Displaying All Posts tagged with freelance

How to Be a More Productive Freelancer

how to be efficient

In the middle of the 20th century, Toyota began implementing principles called Lean Methodology.

This system became commonplace in Japanese factories, helping that nation to so much of its success in the automotive, electronics and other industries.

Lean Methodology is all about keeping everything in a workplace trimmed and clean — setting aside and casting off anything unnecessary.

This streamlines processes, with efficiency leading to speed and higher productivity. Click Here to Read Article …

How to Be A Client’s Go-To Freelancer

new clients

We aren’t evaluated in a vacuum.

We don’t encounter people in a vacuum, but in the midst of their lives, when they’ve had experiences we can only guess at.

Whatever interactions we have with them they compare against those they’ve had with others.

Their expectations for the work we do with (for) them come from their experiences with other freelancers, whether they be graphic designers, wedding photographers, ghost writers or anyone.

Some clients have had some misgivings with some of the work they’ve commissioned, and they may have written these off as reflecting the limits of what they can possibly expect. That’s why a freelancer can benefit so greatly from giving clients the things they aren’t getting elsewhere.

Understanding what other freelancers are getting wrong and being sure to do that thing can get you some good reviews, referrals to new clients, decent pay and lots of appreciation. Click Here to Read Article …

5 Things Your Home Office Really Needs

setting up a home office

Setting up your home office is really fun and exciting and, if you aren’t careful, really expensive.

It’s so easy to be tempted by articles listing must-haves.

Yes, most of those articles are filled with products and services that would be nice to have and, sometimes, will even make running your business marginally easier.

At the same time, most of those articles are playing a little fast and loose with the term “need.”

Here are the only five things that you actually need in your home office to get your business up and running, and some of them aren’t even things at all. Click Here to Read Article …

4 Clients Freelancers Should Avoid

potential clients

We freelancers perform without a net. We are constantly taking plenty of risks with potential clients — one of them being simply not getting paid.

This can mean getting stiffed, or it can mean having your work deemed unacceptable and facing the threat of not getting your much-needed compensation.

However, we also risk such frustrations as facing inefficient working styles that slow us down and make our overall freelancing life less successful than it should be.

Or we experience unpleasant interactions that hurt morale and thus threaten our freelancing career in general.

It’s true that in every field there are annoyances, and there may be some good personality traits associated with being able to put up with these. To some extent they’re unavoidable. But here’s a guide to minimizing things that slow you down or that detract from the success — financial and spiritual — of your freelancing life.

If you have enough available work to be able to avoid potential clients who look like trouble, it’s a matter of heeding certain warning signs. Here are the ones of which I’m aware. Click Here to Read Article …

What Freelancers Can Learn From TV Characters

freelancing

Freelancers have to be people of tremendous character — our own decisions rule our destiny.

Freelancing means more self-motivation, creating our own atmosphere and learning on the job .

They say art imitates life, but I’ve heard the opposite as well.

There is plenty of art we could look to, but who doesn’t love a little television?

Here’s a look at some life lessons to take — and leave — from some of our favorite TV characters, past and present. Click Here to Read Article …

5 Awesome Gifts for Freelancers

awesome gifts 1

Freelancers of any stripe need a good pick-me-up every so often.

Fortunately, many of us know folks who love to give us gifts and the gift-giving season is on its way. The holiday season is officially upon us folks.

A little boost in spirits could come in the form of a little gizmo, one that delivers a bit of consumer goods happiness.

So when someone asks you what you’d like, make sure to add these awesome gifts to your wish list: Click Here to Read Article …

How to Stop Wasting Time in Meetings

meetings

The first day of my first office job, my boss told me plainly, “There are two types of people in the business world. That guy who sets up all of the meetings and the rest of us, okay?”

He was no fan of wasting time, and it rubbed off on me in a big way. Spending countless hours in meetings — at least one per day at the height of my office career — is one of the driving reasons I moved away from working for others and started freelancing.

For the most part, fewer meetings have been a natural side effect of going into business for myself. My clients want to be bothered with unnecessary meetings every bit as little as I do. Click Here to Read Article …

7 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

writers block

Whether you’re writing your midterm paper or finishing a deadline on an article for a client, writing can be a difficult job. Writer’s block can be a real problem.

Creativity doesn’t always flow when it should.

Plenty of writers sit down with every good intention, only to find themselves an hour later having accomplished nothing.

Well, nothing aside from trolling around online, playing games or suddenly feeling the need to reorganize their entire office.

Although writing can be a daunting task, these seven tips will help you get your creative juices flowing and get you on track to producing better writing without sweating the deadline. Click Here to Read Article …