Whether you’re new to freelancing or you’ve been at it at a while, you’ll quickly discover that your field, whether it’s writing, design, programming or some other freelance endeavor, changes constantly.  What’s “hot” today might be forgotten tomorrow, and new software, techniques and knowledge keep things constantly changing and moving forward.  If you want to be able to compete as a freelancer, you have to keep up.

Continuing education is a great way to make sure you always know what’s new in your field.  Classes and workshops, of course, are an easy way to stay abreast of the latest search engine techniques or design principles.  But there are other ways to continue your education and keep yourself valuable as a freelancer in an ever-changing marketplace.

Participate in industry forums, message boards and mailing lists.  Before you’re able to find 20 articles online about that new trend in Internet marketing, you’ll hear about it extensively on a business message board. If you’re seeing freelance programmers start to talk about a style that’s taking off with their clients, you’ll know it’s time to look into it for your own business. Continue reading →

Often, one of the hardest things for a freelancer to do is set a price  Especially when you’re just starting out, the tendency is to charge far too little for work to be sure to get plenty of it.  That tendency will wear off when the work starts coming in more regularly and the fear of losing potential work because you’re charging market rates or too much is outweighed by the need to earn a reasonable wage.  But how do you know you’re undercharging, and how do you go about setting a price?

It sounds easy enough to decide on an amount per hour that you want to earn, and you should think this way.  But as a freelancer, it’s more likely that you’ll be billing per project rather than per hour, unless you tend to work on long-term projects where you are paid per hour by agreement.  Freelance writers will probably bill per article, press release, grant or other project, where designers might bill by website, logo or other graphic creation.

In the beginning, you could very well end up working for far less than your ideal hourly rate, simply because you underestimate the amount of time a project will take.  If you quote a client a rate of $150 for a project based on your desire to earn $45 an hour, for example, and the job takes you 7 hours, or 12, you’ve undercut yourself by quite a bit.  Those are live and learn moments—it might take doing a certain type of project a few times before you come up with the right quote for the time you’ll be spending. Among new freelancers that’s a common phenomenon. Continue reading →

Most people cite one of the reasons for becoming a freelancer as a sense of going nowhere in their regular jobs.  Whether it’s a job that doesn’t offer advancement, or a mindless job that doesn’t offer much of employees, a job that you’re unhappy with can make you miserable.  Freelancing seems to be the perfect solution for that.  You do what you want, when you want, for whom you want, right?

Don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s impossible to get into a rut when you freelance.  It might not be as easy to stagnate as a freelancer than in that corporate cubicle job, but it can happen.  When you face new projects with little excitement, or find yourself, in the middle of projects, wishing a particular client wouldn’t call on you again, or even feeling like you hate certain projects, it might be that you’re stagnating as a freelancer.  What do you do? Stir things up a bit. Continue reading →

Nowadays more and more home offices are becoming popular, basically because of the increase of outsourced jobs over the internet. Thus, most of us start to work at home, since this is the place where we are most comforted. But just like the typical office, or home-based job needs equipment that would cater to our home office needs. But what exactly are the things you need in your home office?

Comfortable chair

Among other things, you would most be in need is a comfortable chair, since this would serve as your throne as you do your work at home. This doesn’t have to be an office chair, as long as you enjoy sitting on it and that it helps you access your other needs. Your chair must have a good, durable cushion and backrest, since you would be spending most of your working hours in this piece of furniture. Continue reading →

The daily routine in the office can eventually lead you to stress, especially when you are loaded with tons of work which you have to finish by the end of the day. There are even times when you have to skip meals or go overtime jus to get your assignment done. This is quite a common experience to those who have desk jobs, but through this, they get to live an unhealthy lifestyle.

So how can you keep yourself fit and healthy while working in a desk job? Below are a few effective tips that can keep you stay looking fabulous inside and out even while in the midst of stressful office work: Continue reading →