Talking Shop With Fellow Freelancers
I found one of my long-term clients in my area through a freelancer I know. I chose my CPA based on advice from another freelancer who lives near by. Having a solid network of connections with other freelancers in your area can make a big difference in a freelance career — even simply getting together every few weeks and talking shop can make help you make the connections you need.
How to Expand Your Skillset by Teaching Others
A freelancer’s career path is rarely a straight line. Many people begin freelancing almost by mistake — maybe they were asked to write an article for a trade journal, or just placed a bid on an Elance project to make some extra money. Other freelancers get frustrated with their jobs and want to try something different. They end up loving the experience enough to stick with it.
If your career has been anything like mine, there’s a good chance you started out by focusing on a few niche projects where you felt you were something of an expert. But as time passes it’s easy to feel as if there’s a whole lot of lucrative projects on the market that you’re ignoring. Maybe you identify a demand for press release writing, but you’re not comfortable selling press releases. You need to learn more.
You Say Toh-may-to, I Say Tah-mah-to
People can get so caught up in doing things a certain way. It’s important to remember that there are many methods of doing things. And as freelancers, it’s equally as vital to be kind when explaining your school of thought. After all, you represent your business now, so it’s imperative to stay professional.
Whether you use a specific program to develop websites, or you like to use a certain format when writing a document, there is likely more than one way to do it. I find many freelancers like to discuss the different strategies they use to work—but some can be a little too gruff and pushy when promoting their method. Others can get very defensive when someone offers a different suggestion.
Product Review: activeCollab
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.
30+ Ways to Create an Incredible Client Experience
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!
Why You Should Start a Sparring Circle
Many freelancers I’ve talked to can list a whole lot of positives to going solo. When asked about the downsides, however, I’ve found many people say that they miss the opportunity to talk about work with their co-workers. You know, not just telling your spouse that today’s client was a pain in the butt: real talk about your marketing, business strategies, changes in the market and the opportunity to bounce new ideas off people.
One solution for this missing-link is to start a sparring circle of freelancers. You can do this either online or live, for example, at a coffee shop (this has the added bonus of getting out of the four walls). The idea is to find a small group of likeminded people who have the same needs. That is, to talk about their business with others who’re interested and able to give feedback.
Here’s what we’ve found works for us in our small sparring circle:
1. Do the basics
Start by answering the basic questions in writing: Who are you? What do you want to do? Who are your clients? How will you reach them? What do you charge? Even the more experienced people in the circle should do this as circumstances have often changed since the last time they took the time out to think about these things. The answers to these questions put everything that follows into perspective. Continue Reading
