Feed:Intelligent - Design

Continuing Education For Freelancers

Sun, 27 May 2012 07:00 GMT

A true professional understands that you can never stop learning. Keeping up with the current industry trends is an important way to maintain marketability in ever-changing creative professions.

Freelancers should understand they are no different from any other professional, and continuing education is an optimal way to stay on the cutting edge of content production. Doing so will you to earn optimal rates for your services. Here are four key ways for freelancers to pursue continued education:

Attend Professional Workshops

Attending workshops is a great way for freelancers to continue learning. Obtaining advice from other writers, artists, and photographers can be the best way to develop as a content producer.

Having another set of eyes critiquing your work can point out flaws and inconsistencies. Listening to guest lecturers allows you to gain insights from their experiences. The key to becoming a success is getting advice from those who are already successful.

Return to School

Freelancers don’t necessarily need to go back to school to pursue another degree. However, it will pay dividends in terms of salary potential and advancement opportunity if you ever enter the corporate world in the future. If a freelancer does want to pursue higher education like a master’s degree, there are many online degrees available that would not deter from their 40-hour work week.

Also, taking a couple of targeted classes can help you learn relevant new skills. For example, taking a class on the latest SEO techniques can help a freelancer become visible online. Technical writing courses can open the door for a freelance writer to learn valuable skills. We all could benefit from business courses.

Self-paced Study

Even if you have obtained a college degree, there are still opportunities to advance your education through self-directed reading and online courses. Creative professions are synonymous with innovation, which requires you to find the latest and greatest resources for learning new skills.

A great resource for self-paced study is Tuts+ Premium, an online service that offers 848 exclusive tutorials, 31 e-books, and course libraries on subjects like JavaScript fundamentals, web typography, and freelance bootcamp. Tuts+ is part of a suite of educational and resource sites that FreelanceSwitch is a part of.

Become A Member Of A Freelancing Group

There are tons of professional groups for writers and multimedia artists. Joining these groups offers many benefits for freelancers who want to learn and grow each day. Associating with a trade group will connect you to people and events that will help you learn new skills.

Here are some examples of quality associations you could join as a freelancer (depending on your focus):

Freelancers have to treat themselves as professionals in all matter of business. This means dedicating yourself to your job just like a doctor or lawyer would do. Attending workshops, going back to school and joining trade groups will help you continue your education and grow as a professional freelancer in your niche.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by gunnar3000.

How to Stay Organized with the Tools of Your Craft

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:00 GMT

While freelance writing is my main job, I also do some part-time work as a freelance photographer. Working from home and living in a tight space gets a bit hectic when I have cameras, bags, chargers, tripods, SD cards, DVD’s, hard drives, and more.

Some equipment is tiny (the SD cards for instance) and can get lost easily. Some of these items belong to specific equipment and cannot be separated from this set. “Okay, so this charger is for this camera…and this cable goes to that hard drive…”

A lot of freelancers I know (especially other photographers) get so passionate and involved in their work, that organizing their equipment is the last thing on their mind.

But, the thing is…if we don’t organize ourselves as freelancers, we can never get on to the next assignment without having a sizable mess of stuff follow us. And that sure isn’t professional, is it?

Whether you’re a writer, designer, or developer, here are some tips on keeping your equipment organized and ready for the next project.

Put Things Back

After every photography project I do (and after downloading all the photos to my computer), I get all my gear ready as if I’m shooting the next day. That means charging all batteries and putting everything back in my camera bags.

It’s crucial that every piece of equipment has its place. It makes things easy to access and you always know where to look when you need something.

It’s crucial that every piece of equipment has its place. It makes things easy to access and you always know where to look when you need something. If I let a day go by after a shoot without getting all my equipment ready for another day, then everything ends up spread out on the kitchen table.

If you’re a writer and have just finished a website content writing project, go through all your documents, rough drafts…even handwritten notes… and put them all in one place. You should even re-title documents too if they aren’t already properly named for the project they pertain to. Usually the random naming of files happens when one has a spark of inspiration, opens a blank page, and then forgets to properly title it.

Finding documents that aren’t structurally named can be a pain to find later on. Come up with a method for naming documents and then put them all in a client or other project-based folder.

In doing this, your files are manageable and become an uncomplicated archive for you to refer to at any time.

Give Paper a Space

If there’s one thing that can get all those papers that are spread across your desk neatly in one place, it’s a file cabinet. Line a file cabinet with folders and label each of them. Perhaps devote each drawer to a specific purpose. For example, the top drawer of your file cabinet can be for client folders. Label each folder with the client’s name and put all copies of invoices, designs, notes, etc there.

One Project. One Spot. Simple.

If you have a lot of work to do and can’t organize important documents right away, then keep a box to put everything in to sort at a different time. A simple inbox on your desk can work well. A shoebox works perfect if you have quite a bit of paper to sort on a regular basis.

Just don’t allow too much time to go by or that pile of papers will grow fast. For this task, once a week should be suitable for organizing those loose papers. Consider setting aside a specific day each week for organizing.

Write It Down

You must already know to back everything up. But are you thinking about coming back to those things at a later time? If you’re not, then you probably should.

Keep track by writing down when you backed something up, what it was, what client it was for, and the exact title of the disk you made.

You will probably be required to go back into your documents or files at some time or another. I like to keep archives of all my photos so that way they can easily be found for printing or resizing purposes.

Even if you’ve copied things to a hard drive and burned them to a disk, how will you know what they contain, say, 5 or 10 years from now? Even if they have a written label, you can’t be sure of every document they contain unless you make a list.

Keep track by writing down when you backed something up, what it was, what client it was for, and the exact title of the disk you made. An Excel spreadsheet is an excellent tool for this, but any blank page will do. Just make sure it’s a document that you can keep adding to. Writing everything down will save you a lot of time when it comes to finding things in the future.

Tidying-Up Gets You Prepared

It’s so true that it’s the little things in life that count. The same goes for being a successful freelancer. It doesn’t take a lot of time to keep your things organized, as long as you do a little bit every day. Let too much time go on and you could be spending way too many hours cleaning up instead of finishing that assignment.

Do you have any practical tips for keeping the tools of your craft organized? Leave a comment or tip below.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by terex.

Case study: Happy Bottoms 2011 campaign

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:56 GMT

In 2010, VML provided art direction, copy and logo design for Kansas City-based charity Happy Bottoms.

Moms Who Make the Switch to Freelancing

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:00 GMT

I have a lot of mom friends who have decided to leave the typical workforce after having children.

With daycare being as expensive as it is these days, many of these moms didn’t make enough money in their jobs (a couple of them were teachers) to make daycare worth it. Working just to put your child (or children) in daycare can be frustrating—but many moms don’t want to quit their careers to stay home with their kids. I hear that!

But sometimes the numbers don’t add up, and many 9-5 working mothers are left feeling as if they are spinning their wheels. Starting a freelance career suddenly sounds like the best way to keep a healthy work-life balance. And sometimes having kids is just the thing a mom needs in order to make the leap.

There was a recent blog post on The New York Times that asked “Is There a ‘Right’ Time for a Mom to Start a Business?” The author interviewed a mother, Laura Kelly, in Pennsylvania who had opened a shop that offered sewing and knitting classes for children. Kelly always knew she wanted to run her own business, and wanting to provide crafts for her kids gave her the edge she needed to start her own company.

Here are a couple of questions from the blog that I particularly liked:

Q. Do you think that women business owners face different challenges than men?

A. I think women feel like they need to take care of everything in the family; the kids, husband, groceries, cooking, cleaning, birthday gifts, paying bills, etc. I’m not sure that men with families feel the same way.

Q. Does it bother you that women tend to get asked about work-life balance more than men do?

A. No, it doesn’t bother me, but I have a husband that does laundry and dishes — and so much more — so I have nothing to be bitter about. I just feel fortunate.

When asked if there was a “right” time for a mom to start a business, Kelly replied that what worked for her might not work for other moms. She started slowly, when the kids were small, and her business grew as they did.

This interview got me thinking about what sorts of things moms need to consider before starting their own freelancing business. Here’s what I came up with:

Time

How many hours a week are you going to work from home? You need to be realistic about this, since there are only so many hours in a day.

Scheduling

It would be a good idea to create a schedule for yourself. You may find that finding alternative day care for your child or children is the best way for you to get anything done—especially when they are too young to be in school. Part-time daycare or preschool will give you a chunk of uninterrupted time where you can plan on getting down to business.

Support

Have a talk with your spouse or partner about what it’s going to take you to start your freelance career from home. What will they need to do for the family to support you?

Money

What does starting a freelance career mean for your budget? If you are leaving a full-time job with benefits, how will you compensate? Are there things you can do without to save some money?

Workspace

It’s easy, when you work from home, to get distracted by those dirty dishes in the sink, the laundry, the cat box, and toys on the floor—how are you going to stay focused? Working from home is easy for some people, for others, it’s harder. You miss the camaraderie of your coworkers and you’re surrounded by your own…stuff.

Finding your own space away from the kids and your partner is key. It would be great if you could have a home office where you could actually shut the door, keeping productivity in and family distractions out.

Growth

What you can do when your children are very small is different from what you can do when they are older and more independent. Putting together a 5-year plan for your freelance business is a great idea. Where do you want your business to go? What do you want to do? What is it going to take on your part to get there? Make your goals realistic and attainable, and figure out what success means to you.

Maybe you start your freelance career out very part time while your baby or toddler needs you the most and your business grows with their independence. There’s nothing wrong with starting out slow! Take on a few clients and wow them with your skills, expertise, and customer service. And don’t be afraid to say no. You chose to work from home for a reason, and if your happiness suffers because you took on too much work, you’re going backwards.

Do you have any tips for moms who are thinking about starting a freelance career? We’d love to hear them!

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by xilius.

Case Study: Impact Teen Drivers

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:54 GMT

An educational campaign designed for charitable 501(c)(3) Impact Teen Drivers, helps educate parents and teens on the dangers of texting while driving.

14 Essential Tips for Meeting a Deadline

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:50 GMT

Your reputation as a freelancer is pretty much the only thing you have to go on — your bread and butter.

And your reputation is generally based on two things: the quality of your work, and how well you meet deadlines.

Today, we’ll focus on meeting deadlines, as that’s the area that many freelancers have problems with. Sure, you can do great work, but if you don’t turn your projects in on time, you won’t get many repeat customers.

1. Care about deadlines. This is the first step, as many people are very lax about deadlines. You have to be very serious about meeting them, and make them a priority. And make breaking a deadline a cardinal sin in your freelance book. Once you’ve done this step, the rest is just logistics.

2. Keep a list of projects & deadlines. If you care about deadlines, you’ll write them down, and have one place that you check often to make sure you know what’s due and when. I use a simple online list, but you could use paper. Which tool you use doesn’t matter, as long as you use it.

3. Communicate a clear deadline. Be sure that you and the client are in agreement with a specific deadline, including time of day (and factor in time zone differences as well). If the deadline is fuzzy, you will have trouble meeting it. If the client doesn’t give you a deadline, you need to ask for one.

4. Work in a cushion. It’s wise to build in a cushion for your deadline. To get a clear idea of how long a project will take, break it down into smaller pieces (see below for more). If you aren’t sure exactly how long each of those pieces takes, break them down into even smaller pieces. And for each piece, add a small cushion to your time estimate. Then add up the time estimates of all the pieces, and you’ll have a cushion built in. This will allow for delays, and if you finish early, the client will be pleased.

5. Have a clear outcome. You and the client should both agree on a clearly defined outcome. Don’t skip this step, or you could be sorry later. If you turn in a project that’s not what the client wanted, you’ll have to do extra work, meaning that you’ll miss the deadline. If you’re not absolutely clear what the outcome should look like, ask some questions of the client until you are clear.

6. Break down the project. This is standard advice for any project, of course, but that’s because it works. Don’t try to tackle an entire project. Tackle one step at a time. Again, you’ll want to break it down into smaller steps, give a time estimate for each step. Each step should be small enough that it takes an hour or less, so it’s not too intimidating.

7. Focus on the first step. Now that you’ve broken the project down into smaller steps, just focus on the first one. Don’t worry about the rest for now. Give the first step your full attention, and get going. You’ll feel satisfied when you complete it, and can check it off your list. Then focus on the next step.

8. Block off adequate time. When you’re going to work on a step, be sure to have it blocked off on your day’s schedule. If you’re not blocking off time for your most important tasks, you’re probably not getting the important stuff done. However else you work during the rest of the day, for your freelance projects, block off a good amount of time for each step, and treat it like a doctor’s appointment — you can’t miss it.

9. Have a start and complete date for each step. When breaking down a project, give a start and complete date for each step, so you can get a good feel for the timeline of the project, and whether you’re on schedule or behind. It also keeps you on track if you know when each step should be started and completed.

10. Communicate with each step. Once you’ve completed a step, send the completed step to your client if possible. Sure, it won’t look like a completed project, but you can show that you’re making progress, you keep yourself on track, and you can get feedback communicated from the client. Better to know early on that you’re headed in the wrong direction than at the end of the project.

11. Don’t overcommit. One of the biggest causes of missed deadline is that a freelancer commits to more than he can handle. Learn to say no if you cannot commit to finishing a project on time.

12. Learn from mistakes. If you bust a deadline, take a few minutes to analyze what went wrong and how you can avoid that in the future.

13. Stay up late. If you planned badly, or just procrastinated, and you’re up against a tight deadline, do whatever it takes to meet it. That means staying up late and working long hours if possible.

14. Negotiate and meet a second deadline. If you absolutely cannot make deadline (you probably overcommitted), you should contact your client and negotiate a second deadline. It’s much better to do this than to let the deadline go by without any communication. Whatever you do, be sure to meet this second deadline. Two missed deadlines in a row is bad news for a freelancer’s reputation.

A few times a month we revisit some of our reader’s favorite posts from throughout the history of FreelanceSwitch. This article by Leo Babauta was first published August 21st, 2007, yet is just as relevant and full of interesting information today.

5 Reasons to Spend Time with Other Freelancers

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:00 GMT

I make a point of getting on the phone, going out to lunch, even traveling to see other freelancers. It’s a good business habit to get into and it pays off well. There are a lot of reasons why you should spend your time with other freelancers — doing so is making an investment in your freelance career.

1. Other Freelancers Earn You Money

Landing projects is probably the best reason for a freelancer to do anything. Your fellow freelancers are a great source of projects, for a variety of reasons:

Clients ask the freelancers they trust for recommendations for help with other types of projects.
Some freelancers subcontract out parts of the projects they take on.
Freelancers often refer projects they pass on to other freelancers who are a better fit.

Honestly, it’s not as common as we think for freelancers to compete with one another for projects. Sure, if you and another freelancer do roughly the same thing, you may go head to head on a few proposals. But there are a lot of referrals passed around and a lot of work gets divided between multiple freelancers. Other freelancers can be a major source of income.

2. Other Freelancers Help You Avoid Bad Clients

In business, it’s a good idea to gossip like an old biddy. Whenever I get together with another freelancer, we always compare notes on who we’ve worked with. We talk about what clients are a breeze to work with and who is an absolute nightmare to handle.

I’ve gotten warned off of certain clients who may have offered plenty of money to bring me on, but in reality wouldn’t have been able to pay my invoices. I’m always glad to return that sort of favor.

There’s no official way to find out if someone is going to be a good client to work with. You can’t check one website and find reports from all the freelancers a person has worked with — maintaining such a site would open the owner up to all kinds of legal trouble. So we have to rely on talking to one another to get a picture of what a prospective client is really like. Your fellow freelancers are your best bet.

3. Other Freelancers Can Mentor You

When I first started out freelancing, there was a writer who helped me really get better at writing well and quickly. Without her help, most of my projects would drag on forever and I wouldn’t be particularly cost effective for most clients. Her mentorship was invaluable.

These sorts of relationships are rarely one way: I actually wound up helping that same freelancer with some social media problems because I had more experience in that area. We have an ongoing relationship that is mutually beneficial, even though we’re arguably competition for each other.

4. Other Freelancers Face the Same Problems You Do

We face the same problems, like being able to easily collect unpaid invoices. There are some more localized problems — the health insurance problems U.S. freelancers face aren’t an issue for Canadian freelancers — but having the help of other freelancers is invaluable. Other freelancers are the most likely people to know a workaround to help you accomplish something quickly, like getting health insurance from a professional organization when you can’t afford it on your own.

But having connections to other freelancers can mean a lot more. You can lobby local government to actually change some of the laws that adversely impact freelancers. If you can get enough people together, you can make a difference.

5. Other Freelancers are Your Support System

Sometimes you just need to sit and talk to someone who understands what you’re going through. Your other friends and family can be great people, but if they’ve never had to work with a client who throws temper tantrums constantly, they will have a hard time understanding the situation. Having a support system that actually understands the type of problems you’re facing makes life a lot easier.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Pressmaster.

Google Developers

Fri, 25 May 2012 05:44 GMT

Originally named Google Code, Google Developers is a source for all the developers who embrace Google's open-source platforms. Portland, OR-based Instrument designed their new identity. Explanation and further images here.

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Friday Likes 04

Fri, 25 May 2012 05:29 GMT

Today I went with three selections from the winners of the 2011 Brand New Awards. There are plenty others I like obviously, so these are just a sampling. Plus: no beer-like this Friday.

Bluebeard Coffee Roasters

Anything drawn well in line-art will always get my attention and this handsome coffee-loving pirate, with his swirly beard with ball terminals, had me at "Ar." Designed by Seattle, WA-based Partly Sunny for neighboring Tacoma-based Bluebeard Coffee Roasters. You can see some applications at Bluebeard's site if you wait for the slideshow to play.

La Vittoria

La Vittoria is an annual fundraising gala dinner that benefits the Marie-Vincent Fondation. For this edition, it featured two guest chefs, one from New York and one from Paris. The identity, designed by Montréal-based lg2 boutique reflects the meeting of both worlds. The biggest feat here is not just designing a full identity with clear contrast in styles to define NY vs. Paris but it's actually like designing two whole identity systems. [More]

Volocopter VC1

I love animations where the logo appears as if from nothing or where it disappears into the ether. This animation does both. Created by Danny Warner of Pakaste-Warner Design for German upstart e-volo, this animation is as bad-ass as their VC1, a vertical take-off and landing aircraft — see it in action here.

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Online Jobs are on the Rise

Thu, 24 May 2012 08:00 GMT

Online employment is skyrocketing across the globe, according to a recent study by Elance, an international platform for online employment. Even the most skeptical would be hard-pressed not to notice the change in the numbers from the first quarter of 2012 to the same time last year.

The Elance Global Online Employment Report for Q1 2012 shows lots of upward pointing graphs. From jobs posted to contractor earnings, the numbers go up and up and up. In fact, both earnings and jobs posted have more than doubled in the past two years.

Elance also tracked the top skills in demand for the following three categories: Creative, Marketing, and IT. Here are the changes from Q1 of 2011:

Creative: +32%

Web Design +101%
Photoshop +71%
Graphic Design +70%
Video Production +68%
Content Writing +56%

Marketing: +22%

SEM +65%
Internet Marketing +49%
Social Media Marketing +41%
Marketing Strategy +41%
Lead Generation +39%

IT: +14%

Android +35%
PHP +33%
JavaScript +31%
HTML +29%
CSS +29%

Some of the trends they found include:

Online Employment Secular Trend

During the recession, companies turned to freelance labor to control costs and manage uncertainty. Now, as the economy rebounds, demand has continued, driven by small business hiring, talent opting to work online and a fundamental shift in enterprise mentality towards utilizing online workers in workforce strategy.

Video, Audio Consumption on the Rise

Forty-two percent of jobs posted in Q1 2012 were in our creative category. In particular, skills such as video production (+68%), editing (+56%), audio editing (+52%) and voiceover (+48%) experienced significant growth.

Large Business Move Hiring Online

Current expectations are that more than half of the US workforce will be independent by 2020. Enterprises already use temp workers, but now we see innovative companies engaging online workers to further reduce cost, gain agility and even improve quality and outcome.

This is all great news for freelancers! And even better news if you live in the following countries:

Top 10 Hiring Countries

US
Australia
UK
Canada
Netherlands
Germany
Singapore
Israel
United Arab Emirates
Hong Kong

Top 10 Earnings Countries for Contractors

India
US
Pakistan
Ukraine
UK
Russia
Canada
Romania
China
Philippines

But what is making this trend so, shall we say, trendy?

Recessions

Recessions are happening all over the world—so there doesn’t really seem to be any really great place to work. You might live in a depressed part of the world or even a third-world country, but with an Internet connection, you can work for clients anywhere. Here’s a good example: Greece and Spain, who have been hit hard by recent recessions, have had a spike in earnings for freelancers at 122% for Greece and 142% for Spain in the past year. You might not be able to find a job in your neighborhood, but when you expand your neighborhood to clients worldwide, your personal economy can shift in a big way.

There is really no need to struggle with shortage of talent in your local economy when you can easily work with anyone around the world. The talent of course differs between different organizations and individuals, but then again – so does the compensation for the work. —ArticStartup.com

Saving Money

The cost benefits of hiring virtually (which includes lower overhead, as there’s no office to finance, and because employers can pay per project rather than for a full-time employee’s salary) are getting the attention of more companies in an effort to make smarter operating decisions. —USNews.com

Having someone on staff full time costs a business a lot of money. Many employees get vacations and sick time paid for, have some sort of health plan and retirement options (depending on what country you live in), and take up space in an office. Think about how a businesses rent or lease would change if they had 125 employees who worked from home rather than in a big office in the middle of a city!

Finding the Right Worker

Overseas employers are finding valuable American talent for needs like writing and admin support. Need a translator? Those can be found online as well. —BusinessInsider.com

Newspapers and magazines with a meager budget have an easier time covering worldwide topics by hiring freelancers based in other countries rather than paying to have their own staffers travel abroad.

And there might not be any great local talent, depending on the location. If a business in Podunk, North Dakota needs a website designed and there aren’t any businesses or individuals around to help them, do they just not create a website? Of course not! They find someone to work remotely.

Finding the Right Job

In nations that don’t make it easy for people to create their own jobs by launching a traditional startup, it looks like one way to work around the system quickly is by freelancing for overseas clients. —Forbes.com

Your talents might not match any local jobs. Unfortunately, we don’t always get to choose where we work. I moved from New York City to my hometown in Maine to help take care of my sick grandmother in 2007. I had a hard time finding full time work that matched my master’s degree in journalism, so I started freelancing. It was a way for me to be where I needed (and wanted to be) while still working on my career.