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
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
How can you invest your product or service with “lovability” and create devotion in your customers? Here are some options: Love it yourself. If you’re
During a downhill event at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, a contestant wiped out against the fence because she lost her footing on a turn.
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.
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
All too often a business or organization seeks a designer to execute an untested, unrefined idea as quickly and cheaply as possible. A business that’s design-oriented will not regard design as an afterthought but as the basis for its marketing communications and brand awareness.
Self-promotion is an ordinary and necessary aspect of doing business as an independent creative professional. Unlike social media marketing, self-promotion campaigns are targeted to contacts
People connect with brands the same way they connect with people. Brands cannot be developed and maintained without design. Branding is not design, but it
As the owner of an independent creative business, you are responsible for absolutely everything creatively and managerially. The whole thing’s sitting on your shoulders, and
Most freelancers will agree that it’s easier to hold onto an established relationship than begin a new one. And it’s less work to retain a client
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Q: As a freelancer, do I need a marketing plan or can I just wing it? A: Indeed, you do need a marketing plan. Marketing
An up and coming freelancer asked me about how to deal with unusual requests. We all get these from time to time. Once someone learns
A colleague recently switched from the PC to the Mac, from Windows and Android to OS X and iOS. There’s always a learning curve when
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
Like any design, websites are experienced. Your goal should be to provide the best experience to the largest percentage of people who visit your site.
Not every client relationship is a good fit, and it’s just good business to separate.
From the Freelance Road Trip mailbag: A Freelance Road Trip (FRT) member shared an experience with a non-paying client. The member gave me permission to
Filling the Gap Between School and Career So you’ve gone through school and developed a creative portfolio. You’ve tweaked it up one side down the
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
Is there a difference between pro bono and spec work? If so, what’s the difference? First, let’s compare them. With both, you work for free,
Each December I take a couple weeks off to celebrate the holidays and go through a visioning and goal-setting process in preparation for the new