Firing A Non-paying Client Is Not Burning A Bridge
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
teaching
ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
Being Remarkable
My friend, Mary, was in a community theatre production of The Mikado, and was asked to write her bio for the printed program. This being her first theatrical
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
Do Freelancers Need Business Insurance?
One thing that’s great about flying solo as a freelancer is all the freedom you have in who you work with, where, when and how
Alvalyn Lundgren
7 Pointers to Rock Your Social Media Marketing
To begin with, social media is not about selling, but about conversations and providing value. Be knowable, likable and trustworthy. To make the most of
Alvalyn Lundgren
Business Deductions For Freelancers
These are the freelance business deductions you can take for the 2025 tax year if you’re established as a sole proprietor or single member LLC,
AlvalynCreative
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
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
Self-Promotion Tips for Creative Freelancers
Self promotion is the practice of telling potential clients about what you do. With it you build your brand, engage prospects and find clients. As a
Alvalyn Lundgren
Why Design Is Not Self-Expression
If we approach a design solution as an opportunity for self-expression, we’ll miss the point and risk not solving the problem.
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
3 Questions To Ask In Your Marketing Reset
Many businesses are going through a reset right now, and creative freelance business owners are no different. As we emerge from a state of lockdown
Alvalyn Lundgren
Freedom Through Boundaries
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.
Alvalyn Lundgren
Why You Need To Love Your Tools
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
Alvalyn Lundgren
10 Items On My Don’t-Do List
I keep a Don’t-Do list. I spend most of my efforts on my to-do lists, agendas, and getting things done, but a few years ago I
Alvalyn Lundgren
Listening Is A Design Skill
Listening is related to empathy. Empathy is valuing another’s experience, and keeps the designer from creating something that is self-expressive.
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
I’m Not That Kind of Girl: Manage Perceptions To Do The Work You Love
Let’s begin with the premise that design, illustration and photography are service professions, and that being a professional means you’re in business. You’re making a
Alvalyn Lundgren
Advice For Clients: A Designer’s Value
Without the aesthetic, the computer is but a mindless speed machine, producing effects without substance, form without relevant content, or content without meaningful form. –Paul Rand
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
8 Qualities of Successful Freelancers
Freelancing is on the rise. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the freelance (contract, temp worker and freelancer — in all industries) economy has a healthy
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
Freelancer, Don’t Lose Your Independence
How are you able to live out your values by freelancing? Give that some thought for a moment. If you came into freelancing from a “day
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