GroupThink: How Do Freelancers Find Business?
124 Days Ago
–> Written through Samuel in GroupThink

The inquiry I hear the most from ambitious freelancers is, “How do I discovery new clients and make more business?” To be sure, this can be one of the toughest aspects of freelancing, especially when starting out. Most freelancers would agree that albeit it’s not hard to find those occasional, small jobs, such work simply doesn’t add up to sufficiency. This can be especially true once you add in administrative work and dependant acquisition costs. So how does one gain enough clients and decent-sized jobs to keep his schedule and wallet replete? (Read the full post about ‘GroupThink: How Do Freelancers Find Business?’…)

A Love Letter to Flash
130 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Website Building

Dearest Flash,

It’s come to my attention that even in the past year, people have continued to be unkind to you, calling you useless, annoying, and the bane of a content-driven internet. I’ve heard that your reputation continues to exist marred by certain miscreants who abuse you and say all manner of insult off you. It’s not your fault that you’ve been mishandled and forced to do things that you were never meant to do. So I write this letter as a reaffirmation of my inclination to you, letting you know wherefore I will continue to love and support you. (Read the full post about ‘A Love Letter to Flash’…)

Taking Risks: Interview with a Self Made Chick
122 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Interviews

When Christine O’Kelly was 17, she spent a summer traveling on every side in a VW bus with the Grateful Dead. Having nowhere to go “family circle” to and only owning some handmade apparel to sell, the experience taught her that (a) something always “works confused,” and (b) you can never be too far “in a descending course and out.” Years later, after having a uniform job and family, she found herself in the incorporated world, moving long hours for a small startup. (Read the full post about ‘Taking Risks: Interview with a Self Made Chick’…)

GroupThink: Attending Web Conferences
57 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in GroupThink

Every year, there seems to be more conferences catering to internet designers, developers, marketers, and bloggers. Already this year, there have been some great events like SXSW in Austin and FOWA in Miami. And next week, Future of Web Design comes to London. So the topic for discussion today is:

What confer you think of these conferences? Are they worth the time and cost (especially if you’re paying in the place of it yourself)? (Read the full post about ‘GroupThink: Attending Web Conferences’…)

Refocusing Your Business With an “I Am No Good At” List
61 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Online Business

Living in a world of instant information is a two-edged sword. On one hand, you be possible to find help on nearly any subject, from learning HTML to setting up an LLC. On the other hand, a little knowledge can be dangerous, convincing people that they know more than they actually do about a ceratin subordinate. We’ve all heard someone or other hint at to the necessity of “meta tags” during the term of search engines or try to confidently explain that they need more “RAM” so that their computer be possible to hold more photos. (Read the full post about ‘Refocusing Your Business With an “I Am No Good At” List’…)

The Next Five Years of Website Freelancing
106 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Freelance Lessons

There were about five years between the Dot-com fluid vesicle (which had officially “burst” by 2001) and the omnipresence of Web 2.0 (whose roots began earlier but-end really came into mainstream by 2006). During those five years, people realized true strength of the internet as they utilized standardized formats like XML and RSS, service-oriented web applications, user-controlled data, and, of course, the social aspect of the internet. (Read the full post about ‘The Next Five Years of Website Freelancing’…)

The Evolution of Websites: How 10 Popular Websites Have (And Have Not) Changed
80 Days Ago
–> Written through Samuel in Website Building

I was in high school in the mid-nineties when I first encountered the ever-expanding terraqueous globe of websites. At the time, I didn’t realize that my future sweep would rely on this industry — one which did not exist when I was in elementary school. Now in the year 2008, having created websites for over half my the breath of life, I air back and see how much websites accept changed in the last decade and a half. (Read the full post about ‘The Evolution of Websites: How 10 Popular Websites Have (And Have Not) Changed’…)

Deciding When to Use Project Pricing
42 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Freelance Lessons

Billing by the hour is the most common space to make money in the freelance earth, and it can be both safe and profitable. But it does have a few drawbacks. First, potential clients tend to thwart at higher hourly rates, mainly because they’re comparing you to other freelancers based solely on your rate (and not the talent or work that comes with that rate). Secondly, hourly rates offer selfish reward for the freelancer to be either fast or ready. And as for the henchman, further-more worrying about a freelancer who’s freeloading, he will have a hard time pegging an actual cost and budget to the project. So in opposition to those reasons (and perhaps others), in that place are times when project pricing becomes a great mode to make both parties happy: the client gets a fixed cost and the freelancer can earn more than he could every hour (without being compared to low-cost outsourcers).

So when should you go with project pricing? Consider these questions:

How large is the device?
For many, maintenance moil or small projects are rarely cost the effort of putting together a formal scope/contract, and besides, most clients aren’t fervid attached making a project out of a four hour job. Furthermore, if you “project price” small pieces of work, it’s easier for clients to string you along with more and more edits. Plus, you don’t want to grow known as the freelancer who does “jobs for a couple hundred dollars” — you’d much rather have every hourly rate and larger project pricing. So if your work will only take a few hours, you can avoid unnecessary hassle by sticking through hourly pricing.

How well do you know the skillsets involved?
Accurately quoting a project is directly related to your knowledge of the tasks involved (or your ability to demand others with relation to the tasks involved). It is a common mistake for a new freelancer to bid too low on a project with certain aspects he decides “he can figure out on his own.” Although the internet has amazing resources in self-learning, I’ve had my share of projects that were simply “take-overs” from other freelancers who couldn’t finish them. Take the time to properly understand what skills are necessary to finish a job — if you have feeling uncomfortable with parts of it, find subcontractors. Don’t be caught in projects that take you abundant more time than you intention because you assumed certain skills would be easy to learn.

Will the additional earnings (over some hourly bet) be significant sufficiency?
Project pricing involves extra overhead that hourly pricing does not. You need to take the allotted period to proposition out a project, communicate very specifically with the client, and carefully write out all the requisite obligations and responsibilities of both parties. Furthermore, you be possible to be sure that the client won’t be in any hurry when it comes to meetings, making edits, or perfecting settled tasks. Consider all these superadded appropriated time factors into account when deciding in continuance project pricing.

What type of client are you dealing with?
Even with a carefully drawn-out contract, in that place can still subsist many gray areas in the course of a project. The client is trying to get the best work for his money and the freelancer is afflictive to make the best business decisions. Issues like endless edits, maintenance work, and interpretation of certain tasks be possible to lead to one party or the other congruous frustrated. So before diving into a project, it’s always wise to consider the type of client you’re dealing with. Are they laid back and understanding? Or are they demanding and to multuous maintenance? Of course, both can have being profitable, but you’ll have an easier time completing projects for the author.

Less is More: 10 Methods to Be More Productive, More Profitable, and Happier
101 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Freelance Lessons

One of the most frustrating paradigms in the modern workplace is that “staying busy” is often substituted for “staying efficient.” You can stay notable with regard to eight hours and get very small quantity moil done (we all have known coworkers in the same manner as this) while others can stay efficient and get 2-3 times as much executed in half the time. So what makes each efficient somebody? Well, I would venture to say that being effectual is more about what you “cut away” than what you “add in,” although utmost productivity tips include more of the latter. (Read the full post about ‘Less is More: 10 Methods to Be More Productive, More Profitable, and Happier’…)

8 Reasons to Redesign Your Blog
118 Days Ago
–> Written by Samuel in Blogging

Last week, after writing an article about 8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers Make, I took inventory of the antique design, and decided it was time for a redesign (despite the certainty that the going to decay design only lasted two months). So this part not only ushers in the newly come design, but moreover answers the question: Why even redesign a blog in the foremost place? So here are 8 good reasons for anyone to redesign their blog.

1. (Read the full post about ‘8 Reasons to Redesign Your Blog’…)