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
Alvalyn Lundgren
purpose
ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
Positioning and Differentiating Your Business Through Design
Non-descript design that lacks distinction will do nothing to add distinction and value to an organization.
Alvalyn Lundgren
When It’s Time To Let Go
Being effective involves doing the right thing at the right time in the right place.
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
Set Goals, Not Resolutions
Have you made resolutions for the new year? What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to change? Where do you see yourself
Alvalyn Lundgren
Creative Freelancer Q&A: What Do You Do About Scope Creep?
What do you do about scope creep? Avoid it? Agree to it? Stress out about it? Scope creep is when the amount of work originally agreed
Alvalyn Lundgren
How To Build An Effective Professional Network
When you’re in business (and freelancers are in business), you build reputation through social and in-person networking. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a network is a
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
AlvalynCreative
7 Places to Find Freelance Clients Online and Offline
One of the huge differences between a salaried worker (a W2-based employee) and a freelancer is that freelancers need to always be looking for work.
Alvalyn Lundgren
Taxing Topics: A 9-Point Q&A For Your Schedule C
The first 3 1/2 months of the year are known in the US as tax season. If you are an independent creative professional, that means you
Alvalyn Lundgren
Contracts Protect the Freelancer and the Client
As I write this article I’m in the middle of a contract negotiation involving copyright and licensing of one of my character designs. I worked with
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
How To Handle Special Requests From Clients
I was asked about how to deal with unusual requests. Once someone finds out you are a designer, writer, photographer… any type of creative, you
Alvalyn Lundgren
Stepping Out: How To Get Unstuck
Creativity requires action and effort to actually make something. We can mull over our ideas all we want, but to make a difference, at some point
Alvalyn Lundgren
Spec Work Is Gambling
Working on spec directly contradicts good business practices and does not even promise payment for work performed.
Alvalyn Lundgren
Which is Better for Self-Promotion: Email or Mailers?
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
Technologically Incorrect: Why I Still Use a Paper Planner
It’s red. It’s can get up to 2 inches thick. It’s an almost constant companion. I am describing my paper planner: my planning/project/time management companion. It’s
Alvalyn Lundgren
How To Respond To Unusual Client Requests
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
AlvalynCreative
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
Creating Lovability
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
Property Rights
Although it’s a common assumption, clients are not automatically entitled to a designer’s working files. The tools, preliminary concepts and layouts remain the property of
Alvalyn Lundgren
Designing For Non-Profits
A significant percentage of my clients are non-profit enterprises. I have had many opportunities to design campaign materials, annual reports, and graphic assets for non-profit
Alvalyn Lundgren