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Posts by Alex S.:
10 Places To Sell Your Work Online…
August 6, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Freelance Advice, Marketing Resources
Whether you are a Web Designer, Developer, Graphic Designer, Logo Designer, or even a Freelance Writer, there are many places out there that you can sell your work directly online. And the best part about it all? You don’t have to deal with any clients!
If you’ve just dumped 5 mock ups on a client and they rejected every single one of them, all is not lost! You may be able to resell each one of those mock ups online and many times you can end up making more than you might have with that client. Be aware that if you signed a contract to make sure you still have the right to sell that work!
Either way this is a good way to make some extra income when times are slow. Or better yet, a perfect way for those up-coming designers or writers to get the ball rolling and find out if they’re talented enough to go out on their own!
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Freelance Bootcamp #2: Finding Your First Clients, What To Charge, And Dealing With Deadlines…
August 4, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Freelance Advice, Marketing Resources, Time Management
Welcome to the second addition to the freelance bootcamp series! Last week we asked if you were really ready for full time freelancing. Many of you weren’t quite ready to take the full leap so instead you may have decided to do this safely and securely as a part time job. Smart move hotshot! In this episode we explain how to land your first clients, what to charge them, and how to handle the deadlines your client(s) set!
We figure the best way to gain experience as a freelancer in the beginning is to get your feet wet right away. Once you have a couple clients under your belt, you will have the right mindset when you begin to set yourself up as a legitimate freelancer. Once you have example work to show, you can then begin to build your online portfolio and begin to gain exposure to find a steady client stream.
An Interview With Paul Boag
August 1, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Design and Multimedia, Freelance Advice, Marketing Resources, Time Management, Web Dev and Programming
Here at FM we were lucky enough to snag an interview with Paul Boag of Boagworld. If you are a Web Designer or Developer and have not heard the name “Paul Boag,” then most likely you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 4 or more years.
Paul has helped make a name for himself as well as his web design company Headscape Web Design Solutions by not only publishing the most popular and longest running podcast for web designers, developers, and website owners over at Boagworld, and by speaking at several conferences and engagements such as SXSW, @media, FOWD and The Highland Fling, but also writing articles for such publications as .NET magazine and Think Vitamin.
As if that last paragraph didn’t contain enough links and mentions (slow down Paul!) he has also written a new book which should be of importance to our readers: The Website Owners Manual. With chapters such as “Secrets to a successful website” and “User centric design” it’s a must for anyone involved in website deployment. Not only grab a copy for yourself but for your clients as well (go a head, make them think you love them!).
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Freelance Bootcamp #1: Are You Really Ready for Full Time Freelancing?
July 30, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Freelance Advice
Welcome to our new series of articles militantly titled Freelance Bootcamp! In this series we will take you through the entire process of becoming a full time freelancer. From finally ditching that 9 – 5 to getting down to the nitty gritty of income, personal productivity, and what to (really) expect out of all of this in the end. This is a start to finish process that is by no means sugar coated! If you’re really ready to become a serious freelancer then you’ve come to the right place! We hope this will give you a “cut the crap and get to the point” type of experience while covering all the important aspects of freelancing.
In this edition we ask the question “Are you really ready for full-time freelancing?.” If you’ve been day dreaming at your desk all day about joining the work-at-home generation while wondering what it would be like with that much freedom in your life then it’s time to get serious about it! No more wondering! We’re going to find out if you are really ready for full time freelancing…
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The Giant List of WordPress Hacks
July 30, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Blogging, Design and Multimedia, Freelance Advice, Web Dev and Programming
Here at FreelancerMagazine, we’re trying to do more then general advice for our fellow freelancers. We’re trying to give you some tutorials, resources, and actual tools that you can use in “the field.” WordPress is quite popular and getting more popular by the day! I myself work with wordpress on a daily basis and enjoy the experience as it provides a really simple but elegant way to publish content on the web. It can do a bit more then one might think with a little ingenuity and know-how. It has done everything from Marketplaces to a Twitter-Clone.
Here at FreelancerMagazine we can also be pretty lazy (I prefer to say busy). So instead of writing up a giant list of our own hacks, that are already out on the web somewhere, we compiled a list of other lists of hacks. Silly? maybe, Good idea? Definitely!
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10 Common Mistakes of The Beginning Freelancer…
July 28, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Freelance Advice, Marketing Resources, Time Management
We’ve all made mistakes… some of us more than others! The point is to learn from these mistakes, reconfigure yourself and get back out there! Those on top of their game were once beginners and made all the same mistakes just like the rest of us. If you’re just starting out maybe we can help you avoid some of these and if not, no problem, experience is the greatest teacher!
On to the list!
#1 Not using contracts
Most beginning freelancers fail to utilize contracts due to the fact that they believe clients will shy away from them. This is (in my experience) untrue! Many clients appretiate the professionalism and will let out a sigh of relief once they see you are a legitimate businessman (or woman!). Once you go through that one bad experience with a client, you will of wished you had the contract to fall back upon!
Or maybe new freelancers just don’t know to construct one or what to include. If you have not constructed your contract template, sit down and make a list of everything you want your client to know. Set your boundaries, your pay rate, and limits. Be detailed but don’t overload the clients with useless information! Keep it to the point!
5 Online Tools For Dealing With Clients in Other Time Zones…
July 28, 2008 by Alex S.
Filed under Freelance Advice, Product and Service Reviews
Whether you’re in the U.S. dealing with clients in some place like Russia, or in the U.K. dealing with clients in some place like the U.S., you’re going to have to work around scheduling at one point. Time zones can make it hard to reach your client or for your client to reach you at an optimal time. At other times you might run into problems when a foreign holiday arrives (what exactly is Sadé anyway??) that you, or your client, is un-aware of, and one of you isn’t going to be available. We’ll some free online applications and services have done their best for you to get around this problem! Check out the top 5 of these free online services any freelancer should be using:
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