Credit: kennymatic on flickr

In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, we look at blogging and coworking. 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. Let’s get to the questions! Continue Reading

Photo by Lady Orlando.

It was one of the most brilliant article ideas you’ve ever had. You sat down and wrote up a beautiful query letter, tailored it perfectly to the publication you were targeting and sent it off. Now to sit and wait to receive the assignment from the editor.

The reply comes faster than usual but instead of containing a word count and a deadline it’s…the form rejection letter.

It wouldn’t normally be a big deal except the article was about a niche topic and this was the perfect magazine to publish it.

Time to toss the idea and move on, right? Wrong. It’s merely time to re-examine it and consider other ways it could be written.

Continue Reading

Photo by AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker.

There’s a conspiracy against you, and everyone is in on it. Your friends, your roommates, your significant other, your co-workers (if you’re only freelancing part-time), hell, even that guy sitting a few tables away from you at the café you like to do work in. They’re all slowing you down.

Here’s the kicker, though: they don’t know what their doing. They’re just pawns in this game. So who’s the mastermind behind this nefarious plot to kill your productivity?

Your own brain. Continue Reading

Photo by wili_hybrid.

Most freelancers I know work from home. It’s often seen as one of the perks of freelancing: it means having a five second commute to work and being able to work in one’s pyjamas.

However, there are plenty of downsides. It can be hard to focus, especially with the lure of the television or the video game console. Plus, it can be lonely, given the limited social interaction.

There are, of course, means of changing the scenery and gaining a little more interaction. Some freelancers will work out of a Wi-Fi equipped coffee shop while others will rent office space elsewhere in search of a better place to focus.

But there are still disadvantages. Coffee shops aren’t very private and they aren’t a real workspace while renting an office can be fairly cost prohibitive if the businesses isn’t bringing in a lot of money.

So, enter co-working, a middle ground between the two. Continue Reading