Alvalyn Lundgren
tips
ARTICLES.
Tips and Insights on Mission, Mindset, Mechanics, and Marketing for Freelance Creatives
When It’s Time To Let Go
Being effective involves doing the right thing at the right time in the right place.
Alvalyn Lundgren
How To Get Clients To Pay You
What do you do when you a client refuses to pay you? According to Freelancers Union nearly 50% of freelancers were stiffed by clients in the past 12
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Red Flags: Fire When Ready
Not every client relationship is a good fit, and it’s just good business to separate.
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3 Types of Freelance Contracts and Which Ones to Avoid
Because pretty much everything runs on design and other forms of visual communication, the role of the visual communicator (designer, illustrator, photographer) is more in
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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.
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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
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How to Build Your Prospecting Pipeline
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
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10 Proven Networking Strategies for Introverts (and Everyone Else)
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
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12 Questions You Need to Ask Every Client BEFORE You Accept Their Project
Have you ever gotten involved on a project and then realized that neither the project nor the client is ideal? The project that was going to
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How Brands Are Built
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
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Should Freelancers List With Online Business Directories?
Q: As a freelancer, is it worth having business listings like Yelp and YP? A: It depends upon what directories you choose and why you choose
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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
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Loving It: Seduction, Satisfaction and Graphic Culture
To be promoted in our design-driven culture, a product must be packaged in such a way that it becomes meaningful to the person using it, so that they become an evangelist for it. This requires thoughtful planning and execution of a design strategy
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Spec Work Is Gambling
Working on spec directly contradicts good business practices and does not even promise payment for work performed.
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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
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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,
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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?
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3 Things To Do Before The End Of The Year
One of the benefits of freelancing is: You get to decide for yourself what you will accomplish in any given year. You’re able to set
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How To Pay Yourself As A Freelancer
Paying yourself as a freelancer is often as perplexing as how to price your services. To simplify it, begin with the knowledge that there are
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