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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!

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I’m going to share a not-so-nice secret about some website designers. We’re creators, not maintainers. Some of us look forward to maintaining websites about as much as we look forward to a tax audit.

So, what’s a client to do? Organizations change. Information changes. Which means that websites need to be updated. How’s it going to get done?

The answer is something called a Content Management System (CMS). It will allow your clients to maintain the website without the need to call in an outsider. The clients simply log into the CMS, which looks like a cross between a browser and a word processor, make the needed changes, and then they’re done.

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Matthew Heusser, a technologist hailing from Allegan, Michigan, got his roots in computer programming. But what he did with that knowledge—mixing in tons of risk-taking and determination—has made him a prominent speaker in his field as well.

I talked to Matthew, 32, to find out how he leveraged his job in programming to become an expert in the industry, how he gets paid to talk about it—and how you can do the same.

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Photo by shimelle.

Freelancers in every field face a constant challenge to achieve and maintain a high level of productivity and quality in their work. One of the ways that you can improve your results is by development of systems or routines for various aspects of your work. Most likely you do some of the same things day-after-day and week-after-week. Having a proven system for getting these things done can bring several positive benefits. In this post we’ll look at why you would want to develop you own systems and some areas of freelancing life that lend themselves to systematization.

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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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Photo by ninjapoodles.

Maximizing productivity is a never-ending task for most freelancers. There’s always some way that we can improve or some area that’s lacking the attention it deserves. This post serves as a guide and a reminder for ways that we can get more done and make better use of our time. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.

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As freelancers we are often in our element working as hired guns. Being the single point of contact from pitch to project-end certainly has its advantages. There are occasions though, that need may arise to put together a collaborative group of designers and developers – a freelance posse if you will.

For those who have suddenly found themselves in the position of Project Coordinator, it can feel a lot like being pushed into the deep end of the pool. Without an effective collaboration structure in place, you will soon be drowning in emails and out-of-control task lists.

Fortunately, there are currently several programs and software available for working collaboratively, each with their different strengths and weaknesses. FreelanceSwitch requested that I review one of these choices – activeCollab from a51 development.

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Developers. You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them. What would life be without this particular developer/blogger/author/…? We can’t imagine.

Although Mr. Jonathan Snook doesn’t like to brag (which makes interviewing him a little like playing a game of cat and mouse) you’ve probably already heard about his work. So, how do you go from mild-mannered web developer to one of the most popular and respected web developers on the tubes — the man we call Mr. Snook?

Ivan Brezak Brkan (IBB): When people mention you, they are basically talking about some kind of javascript/CSS/PHP deity. Who are you, really?

Jonathan Snook (JS): I suppose I just consider myself an average computer geek. I get to sit at a desk, type in a few lines of text and see stuff happen. I’m really quite humble about it. I certainly don’t consider myself a rockstar programmer. On the flip side, I know I come to the table with a rare mix of skills that gives me an advantage. Having the varied skill set that I do allows me to understand what the client wants, what the user needs, while also keeping in mind the possible limitations at the same time. Continue Reading

This guest post is written by Glen Stansberry of LifeDev.net.

When it comes to working for yourself, the step up from freelancing to starting a larger business is often a short one. Many a freelancer has used the work at home lifestyle, the flexibility and the cash flow of contract work to fund larger enterprises.

Of course one of the biggest joys of being a freelancing entrepreneur is the chance to develop your own ideas. By working on them yourself, you shape how they look, feel and grow over time. I can’t think of a much better feeling than taking an abstract idea and turning it into something real and useful. It. is. Awesome.

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By Mathias Meyer

As a freelancer you usually find yourself working on several projects at once. Whether you’re working on different projects, handling different clients on the phone, or working on some small fixes on the side, having more than one commitment is what most freelancers consider normal. I usually work on at least two different projects at any one time, commitments in my free time, such as work for friends or the aforementioned side projects, not included. Don’t even get me started on writing, accounting, handling client emails or phone calls.

Am I complaining about it? No, it’s my choice. I could work on just one projects at any one time, but what fun would that be? The important thing is to know how to handle your commitments. About a year ago when I started working as a freelancer, I usually only worked for one client full time. That meant sitting on site for eight to ten hours a day so there wasn’t much room for anything else anyway.

But over the last few months the situation has changed. I’ve found myself committing to several projects, writing more and doing more smaller things on the side. So I’ve had to come up with some strategies to deal with my commitments efficiently and avoid me burning out.
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By Brett Derricott. Brett is the founder and CEO of Agency Fusion, a web development company built especially for agencies and designers. Brett blogs about technology as it relates to design and advertising at agencybyte.com.

They say that all is fair in love and war. I’m confident there are also some who would add that all is fair in business too. Defining what is “ethical” in business is difficult at best, especially such that everyone else will agree, but creating a code of ethics to define what you will and will not do in the name of business is a more manageable task.

Establishing your own code of ethics and adhering to it strictly has at least 5 benefits.

1. Customers Will Respect You
If you plan on being a freelancer for the long haul, establishing long-term relationships with key customers is critical to your success and happiness. Fostering these relationships requires that you make decisions with a long-term perspective rather than a project-specific or short-run perspective.

Being honest and upfront with your customers is an absolute requirement in establishing these types of relationships. There are at least three common subjects that are easier to avoid than to discuss upfront:
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By Robert Janelle

Web developer Roger Obando signed the mortgage papers for his new house, then walked into his boss’ office at to give notice that he was quitting to work freelance.

In this interview, we talk about networking to score clients good uses for Flash on web sites (and obscene uses…) along with the many ups and downs of freelancing.
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