Keep up the good work!
Phillipe Calmet
November 7th, 2007
Great podcast (as usual)…
Keep up the good work, and thank you for all the tips
Paul
November 7th, 2007
Thanks for the podcast guys! Keep up the good work.
I thought that I’d share my time keeping method with the freelancers of the world.
I use an Excel spreadsheet template (see link below). It is very easy to use and maintain. I simply create a copy for each client.
The link: http://www.levelfour.com.au/FreelanceSwitch/Timesheet.xls
David Bradley Science Writer
November 11th, 2007
Really enjoying the podcast, been following your posts for a while, but not gone audio until this week, great fun.
Couple of apparently recurring themes are contracts and rates, of course. As a freelance science journalist, these discussions kind of baffle me. Most of my clients, send me their contract to sign and tell me how much I’m going to get paid. Usually, the only choice I have in the matter is maybe to tweak the liability and copyright clauses and to perhaps ask them if they can up the rate. But, it’s rare that I devise the contract myself or give them my rate.
DaveB
PS 90 minutes is too many minutes for me. 55′45″ would be perfect as that’s the round trip for my daily dog walk.
Ben Gribbin
December 14th, 2007
AMAZING stuff……… wooo
Jon
April 11th, 2008
I just discovered this podcast and I’m loving’ it!…lookin’ forward to the rest!