I’ve written about the freelancing lessons you can learn from your canine, but if you share your office space with a cat, don’t dismiss her as simply snoozing on the sofa. She actually knows a thing or two about survival in the freelance world.  Here are five lessons your cat can teach you. Continue Reading

There are loads of different types of clients out there and chances are at some point you’ll get to meet all of them. So let’s take a look through some typical clients and see if you recognize a few of your own in there!

Client Breed #1: The Low-Tech Client

How to Spot One:

Looks confused and disoriented when discussing anything high-tech, calls rather than emails, wants everything to be faxed. The Low-tech client needs to go through everything twice to get it, but will then happily take your advice.

The Highs:

The Low-tech client will rely solely on your sage wisdom for all things technology related. They will look to you as your technology saviour and will stroke your ego with their reverence of your knowledge and advice.

The Lows:

The low-tech client will need to be handheld through everything from setting up their email to opening up PDFs. Charge accordingly. They can also be particularly frustrating if they decide to ‘work it out themselves’. A Low-tech client’s idea of how a website should work for example is often not pretty.

How to Work With One:

The low-tech client needs to be handheld. Make sure everything technical about a job is in writing for them to reread at their leisure. This will save you a lot of time explaining things repeatedly. It’s also best to just accept that you will not be using a lot of the technology that makes our lives easier these days (email, online project management etc) and should instead budget in time for phone calls, faxes and face to face meetings. Continue Reading

I was tickled when I found this list of 12 words that should be banned in 2012 on PRDaily.com. What started in 1975 as a publicity ploy at Lake Superior State University in Michigan has turned into a phenomenon.

The List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness gets submissions from around the world. The word with the most nominations this year? AMAZING. It’s the first time the word has made the list.

Here’s a list of all 12 words (some of them are more than one word phrases) that made this year’s list, in order of the number of submissions they received:

• Amazing
• Baby bump
• Shared sacrifice
• Occupy
• Blowback
• Man cave
• The new normal
• Pet parents
• Win the future
• Trickeration
• Ginormous
• Thank you in advance

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Those of us with a cat or dog know that our pets are like a member of the family. And, like the important members of your family, you just feel better with them around.

My chihuahua is never far from me when I’m on my laptop. As I’m writing this post, he laying on my outstretched legs. In the U.S., three out of every five homes have a pet. And these pets are more than just camaraderie—pets have been shown to have health benefits for humans.

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Credit: elenathewise on Photodune

When you started out in freelancing, you probably daydreamed about the perks of the lifestyle: make your own hours, choose your own clients, do things your way. Then business picked up and you daydreamed less often. You found yourself working long hours, even weekends. Your choice of client became driven less by preference and more by the economy. And while you still do things your way, it’s definitely more of a give-and-take.

That’s okay; you still wouldn’t have it any other way. But why not let the summer take you back to that day-dreamy feeling that freelancing first instilled upon you? Here’s some suggestions to get it back, if only for the sunny months ahead.

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Credit: elenathewise on Photodune

I have a confession to make. I’m addicted to caffeine. For breakfast I either have a can of Diet Coke or a small iced mocha with skim milk from Dunkin Donuts, which happens to be a 5 minute walk from my house or a quick drive on my way to the office.

I am well aware that having a can of Diet Coke for breakfast is not healthy. I should be eating poached eggs, whole grain toast, a banana, and a glass of pomegranate juice. Here’s the thing—I can’t eat first thing in the morning or I feel sick. Here’s the other thing—I don’t have time.

I suspect that many of you that work in the fast paced media world might also have a caffeine addiction and also don’t have the luxury of a breakfast that includes all of the food pyramid. Am I right? So coffee (or Diet Coke) it is.

I’ve created a list of some of the top coffee makers  that should perk up any freelancers day. And, depending on your lifestyle and taste, there is a coffee maker for you on the market; I guarantee it!

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Remember when you were a kid and your Uncle kept making a quarter disappear and then he pulled it out of your ear? Pretty annoying, huh?

Well, maybe it was cool the first time he did it, but after the 10th time you were probably thinking “Give me the dang quarter already!”

So here are a few business card tricks you can try out on clients to delight them or annoy them with your amazing slight of hand!
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My wife and I decided a long time ago that we like children but don’t really want any of our own.  Luckily, the rest of my family appear to be breeders, and now we have seven nieces with another on the way.  I suppose there’s a chance that this one could be a nephew, but it’s pretty unlikely.

One of the things that we like to do in the summer is to grab one or two of the girls, and let them hang out with us.  It’s funny how quickly the parents are willing to share their “pride and joy,” especially if it’s with an out-of-town relative!

Now that I’m a full time freelancer, I am trying to think of ways to entertain the girls, while still managing to get some of my work done. Continue Reading

In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at what to do when one client wants all your time and how to ask the boss for time off to freelance.

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.

Can ya dig it?
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In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at how to clock your time and how to register your business.

Ask FreelanceSwitch is a new 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.

Hit it!
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In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at dealing with the hidden project approver and how to make connections.

Ask FreelanceSwitch is a new 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.

Tick…tick…boom!
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In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at when to take a client to court and how to set your rate for the first time.

Ask FreelanceSwitch is a new 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.

Bang a gong. Let’s get it on!

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