FreelanceFolder

Dealing With Negative Criticism

Amber Weinberg — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:30:09 PST

As freelancers, we do everything we can to get our names out there. Whether it’s writing blog posts, twittering, using other social media, or just dealing with clients, we try to be everywhere on the web.

Unfortunately, the more you put yourself out there, the more you open yourself up to those people. You know who they are–the ones who disagree with you and aren’t afraid to point that out, the ones who hate your work, writing and thoughts.

While not the same as outright rejection, negative criticism can be just as upsetting and hurtful. So how do we deal with it while staying professional and cool headed? Here are some tips from someone who’s also received lots of criticism in her freelancing career.

Six Tips to Help You Deal with Critics

Here are six tips to help you deal with criticism:

Don’t take it personally.
The person may disagree with your work or what you said, but that doesn’t mean they’re attacking you personally.
Calm down
Take a deep breath. Even if the person is being unfair or just trying to pick a fight, keep your calm. Fighting with the person will not only result in you losing work if it’s a client, but will also ruin your reputation and make you look like the bad guy.
Could they be right?
Try to see the criticism objectively. Can you turn it into something good? What would happen if you tried to follow their advice? If the criticism comes from an industry expert, try following it to see if it would make you better at what you do.
Could you be wrong?
If you’re dealing with a client, could you be in the wrong? Having an angry client is definitely not going to be something you want to deal with. Is it worth fighting about and losing their business? Make sure you listen to their criticism very carefully, they could be right and you could learn something.
What if you’re right?
Is it worth arguing about and wasting valuable time you could be spending working? Would it make you seem petty or immature if you do argue it? If so, it may be better to just move on. If you firmly believe it’s worth addressing, calm down first and remember to behave professionally. Explain your methodology and why you believe it to be correct. Don’t shout or call names. Most people actually enjoy hearing others’ point of views, so don’t be afraid to express yours.
Shrug it off
If all else fails, shrug it off. Not everyone is going to agree with what you say or do, nor should they. If it’s not something you can learn from, or just from an internet bully, ignore it and move on. You’ll probably never see or hear from them again anyways, so there’s no point in worrying about what they think, or wasting your day trying to change it.

It’s tough dealing with criticism. It’s even tougher when you know you’re right. Personally, I’m the kind of person who’ll fight with you all day to prove my point, so I have to remind myself that I’ve got plenty of client work I should be doing instead.

But, don’t let that spoil your freelancing spirit. Just remember that you’re awesome at what you do, otherwise you’d have no clients! So don’t let anyone make you think otherwise. There’s enough room in the internet world for everyone’s opinions, so take a deep breath, smile and move on!

Your Thoughts

Have you had to deal with negative criticism? How did you do it?

Image by Robert Couse-Baker

9 Plugins Your Clients Will Love For Their WordPress Website

Brian McDaniel — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:30:29 PST

There are countless blog posts with lists of plugins for WordPress, including some great lists here on Freelance Folder, but this post focuses on plugins that will make your clients’ experience in WordPress more enjoyable, easier to navigate, rich with important statistics and completely branded to match their website. For freelance web designers or WordPress consultants, taking a small amount of extra time to set up these plugins can boost the professional appearance of WordPress installations you provide for your clients, strengthen their confidence in you and score high marks as you impress them with their own personal WordPress experience.

My Brand

An easy to use plugin that will create a custom login page, complete with backgrounds, font colors, login box color, and replacing the WordPress logo with your client’s. Right from their first login your client will see their own branding and know that their site is unique.

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Branded Admin

This plugin gives you the ability to change the WordPress Administration section by adding a branded header and footer. All you do is install the plugin, then replace the header and footer images with your own. It removes the WordPress logo and allows your client’s logo to take its place.

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Ozh Admin Drop Down Menu

This handy plugin takes the vertical sidebar navigation on the left and turns it into a much more accessible horizontal menu on top of your dashboard. The drop-down it creates gives your client one-click access to almost everything in the menu, which speeds up the workflow no matter what the task. With the standard admin menu, almost every click initiates a page load, but this menu eliminates that part of the process. Highly configurable, even down to color schemes, this is a huge plus for your clients’ administration.

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Admin Menu Editor

With an easy-to-use drag and drop interface, this plugin enables your client to reorganize and edit any existing menu item. They can change the title, access rights, menu icon and so on. Menu items can be hidden and custom menus can be created. Great functionality that allows your client to personalize and customize their WordPress admin menu to fit their specific needs.

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Google Analytics Dashboard

Save your clients the extra step of logging into Google Analytics by providing them with a snapshot of their statistics built right into the dashboard. This plugin does not put the tracking code into their pages (I recommend Ultimate Google Analytics for a simple way to do that), but it does link up to their GA account and bring the statistics into an easy to read dashboard element. Another time saver for your clients!

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Feed Stats for WordPress

If you are using a plugin to redirect your clients’ WordPress RSS feed to Feedburner (I recommend FD Feedburner Plugin) you can add this plugin to show their Feedburner statistics in the dashboard as well. Easy to install and set up, this will create a Feed Stats menu item under Dashboard that will show subscribers, clicks and views for the RSS feed.

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

WordPress.com Stats

This is another statistics plugin that will show numbers related to posts themselves, such as pageviews, which posts and pages are the most popular, where traffic is coming from, and what people click on when they leave. It will also add a link to the dashboard which shows all stats on a single page. The plugin connects with a WordPress.com account, so your client must have one for this to work, but then all you have to do is add their API key to get it running.

Plugin on WordPress.org

Wibiya Toolbar

Those Facebook-like footer toolbars are showing up everywhere these days and there are varying opinions on their usage, but if your client likes them then this is a great solution. You have to sign up for a free account and configure it to work with your client’s social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook and others, then install this plugin and set it up. One of the things I like about this is that it enables visitors to share posts from the toolbar on any page, eliminating the need for additional plugins at the end of each post. It also allows visitors to interact with the client’s Facebook fan page and Twitter without ever leaving the site. For clients that appreciate this functionality, it is a great solution that frees up space on their site and encourages interactive participation.

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Technical Support for WordPress

This last plugin is one of my new favorites and will score points for you with your clients. If you’re a freelancer, a web design agency or a WordPress consultant, Technical Support for WordPress is a way to provide quality support to your clients. Installing the plugin will enhance your client’s Dashboard with a new widget for submitting support tickets directly to your e-mail. You can brand it with your logo and company information, customize subjects and email messages and your client will feel as though you are readily available to assist them every time they visit their dashboard. A brilliant addition to any WordPress site you build or install!

Plugin on WordPress.org
Plugin Homepage

Other Plugins?

There are literally thousands of WordPress plugins available and new ones being developed all the time, so you may know of others that I have missed. Please be sure to share your suggestions in the comments. I hope the plugins I’ve listed will enhance your clients’ experience and help to make you look like a superstar whenever you deliver their WordPress site to them.

MediaLoot is Live! Join Now to get 50% Off For Life

Mason Hipp — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:58:35 PST

It’s finally here! Months of hard work have led up to this moment, and I’m very happy to say that MediaLoot is online and accepting new members!

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, MediaLoot is a premium membership site for designers. You can join for $14 per month (with the 50% launch discount), and as a member you’ll get tons of new design resources every month. Forget paying $5, $10, or $15 dollars for every little thing you buy — MediaLoot is all about bringing you the best design resources for a lot less money. If you think that’s cool, check out the tour for more details →

We’ve got icon sets, web elements, print templates, textures, and a lot more. We’ve also got a bunch of free stuff for those of you who aren’t ready to join yet (some really cool free icons). There’s definitely a little something for everyone, so even you non-designers out there can benefit from the new launch.

Hope to see you there!

Click Here to Visit MediaLoot →

The Slippery Slope of Creeping Scope

Laura Spencer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:35:46 PST

Uncontrolled scope creep costs you money.

When a client asks you to do something that wasn’t part of the original agreement it’s called scope creep.

Some scope creep is relatively minor and doesn’t really make much difference to your freelancing business. Doing a little bit of extra work for a client can be a good way to build up some good will.

In other instances, however, scope creep can drastically increase your workload and negatively impact your bottom line. These are the cases of scope creep that can really damage your freelancing business if they are not addressed.

In this post, we’ll explore some options that a freelancer has for dealing with scope creep.

Dealing with Scope Creep in Short-term Projects

Scope creep is fairly easy to deal with in one time or short-term projects.
The key is in the wording of your agreement with the client.

Your agreement should be specific about the work that you will do and any rework that may be required. The more specific your agreement, the less likely it is that you’ll have to deal with scope creep problems in a one time or short-term project.

For example, you can limit the number of times the client may revise your work (not including revisions due to your mistakes, of course) or you can specify a date by which all requests for change must be turned in.

Be clear that anything additional or after the agreed-upon date is out of scope and can be considered a new project.

Dealing with Scope Creep in Long-term Projects

Scope creep can be tougher to deal with in long-term or ongoing projects, probably because it can creep up a little bit at a time without a freelancer realizing what is happening.

Lots of little changes can really add up!

Before you even realize it, the project has doubled in size and your pay has not kept pace.

I recently read about a freelancer whose regular freelancing gig kept expanding over an eighteen month period to the point where he went from working a normal eight to five hours to nearly working 24/7.

Handling scope creep from a long-time client can be tricky. For one thing, these long-term clients can be a freelancer’s bread and butter–a kind of job security in a very insecure economy. It’s understandable that a freelancer might hesitate to say anything to jeopardize their relationship with a client who gives them recurring work.

Scope creep on a long-term project is also harder to identify because it tends to happen a little bit at a time. While one minor little change may not have much impact on a freelancer, a dozen minor little changes can make quite a bit of difference.

There are steps that a smart freelancer can take to control scope, though.

Five Steps to Controlling Scope

Fortunately, it is possible to manage scope for both small and large freelancing projects. Here are five steps to take:

Know how much time you are spending on your project–Far too many freelancers don’t keep good records of how they use their time. You won’t notice scope creep if you don’t really know how much time you are spending on a project. Even if your client isn’t paying you by the hour, you should be tracking how long each task is taking you to complete.
Set a limit on how much time you are willing to spend doing extra work–Decide in advance how much extra work you will do for a client. This is a very individual decision and may vary from project to project and from freelancer to freelancer. This isn’t something you need to necessarily tell the client, just know when a little more is too much.
Keep a list of changes–Even if a requested change that wasn’t part of the original agreement seems small, make a note of it. Over time, these little requests tend to build up. If you record each client request then if your project starts to spiral out of control you will have an insight into what might be causing the problem.
Evaluate frequently–Periodically, compare the time that you are spending on the project to the time that you thought you would spend. If there’s a significant difference, ask yourself why. Did you underestimate the amount of work the project would require? Did the client add additional requirements to the project?
Speak up sooner rather than later–If you do notice that too many changes have been made to a project, the sooner you speak up about it the better. If you wait too long to speak up, the client may believe that it isn’t a very big problem. You can say something like, “that additional step added a lot more work to the project than we thought. To do it using this step it will cost $X more.”

It’s important to note that scope creep isn’t always done deliberately. Many clients aren’t fully aware of the additional work that they are piling onto the freelancer or truly don’t realize how long it takes to do things.

If a client is satisfied with the freelancer’s work so far, they are often more than happy to do the fair thing and pay additional charges once the scope creep is pointed out. Or, they may decide that the changes aren’t really needed after all.

How Do You Handle Scope Creep?

Have you had to face scope creep on any of your projects? How did you deal with it?

Share your ideas and experiences in the comments.

Image by philliecasablanca

How to Tell When It’s Time to Take a Break

James Chartrand — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:30:49 PST

I threw my neck out something fierce not long ago. I don’t know how it happened. I must have been fighting this big monster in my sleep, rolled over so I could grab a rock to clonk him over the head with, and was suddenly awake, clutching my neck in pain. Either the monster got me or I twisted my head so fast in my sleep that I pulled a muscle.

Either way, I was in serious pain. And I had work to do the next morning.

I had clients to call and clients to email. I had to delegate some work to my assistants. I had to manage my team. I had to be there, damn it. Without me, my business grinds to a halt. It’s the siren song of the freelancer: if I go away, even for a minute, my business goes up in smoke.

Guess what? It’s not true.

Why Freelancers Need a Break

Freelancers need a break just as much as any nine-to-five person punching a clock. That nine-to-fiver gets a certain number of vacation days a year, and he often gets sick days too. If he doesn’t, he can use up one of his vacation days to stay home and tend his cold or his injury.

You don’t have that problem. You get to say when you get to take a break.

The problem is allowing yourself to say it.

I know this problem all too well. Here are a few moments when you really need to stop and say, “You know what? I’m taking a sick day.”

1. When You’re Injured

When I hurt my neck, I was putting strain on that injured muscle every minute I spent out of bed. Your head weighs around eight pounds. When your arm is injured and you try to pick up eight pounds, it’s painful. You might even make the injury worse. The same goes for your neck, only it can’t possibly avoid picking up your heavy head.

I should have spent the day on my back, napping a lot and letting the injury heal so that I could be back on my feet the next day. Instead, I kept laying down and getting back up again to try to get some work done and stay on top of things.

The injury lingered and didn’t heal as quickly as it could have, because I didn’t take a full day or two off to give it a fighting chance.

What happened during that time? Well, I definitely didn’t do my best work. I was distracted, and I was in pain. I was cranky every now and then because my neck hurt. I wasn’t available as much as I usually was because I had to keep taking breaks. Even the most minor thing, like cradling the phone between my shoulder and ear, was impossible for me.

And every time I forgot my limitations, I hurt myself more.

I should have taken the day off. So should you. If you’re injured in any way that affects your ability to work–back, neck, tendonitis, RSI–take the time to let your body heal fully so you can go back to work at full strength, instead of hobbling along at a fraction of your ability for weeks.

2. When You’re Sick

Most of us remember working nine-to-five and having those days where you’d call in sick just because you couldn’t face going in that day. We’d fake the cough and weary voice, and we’d try to sound sincere when we said we were so sorry, but we just felt too terrible to show up.

Now you’re a freelancer. The only person you can lie to in order to get out of work is yourself. That’s kind of too bad, because it means you probably don’t pretend you’re sick anymore. You work even when you don’t feel like working, because after all, you don’t have any excuse not to.

But when you’re really sick, you still work. Even when you have the excuse. That’s not good.

If you work through sickness, you’re going to put out low-quality work. No one’s brain functions well when illness chunks it up with snot and you have that blurry-vision, itchy-eye thing going on. Clients are going to be less than pleased if you sniffle your way through it and deliver a project on time but below your usual standard.

They may even wonder if your previous good work was a fluke.

Don’t make clients question your skills. Call them up or email them, explain that you’re very sick, and ask if it would be possible to extend your deadline. Make sure they understand this is optional: you’re willing to deliver on time if they need you to. However, you want to make sure they get your very best work, and you’re afraid they won’t get that if you work through the illness.

Nine times out of ten, your client will choose to wait until you’re well again. That one time out of ten? You can take care of him because you’ll have cleared the rest of your plate. Try to wait until you have at least one day of feeling not so bad, and knock it out of the park.

Then you can catch up on your nicer, more sympathetic clients at your leisure once you’re all better.

3. When You’re Burned Out

It happens to all freelancers. Every single one of us. You simply run out of juice. You stare at the screen for hours, trying to summon the strength to be creative. You know you’re never going to get there. You want to run away from everything. You want to quit.

And you know what? Sometimes you should do just that.

Quit for a day. Just one. If you can manage it, try for a long weekend. Then leave your laptop behind with a nice autoresponder for anyone who sends an email: “I’ll be out of touch until Monday. I’ll get back to you promptly first thing Monday morning.”

If you have an assistant, ask him or her to take messages and send any urgent clients to peers of yours whose work you can vouch for. Odds are slim that you’ll get a last-minute rush client during the very weekend you’re taking off, but if you do, don’t stress. He’ll get taken care of by your colleague. You’re having a break, a mini-vacation, getting over your burnout.

Forget about everything. Go someplace you enjoy, or just hole up in your own house. Banish the computer and the phone to the basement or a dark closet. Read a book you’ve been meaning to read. Spend time with your significant other or your kids or some friends. Just relax.

When you get back, you’ll be recharged, ready to take on anything, and a whole lot happier with your job.

Your Turn

Can you think of other times you need to take a break? Have there been times you’ve pushed through it and regretted not taking a break? Let’s hear it!

Image by danielfoster

Turning Around Your Freelance Business with Lead Nurturing

Ed Gandia — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:30:25 PST

Before I was a freelancer, I sold software for a living.

Unfortunately, my employer didn’t have much of a marketing team. So, it was up to me to find my own prospects.

That was a lot of work. But, it’s also what led me to eventually quit my sales job to become a successful freelance copywriter.

You see, by having to write my own marketing and sales materials, I learned a lot about what it takes to generate a steady stream of leads. For instance, I noticed that only about 10 percent of the leads I was generating were actually ready or willing to talk with me about my product.

That was no surprise. But, what shocked me was how many of the other 90 percent (the ones who weren’t ready when they first contacted me) bought from me 3, 6, or 12 months later—as long as I stayed in touch!

Lead Nurturing Works

In fact, at one point, one third of all my new business was coming from this group of “not ready yet” leads! By staying on their radar screen in a nonthreatening way, I was the first person they thought of when they were ready to buy project management software. As a result, the cost of my mailing efforts began to drop (I no longer needed to generate as many leads to make one sale). And I quickly rose to the top sales position in my division.

Since then, I’ve implemented this same “staying in touch” strategy in my freelance business. And I’ve found that much of the difference between just “getting by” and earning an executive-level income as a freelance professional lies in what you do with prospects who are not ready to hire you today.

You’re Leaving Opportunities on the Table!

According to Brian Carroll, author of the popular book Lead Generation for the Complex Sale, only about 5 to 15 percent of prospects for your services are either actively looking for or considering what you offer.

But Carroll notes that as many as half of the remaining 85 to 95 percent of leads will typically buy the services you provide—either from you or from one of your competitors—over the following 18 to 24 months.

There’s a good reason for this. When you market your services to a select list of prospects, you have a great deal of control over the companies and people you target.

What you have no control over, however, are the current needs of those organizations. If there’s currently not a project in the pipeline or even a budget for one, you’re not going to land a project that day.

But, your chances go up dramatically if you stay in touch in a very strategic yet sincere way.

Ideas for Lead Nurturing

I’ve landed a tremendous amount of work just by staying in touch with longer-term prospects. Some of these prospects became big clients years after my first contact. And it was my steady approach to staying on their radar screens that made all the difference.

Here are some ideas on how to do this well:

Articles You’ve Written–If you write a newsletter and have a few articles lying around from previous issues, start sending them to your prospects via e-mail or postal mail. Relevant, insightful, and well-written self-authored articles make excellent nurturing material. They give you credibility, position you as an expert on the topic, and provide your leads with ideas and insights that could help them do their jobs better.
Reports or White Papers–Have you written a report or white paper on a topic that would be of interest to your target audience? If so, this can be a powerful nurturing piece. Here again, reports and white papers give you credibility while offering value to readers. Don’t have a meaty report you can share? Not a problem! Try assembling one with previously published articles that touch on a common theme.
Third-Party Content–The content you send doesn’t have to be completely self-authored. In fact, it’s better to have a good mix of self-authored content and third-party information. Assemble a good list of interesting and relevant third-party content in the way of articles, blog posts, reports, white papers, success stories, reference material, survey results and statistics.
Success Stories–Also known as “case studies” in marketing-speak, success stories are short articles that describe how you’ve helped a client solve a specific challenge and your service. For obvious reasons, these make great “staying in touch” pieces.
Press Releases–Have you recently written a press release on a big client win, a noteworthy success with an existing client, or a new service offering? Send it out to your prospects! But, don’t limit press releases to news about you and your business. Seek out interesting stories about new trends, statistics, events, and products that would be of interest to the people on your list.
Monitor and Adjust–To be effective, make sure to adjust your frequency so that you’re not perceived as a pest. Also, try staying in touch for at least a year before giving up on a prospect. As mentioned earlier, some of these client wins will come 18 months after the first contact.

Finally, to diversify your efforts, rotate your media. Use a combination of email, postal mail and phone. And make sure to keep track when you sent what to whom.

Your Turn

What about you? What methods have you used to stay on your prospects’ radar screens?

Have you landed a client as a result of staying in touch for an extended period of time? How long did it take? Did the effort pay off?

Image by usfsregion5

Introducing FreelanceFolder’s New Premium Sponsor, IAC-EZ

Laura Spencer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:59 PST

You may have noticed there’s a new banner ad at the top of the site. That’s because IAC-EZ has recently signed on to be our blog’s premium sponsor.

IAC-EZ has been a friend of FreelanceFolder for quite some time, and their online bookkeeping services are second-to-none. Their sponsorship allows us to focus on posting better content for freelancers of all types, and it gives us the means to improve our site and continue to make things better for you.

If you’re not familiar with IAC-EZ, you may want to take some time to learn a little bit about their bookkeeping services, (especially if you are looking for a new accounting package).

Accounting for Non-accountants

IAC-EZ is an accounting software package developed specifically for non-accountants. It complies with GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), so when you use it you’ll be in compliance with accounting standards everywhere.

As you can see in the screen shot above, IAC-EZ headquarters lets a freelancer see how their business is doing in a glance.

With IAC-EZ you can also perform any of the following tasks without the added expense of an accountant:

Keep your books
Generate reports
Estimate tax payments
Create invoices
Track accounts payable and receivable
Generate a profit and loss statement

IAC-EZ also integrates with FreshBooks and other popular invoicing packages, so you don’t have to worry about wasting your time with duplicate data-entry.

Finally, it costs only $19/mo to subscribe — so for a whole year of IAC-EZ you’ll probably spend less than some CPAs charge for a single hour.

As you can see, there are a lot of reasons for us to be really happy with our new sponsor. We think you guys will really enjoy their services, and we can happily and wholeheartedly recommend them to everyone.

So, please join us in welcoming our new FreelanceFolder site sponsor, IAC-EZ, and as always — thank you all for being a part of FreelanceFolder and really making us the site we are today.

Are Open Source Apps Always Better?

Amber Weinberg — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:30:57 PST

Everyone loves free stuff, myself included. But thinking of “free” always reminds me of my mother’s cliched saying, “Nothing in life is free.” Well, what about software?

As freelancers, no matter how much money we make, we’re always budget-conscience. Unfortunately, in this day and age of technology, we can no longer get by with just a copy of Microsoft Windows and Notepad. We need software–and lots of it.

I counted over 18 applications that I use daily and that that doesn’t even include the 20+ apps on my iPhone. So, it’s probably safe to say these are all free apps, right? Wrong.

The Case for Open Source Software

The biggest pro to open source software is obviously the price of free. But, what other pros are there with going open source?

The community–The best open source software is, without a doubt, WordPress. The coolest thing about WordPress is the community. Since everyone can download it for free, and it’s a great framework, it has a huge support community. You can easily and quickly find a tutorial on anything you’d ever want to do in WordPress.
No risk–Open source software comes with no risk. Don’t like the program? Just uninstall it and find something else. It was free so you haven’t lost any money.
Variety–There are often open source alternatives to most paid apps if you search hard enough. So, any freelancer can have billing, coding or management software.

Why Free Isn’t Always the Best

Free almost always comes with a price, although it may not be monetary. There are several drawbacks to using open source software.

Little or no support–With the exception of a few, most free software I’ve tried have no, or crappy, support.
Ugly interface–Since the developers aren’t making money from the app, most don’t hire designers and the apps often look ugly or have poor layouts.
Terrible file structures or code–If you’re dealing with an actual framework, the code and file structure can be impossible to navigate and work around easily. So much so, you’d often feel that you’d rather pay for something than deal with the free stuff. This happened to me when dealing with ZenCart and Joomla.
Lack of updates and bugs–When you upgrade your OS, your free software may take its time upgrading–or never even upgrade at all, then you’re stuck looking for something else. What’s worse, it might have a terrible bug that’s never fixed.

Paid Apps Are Often Worth the Price

Sometimes, a free app gets the job done, and does it well. But, sometimes paying for an app will save you both time and money in the long run.

Purchasing apps can be scary though, as it’s normally a pretty long commitment, especially if you’re short on funds. What if you pay for an app and it stinks or doesn’t work right on your system? Try looking for an app that offers a demo, or even better, a full-featured trial. Ask around for opinions and see what people say.

Paid apps are often better than their free counterparts. If I find a bug or problem with the software, I’m much more likely to get a solution from someone I’ve paid. The act of receiving money for something you’ve done is a huge motivator in how well you take care of the product and its customers. Most apps you come across are less than $100 and easily affordable by the novice freelancer. (Go ahead and shake your fist at Adobe now.)

I came across the problem of finding the right app very recently when looking for a new code editor. There are several free and paid apps to choose from. I couldn’t find an all-in-one solution that was free, so I went ahead and paid for an app. However, had I been looking for a standalone editor, there were several free apps that were just as awesome as the paid ones. It all comes down to what you need and what works for you.

Almost all of my favorite apps are paid apps, even though I normally look for an open source solution first. The interfaces are sleek and well thought out. Most of them are bug free and provide great support. (Except, ironically enough, the most expensive app ever, Photoshop. Shake them fists again for me.)

Your Thoughts

What have been your experiences in dealing with paid and open source software? Have you found trends between what one has and the other lacks?

Image by jmarty

Uh-oh! Seven Steps to Deal with an Unhappy Client

Lexirodrigo — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:30:32 PST

It can happen to the best of us: a client is disappointed with the work we turned it. Perhaps we completely missed what they said they wanted. Or, maybe we’ve been tired and didn’t produce stellar work. Maybe said client was having a bad day.

Whatever the reason, the bottom line is, your client is unhappy with your work. You’re at the brink of losing this client and everybody else he would have referred to you.

All is not lost. In fact, if you handle the situation correctly, you could end up with a client who respects and admires you even more.

What to Do

Here are seven steps you can follow next time this unfortunate event happens:

Calm down. Getting a complaint from a client is like getting slapped in the face. Your first reaction will be to get upset, offended and defensive. This can lead you to respond without thinking in such a way that you will most surely regret. So, the first thing to do is to calm down. Take deep breaths. Remind yourself not to take the client’s complaint personally. Do whatever it takes to tame your passions and regain a level-headed composure.
Apologize and acknowledge your client’s feelings. I’m not talking about acting like a doormat. What I mean is being humble enough to accept responsibility for the situation. This can be as simple as saying, “I’m sorry you didn’t like the drafts.” Take note, you’re not saying it’s your fault. However, you are showing empathy for your client’s feelings… which will help him or her calm down. Any conflict situation is better when everybody is calm, so these first steps are crucial. Now that everybody’s calm, it’s time for the next step.
Identify the real problem. Ask questions to find out what your client is really unhappy with. Don’t be satisfied with statements like “I just don’t like it!” Get specifics. Ask for examples.
Find out what the client really wants. Go over all relevant communication with your client. Ask more questions, until you’re sure you know 100% exactly what your client wants. Sometimes, we proceed with a project thinking one thing when in reality, we misunderstood our client’s wishes. Make sure you have your client’s expectations down pat. And double-check by saying, “I understand you want XYZ to achieve (end goal). Did I get that right?”
Make the situation better. Now that you have a clear picture of the problem and where your client wants to go, do what you can to help your client get there. Offer to rewrite the piece, or go back to the drawing board. Even if you lose money by doing this, it’s still a worthwhile endeavor. You will lose more in the long run by having a client who stays unhappy with your work. It could really hurt your reputation. So do whatever you can to solve the situation for them. Sometimes, it may be impossible to please your client. Maybe your style just doesn’t fit with their expectations. When all else fails, offer a refund and steer them in the direction of another freelancer who can meet their needs. This solution isn’t a good one for your client, either. They’ve lost time on their project and possibly some money. However, by doing everything humanly possible to meet their needs, you can still salvage your relationship.
Get feedback. After you’ve revised, redrafted or started over, get your client’s feedback promptly. More often than not, they’ll be happy with your second try.
Take stock. After all the drama has died down and the situation is resolved, it’s time to take stock. What can you learn from the situation? What can you do differently to avoid the situation from happening again? What can you do differently the next time it does happen? Take the time to reflect on what happened. That’s how you become a master in client relations. It’s never fun to hear from a client who’s unhappy with our work. However, if you handle the situation with maturity and genuine concern for your client, you can both come out of the situation with a more positive relationship. Above, I’ve outlined a seven-step strategy for dealing with unhappy clients.

What If It Happened to You?

Have you ever had an unhappy client? If so, how did you manage the situation? Do you have additional advice for your fellow freelancers?

Image by striatic

Bad First Impressions That Can Drive Potential Clients Away

Brian McDaniel — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:30:47 PST

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Those initial defining moments can be the determining factor for whether or not a client hires you, so it is critical to make them count.

When a potential client makes first contact–by email, phone, IM, social media or in person–everything you do and say will have a lasting impact on their perception of who you are, how you operate, and more. It is important to ensure that this impact is positive, and not the opposite. This post will point out some of the worst first impression mistakes a freelancer can make and give some direction for ways to avoid them.

Too Busy to Talk

If you are a freelancer who is lucky and talented enough to be extremely busy, it can sometimes become a burden to take time from your work day to have anything more than a succinct and focused business conversation. This can inspire an approach to communication that, in its attempts to be streamlined, could make a potential client decide to look elsewhere. While every client knows they are probably not your only client, every single one wants to feel like they are your biggest, best and most important. If your first contact leaves them feeling like you were in a rush to get off the phone or you just typed out a quick, one-sentence email lacking any and all personality, they will definitely be concerned with how you treat them once you’re hired.

Some clients will keep it strictly professional, but many want to know that you value their business and who they are. Take time in the beginning and throughout your working relationship to show some interest beyond the project and you could find yourself with a client–and possibly even a friend–for life. Take the blinders off and see the person and the organization, not just the business. This first impression could set you apart from others they are considering simply because they can sense that you care.

Slow Response Time

What you think is an acceptable amount of time to respond to communications may not be the same as what your potential client is expecting. One of the quickest ways to knock yourself out of the running for a project is to have slow response times. The capabilities of modern technology have raised expectations for response to a sometimes unreasonable level, but delaying your response to a client’s first contact with you will likely make it their last.

Reply to emails and return phone calls within 24 hours or less to make a solid first impression. The quicker you can respond to a client the more valuable they will feel, and the more likely they will perceive you as a professional. A good way to stay on top of this is to have scheduled times for returning communications each day, keeping them current and avoiding the message pileup.

Spelling & Grammar Errors

When you do take the time to communicate with clients, it is important to make sure you are using correct spelling and grammar. Some clients could care less, but most professionals will stop considering you for a project because of the perception that is given when you fail to use spellcheck. Honestly, there really is no excuse anymore. Every word processing software and email client has the technology built right in and with the simple click of a button or two you can identify and repair all errors before sending your document to the client. Failing to take this step can communicate that you are lazy, uneducated, unintelligent or just plain unprofessional. Who wants to hire someone to write copy or load content into a website if they don’t even spell correctly or take the time to utilize the readily-available tools?

Double-check the spelling and grammar on every document you send to a client to ensure a first and lasting impression of professional and quality standards.

Still in Your Pajamas at the Meeting

Okay, so no one (I hope) would go to a first (or any) client meeting dressed in their pajamas!

Still, many of us have worked at home long enough to have forgotten how to dress in a professional atmosphere, or our wardrobe has fallen by the wayside for lack of necessity, or we have adopted an attitude that says, “I can wear what I want since I’m my own boss.”

Whatever the reason, your potential client could probably care less. It is more likely that they see this freelancer walking up in jeans and a t-shirt as someone who is unprofessional, brazen and cocky, or just plain sloppy. None of these perceptions will boost confidence or motivate them to hire you. Although most freelancers can enjoy the benefit of no dress code, working with other professionals requires meeting their higher expectations–even in the wardrobe department.

Freelancers should have at least one professional outfit for client meetings. It may even be advisable to have a few, so you don’t show up wearing the same thing every time you meet a client in person. You don’t have to sacrifice your personal style, but remain mindful of professional standards and do your best to work within them.

No Policies and Procedures

Entering a conversation with a potential client unarmed with answers to commonly asked questions will always leave a discouraging first impression. Clients want to feel confident that you know what you are doing, that you have sufficient experience and that you already have an idea of how you will accomplish the task they are proposing to you. When discussing your process it is unimpressive and amateurish to stumble along, making it up as you go.

Prepare an outline of your process beforehand that is specific to the proposed project and familiarize yourself with it. Keep a list of your personal policies and procedures so you’re not caught off guard, and add to it when new questions are brought up. Know your business better than anyone else, and clients will walk away confident that you know what you’re talking about.

Not Sure What to Charge

This is always a sticky point. Wavering on your rates, charging too little or too much, or being unclear about them will not only leave a miserable first impression, but it could cost you dearly down the road if the client still hires you. Some clients will try to haggle with you, while others may perceive your lack of certainty as flexibility, but everyone wants to get the most for their money. Leaving the door open for clients to talk you down in price can communicate weakness, inexperience and even a lack of value. Attempting to charge them more than the current standard will drive them away faster than almost anything else you can do. Presenting a solid grasp of what you charge for which services will always instill confidence, even if it is beyond the potential client’s budget.

Create a price list of your services, whether for public consumption or your own reference, and memorize it. Work in as many variables as you can imagine that may raise or lower the price and keep the list constantly updated as new situations arise. Armed with a solidified menu of services, you should always get what you’re worth when hired and the client will be impressed with your preparation and self-value.

First Impression Mistakes You’ve Made?

This list is obviously not exhaustive, but these are some common mistakes that I have made myself or seen others make that have driven potential clients in the opposite direction. Hopefully, we can all learn from them and avoid making them in the future.

Do you have a first impression nightmare experience you can share and we can learn from? Have you made any of these mistakes in the past? Be sure to contribute your thoughts in the comments below.