How To Choose Good Clients
Good clients are integral to successful freelance projects and to your career overall. Beyond the project itself, a referral or recommendation from the right client can open doors
Alvalyn Lundgren
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ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
What’s the Difference Between Pro Bono and Spec Work?
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,
Alvalyn Lundgren
How To Use Change Orders To Manage Freelance Projects
When I first learned about the power of change orders it changed everything in my workflow. When I implemented the practice, I actually began looking
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
5 Reasons Why I Can’t Be Your Designer
I wish I hadn’t said, “Yes” to certain design projects. It’s not that the projects were a problem, but something about the clients’ approaches, actions or expectations
Alvalyn Lundgren
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 Freelance Road Trip
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
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
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
Red Flags: Fire When Ready
Not every client relationship is a good fit, and it’s just good business to separate.
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
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
The Designer and the Relief Pitcher
If you know me well, you know that baseball is my favorite sport, and I often employ baseball analogies to explain concepts to students and
Alvalyn Lundgren
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
5 Inconvenient Truths About Freelancing
Transform the inconveniences of freelancing into opportunities for your personal and professional growth.
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
7 Reasons Why Freelancers Should Not Discount
With value pricing for design and illustration projects, I am able to custom-tailor my services and fees to fit each client and project. But even
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
4 Onboarding Steps For Successful Client Relationships
So you have a brand-new shiny client that you’re excited to be working with. You’re looking forward to helping them achieve their goals. They’ve accepted
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
Competence, Confidence and Baseball
One fact about playing baseball: To advance to the next base, you need to leave the one you’re on. Baseball forces you to advance to
Alvalyn Lundgren
Navigate Detours To Reach Your Destiny
Detours can be useful for preparation, refining, and strengthening skills, perceptions and insights – all which increase our ability to support and stand up under the “weight” of our destinies. If we’re not strong enough to carry something, we will be overwhelmed by it.
Alvalyn Lundgren
The 4 Seasons of Creativity
While, as a freelancer, you absolutely must focus on your business and develop killer business skills, you also need to guard and nurture your creativity.
Alvalyn Lundgren
The Internship Epidemic
It is the responsibility of design professionals, teachers and school administrators to value the next generation of designers so that the profession is respected, appreciated and thrives. Unpaid internships won’t accomplish that.
Alvalyn Lundgren