Up until September, 2008 I was a full-time freelance writer. I had built myself a little business that kept my family comfortable, and I have to admit, my writer friends who enjoyed hacking away at their fantasy novels after work were a little jealous. I was happy because my lifelong goal, ever since I could clasp a pencil between a few fingers, was to make my living from writing.

The problem in this story was unrestricted growth. Maybe you think I sound like a bit of an ass looking at growth as a problem when many people are losing their jobs and closing up their shops, but don’t make that mistake. Unrestricted growth can be a problem, and saying it can’t be is a bit like the obese person telling the anorexic that they don’t have any real problems.

I was killing myself with work, and still taking on new clients because I didn’t want to let any of that growth “go to waste.” Nobody wanted to be around me at the time because I could barely hold a conversation after spending long, hard days doing nothing but writing and editing.

When it became clear that I couldn’t take on any more work whatsoever and I wasn’t comfortable with raising my prices anymore than I already had, I did what anybody in my situation would do.

I took a job.

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A friend — we’ll call her “Casey” — came to me for advice recently. Casey’s a writer too, with a nice deal writing a nightlife column for a local alternative weekly, in addition to her other work writing celebrity news for local and national magazines.

Casey knows that to keep her site Google-friendly and to build her platform as a writer, she needs to keep up her blog. That constant stream of content gives the search engines plenty of keywords to chew on, and gives her potential clients and fans a quick taste of her work, too.

The problem is, she didn’t know what to write. As an up-and-coming writer struggling to make a living with her words, she can’t afford to give away stories on her blog that she could get paid for elsewhere. But what, then, could she post that would demonstrate her abilities and make her blog worth reading?

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Photo by racatumba.

The right attention to branding can create marvels for some freelancers. Those who’ve managed to build up popularity get mentioned in conversation, and everyone perks up to listen. They have work, they have credibility, they have fame… they have it all.

For most others, though, fame is still something they’re working at. And trying to replicate or mimic the fortunate situation of some who have successfully branded themselves can become a dangerous trap. Some fall in – and then they can’t get out.

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At a time when networking is extremely important, freelancers can’t afford to have a business card that isn’t eye-catching. My rule of thumb is if people aren’t complimenting you on your cards, then it’s time to make a change.

After collecting business cards over the years, I’ve seen some pretty interesting and creative designs along with some that just plain aren’t effective. Before going over some ways to ensure your cards don’t fall into the latter group, I think it’s important to ensure all of the proper information is accounted for. When designing cards for myself and my clients, I ensure the following information is included:

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Establishing a brand when you’re a freelancer is a great idea. You create an image about who you are, what you stand for and what you promise to customers. A brand provides consumers with an image and a set of emotional and mental associations that represent you – and that’s what you sell.

Your brand influences people and their decision to work with you based on their perceptions of your image. They may need a page of sales copy, but they’ll want to work with you because you convey a brand image as being the superhero of sales copy, able to vanquish any argument and rise to glorious conversion victory! Or, perhaps your brand image conveys sharp corporate savvy, the ability to hone in and target sales like an archer hitting the bulls-eye every time.

No brand? All you sell is a commodity, just words on paper. Pretty worthless, if you ask me.

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Photo by zzzack.

Effectively taking on a huge freelance project can be daunting if you don’t know where to begin. This article shows that by breaking the project down into bite-sized deliverables, combined with leveraging the experience of outsourced, professional specialists, can yield positive results in terms of both quality of output and freelancer happiness.

The most treasured of all freelance consulting gigs are the ones that offer huge pay and high prominence. Successfully implementing one or two of these types of projects can be a huge boon to your portfolio and can help garner you even bigger and better contracts in the future.

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On July 31st we launched a collaborative initiative with FreshBooks to give away ten 1-year Shuttle Bus subscriptions worth $168 each (see the prize). The catch? Those who wanted to win a prize had to provide their best non-intuitive tip for creating a word-of-mouth worthy experience for clients.

Entries closed on the 7th and ten winners have since been chosen. All in all, over 40 incredible tips were submitted, and they’re laid out here. You’ll find the names of our winners, their ten tips, and the rest of the client experience guide (28 more tips) after the jump!

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I’ve noticed that when it comes to marketing, freelancers are firmly split into two camps:

• The first are freelancers who realise the absolute importance of marketing their freelancing services in a strategic, well-planned manner.
• The second are freelancers who only think about marketing themselves when they’re running low on clients and money.

Which camp do you belong to?

One of the biggest brand management companies in the world is quite clearly a master of branding and marketing; it is the force behind billion dollar brands such as Duracell, Gillette, Max Factor, Pampers, Lacoste, Pringles, Tampax. Seriously, if they can sell a vile, disgusting liquid like Sunny Delight and convince parents that it’s healthy and kids that it’s cool to drink, they know what they’re doing!

Here are three of the most important things they do when it comes to marketing: Continue Reading

Winning a job in the freelance world often comes down to who is the more credible and more professional candidate.

It’s a sad fact, but many freelancers are inconsistent with their customer service and underwhelming with the quality of their work. In the several years that I’ve worked with freelancers, I’ve seen both unbelievably good work and unbelievably bad (as I’m sure most of you have as well).

When it comes down to the wire, your potential clients are trying to figure out which category you fall into: the good or the bad.

So how can you show that you’re an honest and hard-working freelancer? A lot of the time it’s the little things that count the most.
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Seldom do you meet a veteran graphic designer that’s done more than create stunning visuals. But Jeff Fisher has managed to maintain a highly successful career while positioning himself as an industry expert—and author.

Hailing from Oregon, this savvy designer has a knack for business development, promotion—and Friday’s off. Read on to find out the secrets to Jeff’s continuing achievements.
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Editor’s Note: This post is a sponsored review. You can purchase an impartial review through Sponsored Reviews. We only take on reviews which we think the FreelanceSwitch audience will enjoy and benefit from.

It’s easy to think that branding is something reserved solely for big companies, but the reality is it’s just as important for freelancers. And if you think branding just means having a logo and cards, think again. For freelancers, just as for large companies, branding should extend out to your reputation and people’s knowledge and perception of you. This post is a review of a blog about personal branding called QuickSprout. It’s written by Neil Patel but before I get to that, let me just give you an example worth thinking about.

Hollywood and what branding can do for you?

Consider for a moment the world of acting. Think about the highest paid actors and actresses (you can see a list here at Forbes). These people make millions of dollars where their fellow actors earn a tiny fraction of that amount. Is it because the highest paid actors and actresses are the best actors? No doubt there are equally talented actors around who haven’t ‘made it’. Are they the best looking? Probably not. Is it just luck and coincidence that gets them to the top? Nope.

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By Robert Janelle

Image from iStockPhoto

Jennifer Mattern knows a thing or two about online promotion, particularly in the niche markets.

What follows is an interview where we discuss going solo, learning the ropes of the interwebs and of course, a lot of personal branding, promotion and marketing ideas.
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