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Posts by Alex S.:

Freelance Rockstars: Don’t Let it Get To Your Head!

You’ve come a long way and now its your time to shine. Your name almost becomes a buzzword around the blogosphere. Your prices go up, but is your work that much better now then it was before you found stardom? Or are your clients really only paying for your name? This is a call to all you “Freelance Rockstars” out there… don’t let it get to your head!
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Scope Creep: How to Deal With It Now, and Learn To Love It Later…

What the heck is this “Scope Creep” you speak of? Quite simply scope creep refers to uncontrolled changes in a clients project’s scope. You’ve finished the clients project to the original specifications but they just dumped a load of emails in your inbox with 20 more features, changes, ideas, and so on. It never seems to end! Most clients don’t know exactly what they want until the project is almost complete. Have you ever heard something like “Now that i see it, i think it might be better to do this…” or “I think it would be perfect if we could add this feature…” and of course its no simple task and definitely not outlined in their specifications… and its another 2 days of work!

Did you prepare for this inevitable outcome? If not then this is a good chance to learn a valuable lesson in real world freelancing. If you have taken all the necessary precautions then congratulations.. you have learned to get the most out of your clients… and yes, this also means money wise!

Learning to prepare for this can greatly increase the income for any project in which suffers from the “scope creep syndrome.” You will soon learn to love it, and so will your bank account! Not to sound like this is taking something from your client- it’s only fair that if you need to do more work then they specified then it will also cost them more. But what if you didn’t prepare for this outcome? How do you handle the clients needs with no extra income then you both originally agreed upon? Read more

How To Survive “The Dip”

“The Dip” happens to everyone sooner or later and learning how to avoid it can single handedly save your freelance career! What is the dip? Well it could mean a couple of things:

1. You have no incoming projects at this time and it may be awhile before you have more

2. You have many projects, none of which are completed, and have no cash coming in within the near future!

Sometimes as freelancers our projects come in waves. We can take on 5 – 10 projects one week but by the time we complete them, we have nothing else lined up! Or quite possibly we have those 5 – 10 projects half-finished and the rest of our income relies on the completion of those projects… all of which could take 2 more weeks! On top of that, we’re broke!

This could spell certain disaster for some freelancers, especially those committed to so many financial strains that just can’t handle a week or more of no income! Learning to avoid this is one skill all freelancers should learn if they want to survive this line of work. Its no joke as I’ve witnessed many freelancers having to abandon they’re entire freelancing career to go back to the steady pay of that other line of work.

If this hasn’t happened to you yet, it will! Even those at the top of their field find themselves in the dip, usually do to poor planning! Below you will find some steps and precautions to take to better avoid this problem.
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5 Other Services all Freelance Web Designers Should Offer!

Are you a Web Designer or Developer? Yes? Well are you optimizing your reach by expanding your services beyond Web Design? No? C’MON! Whats wrong with you?! Jeez!

As a Web Designer you have more options and services to offer your clients than in most other freelance fields. Some of which take almost no work at all! From Web Hosting to SEO, here is the run down of the basic services all Web Designers should offer…

#1. Search Engine Optimization

As a designer you’re going to learn a bit about SEO sooner or later so you might as well just dive in. SEO services can stand on there own so why aren’t you cracking into this field? The resources out there are abundant so you have no excuse not to do it!

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Living The Good Life: Why Freelancing Is Better Than Your Day Job!

So you’re deciding if you want to take that “plunge” into the world of freelancing… and maybe you’re a bit apprehensive in fear that the money won’t flow into your pockets as quickly or as steadily as you might want.. or need or maybe you don’t think you will be able to handle the responsibilities of being in charge of your own financial future.

Well Freelancers have a secret that they don’t want to tell you 9 – 5 cubical dwelling rats. We’re living the good life ever since we walked right into our bosses offices and told them they can take this job and shove it!… Or in my case, left them a message on their voicemail overnight (who said you have to be brave to be a freelancer??).

Sure, we work harder, usually longer hours then in our past real world jobs… but we enjoy it! Most of us come to the realization in our career that we we will never end up doing what we love… but that’s not necessarily true! While a freelance web designer isn’t exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up, it’s something i enjoy doing. In fact, there are many benefits unique only to the freelancing field.

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Q&A: How do I promote myself in an increasingly crowded market?

Q: How do I promote myself in an increasingly crowded market? – Michael Peer

A: Good question Michael! It can be tough to stand out in a crowd in any market or profession. While there is no one fail proof path to recognition, there are some steps you can take to assure you are doing everything you can! Read more

Must-Listen Podcasts for all Types of Freelancers

Finding good podcasts on any freelance related subject isn’t the easiest thing to accomplish, even with the mass of podcast directories and search engines out there. So we spent our sunny afternoon and did it for you (next time don’t be so lazy!). Now you can follow seasoned professionals spit out news, tips, advice, and interviews about your choice of profession.

We have collected the top current podcasts for Web Designers, Web Developers, Graphic Designers, Photographers, and Freelance Writers!

Web Designers

Boag World

Boagworld began as the personal blog of Paul Boag, where he mainly discussed web design issues. However, Paul quickly discovered that writing was hard work and so turned to the emerging medium of podcasting.

.NET Magazine

.net delivers cutting edge practical advice on the full range of topics essential for today’s web builders: design, development, sales, marketing, usability and accessibility, information architecture, security, copywriting, advertising and more. It’s main host is also Paul Boag.
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