Freelance Radio Episode 1
John BrougherHere is the first of our new podcasting series! Whether you want to learn while you work out or to make that commute useful, Freelance Radio is the place to hear all the tips, tricks and news of freelancing.
iTunes subscriptions to the podcast are available here and an archive of all podcasts will appear in the podcast section. We hope you enjoy it!
Subscribe to Freelance Radio on iTunes
Special thanks to our sponsors, Mozy and Krop!
In our inaugural podcast, you will hear:
- Money Matters: Kristen talks about contracts and their importance – check out her own contract.
- Word of Mouth: The panel reveals how they all became freelancers, back in times of yore.
- Fantastic Forum Post and Mailbag: John announces that, every episode, we’ll feature a great forum post or two as well as answer listener questions and comments on the air. Please send it to us via the Radio Freelance form. If you’d like to hear yourself on the podcast and have a microphone, feel free to send an MP3 file with your question/comment to that same email address.
- Review of the Week: The panel takes a close look at GoodWidgets.com, a photo widget site.
- Good Client/Bad Client: Cyan shares a story about a client that was not too keen on fulfilling their end of the bargain. Kristen suggests a drastic solution.
- Giveaway: Dickie announces our Giveaway of the episode, and John describes the conditions for winning.
- Outro Song: This weeks outro song is Lest We Forget, by Scott Wills. The song is from his new Album Evolution and is available on iTunes, Napster and Rhapsody.
And that’s it for the first episode! If you like it, please feel free to rate it in iTunes or your favorite podcast aggregator, 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 the form too!



















Ink Master
October 3rd, 2007
Finally a podcast! w00t! - great job guys
Wayde Christie
October 3rd, 2007
Enjoying the podcast so far, but I’d rather you pointed out that “now we’re going to hear a word from our sponsor” rather than try and have a (clearly paid for) discussion about your sponsors products. Felt a bit icky to me.
More Aussies! C’MOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!
Nathan
October 3rd, 2007
Great podcast, listened to the entire thing while working out today.
Nathan
October 3rd, 2007
PS: Upload the sample contract!
Wayde Christie
October 3rd, 2007
Is there no way to subscribe to this in iTunes?
Cyan
October 3rd, 2007
Hi guys,
I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far!!!
For iTunes, we’re waiting to be approved so we’ll announce the feed ASAP. We just couldn’t wait to get the podcast up!
The sample contract is good to go now - we’ve been having some technical difficulties with the new design
For the ads in the podcast - I do get what you’re saying, Wade. Having said that, I was 100% honest with what I said in the sponsor spots! But we’ll be sure to make it clearer that the spots are paid for – thanks for letting us know that it wasn’t 100% clear!
Thanks guys
Dixyt
October 3rd, 2007
Great! finally something I can listen to while dealing with the dull part of the job!
Cool!
Thx
Keep on!
miwkawi
October 3rd, 2007
awesome! thank you very much
riki
October 3rd, 2007
Excellent Podcast, bloody Aussies are everywhere
I’m personally not too keen on contracts, I don’t think you can legislate for goodwill. If a relationship breaks down they can still pick a contract to pieces.
I think the best way to protect yourself is not to accept fixed bid quotes, make it clear that you charge an hourly rate and submit small incremental invoices throughout the development period, rather than one massive bill at the end. Also make it clear that slow payments will add delays to a project.
Luyza
October 3rd, 2007
Ice cream makes me sick also!!! …. After I’ve had 10 of them ^_^;;;
*licks lips*
Andrew Fleming
October 3rd, 2007
I don’t mean to be a pain, but in iTunes the episode showed up as being 1:01 long, so I was kinda sad at first.. but no problem
kristen
October 3rd, 2007
iTunes shows up 48:36 for me.
Limitless
October 3rd, 2007
This is great! congratulations for your new Podcast
Chris Vasquez
October 3rd, 2007
Thanks for the podcast guys. I’m just getting into freelance, and feel really out of my depth. Listening to you guys today helped assuage my nervousness a little.
Arun
October 3rd, 2007
Great work guys! Congrats!
Cheers
Arun
allan branch
October 3rd, 2007
Please set all the links on the page of the podcast to target=”_blank”. I clicked on a link while listening to the podcast and lost my place on the podcast because the page reloaded.
Mark
October 3rd, 2007
Great perspectives! Great stories! Great info! Really well done! (Subscribed!)
Doug
October 3rd, 2007
I loved the first show, but already I’m turned-off by the pushing of sponsors. I get that you have them, but it’s one thing to thank them for their support and another to push how truly great they are. I tracked down one of them, which I won’t post publicly here as I don’t want to bash a sponsor, but they fell far far short of the boasts you’d made on your show. I’ll be much less likely to check out future sponsors as a result.
The show is great though and I love the chemistry.
cheers!
Andrew Fleming
October 3rd, 2007
N/M, its working now… :-/ odd!
Thanks for a great show!
Will
October 3rd, 2007
Hey guys,
Great podcast! I especially loved the part when kristen talked about a “drive by” and everybody was like “woooooooo!”. And when she talked about driving by with a client contract and you all went “ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” in unison. Priceless. Looking forward to future podcast.
Will Stumpf
October 3rd, 2007
Great job! It was excellent
-Will
Dor Dan
October 3rd, 2007
Awsome, listening to it right now! I must thank you for your accent
It’s not exaggerated. hehe
SR
October 3rd, 2007
Any chance you will offer a transcript of the show?
Ryan
October 4th, 2007
Awesome podcast. I loved it.
(Subscribed)
Prescott
October 4th, 2007
Well done guys! As a podcaster myself, I know how hard it is to get episodes produced — let alone with multiple people on the line like that. Looking forward to many more.
riki
October 4th, 2007
btw Krop doesn’t seem that “international”. I couldn’t find any listings for Freelancers in Japan. I guess international in terms of English speaking countries.
Rob
October 4th, 2007
Super stuff FS! I enjoyed the relaxed banter and funny stories of shocker clients and payment. Looking forward to the next podcast..
Shanna
October 4th, 2007
NIce work, folks! Looking forward to the next one. And the next. and, well you get the idea
David Finch
October 4th, 2007
Great information and stories. I look forward to episode #2. Congrats and much success!!
Aaron
October 4th, 2007
Awesome Podcast! Can’t wait for the next episode!
Phillipe Calmet
October 4th, 2007
Great! This is definitely a MUST for all of us freelancers

I do not have iTunes, so thanks for the direct mp3 download
Dan
October 5th, 2007
Congrats on the 1st podcast.
In regards to the payment issue/talk, the best and I think only way to solve it is to get payment upfront. That sorts out your clients from those who are fair dinkum, from the time wasters.
And finally, that scott Willis song at the end has very similar beats to the Back Street Boys track Incomplete.
James
October 5th, 2007
Great podcast! Just one question - how did you encode the streaming mp3 version. I’ve just published a podcast for a client and have only so far provided links to subscribe in iTunes. Cheers!
John Brougher
October 5th, 2007
Hey folks!
Thanks for all the kind comments. They’re really appreciated. Just a few quick answers…
@SR
Sadly, we don’t currently have a transcript for the show–my talents lie in Macintosh computing, design, and video games…not transcription. You can see the show notes for a quick rundown, and then subscribe in iTunes if you like. We’re also expanding on multiple fronts and to be candid, we just don’t have the time to transcribe every episode. That’s not set in stone, though.
@Dan
Payment upfront is nice (people have mentioned offering a discount for payment upfront, which is a great idea), but many clients may not go for that–even a percentage upfront is not acceptable to them. That’s why a contract, even for payment upfront clients, is really 100% necessary.
@James
The encoding for the streaming mp3 version is done by Podpress, a Wordpress plugin. You don’t need to use that particular plugin–almost any audio player plugin for whatever blog platform you use will allow you something like that functionality.
As always, feel free to give us a shout through the Freelance Radio form!
eberlin
October 9th, 2007
Excellent podcast. It covers everything I could have asked for! Lots of useful tips and advice.
Interaction between all the presenters is great.
I look forward to future episodes.
Eric
October 10th, 2007
Fantastic! Great job everyone! Looking forward to the next episode…
Martin
October 11th, 2007
Just heard the word. Great work - thanks to you guys.
Keith
October 13th, 2007
Great podcast guys. Just a note, it doesn’t seem to be appearing in itunes, or is this just me who is having this issue?
Looking forward to the next segment.
John Brougher
October 16th, 2007
@Keith
Thanks for the update, Keith–I’d been seeing this happen too, and I’m still not sure why. We’ve changed to a different RSS feed, and now the iTunes problem should be resolved.
Dan
November 15th, 2007
@John
If a client doesn’t want to pay a deposit, then they are not a client I’d want to work with. There are just too many tyre kickers out there.
Ben Gribbin
December 14th, 2007
haha, we have cornetto’s in the UK.
Curt
December 26th, 2007
This is a valuable resource, and the podcast format is a great way to learn about freelancing while I’m working!
I’m a little concerned about one of the panelist’s suggestion to “work for free” when you’re starting out. This sets a dangerous precedent for clients who gradually come to expect to pay little or nothing for our services. This is an ongoing problem for many freelancers who are promised intangible compensation like “exposure” and “experience” in lieu of payment. Sure those things are important, but they should be thought of as fringe benefits, not compensation. Ultimately, working for free dilutes the value of freelance work for everyone. Pro bono work aside, if you’re good enough to hire, you’re good enough to charge for it.
Keep up the good work, though. I’m eager to listen to them all!
aadil
February 19th, 2008
hi guys
it’s possible to download this podcast bcoz i wanna listen to it on my mp4?
cholo
April 6th, 2008
hi guys, been searching for the notes coz they told that there are sample contracts on notes page and the problem is, i can’t find the where it is. any leads? Thanks
oscar
June 3rd, 2008
Hello, I love freelance radio, Im a new listener and i see there’s tons of catching up to do.
there is so much interesting and useful information for people looking to make something of themselves (heee) i must subscribe and thank you for providing us like minded individuals with some thing to boost our confidence in what we do and to look forward to our future.
freelance radio! woot!