Freelancing in the Age of AI
Technology fosters challenges and opportunities, and the freelance creative needs to address both in their creative process and business systems.
AlvalynCreative
professional practice
ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
3 Reasons Why Creative Freelancers Should Go Bold Or Go Home
A long time ago in a faraway place called Pasadena, CA, I sat in a classroom and heard my instructor say, “You can’t sit around
Alvalyn Lundgren
Freelancing: In Getting Work, Relationship Counts More Than Ever
Clients have a choice when selecting creative services: They can go the cheap route and buy a logo through a crowdsource or contest web site where
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10 Proven Networking Strategies for Introverts (and Everyone Else)
Building a business requires connection with people: prospective clients, colleagues, mentors, customers, and sometimes even family members. When we connect, we share information, ideas and
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How To Write An Effective Creative Brief
Creative freelancers can save time and avoid miscommunication when working with their if they use an effective creative brief in their process. Simply talking about project expectations
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Why Design Is Not Self-Expression
If we approach a design solution as an opportunity for self-expression, we’ll miss the point and risk not solving the problem.
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3 Types of Freelance Contracts and Which Ones to Avoid
Because pretty much everything runs on design and other forms of visual communication, the role of the visual communicator (designer, illustrator, photographer) is more in
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Doing Good Work and Working for Good
On his Dear Design Student blog on Medium, Mike Monteiro, design director at Mule Design, author and speaker, discusses designers and their ethics. He addresses
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12 Questions You Need to Ask Every Client BEFORE You Accept Their Project
Have you ever gotten involved on a project and then realized that neither the project nor the client is ideal? The project that was going to
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How To Change Your Mind About Money: 5 Simple Ways To Deal With Fluctuating Freelance Income
One thing I struggled with in the past as an independent creative is money. I have a lot of experience with the all too common
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Create A Social Media Connection Strategy
When you’re in business, you use social media differently than you do personally. I was an early adopter on many social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook
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Three Things To Do Before Responding To An Unhappy Client
Has something like this ever happened to you? You have a solid, signed written contract with your client that includes payment terms and penalties for
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How To Work With Clients
10 Best Practices For Building Reputation and Relationships When you accept a client’s project, you need to make it your own. While you’re not creating for
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Why You Can’t Have My Font Files
Business and creative culture now runs on creative rights and intellectual property. Theft, abuse and alteration of intellectual property is as rampant as ID theft,
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Advice For Emerging Designers
…your process of emerging from school into the (design) profession needs to be as carefully framed and designed as any of your projects.
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How Long Does It Take to Succeed as a Freelancer?
How do you measure success? How long will it take to succeed as a freelancer? This is a common question among freelancers, and I believe
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GDPR Compliance Steps for US-Based Freelancers
The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation goes into full effect on May 25, 2018. The internet and blogdom are all abuzz about getting
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How to Build Your Prospecting Pipeline
As an independent creative, prospecting is a practical and necessary business activity that needs focused attention to. It requires work to maintain a pipeline of
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10 Ups and Downs of Freelancing
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Freelancing provides more freedom than any other type of work structure. With that freedom come the responsibilities of ownership and reputation. When we choose to
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Risky Business
© Alvalyn Lundgren. All international rights reserved. Risk. It’s a small word with big impact. Taking risks involves change and the unknown. We’re usually not
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How To Get Clients To Pay You
What do you do when you a client refuses to pay you? According to Freelancers Union nearly 50% of freelancers were stiffed by clients in the past 12
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How’s Business? Five Tested Ways To Help Your Freelance Business Thrive
Did you know that your creative business thrives because of how you do business and not because of the quality of your work or your
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Skills You’re Not Taught In Design School
There ‘s a book in my library titled, 101 Things to Learn in Art School by Kit White. It’s full of truths that every designer
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Why You Can’t Be My Client
Since I established my design studio over thirteen years ago, I have worked with clients large and small, designed for sole proprietors and for publicly-held
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