Here’s a celebration of all the ways we are uniquely freelancers… set apart from our cubicle counterparts, yet aware that we are perhaps still not so different. Or are we? Enjoy!

1. You’re starting to grumble about your 5-step commute from the bed to your computer.  The snooze button is soooo much closer…
2. The car stays parked in your garage for days at a time and somehow you continue to grow without sunlight.
3. You can vacation as often as you want now. Chained to your computer and phone, yeah, but hey: the ocean looks beautiful from here and yes honey, I’ll join you out there in a moment!
4. Working in the buff is actually an option! Just remember to switch your Skype chat default to “Answer with NO Video!”
5. Work begins stalking you around the house, skulking and whining like an unloved pup. Work is home is office is everywhere – ACK! I’m sure there’s a zen proverb around here somewhere…
6. You finally remove all the fart jokes and Mafia Wars from your Facebook Profile because your playground just became your chief marketing and advertising venue.
7. Laptop parties with your freelance buddies are your brilliant attempt at “having a life” and still getting things done.
8. You catch yourself bouncing ideas off of your apathetic cat and your chatterbox four-year old.
9. You start playing pranks on your unsuspecting canine because you miss the office shenanigans.
10. You finally get paid for knowing more than the person who hired you.
11. Strangling yourself with the laptop cord is a popular and approved reaction to client emails and phone calls.
12. Friends pimp you out for favors: “Oh yeah, I have a friend that can do that for you. I’m sure he’ll do it for super cheap. In fact, we’re good friends, I bet he’ll do it for free!”
13. You can justify anything to one client by simply referencing a vague “other client.” {Yes of course I’d love to have a 5am meeting for your East Coast team! Unfortunately, I’ve already booked that slot with my Australian client.}
14. Social sites your old boss banned aren’t even fun to visit now because they’re actually on your Client Acquisition To Do list.
15. You talk excitedly about the latest Wordpress plugin or Photoshop brush you just downloaded… and the barista was only asking for your coffee order. {“It’s just so lonely working from home, you see. Nice to have someone to talk to is all…”}
16. You’re actually nodding and laughing right now, filled with that warm and fuzzy feeling that “yes, I still fit in somewhere.”

Much love to my fellow freelancers! We may be spread out across the global office but our common world still unites us.

I’d love to hear any other items you’d add to this list. If I get enough responses, I’ll do an updated *2.0* post with the additional items. Just ask to be “Anonymous” if you don’t want me to attribute the item to you!

Who is the person in your life that helps you be the best freelancer in your world?

Is it a loving spouse that goes to work every day, providing your family with the extra income you need to make sure the mortgage is paid, food is on the table, and your kids are not dirty urchins picking the pockets of the fine folks on the streets of London?

Maybe you’ve got a good friend that promotes you to his customers and business associates, and his influence is so vast that you doubt that you will ever be short of work from these contacts.

Or perhaps you have an amazing client that loves what you do, pays you handsomely for it, and trusts you to spread your creative wings on every project.

Have you said thank you to these folks lately?

Here are a few simple ways to let them know you are thinking of them, and that you appreciate what they mean to you.

• Supportive Spouse – Take a night to appreciate them.  Have the kids stay with friends, make your partner their favourite dinner, tell them why you are grateful for their support.  To someone that has to go into a real job every day, listening to you gripe about how rough your life is while working from home might be a bit difficult.  Let them know you couldn’t do this without their support – be honest, where would you be without them?
• Fantastic Friend – If you can afford it, take them out for a nice lunch and give them a gift that lets them know you appreciate what they are doing for your business.  It’s not about how much you spend, but make sure you show them how much you appreciate what they have done for you and your business.  If you can’t afford it, maybe you need to look at your rates again.
• Perfect Patron – Find a new way to promote your clients business.  Make sure your friends, family, and former high school crushes all purchase products from this client.  The more they succeed, the more you succeed – and that’s the best way to say thanks.

What are you doing to show your gratitude to the people around you?

In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, Travis King and Thursday Bram look at the drain of working two jobs and how to grab the eye of a video agency.

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.

Hit it!

Hi I moved to Spain about 3 and a half years during that time I’ve landed a few projects I have a 2 year old kid and my wife works so I had to find a job at a local pub to provide for them I just work at nights, so is there any advice you can give me when it comes to focusing on my career when I find myself working more than 45 hours a week. Although I feel the desire to work on projects that come to me, I’m just too exhausted to get them done.

-Celso

Thursday: Trying to manage a freelance business at the same time that you’re working full-time on your feet is definitely not easy. At best, if you’re serious about making the switch to freelancing full-time, you’re going to be in a position where you have little time to spend with your family. With that in mind, the most important advice I can give is to raise your rates. That may sound a little unconnected, but here’s the thinking: if you’re working what can easily amount to two jobs, it needs to be worth your while, especially when you’re spending time away from your family to do so. That has to be worth your while, so you need to bump your rates up.

You have to be worth that higher rate, of course, but most of the freelancers I know really aren’t charging all the market can stand, so the odds are good that you can increase your rates. Ideally, a higher rate also means that you can cut back on hours at your day job.

The other piece of advice I have is to get up earlier if you can — work on your freelance projects before going into the day job. You’re just about guaranteed to be exhausted when you get home from work, making it slower going on freelance projects. If you can hit them when you’re freshest, though, things often go faster. On the down side, you’ll have less energy for the day job, but if it doesn’t require as much creative thought, that isn’t always a problem.

Travis: It sounds to me that you’re nervous about starting your freelance career, and with a young family to support, I don’t blame you.

I was pretty terrified too when I started freelancing. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if there was a 2 year old in the mix. Because I’d probably be all “What’s this 2 year old doing here? Is he mine?”

The truth is, it will be pretty near impossible to get beyond were you are now unless you commit to making it happen. So either you’re going to need to cut back on your hours at the pub and work like crazy to build up your client base, or you’re going to have to continue to burn the midnight oil to make it happen.

Currently, you’re like a man trying to straddle two row boats as they slowly drift apart. You’re going to have to pick a rowboat and jump in. After all, other people are waiting for rowboats and nobody likes a rowboat hog.

I would like to know which is the best way to introduce yourself and your company to publicity agencies when you work with video and motion graphics? Who should I talk to in the publicity agency? What material should I present and in which way?

-Daniel

Thursday: Because I don’t work with video or motion graphics, I went straight to Mel Rainsberger, who takes on freelance film and animation projects. She told me the following:

First thing first, find out if the agency does any video in-house or if they hire outside agencies. Most agencies aren’t big enough to justify all the expensive equipment needed to offer broadcast quality video production. Many prefer to hire studios dedicated to video/animation because they only have a need for video 3 to 5 times a year. Even big studios / companies might farm out their video needs because the cost of building an in-house studio can run into the millions of dollars.

If they do have in-house video capabilities, try to find out who the head of that department is. Next, try to find out if they have an opening/need for another video person. If you’ve seen their work, try to tailor your demo reel/resume to the agency’s offerings. Do they do a lot of stuff with kids? For sporting events? How can you support what they already do? Lastly, submit a kick-ass demo reel. Agency folks like to be entertained. Keep it to 2 to 4 minutes and only use your best work.

If they DON’T have in-house video, try to find out if this is something they want. They may be very happy with the outside contractor/studio they already use. You’ll have to be much more persistent and inventive. Try to find out if all of the three big needs are met: faster, cheaper, better. Maybe, their video/motion graphics contractor is really cheap and fast, but their quality is more akin to a local car dealership. Or, maybe their video contractor is very fast and good, but they are looking for cheaper options for smaller projects. You’ll have to work harder to make friends with someone in the agency, get to know them and their agency’s needs. Try to find out if they go to local networking events, or have a blog, or even just start with the info@agency.com e-mail address that’s on their site. VP’s, design directors, and senior-level designers are good places to start as points of contact. Don’t make friends with junior designers or the marketing team. It sounds horrible, but their opinions on hires are not greatly regarded. This is a very hard route to go, and you might have to take an internship with them or even give a discount to prove yourself. Another route would be to join up with their outside contractor, work for that person directly. A good video contractor/studio will always have too much work and if they can send out another cameraman or grip to an event, it’s a plus. Again, a good, entertaining demo reel, a concise resume.

Travis: I’ve never worked in the video or motion graphics arena either, but I’ve watched a lot of movies, which pretty much makes me an expert in anything.

So I, like Thursday, decided to phone a friend to get the scoop on how things work in Tinseltown and called world renowned TV and film superstar Rowdy Roddy Piper (as a fellow Canadian we’re allowed to call Mr. Rowdy once a year with any question). And while he went on a bit of a rant about bubblegum and butt-kicking, I got the distinct impression that he was implying that you should always bring your ‘A’ game to any potential gig.

So here’s what I suggest you do:

• Research the top five agencies that you really want to work for
• Compare your work against the quality of work that they are putting out
• If your work is equal or better to what they’re doing then pitch your best stuff
• If your work doesn’t measure up, then it’s time to buy a pack of bubblegum and start working on your butt-kicking skills

Anyway, I need to call Bill Shatner now and ask him some questions about this macaroni salad I’m making.

You’ve got a 5:00 deadline, 3 pages of copy to revise, 2 logos to vectorize  (or whatever magic you design folks use to make things pretty), and a status report to complete to wrap up another project.  It’s almost the perfect trifecta –your three current projects ending at the same time.  You’re smoking busy right now, but as N.C Winters points out – you might not have enough work tomorrow to warrant getting out of bed.

So what are you doing to keep fresh projects coming your way?

I’ve still got that new freelancer smell, but a few things that I’ve been trying to do seem to be working so far:

• Tweetdeck Alerts – anytime the word “copywriter” is mentioned on twitter, I get an alert that pops up.  I quickly scan it, and if it’s someone looking for a copywriter I’ll send them a quick note.  This would probably work with keywords like logo, graphics, template, etc.  This has been a huge source of new business lately – small and big jobs.
• Job Board Mailing Lists – Most of the sites that I’ve found have an option for daily notifications about new postings within your search parameters.  They seem to be delivered at the same time each day, so I set that time aside to review the postings and bid on the ones that interest me.
• PPC Campaigns – Not a lot of luck for me here yet, but I’ve been playing with Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads, and Google ads.  There are a few trial coupons out there, so you might be able to get some exposure without spending a dime.

Are you waiting for your next assignment to find you, or do you have some great ways to score your next project?

Being a freelancer has its perks. You are your own boss, meaning you can work at home and set up your own hours. As great as that sounds, working at home also has its downsides. The main problem is that it’s hard to be productive when you keep getting distracted by the 7 billion wonders of the internet.

We at FreelanceSwitch have offered many tips to increase your productivity, but these tips can only take you so far. Sometimes you just need a good tool or two to keep you on the right track. Here are some personal productivity tools guaranteed to enhance your performance.

FocusBooster is Pomodoro software based on Adobe AIR app that makes use of the popular Pomodoro time management technique, and can drastically improve your productivity. This technique is designed to improve your focus and concentration as you work on a specific task, splitting up your work into intervals. Here’s the Pomodoro technique in a nutshell:

1. Choose a specific task to work on
2. Work on said task for 25 minutes
3. Take a short 5 minute break
4. Congratulations, you have finished one Pomodoro! Repeat as needed. Take a longer break after completing four Pomodoros.

FocusBooster keeps track of the time for you so all you have to do is focus on the task at hand. After turning FocusBooster on, work hard for 25 minutes and wait for the timer to go off. When the timer buzzes, it automatically start a 5 minute countdown so you can have your well deserved break. Go out and get some fresh air, feed your cat, browse the web, and relax. When the break’s over, it’s time to get back to work! I find that using a Pomodoro timer has helped me become more productive so I hope you’ll benefit from it as well. Being the lazy slub that I am, if it works for me, it should definitely work for you. You might not be a big fan of the 25:5 method described above, so you can use the app to change the times. I know you all want to work 10 minutes and have a 50 minute break, don’t you? If you don’t want to download the FocusBooster desktop app, be sure to check out their online version. Productivity on the go!

Some people find multitasking very productive, but having a cluttered desktop isn’t going to make things easier. Instead, you multitaskers should use a program like VirtuaWin. VirtuaWin is a Virtual Desktop Manager that helps you multitask without having to Alt-Tab every few seconds. The tool sets up virtual desktops on your computer, allowing you to organize your Word documents into one desktop, your browser in another, and so forth. Think of it as having multiple monitors hooked up to your computer. Switch tasks with ease by using your mouse or hotkeys to change desktops and get some work done! You can actually use any Virtual Desktop to become more productive, but I like VirtuaWin because it’s not a resource hog and very customizable. I prefer performance over eye candy.

Note: VirtuaWin is a Windows only program. Mac users should use the built-in Spaces or download VirtueDesktop. Linux users have Compiz to play with (those lucky dogs).

When writing, it’s easy to become distracted by all the pretty colors and icons on your desktop. To combat this, I use jDarkroom, a cross platform fullscreen text-editor that doesn’t have all those distracting buttons and toolbars. It’s just an empty screen with text on it. It looks simple, but really helps you concentrate on your writing. With nothing else to look at, you’re forced to focus on what you’re writing. Configure the program and access all its tools by using shortcuts or the F# buttons. You can open documents, save, copy/paste, undo/redo, change color settings, and other basic functions. jDarkroom is a cross platform program that replaces the Windows only Darkroom and the Mac only Writeroom. If you’re too lazy to download jDarkroom,you can check out the online alternative, Writer.

Have you ever had one of those browsing sessions that was only supposed to last 5 minutes but ended up lasting a couple of hours? Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. Blame it on the internet for being so darn addictive. It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re browsing, so whenever I want to limit the amount of time I spend on a website, I use the web tool xMinutesAt. Using the x.minutes.at/ format, you can specify the amount of time you want to spend on a website by replacing the ‘x’ with a number and adding the URL of the website after the ‘/’. For example, if I want to spend 7 minutes browsing FreelanceSwitch, I’d go to 7.minutes.at/www.freelanceswitch.com. When my 7 minutes are up, I’ll be presented with a popup telling me to get back to work. You can even see the time remaining in the tab box, so you can manage your time better. Very simple way to limit your internet browsing.

LeechBlock is a highly customizable Firefox addon that gives you full control over your browsing habits. It takes the xMinutesAt idea to the next level. With LeechBlock, you can limit the amount of time you can spend on certain websites and block the websites when your time is up. Add multiple websites to your block list and specify when you can access them (changing the time and day of the week). I find this to be the perfect method of getting things done online without having to deal with all those distracting websites. And this is just one solution for managing distractions.

Sometimes, it’s best to have Big Brother watching. Well, it’s more productive anyway. I’m sure you’d all change your browsing habits if your boss was looking over your shoulder, right? Snoopon.me is a nifty program that takes screenshots of what you’re doing and uploads them online. Download and install the program (works on Windows and Macs). You can then invite “accountability partners” (including your boss, family, friends, fellow writers, etc) to view these screenshots and comment on your work habits. I know some of you are already wary and thinking “But what about my privacy?” But don’t worry, Snoopon.me gives you plenty of control over your own privacy. The screenshots are small enough so text on your screen can’t be read but big enough for your accountability partners to know what you’ve been looking at. You can disable your screenshots from appearing on the front page and set the larger screenshots to private. Snoopon.me only keeps track of the 48 most recent snapshots and deletes the rest, and you’re able to turn the program on and off. If you really want, you can even delete snapshots(though deleting all your time wasting snapshorts defeats the purpose of the program). Use Big Brother to your advantage!

Use any of these tools to increase your productivity, or better yet, use a combination of tools. Keep in mind that having the right motivation also plays a huge role in being productive, so be sure to check out our tips on how to stay motivated. Now get back to work and make your boss proud!

What other tools do you use to increase your productivity? Do you think these tools are effective? Share your thoughts below in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe!

Imagine it: you’ve been given the chance to look into the future and bring back one tool that will help you be the Best. Freelancer. Ever.

What is this tool?  Heck if I know.

What is the one tool that will help you become the best?  Even if it hasn’t been invented yet, what is it that you would like to see?

• Practical AI that can create copy that converts 99.9% of the time?
• Design software that directly interfaces with your cerebral cortex to produce the perfect image?
• Instant credit check to see what your client’s likelihood of paying will be like when the project is completed – before you start the project? (I’m thinking minority report meets credit score.)
• The ultimate espresso machine – perfect beans, perfect crema – exactly 5 seconds before you realize you want one?

Since freelancing is what you want to do for the rest of your life, what tool could you use to become the Über Freelancer?

One of the benefits that many freelancers with families cite is the ability to stay home with the kids: you can save a fortune on daycare if you have kids just by working from home and not sending the kids elsewhere. But there are situations in which having the kids at home all day may not work out. Trying to take client phone calls or multitask between watching the kids and working just don’t always work out perfectly.

I grew up in a work-at-home household and, whether or not you’re comfortable with the situation as a parent, from the kid’s point of view, it’s not always a picnic. Having my mother home every day was nice, but the fact that I was banished to the basement when she worked with client made the situation a little less pleasant. I couldn’t have friends over at certain times and I’m sure there were days that I’d have loved to have gone to daycare. I could tell that it wasn’t exactly the perfect situation for her, either: she would mark off the days of summer break, barely able to wait until my sisters and I went back to school. What are the options for a freelancing parent?

Just because you work at home doesn’t directly necessitate that you also have to watch the kids all day. There are plenty of freelancers — both moms and dads — that have found arrangements that fit well with their schedules. That can mean keeping one eye on the kids and one on your work. It can also mean sending children to daycare part or full-time. It can even mean bringing in a parent’s helper for a few hours a day or a week. Furthermore, situations evolve as children grow. A toddler who has just figured out walking needs a lot more supervision, of course, than a teenager.

There is no universal answer to the question of whether freelancers need help with childcare. But it is a discussion worth having: there’s nothing wrong with working from home and avoiding the costs of daycare. But if childcare would improve your working situation, it is something worth discussing.

Even if you’re pretty sure that you do just as well with your kids in the house as with them out, it’s important to have an emergency plan in place. For situations like when your child falls sick on the same day that you have an important client, a alternative plan to keeping the kid home just makes sense. Maybe a grandparent is willing to help out or maybe bringing in a babysitter that can help out even when you’re home is a solution. It’s just a matter of finding something that fits.

These questions are important to more than just freelancing parents with children, as well. Some of us choose freelancing because of the flexibility it offers for us to take care of a loved one who needs help. Such situations can wind up as high stress environments very quickly, and arranging to have someone handle at least a little of the care-giving while you do some work can be crucial to keeping yourself sane.

Ultimately, your situation will dictate what your best option is. There are days when you may feel that you’re only working to pay for help, but if you can make the financial aspects work, it may be worth considering.

How do you juggle child care with the demands of freelance work?

Here at Envato we’re pretty famous for building a lot of successful blogs, like this one! We’ve done quite a few now, so last year I decided other people might find our techniques and systems useful. Today I’m really happy to announce my new book How to Build a Successful Blog Business which is a step by step guide to doing what we do, and it comes packed with case studies for our blogs including FreelanceSwitch!

The book covers everything from picking a niche to hiring staff, monetizing to building traffic. Like all my books it’s very practical, but I think the best part is the case studies because they include things like our income and expense graphs, detailed backstories about how our sites came to be, and much more. To give you a taste of what the book is like, I thought you might like to read a little part of the case study about FreelanceSwitch:

… Our monetization plan for FreelanceSwitch’s early days can really be summed up as: try everything and see what works. We began with privately sold (via email) banner ads, tried other ad programs like Google Adsense and Adbrite text ads, tried affiliate programs, sold Text-Link-Ads (which these days will get you an SEO penalty), wrote a book and sold it, sold ads on our RSS feed, tried ads on the podcast, tried many variations of all the above and eventually created a subscription based job board.

But for freelance jobs we found that many of the projects that were being outsourced were rather small in size. Imagine if you paid $100 to advertise a project that only paid out $250 to the freelancer! The economics for small jobs just don’t make sense. …

Extracted from How to Build a Successful Blog Business, by Collis Ta’eed

You can read more extracts from the other case studies over on Nettuts+, Psdtuts+ and Mac.AppStorm (the other sites covered in the case studies). You can also read a sample chapter by heading to our sales page for the book.

You can learn more about the book, as well as find out what top100 bloggers like Darren Rowse from Problogger and Daniel Scocco from DailyBlogTips are saying about it over on the epic sales page that we’ve constructed! Get Blog Business!

And while I’m here with news about my book, I thought I’d also mention that next month we’re running our annual Envato Birthday Bundle for 2010 and it’s going to be EVEN bigger than last year with over $400 of value selling for just $20! Find Out about Envato Birthday Bundle 2010.

So watch out, it’s going to be a big August!

Trolling the archives of FreelanceSwitch is a great thing to do if you’re trying to avoid doing actual work.  So because you’re a super busy freelancer, I’ve taken the time – hours and hours, just for you –  to grab a few of the more, shall we say “interesting” posts and gems from the crypts.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Guide to Freelancing 10 awesome steps to reframe how you look at your freelancing career.  Also very useful if you think your head might explode if you are forced to watch anything else Twilight related.

The Six People You Meet In Freelance Internet Writing Hell Any post with a reference to a Commodore Vic 20 is going to get my vote.  Unless it’s up against a TRS-80.

More Surefire Ways To Get Yourself Fired By The Readers Of FSw Laser pointer + your boss’s crotch = hello freelance world!

10 Reasons Why Your Last Collaboration Did Not Work Ego is probably #1 for me.  Looks like it’s #1 for you, too!

What Disaster School Taught Me About Freelancing At first, I thought this article was going to teach me how to cause disasters.  Turns out, it’s about preventing them.  Oops.

If you’ve got an idea for a future off-beat post, please let me know! Or – if you found great success from one of these articles, we’d love to hear about that, too!

Sometimes, you’ve gotta be that “in your face” type of freelancer. By that, I mean client follow-up. You may have to duck in and check up on clients to make sure you’re getting the work. Especially in business, the early bird gets the worm. A client may not always think of you for a project first, so it’s good to stay visible without being obnoxious.

This is especially true if you have a client that gives you ongoing work. I don’t follow up much on clients that need a one-time thing. If I’ve written the website content for a restaurant, there’s not much else they may need other than maybe a brochure or a new menu at some point in the future. They have my contact information if they need me.

But if you work with ongoing clients–such as marketing or advertising agencies–the pipeline is rich for continuous work. So what can you do if you don’t hear from that client in a while? Get in their face. A little. Nicely.

This can be hard, to be quite honest. I’ve “ducked in” on clients and have been assured that more work is coming–and then it never turns up. Instead of getting forceful or becoming a pest, you otherwise need to let go and stay in touch. But you can’t bully a client into giving you more work–that wouldn’t look so good for your business. That’s why I’m offering up a few ways to stay visible to your clients.

Contact the client directly. When staying visible, you don’t want to gravel for more work. The best way to do this is to open up some communication but not regularly hound the client for projects. When I’m feeling disconnected from a client (and wondering where my next big project is), I like to email or call to check in. I simply let them know that I am checking in to see how everything is going. I tend not to call because I don’t want to put anyone on the spot, but calling may be a good option if your relationship with the client is based largely on phone conversations. Otherwise, keep it brief and let the client know that they can contact you when something comes up.

Follow up on a previous job. Another approach to staying visible is to email or call, but instead of feeling awkward wondering if the client is thinking you are begging for work is to follow up on a project you recently did. Most of us do this anyway, but it’s a great chance to let the client know you care about their projects. A simple message to let the client know you wanted to follow up and see if they needed anything else on the project, or to inquire about how the client liked it, will keep your name fresh in front of your client’s mind.

When not to use this tactic: A year after you wrapped up a project for the client. If you don’t hear back after a duck-in or two, it’s okay to contact the client but it is likely that inquiring about the project may seem awkward. Chances are, they are well beyond the project you did for them.

Ask about additional services. I only do this if the client mentioned during project creation time that they were considering adding things in the future. For example, if you did a website for the client and they mentioned creating a brochure or adding a blog, that’s a viable reason to reach out after the project has wrapped up. Don’t wait too long to check in on something like this–you want to secure the work when they client is still singing your praises. And obviously, if the deal went sour, I’d rather not set myself up for potential rejection.

Send out an email campaign. So after you have ducked following a project, it’s good to stay in touch. Instead of emailing about work, why not stay visible by sending out your regular newsletter? This way you don’t have to seem desperate for work but again, you are staying visible. This is why it is good to get your clients to sign up for your email newsletter campaign. Sometimes I sign my clients up automatically and simply let them know if they want out of the newsletter, I can take them off or they can quickly unsubscribe. But sending out an email is a useful way to stay visible but not be a pest.

Timing is everything. After you’ve made your initial “duck,” it’s good to step away for a while. The client knows how to reach you. As much as you want to ask if you’ve done anything wrong or if they can “pretty pretty please” give you more work so you can pay the rent, it’s best to stay professional. You don’t want to play hard to get like you are dating, but you don’t want to be in their face too much.

Cope with the silent treatment. If you have a client that is just not responding, try to keep your insecurities at bay and focus your energies on other clients–or getting new ones. Chances are that all of your clients won’t stay with you forever. Losing a few here and there doesn’t mean you have done anything wrong–it’s just the way this business goes. They may not need your services anymore, and yes, they may have found someone else. The last thing you want to do is demand they give you more work, or explain why they haven’t done so. They have the right to use others in the same profession as you–as frustrating as that may be. By staying on the ball and remaining professional, hopefully a duck-in produces more work. If not, there are plenty more clients out there who will appreciate all of your follow-up efforts and won’t think you’re a “quack.”

Have you ever had one of those days where everything was going wrong?  You missed a deadline, you lost a good client, an oft-promised cheque still hasn’t arrived, final notice on your cable bill came today, the client isn’t buying into the concept, your spouse is upset, your dog has fleas, and to top it all off – you just dropped your bread, and it landed butter side down.  Worst Monday ever.

Here are 5 tips to help you blow off some steam before you climb up to the bell tower.

• Me Time – Go for a walk, go have a coffee, get extra sprinkles on an ice cream, whatever.  Take 30 minutes for yourself.  You’ll be amazed at how hard it is to explode when you’re halfway through a peanut buster parfait.  Unless you’re allergic to peanuts.
• Buddy up – Before you get to the worst day ever, find a friend/coworker/distant relative and make an agreement to allow each other to vent – occasionally.  Having someone that can listen and understand can help you refocus on your priorities.  And hearing someone else whinge and whine about their piddly problems can be cathartic.
• Shout it out – Find a safe and quiet location – quiet as in no one can hear you, not quiet as in your local library – and then let it out.  Hoot, holler, yell, cry, scream, speak in tongues.  Say what’s on your mind until you can’t say anymore.
• Write it down – Write an email to yourself.  CAUTION – write it to you, and to you alone.  Make sure your name is the only one in the “to” field.  Pour everything into the email.  Construct cohesive thoughts, and organize your frustrations from terrible to horrible.  Read this email.  Do not save this email.  Delete  this email – do not send this email. If your email client has a self destruct option, blow up this email.  This can be applied to any of your favourite communication channels – but like Thursday says in her recent article – be careful of burning bridges.
• Take inventory – Sure, everything sucks today.  But you still get to live in a nice place, and you’re going to be able to find more clients.  Make a list of all of the great things in your life.  Like reading FreelanceSwitch every day – does it get better than this?

I’m sure exercise works for many of you, but I think I’ve been clear on my beliefs around that topic. What do you do to blow off some steam?

Hire A Designer For Your Site

There is a great discussion going on in the Forums about trying to design for yourself. For anyone that has tried to do so you know that you end up falling into two camps:

1. The camp that has no problem doing it. Unfortunately these people usually end up with horrible sites because they think all of their work is good anyways.

2. The camp that has a huge problem with it and takes forever getting anything done. These are the designers that are never pleased and because you are doing it for yourself you expect it to be miles ahead of the client work that you do.

A Complete Guide To Tumblr

Think of Tumblr as micro-blogging on steroids (technically, it’s called “tumblelogging”). Whereas Twitter and similar services limit posts to 140 characters or less, Tumblr lets you post updates of any length, although it’s best suited to short-format posts. Tumblr bridges the gap between full-blown blog and micro-blog.

16 Tips for Being Productive While Working From Home

I work from home. My friends think I am the luckiest. I have all the time in the world. I don’t need to commute everyday. My work’s easy. I can go out whenever I want. Great life, right?

I wish all of that was true.

How to Choose a Domain Name That Works

One of the first things you need to do when launching a new web business is choose a domain name for your website. Having your own domain name gives you the ability to brand your business website and will help create a long-lasting asset for your business.

Is It Time To Quit Your Day Job?

Who doesn’t dream of quitting their day job? Every day, countless hours are spent in corporate cubicles daydreaming about lives of adventure, creativity, and play — lives spent doing what you love.

Last month, I took the leap. I quit my day job to write full time. Now I’m sitting in Buenos Aires writing while my kids play with their grandparents nearby. And I’m getting paid for it.

7 Steps For a Successful Social Media Strategy

According to the 2010 Social Media Marketing Report , 67% of marketers plan to increase their use of social media channels including blogs, Twitter, and Facebook.

As more companies integrate social media into their marketing and communications plans, emphasis needs to be on creating a social media strategy. Without a strategy, you’ll undoubtedly be sucked into a social media time sink.

10 Ways to Work More Quickly and Accomplish More

Productivity is a big deal for freelancers. That’s because the amount of work we’re able to accomplish is directly proportional to the income we make.

If we’re able to do more in less time, we can take on more work. We’ll also have more time to spend with our loved ones and to pursue our personal interests.

Freelance Decor: 6 Motivational Posters from the Movies

OK, so – I’m a sucker for motivational posters. Maybe not the kind that populates cubicles everywhere — with kitteh dangling from the laundry line with the caption “hang in there, baby” – but perhaps something a bit more inspirational, with a touch of humor & sarcasm. These may not fit in the typical cubicle, but they’re perfect for the home office with a sense of humor.

I went searching for some motivational images and captions with a movie theme. See if you can guess the movie they came from.

The 7 Sins of Managing Web Projects

Managing web projects is both tough and satisfying in equal measures. Every project is a new learning curve and even though I’m educated from every project I work on, new problems are presented to me on a daily basis.

Some problems and challenges on the other hand, rear their head time after time, and I have classified these in line with the 7 deadly sins, renaming them of course as the 7 sins of managing web projects.

One of the downfalls of freelancing is not having a regular paycheck. But why does that have to be a downfall? With a little bit of work (and time), you could develop a regular freelance paycheck. I’m going to share with you how I am giving myself a regular paycheck, and as a bonus, I am going to give away my freelance paycheck template that I use to manage it! Download the Excel workbook to follow along with the article.

Every client check I receive gets split up many different ways: taxes, savings, personal commission, personal savings, etc. One of the splits I do is to a regular paycheck/backup fund (see worksheet titled “Splitting Checks”). It all goes into my savings with other things, but I keep track of it separately with a nice Excel spreadsheet (see worksheet titled “Regular Paycheck Fund”). My idea behind this fund when I first started freelancing was to give myself a regular paycheck. I needed the security of a regular paycheck without being employed somewhere.

I took a percentage of my paycheck after taxes and put it into this little fund (see worksheet titled “Splitting Checks” to see the split, and worksheet titled “Regular Paycheck Fund” to see the deposit into the fund). When I first started freelancing, I set things up to pay myself a “personal commission”—a certain percentage of my after-tax income—that I would pay myself whenever I cashed a client check (in the Excel example, I have 70%). This helped me get by while I was building this regular paycheck fund.

The amount you put into your regular paycheck fund should be adequate and representative of your plans. If you want to have a regular paycheck this time next year, then you should put back more of a percentage each client check than if you want to start this in two years. Same with any length of time you choose. Ideally, you will want to move to the next step (below) when you have about 3-6 months of living expenses and bills in this fund.

After a year and a half of putting a percentage in this fund (this time will differ depending on your circumstances which I will discuss below), I set up minimum and maximum “personal commission” limits per month (see worksheet titled “Monthly Min-Max Record”). Confused? Let me help you.
To make the math easy, let’s say I decided that I needed a minimum of $100 a month to pay bills and live off of (we’ll keep the numbers round and low to make it easy–if it helps for you, add a zero!) and decided that for now I can afford to have a maximum personal commission of $300 per month.

January comes to a close and according to my Excel spreadsheet, I made $210.00 in personal commissions. This is in between my limits, so I don’t have to take out any money or put in any money into my regular paycheck fund because I made too much or too little.

February is in the books and it was a really good month, so I made $525.00 in personal commissions. This is over my maximum limit of $300.00 (see worksheet titled “Monthly Min-Max Record, cells C5-C7). So the remainder of $225.00 (cell C7 of same sheet) would need to go to the regular paycheck fund, as you can see on the worksheet “Regular Paycheck Fund” cell D8.

March wasn’t a very good month, so I only made $52.50 personal commissions. This is $47.50 shy of my minimum I need to make, so I would need to debit that amount from my regular paycheck fund (see cell C11 of “Regular Paycheck Fund” worksheet).

Why set up a minimum/maximum system? Because you have to take baby steps. You don’t want to jolt your cash flow so much that you will have to revert back to living from client check to client check. This system will help you even out the cash flow from client check to client check to having a regular paycheck.

But Amber, that isn’t a regular paycheck!

I know, but after a certain period of time doing the minimum/maximum system, you can do one of two things. Either tweak those limits to be closer to the amount you want to pay yourself a month or go straight into paying yourself a regular paycheck. The fund you created will help you adjust to these changes. If you put an appropriate amount back each client check, this fund should have about 3-6 months worth of personal commissions ready for when you make that final jump into having a steady paycheck.

Remember to still be putting that certain amount in your regular backup fund from each client check (see worksheet “Regular Paycheck Fund” at the Example Client deposits). If you don’t, this fund could dry up and leave you without a safety net for when your freelancing is slow. However, you may feel that this fund is growing too fast or too little and may decide to change this amount once you move to the min/max system.

How long will this take? This will greatly depend on how much you make as a freelancer, what your minimum and maximum should be, and how fast you are able to develop your regular paycheck fund. For me, it took a year and a half to get to the point of the minimum/maximum system. That system is still in place and has been for seven months. However, come January I will evaluate how flush that fund is, how much I made this year, and how much I project to make next year. Depending on how I feel about my freelancing situation, I will either tweak the min/max system, or move right on into the regular paycheck.

Once you start paying yourself a regular paycheck, your regular paycheck fund (which should still be growing, because remember you are still putting a certain amount in there every client check) will be your freelance income safety net. As long as that fund is consistently growing every month, then you have created a regular paycheck for yourself every month, and you can adjust that amount how you see fit.

There is no way you can get this system perfect the first time you set out to put numbers to it. So don’t be afraid to make tweaks as needed. Many of the tweaks I have made are the amount of the personal commission I paid myself, the minimum/maximum limits, and how much I put into my backup fund.

One thing to keep in mind is that your regular paycheck fund should still be growing every month. It’s ok if it doesn’t grow for a month, but the trend needs to be that at least every quarter there is more money in there than the last quarter. Why? So that you have a nice safety net for dry spells, and you can give yourself a regular raise.

Once you have a nice 6-month supply of funds in that account, go ahead and give yourself a nice raise for all of your hard work in successfully developing a regular paycheck while being a freelancer!

We’ve covered firing a client, making a “not to do” list, and coping with client fall out, but what do you do if you just can’t say no? As a new freelancer, I am still loathe to say that I cannot complete a clients request.  My answer right now is “Yes!” – regardless of what they need.  Requests like “Can you do websites?” or “Can you create a 10 page, long copy sales letter about the efficacy of acai on middle aged men in Ohio?” gets the same response from me – “Yes!”

If it’s something I can do, I do it.  If it’s something I can learn, I try and find a way to learn it on my time.  I don’t think it’s fair to learn on the client’s dime.  If it’s something that I can’t do myself, and can’t/won/t/shouldn’t learn how to do it, I will find a provider who can provide the quality I require.

I know this isn’t an ideal business model, but I am confident that there are many readers that find themselves in this situation.

Are you comfortable and secure enough to tell your client no, or have you taken the N-word out of your freelance vocabulary?

Business slumps. Sometimes they come on suddenly. Like when your biggest client decides to stop using your services, and you’re left high and dry.

Or they sneak up on you through a series of unfortunate events. For example, you just submitted a big proposal, but you didn’t get the job. Then there’s that project you were hoping to promote so you could gain more business. Well, it ends up taking forever, and, once you’ve handed your completed files over to the client, it doesn’t get launched. What’s worse, you’re finding that many of your clients are taking their sweet old time about paying you, and you’re draining your savings in the meantime.

Whether it came on suddenly or sneakily, the end result is that your freelancing business is in a slump.

Another thing about sneaky slumps is that you probably felt something coming on, but you just didn’t want to look at your financials to see how bad things are. Well, procrastinate no more. We’re going to pour ourselves a good stiff drink of water (because you can’t afford anything else) and look at your income statement for this year.

First, let’s start with a look at this year as compared to last year. Income way down? Okay, you probably knew that already. It’s time to do some freelance business recovery planning.

Now, let’s look at the things you subtract from your income – the costs of sales and the operating expenses. As a freelancer, your cost of sales figure is probably quite small unless you’re subcontracting work. For example, if you’re creating a new website, you may need to hire a programmer, a copywriter, and a Flash developer.

In other words, you’re creating a virtual team to complete the project. Make sure that the fee you’re charging the client is sufficient to cover the subcontractors’ fees. You don’t want to lose money on your projects.

And take a good, hard look at the things you’re subcontracting. Can you bring them back in house until business picks up? Or eliminate them?

Enough beating up on the cost of sales. Let’s thrash those operating expenses. Compare with last year. What’s up? What’s down? What are your top three expenditures for this year? Why are they so high? Were all of those things you spent money on truly necessary? Don’t be afraid to holler “No!”

For the time being, you are going to focus on survival spending. Nothing more. Be forewarned: You’re going to use the word “no” a lot.

Finding yourself in a slump is a good way to discover what you don’t know. In the past, you may have remedied this lack of knowledge by going on a buying spree. As in, purchasing this business-building e-course, that book, and, just for good measure, a DVD.

Sorry to break the news to you, but you can’t afford to do that. For now, your best friend is going to be a four-letter word spelled f-r-e-e.

Which means that you are going to lean on that fabulous, free resource called your public library. The price is right. So get yourself a library card if you don’t already have one.

Then there are the free online resources. You’re using one right now. There are hundreds of articles on FreelanceSwitch that can help you build your slump-busting knowledge, so search for what you need and get reading. Start with how to weather a downturn, holiday slumps, and following up on prospects. Be sure to read the comments below the articles – they’re a real treasure trove.

Likewise, join the FreelanceSwitch discussion forums. Even if you never post, you can learn a lot by lurking. Use this same approach at any other online gathering – free articles, comments below them, and discussion forums. You can learn a lot from your fellow netizens.

Okay, so we’ve covered the public library and online resources like FreelanceSwitch. Here’s another fabulous, free resource: people. That’s right, people.

Quite often, a freelancer in the throes of a slump starts to feel like he or she must fight the battle alone. And the withdrawal from other people begins in earnest. After all, they’re so much more successful, and there you are, wearing a big “F” for “Failure” on your chest.

Don’t do this. You need to increase your income so you can bust out of this slump, and here’s how you’re going to do it, Lone Ranger. You’re going to ask for help. Now. Here are two places to go:

1. Your local Small Business Development Center. This is a free service provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration, so give them a call and make an appointment with a counselor.

I’ve been working with an SBDC counselor for a few months. (Yes, I’m climbing out of a slump, and yes, the second paragraph of this article is autobiographical.)

During our second meeting, Tom described the software company he used to operate in a small Midwestern city. The company developed and sold software to law offices, and there were only so many of those in town.

So, the company had to promote itself nationally. It did so via a six-person telemarketing operation. The law offices that showed interest got follow up calls from Tom. (Follow up is important.) Every 90 days, he made these calls. Without fail. He never got too busy, too successful, or too presidential.

There was the error of my ways, revealed in one brief, low-key conversation. Tom’s company never slacked off on its outreach and follow up. Ever.

Guess what my little freelancing self had done?

Slacked off in a big way, that’s what! Especially last year, when my studio seemed to be filled with interesting, well-paying projects that were just falling into line! It was like going fishing and having the fish jump into my boat! Life was good! No more cold-calling and follow-up marathons like back in 2007 and 2008!

Well, 2009 turned into 2010, and life wasn’t so good anymore.

I left Tom’s office with a resolve I didn’t have before. It was time to get back on the prospecting trail and stay there.

I now set aside at least an hour of every day to do cold calls and follow-up calls. (After all, they worked in ‘07 and ‘08.) Like Tom, my follow- up calls happen every 90 days. Without fail.

Sales is now Job #1 around here. Just as it always should have been. And, ever so slowly, my business is coming back.

In addition to getting a little “back to what worked so well before” nudge, I’ve been using another kind of help. That’s the kind of help that a freelancer needs when it’s time to break into new markets where money is being spent right now. Permit me to introduce you to…

2. SCORE. This is a volunteer-powered organization that operates throughout the United States. You can ask SCORE for help on just about any business topic, and the help is free. Here’s how I’m working with SCORE:

For many years, I’ve focused my outreach efforts on academia. As a result, I’ve done design work for universities all over the United States. But, with the way things are going with academic budget cuts, it’s time to diversify the client base. So, I’m working on becoming a U.S. federal contractor.

I met my SCORE counselor in the Answers forum on LinkedIn. His focus is on helping small businesses through the process of becoming a certified federal contractor.

So far, I’ve found that this process is much more involved than cold-calling university faculty and pitching design services, but it is doable. Since my SCORE counselor is in another state, we’re corresponding by e-mail, and things are working out quite well.

Okay, time to wrap things up. I’m going to leave you with four pieces of advice from The Wealthy Freelancer book.

1. Invest in yourself. (To which I’d like to add, even when you don’t have the money. Avail yourself of free resources instead.)
2. Have an unshakable belief in yourself. (If it’s shaking, get some of that free help mentioned above.)
3. Know that this belief will be tested. (Let me tell you, a business slump will do that to you!)
4. Get ready to enjoy success when it comes. (And, yes, it will come.)

I know I’m still new to the world of freelancing, but I’m quickly learning that not all of the job boards are created equally.  In my experience, they seem to share a lot of the same qualities that can be found in the restaurant industry. Here’s a quick job board comparison.

• Elance.com is the McDonalds of freelancing.  It’s cheap, it’s convenient, it’s not really bad for you – but it’s not somewhere you want to go on a regular basis.
• Freelancer.com is the Inn and Out Burger.  It’s cheap – really cheap.  You’ve got a few choices, but they aren’t that different from one another.  This is a place where you can get your very basic needs filled, with no extras.  Quality is a bit suspect, too.
• Odesk.com is is the Burger King. It’s not elance – but close enough.  Some things might be a bit cheaper, and other projects might be more reasonable.  There seems to be a good fan base of users more than willing to offer their thoughts on this establishment.
• FreelanceSwitch.com means you pay more, and you get more.  FSw would be like a TGiF– decent selection, decent prices, lots of fun users, and a nice atmosphere.  If your friends asked you where you get your business, you wouldn’t be embarrassed to tell them FreelanceSwitch. (and no – I’m not just saying this because I write for Envato.  Some of my best projects have come from the FSw job board)
• CrowdSpring.com is going to be tough to compare, as I just found it.  From what I’ve seen so far, I’d have to say it’s a like eating at Medieval Times, or another themed restaurant.  There’s a lot to see, the prices seem reasonable, and it looks like you get to have some fun while you’re here.

What’s your experience been like on these job boards?  Are they filling you up, or are you being left hungry for more?

There are plenty of books written with freelance writers and freelance designers in mind, but there are certainly other types of freelancers working on building a career. If you’re a translator working on a freelance basis, these books can help you up your game.

If you’re new to freelance translating, Corrine McKay has created a definitive guidebook walking translators through setting rates, getting certifications and even finding clients. McKay is a certified translator and drew upon her experiences in creating a long-term career. Whether you’re simply bilingual or you’ve educated yourself in a second language, this book can provide an introduction to freelancing in the field.

• Available as a paperback
• 139 pages
• $17.78
• Purchase How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator

The industry for freelance translators is not static, a fact which Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown explores. He discusses how new technologies have changed the profession and provides insight in how to use those changes to your advantage. The book also provides an in-depth framework for a beginning freelance translator.

• Available as a paperback
• 182 pages
• $34.95
• Purchase Practical Guide for Translators

If you’re already working in the translation industry and you’ve found yourself in a position where you need to expand, Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown’s book can prove invaluable. It shows translators how you can bring in help, outsource certain parts of the translation process and increase the size of your freelance business. This book is not meant for beginners; instead, it’s geared towards freelancers who have been in the game for a while.

• Available as a paperback
• 159 pages
• $24.95
• Purchase Managing Translation Services

Just exploring the option of becoming a freelance translator but already have a second language you’re familiar with? Douglas Robinson provides a breakdown on the training of a professional translator, providing you with what amounts to an in-depth class on the topic. This book can bring you up to speed on the mechanics of translation quickly.

• Available as a paperback
• 159 pages
• $24.95
• Purchase Becoming A Translator

OK, so – I’m a sucker for motivational posters.  Maybe not the kind that populates cubicles everywhere — with kitteh dangling from the laundry line with the caption “hang in there, baby” – but perhaps something a bit more inspirational, with a touch of humor & sarcasm. These may not fit in the typical cubicle, but they’re perfect for the home office with a sense of humor.

I went searching for some motivational images and captions with a movie theme.  See if you can guess the movie they came from.

That’s my stapler.

Chuck Norris doesn’t do push ups – he pushes the earth away from him.

Just glad I don’t wear a red shirt…

I have a very bad feeling about this.

Dude

And, there aren’t many motivational poster movie images about freelancing, but I think this one should qualify:

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I did.

One of the obvious must-do things as a freelancer is to market yourself. The concepts of self-promotion and marketing are in just about everything we read when looking to improve our businesses. We are constantly being told to promote ourselves, develop business, toot our own horn, boost client relations…the list goes on. We’re told a lot of what to do, and in many cases, how to do these things. What is often missing is learning about the ways to make these concepts work.

Something I’ve learned since I started freelancing full-time–by trial and error, of course–is that you cannot simply market yourself aimlessly. Instead you have to really think about where your clients are. And how to reach them.

For example, you’ve probably been told to make a website. And chances are, you have one. Fantastic. But what happens next? How do you get the people you want to attract to see it? Better yet, who are those people?

When considering marketing, you have to place equal emphasis on doing the thing to promote yourself–attending a networking event, creating a brochure, etc.–and finding the people you want to connect with.

Case in point: A few posts ago, you heard me discuss how to get your business buzzing with a buzz piece. I created a new report on creating website copy, “5 Writing Rules to Break for Great Website Content” and was intent on getting this into the hands of people who could give me work.

In the past, I would have blasted it out at random, but this time, I’m thinking more in terms of creating a targeted “Clients I Want” list and nurturing those prospects over and over. Sending them my report was just the first step. I’ll follow up in a month with an email of more useful tips that apply to them. I’m not just reaching the people I want to work for; I am giving them information that applies directly to them. This is what knowing your audience–and reaching them–is all about.

Even if you do not create one of these targeted lists with the intent of regularly communicating in order to hopefully secure projects, it is vital to consider the audience you want to reach and then develop methods to reach them. For example, if you are going to send out a brochure to promote your business, think about the types of clients you want to work for. And not just the types of industries you want to work in. Are you looking to connect with small businesses? Contact the owner or manager. Do you want to work for a larger corporation? Contact the HR or marketing departments. What about agency work? Consider connecting with a senior-level manager. Think about the roles people are in that will yield you the best results. Try to narrow down your audience as much as possible, and of course, once you reach them, make it easy for them to contact you or find out more about your services.

Specific contact information is highly advised, so getting the name, email and phone number of a contact can be essential. For my buzz piece, I am reaching out to marketing managers because I would like to get ongoing work at established companies. One of the tools I’m using to get information–if it is not on a company’s website–is LinkedIn. I adore the advanced search features that let you search by title and company, etc. I can usually get the name of a person currently in the position. Otherwise, you can call a company and will likely find it simple to get a hold of the person you need to speak with, whether it is an art director or an account executive. Information is out there and it is usually fairly simple to obtain. Get it and use it.

In my case, I want to speak to the people in charge of marketing that would be responsible for hiring freelancers. So I’ll expand my search to marketing coordinators, marketing directors and the like. In my case, I’ll also reach out to companies that I know of.

Again, having that website or setting up that speaking engagement isn’t enough. Think about who your audience is. Promote your website to a mailing list. Send out a press release about an event. But make sure you have targeted contact information. Or, if you’re trying to get work, think about who your clients are. When considering the recipient of your actions–and taking innovative steps to reach them–your marketing efforts will probably be even more effective.