FreelanceSwitch

How To Deal With Criticism

FreelanceSwitch.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:00:05 +0000

Working in the creative field means you are an open target for criticism. Someone doesn’t like your photography work, they think you’re a bad writer, or your prices are unfair. And as freelancers, it can be hard not to take criticism—no matter how well meaning—personally.

I read this blog post on Forbes.com on how to deal with really tough criticism, written for people who are business leaders. While I’m not necessarily the target audience for this article, I did take away some good lessons that I’d like to share for the freelance set.

The first thing we need to consider is that criticism in inevitable. But if we keep our defenses up and get overly emotional about what our critics say, we aren’t doing ourselves any favors.

Here’s a recent example from my own life. I am the editor of a yearly wedding magazine. We took a big risk this year and changed the paper stock for our cover. Instead of a glossy cover, we went with matte. Some of us in the office loved it and some of us didn’t—so we took the opportunity to ask our advertisers, featured photographers, and other industry leaders what they thought.

It turns out, many other people didn’t like the matte cover, either, and they let us know on many different levels—from plugging their noses to smiling and offering heart felt advise. And while we were totally bummed that we took a risk that didn’t garner the results we wanted, we learned a lesson. We want to give people what they want—so next year, we’re going back to our glossy cover. Had we not asked, we may have decided otherwise.

Here are some tips from the article that I thought were useful.

Feel The Emotions, And Then Get Over Them

Have you ever worked really hard on a project for a client, only to get a lackluster response with lots of edits? Yeah, me too. And I admit, I was mad. But being mad doesn’t fix the problem.

I usually give myself a window of time to sulk before I set it aside and get down to business. That way, I make sure I get all my anger and sadness out before starting in on fixing the project.

Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane told a local newspaper that his 2012 New Year’s resolution was: “I want to continue working on avoiding overreaction to criticism—and I have to keep reminding myself to remain calm and listen.” —Forbes.com

It’s easy to overreact when you feel that you have been wronged. But if you let your emotions get in the way, you might miss out on some really good feedback.

Build A Support Network

When you are feeling down and out about a project or a client, it’s nice to have someone pick you up. Maybe it’s your mom, your spouse, a sibling, or a group of really good friends. Maybe it’s other freelancers who work in your industry.

I once got a rash of nasty emails and phone calls about a contest my company was running. These people were attacking my personality, my values, and my very existence—and they had never met me. At first I shrugged it off, but it started getting to me. I confided in a friend who owned his own PR firm in town. He responded by sending me some of the nasty emails he has gotten from angry people, who didn’t know him at all either. Knowing that I wasn’t the only one going through a tough situation made me feel a lot better. Plus, his emails were way more mean than the ones I was getting.

Sometimes it feels good to complain to people who can empathize. I don’t make a habit of complaining and moaning to my industry friends—because no one likes a Debbie Downer—but sometimes it’s nice to get a second opinion on some harsh criticism to put it into perspective for yourself.

Be Self-Aware

Just because someone doesn’t like the article you have written, doesn’t mean they don’t like you. You know that you are not good at everything you do, and if people are criticizing you on something you know you need improvement on, be mature enough to do something about it.

While it is necessary and important to develop a thicker skin, you should not become so resistant that you ignore valid lessons or fail to recognize a need for change. —Forbes.com

We used to work with a freelance photographer who had no idea on how to keep his books in order. He forgot to invoice us some months, and invoiced us for other months when we had no publication. He could never keep account of his receipts and always thought we owed him money. We consistently told him that he needed to find a method of bookkeeping; that since he was a freelancer, he couldn’t rely on us to find his receipts and remind him to invoice us each time his invoice was due.

If similar themes keep emerging, there is more likely truth in the complaints. —Forbes.com

He couldn’t get his act together. Needless to day, we no longer work with him.

You need to have a tough skin and lots of courage to be a freelancer. And learning to deal with harsh criticism isn’t something that will happen overnight. Just learning to be open to considering someone else’s opinions is the first step. Knowing that there is always room for improvement is the second.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by lightzone.

5 Ways to Spread the Freelance Love

FreelanceSwitch.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:21 +0000

Valentine’s Day is probably not a holiday that brings your fellow freelancers to mind.

You may have made a point to recognize your clients during the December holiday season, so why not make February the time to applaud your fellow independents?

Spreading good karma always pays off in some manner, whether it be a new contact, lead, or networking opportunity. Here are some ways to get started.

Hire someone. You might not think of yourself as a potential client to other freelancers, but face it, you can’t be good at everything. You could tap into fellow freelancers for several aspects of running a business: revamping your resume or website, straightening out your books, or getting a professional headshot.

Look over your goals outlined for the new year, and for areas outside of your expertise, remind yourself “there’s a freelancer for that”.
Run a special. Get creative and think of how your line of work might transfer to a valentine gift, then broadcast your services amid your network. If you’re a writer, offer to pen words of romance; a photographer could take whimsical shots to frame and give as gifts. Or, skip the creativity and simply discount your usual rate for friends and family, and broadcast the deal on your website and in your networking circle.
Initiate a gathering. People may frown at one more social event in December, but you probably won’t generate too much grumbling if you organize a networking lunch or dinner in February. In fact, many may welcome a break from the gloom of winter.
Celebrate your success. Think of ways you can be a resource to those new to your field. It may be as simple as getting on a forum and patiently answering some newcomer questions, or as elaborate as running an intro class at your local community center.
Give recognition. Give a shout out for a colleague’s accomplishments. Social media makes it easy to send a quick message. Whether you do it publicly or privately, it’s always nice to let someone know you recognized their work.

Particularly in winter, freelancing can seem like an isolated profession, and after Valentine’s day there’s a dry spell in terms of reasons to celebrate on the calendar.

What can you do to spread some joy among the freelance community during this coming holiday?

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by herreid.

Build a Better Tweet

FreelanceSwitch.com — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:19 +0000

A new study from Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science called “Who Gives a Tweet: Evaluating Microblogging Content Value” has unveiled what we like to read, and what we don’t like to read, on Twitter. I have to say, the results aren’t all that surprising.

A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Georgia Tech launched a site asking for anonymous feedback from people like you and me in exchange for rating their tweets. Users had to sign in to their website and rate 10 tweets before getting any feedback on their own tweets.

Luckily for these researchers, their project went viral. Sites like Mashable, TechCrunch, and CNN wrote about their study. The analysis of the study was taken from data received between December 30, 2010 and January 17, 2011. They had over 43,000 responses to work with. Here’s what they found:

What People Liked

Questions to Followers

35% of respondents thought tweets that fall in this category were worth reading, either because they thought it was a good use of Twitter or that the topic gave them pause to think about the question posed.

Information Sharing

A little over 30% of respondents liked these kinds of tweets. How many tweets did you see this past week about the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood debacle? Information surrounding that situation went viral on social media sites.

Self-Promotion

A little more than 35% of respondents liked these tweets—which include links the tweeter created, rather than banter about how awesome they are.

Random Thoughts

The same amount of people who liked self-promotion tweets also favored this category, which just goes to show that people don’t just use twitter to spread the news or find information. Adding humor to a random thought post got even better results.

What People Didn’t Like

Presence Maintenance

Tweets like “Hello Tweeps!” and one-word tweets are the most disliked tweets of all. Only 20% of respondents liked these tweets, and 55% thought they weren’t worth reading at all. One person even said “I have one word for one word tweets: BORING.”

Conversation

These tweets are on my personal pet peeve list. I mean, who wants to read a twitter conversation between two or more people? Take it offline. I was glad to see others agreed. About 35% of respondents thought these tweets were worthless with 25% of respondents thinking they were worth a read. Yawn.

Me Now

25% of respondents thought these tweets were worth reading, and the same percentage indicated that these tweets were not worth reading. I guess people really don’t care what you are eating for lunch after all. Too much personal information—especially boring personal information—is just not valued.

Here are some tips on how to create tweets that are valued.

What NOT to do

Don’t Be Boring

The study found that being boring was more of a problem than the researchers expected. It was the standout reason of why tweets were labeled “not worth reading.”

Don’t Share Old News

Twitter is too timely for this type of sharing.

Don’t be Banal or Prosaic

Don’t leave your followers thinking, “so what?” We’re not all philosophers.

Include Enough Context

Ditch the one-word tweets no one can understand. Also, don’t just tweet a link. With no explanation, these tweets were trashed.

Nix The Negativity and Arrogance

No one likes a whiner. They also don’t like arrogance. You know, just like in real life.

Cut Down On Clutter

Too many Hashtags and @mentions are a turn off. If it’s hard to find the real content, people will be turned off.

What you SHOULD do

Be Informative

People like to be in the know. 48% of respondents liked reading tweets that shared useful information or an interesting perspective.

Be Funny

People like to smile and laugh. Humor was proven to be a successful way to share random thoughts or opinion.

Be Concise

They don’t call it “short and sweet” for nothing.

Technology is always changing, which means, Twitter, too will morph and grow. But the data speaks for itself. Take it into consideration the next time you decide to share the kind of sandwich you’re eating with the world. You might save yourself a lot of grief.

5 Ways to Earn More from Current Clients

FreelanceSwitch.com — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:08 +0000

It takes a lot of work to get a new client. Unless you have a regular stream of referrals coming your way, you may need to do all the legwork yourself by approaching potential clients, contacting them, and testing if they’d be interested in your services. This often requires a lot of research and preparation.

Still, you’re not sure any of these prospects will convert into paying clients – even if you know you did everything right. This is why, during a work famine, it may be easier to get hired again by people who already paid you before: your former and existing clients. Let’s take a look at ways to get started with earning more from current clients.

#1 – Do higher level work.

Most freelancers do single-level work, providing only one kind of output. This means performing a service such as writing content, designing graphics, or finishing an app.

What if you give yourself a freelancer’s equivalent of a “promotion”? You can find tasks which take on more responsibility and have a more managerial role. As long as no one is currently assigned to that role, you can step up and offer these higher level services to your clients. For example:

A freelance blogger can become a company’s full-service content manager, who can now plan the editorial calendar, promote blog posts, and maybe even find ways to use the blog as part of a company’s sales funnel.
A website designer can also act more like an online creative director and help a client customize the designs of their social media profiles, as well as their print materials, or create visual posts (such as infographics or slideshows) for the client’s blog.
An app developer, after finishing the main product, can act as a product manager and propose to do other versions of the product for multiple devices, or even gather and interpret usage statistics so the client can make informed choices about making changes or updates to the main product.

Once you take on greater responsibility, you become more of a manager and decision-maker, rather than a single-output skilled worker. You’re also more likely to work with a single client on longer, recurring projects.

#2 – Arrange for profit or performance based bonuses.

Sometimes, clients will assign you projects which are directly related to profit. This may include marketing their paid information product, writing sales copy, or creating a product for sale.

Apart from your base rates, negotiate for profit-based bonuses where you get paid a small fraction of their profits from your work. This approach would be relatively easier to do when clients already see you as a partner or consultant, rather than a hand-for-hire.

Performance-based agreements are possible, too – especially if you can establish how your clients acquired more leads or customers as a result of the work you did. For example, with one of my current clients, I get performance bonuses for visitors above their average visitor count as a result of any content I make which “goes viral”.

Here are some additional resources you may want to look at when considering profit-based or performance-based bonuses:

Profit-sharing for SEO: A Price for the New Economy from SEOBoy/
Are Performance-Based Pay Scales Fair? from Freelance Writing Jobs.

Be wary of accepting arrangements which are 100% profit or performance based – these arrangements work better as bonuses added to your base pay in most cases.

#3 – Affiliate programs.

When clients ask you to do work online, such as build a website or conduct online marketing campaigns, odds are they’ll need some tools, software, or services like domain names and hosting. Apply for affiliate programs relevant to the services you provide, and receive a small commission when your client decides to purchase the products or services you recommend.

Remember: when sending affiliate links to your clients, let them know that you’ll get a commission. It’s best to be upfront about it. Often, they won’t mind this. One of my clients once said, “Well, if the money’s going to go to somebody anyway, I’d rather some of it go to you.”

This is one of the easiest ways to earn more revenue per client, so if you want something simple, you can start with this.

#4 – Do monthly follow-ups post-project.

After working on a project with a client, you may think you have reached the end of your business relationship. But, if you follow-up and ask them how they are doing, they might tell you about other needs or problems that you can help with. The key is to be very specific with your follow-up questions. A vague “How are things?” may not result in useful replies. Here’s a sample email you can send:

Hello [Client Name],

It’s been several weeks since we finished [The Project]. When we were first discussing the project, you mentioned that your goals were [List Goals Here]. I was just wondering, how is [The Finished Product] so far in helping you reach [Goal #1]? How about [Goal #2]?

Thanks in advance,

Jane Freelancer

Now, an email like this is useful for two reasons. First, if your work helps them reach their goals, you can get a good testimonial out of their response. Second, you can address any hidden concerns or questions about your finished product. By doing this, you establish yourself as a freelancer who cares about your client’s goals, rather than just taking their money and ending the relationship once the check clears.

#5 – Take the initiative to pitch them something new.

Working with a client over months or years can put you in a position where you’ll get to know their business as if it were your own. When you pick up new skills or learn some important industry news, or simply find yourself thinking “They should be doing this…”, this is an opportunity to pitch a new service to them. You don’t need to send a full blown proposal, you can simply ask if they’re interested in hearing your new ideas for their business.

Take this previous post by Sue Fleckenstein as an example. She wrote about how freelance writers can capitalize on a Google Update, about how “freshness” of the content affects 35% of searches. I followed Fleckenstein’s advice and secured more recurring work from one of my clients. We’re likely to think of some new way to help clients with their business if we keep them in back of our minds when looking up industry news or getting new training.

Freelancers don’t need to use all the approaches above, but there might be room for at least one adjustment that can help you make your current projects more profitable. Still, it isn’t all about the money – these things can help you serve your clients better as well.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by bbbar.

Grow Your Community by Asking Questions

FreelanceSwitch.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:00:08 +0000

Reporters at The Washington Post are now actively engaging their readers by posting comments in streams on the paper’s news stories online, something they’ve never done in the past. The paper switched to a new website platform called Echo, which has helped them grow their online community. Reader comments at the paper have shot up 142% since March, 2011.

This is new territory for many journalists. Never before have they been urged to take part in the conversations the public is having online about their stories. This type of involvement helps reporters fend off rumors, speculation, and flame wars, according to this article published on the Nieman Journalism Lab website. It also allows reporters to share more information, as well as prove that they, too, are real people.

For freelancers, this new trend at one of America’s largest newspapers just goes to show how important it is to engage with your community.

Show You Care

I try to comment on the blog posts I write for FreelanceSwitch—especially the posts that have gotten a lot of action from the readers. I really do appreciate the time people take to share their thoughts and opinions on my blog posts. Comments help me gauge a posts’ success and help me decide what to write about in the future. The best way for me to show the readers that I am paying attention, is to tell them so.

Asking for feedback is mandatory these days if you want to be successful.

Asking for feedback is mandatory these days if you want to be successful. I worked for a magazine where the editor and publisher never solicited advice or comments from the readers because they were worried about what people would say. This is just backwards mentality. For years, the magazine paid money to freelancers for articles in the magazine that a scant few of the readers actually enjoyed. Why not take that money and create content that people actually look forward to reading?

If you don’t know what your readers and clients want, how can you deliver? Maybe you are considering changing your invoicing system and want to know if there will be backlash. Maybe you’re looking into other opportunities and you want to know if there is a market for your ideas. Maybe you want to change your logo but you don’t know where to start. Ask!

If you don’t let your readers, fans, or followers know you are open to listening to their thoughts and opinions, your popularity will never grow. People want to be empowered—and you have the ability to do that.

Gather Information

The Internet has made gathering opinions and information easier than ever. You have social media networks, apps, and tools right at your fingertips.

One of the easiest ways I have found to solicit information is by conducting an informal poll. You can do this on your blog or website easily. My tool of choice is SurveyMonkey, but there are plenty of other companies out there that do the same thing.

I also ask questions and conduct polls on my business Facebook pages. It’s another tool to reach your audience that takes little to no effort to implement.

My advice is to keep these polls concise. You know how annoying it is when a telemarketer calls you with a survey and you feel so bad for them that you agree to do it over the phone. Instead of asking five questions, they ask 55, and you become angry and impatient.

You don’t want to give too many choices. For example, instead of asking for a rating between 1 and 10, try 1 and 5. And try to focus on one particular aspect instead of a vast, broad survey. Keep the questions to a minimum. People don’t have a very long attention span. You want them to consider each question carefully, instead of rushing through just to finish.

You also don’t want to put out a poll every other week. Decide what is most important at the time and focus on that.

Some places offer an incentive to respondents if they complete your poll. I don’t find this necessary. If you keep your survey short and to the point, people don’t generally mind answering a few questions—especially if you already have a level of engagement with them.

Asking for opinions doesn’t have to be scary. Heck, you might already have an inkling of what the outcome will be, and if it rings true that just means you are on the right track!

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by xilius.

Freelance Freedom #244: Bad Trip

FreelanceSwitch.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:36 +0000

Once a week, we feature a fantastic freelance-themed comic from the talented N.C. Winters. Why not also take a look at our comic archive?

Top Freelance Jobs from Job Board – Week 1, February

FreelanceSwitch.com — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:00:01 +0000

Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in WordPress Design, Web Development, PHP/Facebook Development and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable $7 a month. See something you like? Join now!

Magazine Style / WordPress Content Website Design

Budget: $2,500 to $5,000

I need a magazine style/ wordpress content website designer someone with specific experience and specialist in designing these types of websites understanding content flow, layout, background, icons, and typography all which play a major role in these style of websites. Sites like adweek.com, bonappetite.com, buzzfeed.com, and newser.com you must have a special touch, and creative detail to do these sites. You also have to meet deadlines establish weeks ago and come in working quickly, efficiently, producing quality, this is a high impact, strict time frame project so only apply if you can and are will to do this project.

Learn more & apply!

Junior Web Developer

Budget: $10,000+

Have you yearned to work on stuff that leaves the world a better place? Ever wanted to stand back at the end of the day and see how your 8 hours made a difference? This is the opportunity to do just that. Work on a highly motivated team that is working to save North American Charities over $1billion dollars every year. Want to contribute to our lofty goal? Join Team Frendo.

The Junior Web Developer will work with the development team to contribute to the evolution, support, and maintenance of our current projects. The primary responsibility of the Junior Web Developer will be to provide support for internal systems and site users.

Learn more & apply!

Freelance WordPress Developer for premium theme

Budget: $500 to $1,000

We are looking for a freelance WordPress/PHP/jQuery expert to help with development of a premium WP theme that will be sold online. We have already used our own design and front-end/PHP skills to build the bulk of the theme but are finding we lack the jQuery and advanced PHP skills to finish it.

Learn more & apply!

Freelance PHP / Facebook Web Developer

Budget: $500 to $1,000

Need an intermediate level PHP developer with Facebook experience. Our application is just about finished and we require an extra hand to help get the bugs out and finish some functionality. We’ve built a large codebase as a combination WordPress plugin and theme.

Learn more & apply!

Flash/ActionScript Developer (2 month contract)

Budget: $5,000 to $10,000

Segue Technologies, Inc. seeks a Software Engineer to develop new software and to integrate new and enhanced modules into an existing code library using Flash, ActionScript and object-oriented JavaScript technologies. This position will have a duration of two months with possible extension.

Position Duties & Responsibilities:
The effort requires working in a fast-paced, team environment to realize interactive, browser-based applications within an existing object-oriented JavaScript framework. The right candidate must be able to develop parameterized interfaces callable from JavaScript, create ActionScripts to interact with SWF files, including capture, crop and extract sections, and use Flash with browser XML capabilities to render rich content in a maintainable and sustainable application or module. Candidate will create engaging, maintainable and sustainable animations.

Learn more & apply!

Video – Paul Boag: Get Clients to say ‘Yes!’

FreelanceSwitch.com — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:16:48 +0000

View engaging conference lectures, interesting how to discussions, and high quality freelance advice via video here on FreelanceSwitch.

This week we look at Paul Boag: Get Clients to say ‘Yes!’ by Paul Boag. This weekend we’re sharing a great talk from Carsonified. In this talk at FOWD NYC, Paul Boag covers strategies for working better with design clients.

Paul Boag on “Get Clients to say ‘Yes!’” from Carsonified on Vimeo.

Five Tips for Running a Successful Home Office

FreelanceSwitch.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:55 +0000

There are a lot of stories written about home-based businesses—trust me, I just did a Google search. Working from home has changed drastically over the years, thanks to technology.

If you think back not even 20 years about home-based businesses, you might envision a low-tech service business such as a daycare or landscaping company. To run a professional business, you needed to be located in commercial office space. Not only did commercial space provide the technical services you needed, but it also provided a professional atmosphere appropriate for meeting with clients. —seacoastonline.com

Luckily, for us freelancers, that is no longer the case.

I have a computer, high speed internet, printer, and cell phone that allow me to do my work at home. And I have a nice office/laundry room to do it in. I know a bunch of people who work from home and I have some tips on how to run it right. See if you agree.

Find Your Own Space

Working from your kitchen table is hard. Especially if you have a spouse and/or children who like to use that kitchen table. My desk is chaos to an outsider, but I know exactly where everything is and no one is allowed to touch it.

I work on a desktop computer (an iMac)—if I didn’t I’d undoubtedly work in bed or in front of the television, and that’s not very productive. I have an ergonomically correct chair and lots of natural light pouring in all day.

Having a space all to yourself is important. You can shut the door when you need to and focus. You don’t need to rely on a noisy coffee shop or the hours at your public library to get things done.

Schedule Kid-Free Time

A lot of people who work at home make the mistake of thinking they can also take care of their children during the day, saving on the cost of child care for younger children. More often than not, you end up working in spurts when (and if) your child goes down for a nap. And since that’s only a couple of hours (if you are lucky) during the day, you are playing catch-up at night after the kids have gone to bed, leaving you no time to socialize with your spouse.

Depending on the amount of freelance work you have, this arrangement may work out fine. If you are busy, however, it could prove to be your downfall.

Also, I can’t tell you how annoying it is when you are on the phone with someone and your child is howling in the background. I have had several conference calls where this has happened. I didn’t appreciate it, and your client won’t either. If you are going to take important phone calls, make sure your lovely children aren’t causing a ruckus in the background. It’s unprofessional.

Find Someplace Where You Can Have a Client Meeting

If your clients are local, you may have to meet them face to face on occasion. Please don’t invite them to your house if it is a catastrophe. I know several professional photographers who work from home that have a separate meeting space where they can sit down with their clients that is a part of their home, oftentimes with a separate entrance.

If you need to have a meeting, and it can’t be at your client’s office, try to find a quiet place outside of your home to have it. Scope out some coffee shops in the area and find out when they aren’t busy (i.e., quiet) and schedule a meeting there. Many co-working spaces and libraries have designated conference areas—see what it would take to use these spaces if you have frequent meetings.

Hire A Virtual Assistant

If having a professional presence is important to you, a virtual assistant can be a great help. It’s like having a secretary that doesn’t work in your office. This person works remotely, and can help you with your bookkeeping, scheduling, and even answer your phone calls and forward them to your phone or voicemail.

Create Separation Between Work and Home Life

The downside to working from home is that you can feel like you should be working all the time. It’s nice to have an office door that you can close to create a literal barrier between your work space and home space.

Trying to keep regular office hours can help with this, but, as any freelancer knows, that can be a tall order. Set your alarm to get up at the same time every day and have a routine. The later in the day you start your work, the later in the evening you will be spending on finishing up.

Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean you can’t run a professional office. Do you have any tips on ways to make freelancing from home even more successful?

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by xilius.

Ask Freelance Switch: Building an Agency and Freelancing Internationally

FreelanceSwitch.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:00:55 +0000

In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, we look at growing into an agency and freelancing internationally. Ask FreelanceSwitch is a regular column here that allows us to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.

Question 1

I have been a successful freelancer for many years now, and I had such a successful year last year that I’ve realized it’s time for me to start hiring and building my own team. I am looking to start my own agency, but could use some advice on funding to help cover the initial hiring and marketing expenses to boost up from a freelancer to a full-blown agency.

Believe it or not, I am having a hard time finding any type of information on this subject online or in forums. How does one take your successful freelance business and officially move it forward to the “cooler” side of the creative corporate world?

The funding options available to a freelancer looking to grow her business are extremely varied, and you’re going to have to decide what really works for you. That said, here are a few ways to get started.

Hiring Your Own Freelancers: The greatest portion of freelancers who have built up businesses beyond themselves have done so by bringing in other freelancers when there was work available, rather than hiring on a permanent basis right away. It’s not a perfect situation, since you can wind up spending a lot of time on finding freelancers when new projects come along. But it’s probably the cheapest option.

Getting a Small Business Loan: Provided that you’ve been building up your business credit as you’ve freelanced, you may be well positioned to take out a business loan to make the transition. This option is attractive because you can get a lump sum and just get everything done, but it can also be tough to get through all the layers of lenders to actually get money.

Build Up Some Savings: Just as you might be advised to sock away some cash before striking out as a freelancer in the first place, you might consider setting aside a certain portion of your freelance income every month until you’ve built up the amount you need to launch your agency right.

Question 2

I am a freelancing wanna be based in Egypt. I know it’s hard to freelance internationally, especially from a third world country, what with scams and lack of trust along side with different culture and lifestyles. I have lived in the U.S for a year as an exchange student so I kinda understand the culture better, but my question is: Is it possible to freelance from the other side of the world, especially a third world country?

It absolutely is possible. One of the most reliable freelancers I’ve had the pleasure of working with is based in the Philippines. The thing is that I don’t think most of her clients really realize where she’s based. It’s not a question of lying to her clients — she simply presents herself as a professional and doesn’t bring up the matter of location unless it actually impacts her work.

If you’re looking to freelance and want to land clients from other countries that typically pay more, the first thing to focus on is presenting yourself as a professional. If you have a great website and portfolio, written perfectly in the local idiom of the clients you want to attract, you’re going to be more attractive to them — most people want to work with freelancers that seem like they’ll be easy to explain a project to, so not only is a shared language crucial, but so is a shared dialect.

Simply leave off your address in Egypt — or wherever — from your website. if a client asks, be truthful. You’ll be surprised how many people don’t ask, though.