Twelve Books To Boost Your Creative Business
It’s widely acknowledged that there is a direct correlation between reading and success. But it’s not the amount you read, it’s what you read. There’s
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ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
A Key to Productivity: Do the Right Things
Productivity is a popular and expansive topic, and it’s also big business. From apps and books on the subject to courses and mastermind groups, tools
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Design and Degree of Difficulty
Being a designer is perceived by many as a fun job. Designers get to work with colors, shapes and amazing computer programs and be creative
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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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Discovery Isn’t Strategy
A mistake freelance creatives can easily make is to diagnose and strategize with a prospective client before they become an actual client. This often happens
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Email Scams Target Web Designers
Commenting on this article is currently closed. Previously-posted comments are full of helpful details. Please read to the end for the latest updates. Designers
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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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Unpaid Internships Are A Form of Spec Work
Why is spec work so prevalent in the design profession when it’s not in other professions? Increasingly, companies – creative businesses included – are offering
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Leads and Referrals — What’s the Difference?
Early in my freelance journey I joined a business networking group through my chamber of commerce for the purpose of generating leads and referrals. Networking groups
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Passion or Profit: Should You Start a Freelance Business?
The commonly-given advice is: Do what you love and the money will follow. This is a great ideal, because no one wants to spend the majority
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Create A Better Portfolio
Whether online or in hand, your portfolio is the primary means of landing a job or finding clients. Art school graduates have focused on developing
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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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What Kind Of Freelancer Are You?
Did you know that there is more than one way to be a freelancer? Independent creatives — freelancers — can choose a variety of working scenarios
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Creative Freelancer Q&A: Do Business, Not Favors!!!
Avoid awkward moments and misunderstandings about getting paid for your freelance work. Prepare written agreements for each client that outlines the type of work you will do, how much you will charge for it, and how you want to be paid. You cannot make a living by doing favors.
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Does Formal Design Education Matter?
Aesthetic sense and talent are raw materials. They amount to nothing without discipline. Education forces you to add skill, discipline and expertise to your talent. And in order to meet project deadlines, you learn to steward your time.
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I Didn’t Get the Job
When you’re in business for yourself and you are regularly seeking new clients and projects, you will come across all types of prospects in your
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6 Freelance Contract Mistakes and How To Fix Them
Most problems freelancers experience when working with clients are due to contract mistakes. Do any of these statements sound familiar to you? “I started working
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Show Your Work: How Sharing Your Process Increases Your Value
When a client is looking for a creative firm, process and procedures are not obvious priorities in evaluating performance. The prospect is going to look
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How To Go From Being A $25/Hour Freelancer To A $100.00/hour Freelancer
Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut with your pricing? Do you want to charge more per hour or per project, but for
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Why Branding Is Crucial If You Want To Be Profitable
Creative freelancers invest time and effort carefully crafting brands for their clients. In regard to their own brands, they often come up short. Creatives should
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7 Things You Must Do To Start Your Creative Freelance Business
With the excitement and anticipation of embarking on a freelance career, we can easily get caught up in the ideas of freedom, of getting paid
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Understanding Your 1099-K Reporting Changes for 2022 and Beyond
We’re on a mission to cultivate a business mindset in support of our creative work. If we want to profit from our creative work, we
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Creative Freedom Through Setting Boundaries
Working with clients can be likened to a downhill race: The designer moves along in her process and picks up momentum as she heads toward the finish line, and all
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Can you include work created as an employee in your freelance portfolio?
One conundrum freelancers face when they shift gears from employment to independence is: Can I include the work I created for the company in my
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