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Alvalyn Lundgren
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Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
Using LinkedIn Profinder To Find Freelance Gigs
This article was updated on February 8, 2017 by the author. Being always on the lookout for new client opportunities, I thought I’d give LinkedIn
Alvalyn Lundgren
A Freelancer’s Guide To Retainer Agreements
When you work project-to-project, you can experience inconsistencies in your schedule and revenue flow. One way to mitigate those gaps is with retainer agreements. These
Alvalyn Lundgren
Why Freelancers Should Have an Agency-Styled Website To Attract Clients
If you’re an independent creative professional, you probably already have a website showcasing your amazing portfolio. Portfolios are a necessary component of any freelancer’s website,
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
Freelance or For Hire? Clarifying The Designer-Client Relationship
Misunderstandings can exist between clients and freelance designers regarding their working relationships. Questions of who owns what, what files are provided to the client, when and
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
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
12 Steps To A More Secure WordPress Web Site
Every independent creative professional should have a web site. Hands down, WordPress.org is the most popular self-hosted content management web site framework. Over 50% of self-hosted
Alvalyn Lundgren
How Much Will It Cost?
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.
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
Making the Most of a Creative Review
You can get more out of a creative review than just a go-ahead to move to the next phase of the project. In coming together
Alvalyn Lundgren
Debt, Taxes and Your Freelance Business: 2017 Tax Reform Bill
I’m a sole proprietor working with businesses and organizations, and so, like you, I had some concern about how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs
Alvalyn Lundgren
A Philosophy of Branding, Part 1
Of Influence, Time and Trust Branding is a popular discussion in my circles, and in the course of those conversations I gain great insight into perceptions
Alvalyn Lundgren
The 7 Basic Elements of Your Brand Strategy
Simply creating graphic assets and promotional materials is not enough to manage your brand. You need a strategy — a plan, method, or series of actions for obtaining a specific goal or result. Here are 7 basic elements to get started.
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
159. To Quit, Or Not To Quit
How do you know if you should quit or not? Sometimes quitting is in fact, the wise and right option. Freelancing isn’t easy. It takes courage and tenacity to push through. It starts out being fun, like a great adventure, especially when you land your first couple of clients and get paid for the projects. But when obstacles and opposition show up, what will you choose?
AlvalynCreative
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
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
5 Limiting Lies Freelancers Should Stop Believing
Successful soloism is about 80% mindset and 20% mechanics. I’ve learned from experience that you can get the mechanics right, but still not be thinking right. Much of what holds us back as creatives and independent business owners is our mindset.
Alvalyn Lundgren
Use the Socratic Method to Close the Sale
A key principle in successful use of the Socratic Method is that your work product is not the thing — the objective. It’s the thing that leads to the objective the prospect wants to make happen.
AlvalynCreative
Designing a Successful Year
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
Pricing Strategies for Creative Freelancers
Pricing your creative services is one of the most-discussed topics among freelancers. There is no one right way to price your creative services — there is no industry
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