Becoming a freelancer is one of the easiest business to start, because–unlike starting a bakery, gym or other kind of business–it doesn’t require much capital to begin. Most people already have what they need to start, but there are still some essential items you’ll need to become a freelancer that you may (or may not) have.

Some of these are large ticket items, but most are inexpensive, easy to find, and very helpful. Let’s take a look at some of the things you’ll need to begin a freelancing business.

Essential Items

Here are some essential items for freelancers:

1. Computer–Unless you’re planning on dealing with clients via mind control, you’ll need some kind of computer in order to design, code, write or whatever it is you plan to do. Computers don’t have to be expensive, even if you prefer a Mac. Nowadays you can get a very inexpensive Mac with great specs for brand new, or even purchase one that’s slightly used. I recently sold my top-of-the-line Macbook on eBay for $750, which was still better than a brand new PC. So check out eBay and other bargain places for gently used power machines. New isn’t always better!
2. Cable Internet–Especially if you’re doing design or development work, high speed cable internet is a must-have in order to really do anything in business. Skip dial-up and DSL and go with cable (preferably 10mbps+) or even Sprint’s 4G portable wireless network (I’ve been wanting to try that). If you can’t afford internet just yet and have a laptop, considering making your local coffee shop, who often have free wireless, your office for now.
3. Printer–Printers are a must have in order to print your tax info, business write-offs, contracts and more. Having a printer also allows you to have your own professional stationary without having to pay a professional printer for (which also cuts down on waste and space).
4. Composition Book–No matter what work you do, a good notebook is essential for any freelancer. Designers need to sketch, developers need to write down slice sizes and CSS rules and writers need to, well, write. I love the composition notebooks because they normally go for less than $100, are wide-ruled for note crunching and last for forever.
5. Good lighting–I’m in the process of moving my office out of the basement and upstairs into the best lit room because my office is a dark, scary cave. Lighting is essential to well-being and will save you from terrible headaches, bad eyes and even bad posture.
6. Automatic Backups–An automatic backup has saved my life (and my client’s) more than once. Spend the money to set up a system that does it automatically for you, so you don’t have to ever think about it until you need it. I use Apple’s Time Capsule, because it backs up wirelessly, turns any printer into a wireless one and provides wireless internet (more on wireless below). Plus, it can work with multiple computers.
7. File System–Whether you go with paper, paperless or a combination of both, you need to have a great filing system in place that allows you to quickly find client files, contracts, receipts, etc quickly.
8. Ergonomics–I once spent $10 on a chair at Wal-Mart for my office. I used it for a week and had aching wrists, back, neck and bum. Ergonomic chairs aren’t cheap, but you can find comfortable chairs in all price ranges. Make sure the chair is proper height and the desk is large enough so that you can lay everything out comfortably. No one likes to be aching and cramped all day.
9. Software–A lot of software these days are free (or have free versions) so take some time to set up what you need. You might even be able to get by using nothing besides Google apps. (Hey, I’ve seen it done!)
10. Inspiration–Why do you keep working all day? Some people like to keep a picture of the goal they’re working towards, but I like to take it a step farther. I keep my Bichon Frise (that’s a white poofy haired dog) sleeping on my desk. Not only is he good for a hug and kiss after dealing with a nightmare client, he also keeps me motivated to work by reminding me that I have others to take care of. And, he’s just plain cute to look at while I code. So what motivates you? If you’re wanting a Porsche someday, keep a model of one (or a photo) on your desk. Wanting a vacation to the beach? Keep something in eyesight that reminds you of it in order to stay productive.

Almost Essential Items

You can get by without the items on this list, but you probably won’t want to.

• Smartphone–Smartphones make it easy to stay connected and answer emails without being chained to your desk. They’re also pretty affordable nowadays as well. I suggest the iPhone for its extensive business and productivity app collection. Plus, you can use it for play after you’re done working.
• Dedicated Office Space–I’ve got an entire room in my house used for the office only. Not only does this allow me to work in peace by shutting off the rest of the household, it also ensures that I can get away from work. If you work on your dining room table, you may not be able to eat relaxing dinners without thinking about work.
• Wireless Everything –You’d be surprised at just how much an icky office can mess with your productivity. My office has been a mess for two weeks now since we’re renovating and I’ve seen it cut my productivity way down. That being said, one of the best ways to keep an organized, clean desk is to pay an extra few bucks for wireless. I’ve got a wireless printer, wireless backups, bluetooth keyboard & mouse and wireless internet. My desk is still a rat’s nest of wires, but a little less so. Plus, this allows me to move around the house and still use the devices.
• Good Speakers–Music keeps me productive every day, so I find it almost essential to have a computer with good speakers, good headphones or good external speakers.
• Books, Blogs & Podcasts–These things, while not necessary to being in business, keep you on top of the new stuff in your industry, which keeps you on top of others too.

What About You?

What tools and equipment do you consider essential for your freelancing business?

Most freelancers agree that Twitter is a fun and useful social media tool that can help you network with peers and potential clients.

Twitter applications can help a freelancer to get even more benefits from Twitter.

Last summer we took a look at 15 Useful Twitter Tools for web workers. This post examines 18 more Twitter apps that freelancers might find useful and briefly explains what each one does.

Helpful Twitter Apps

Here are 18 helpful Twitter applications to help you get the most from your tweets:

1. Twitpic–Fun application lets you share pictures on Twitter. You upload your photo on the TwitPic site and the URL is posted to your Twitter account. This could be a great way for designers and other whose work is visual to share.
2. Twitterholic–Rates Twitter users by the number of followers, friends, and updates. The utility could be useful if you are looking for influential Twitterers to follow. However, I think this is mostly for fun.
3. Twitturly–Site supposedly lists the most tweeted URLs in four categories: everything, news, pics, and videos. This could be useful for those looking for trending topics such as bloggers and web content creators. In my test, it didn’t seem consistent with other tweet counters.
4. Twtpoll–Create a poll or survey and then post the link to your poll on Twitter. Be aware that unless you specify otherwise, advertisements will appear on your poll. This could be used for product or marketing research.
5. Seesmic–You can stay involved in Twitter conversations without logging into Twitter, plus you can conduct searches and find users with similar interests. Seesmic has web, desktop, and mobile versions.
6. Tweetmeme–Provides a Twitter button plug-in for posts and articles. It also tracks the most popular posts by category. You can also review which twitter users have tweeted a specific URL.
7. Tweet Later–This is a full-featured Twitter/social media app that comes in a free and a professional version. Users can perform a variety of tasks including scheduling tweets in advance, tracking key works, and auto following.
8. HootSuite–Another full-featured Twitter app that allows you to perform a variety of Twitter/social media tasks. Some tasks that you can perform include scheduling tweets, importing and managing Twitter lists, and tracking statistics.
9. twtQpon–Helps you create coupons for a variety of social media sites including Twitter. This app could be really useful for small businesses and other companies who are Internet adept.
10. DoesFollow?–Very simple app helps you discover which Twitter accounts are following each other. Answers the question “Does User A follow User B?” It could help you determine if those who you are following are following back. Despite the simplicity, I wasted a lot of time here.
11. Tweet2Tweet–Helps you to see back and forth dialog between two Twitter users. This could be helpful to new Twitter users who find the Twitter interface confusing. In my tests, this app did not show direct messages or really old conversations.
12. TwitHire–Microblogging service allows employers to post jobs. Freelancers and others looking for work can follow and will receive the job posting tweets. This is potentially a very useful service for freelancers.
13. twInfluence–Discover the most influential Twitter users online through this analytical tool, or determine how influential your Twitter account is. Includes Twitseeker. (When I tested it, Twitseeker was not fully operational due to a change in Twitter’s policies.)
14. Tweetie–Twitter app for mobile devices and the Mac. It allows you to share bookmarks, handle multiple Twitter accounts, search trends, and more. This looked like a fantastic app. Not having a Mac, I couldn’t test further.
15. Twibs–This is basically a Twitter business directory. It could be very helpful to freelancers and those who hire them. If you know what type of business most of your clients are in use this to find and follow similar businesses.
16. Twitter Alerts–Set up alerts to notify you when certain terms (like your name or your company name) are mentioned on Twitter. Freelancers can use this to help monitor their online reputation.
17. TweetStats–Track a number of stats such as when do you make the most tweets and trending topics. It looks like parts of the site are still in development.
18. TwitterCounter–Another application to track Twitter usage statistics. Find out who is the top user, how quickly you are gaining followers, and so on.

A Word About Security

Be careful about giving your social media passwords out to unknown applications. Several Twitter applications have been hacked in the past and the user’s data exposed. Always check the reviews of a social media application carefully before you entrust it with your personal data. Twitter support has some specific recommendations for users.

What Is Your Favorite Twitter App?

Do you use any of these Twitter apps? Which ones? What do you think of them?

Do you have a favorite Twitter app? Whether it’s on the list or not, why not share it here?

Leave your answers in the comments

OK so at this point in the season you have already spent quite a bit purchasing presents for those around you. Whether you agree with the commercial nature of the season or not, it is hard to argue with the meaning behind this practice. Show appreciation for those around you by providing useful and thoughtful gifts.

This year I suggest you not only show appreciation to your friends and family (and do this first and foremost) but also your freelance career. Sure your career probably hasn't purchased you a gift and it might not directly say "thank you," but I assure you that karma will take care of you in the end.

All jokes aside your freelance or business needs constant love, attention and appreciation. It is easy to get into the mindset where you are comfortable with a long term contract or a specific set of clients with out thinking about how you can continue to grow and improve your practice.

Gifts of Education

One of the best ways you can improve your business, freelancing or career is to improve on your skills. This can be done through practice (which you should be doing constantly) and by making an effort to learn new theories, techniques and skills.

1. Buy the Web Design Business Tool kit

This is probably the best all inclusive book / kit I have come across when it comes to building a successful web design business. Filled with plenty of great information, sample documents and new ideas you can be sure that you will find at least a few great ideas to build your business.

Read more about it on sitepoint.com

2. Attend a Conference

Sure they can be expensive and often times there are podcasts that you can check out afterward but you can't put a price on the networking and connections that you can make by attending just a few good conferences. Becoming a part of the web design community on a personal and real level can do wonders for your career.

I suggest looking into:

• An Event Apart
• SXSW
• Future of Web Design
• Wordcamp

3. Read Some Books

There are a lot of great books out there on all aspects of web design. You just need to take the time to read them and expand your skills. This year I see more and more emphasis on web analytics, web strategy and other forms of online marketing. Some books to check out:

• Web Analytics 2.0
• Landing Page Optimization
• Sexy Web Design
• 4 Hour Work Week (expanded)

Gifts of Efficiency

Being more efficient is a long standing hobby of mine. If you are like me, you have lots of ideas and aspirations to do great things but are severly limited by the amount of time you can dedicate. Not only will you be rewarded with more time and less stress, but being more efficient will help you keep your clients happy and increase revenues. Hard to argue with those perks eh?

1. Improve your Book Keeping

Yes I know, for creative types doing accounting is probably the last thing we would ever want to do. However the insight that you can gain by having a clear picture of your cash flow and expenses is invaluable. It can help you work harder to hit your revenue goals and keep you apprised to how much you are spending. If you don't want to take the plunge and hire an account consider signing up for one of these services that will save you time and makes accounting easy:

• Freshbooks
• Blinksale

2. Improve your Project Management

I used to discount how important project management was. As long as projects were moving forward things are great right? ah if it were only so easy. The more time spent planning the smoother projects will go. Here are some options:

• Basecamp
• ActiveCollab
• Zoho
• Getting Things Done

3. Hire help

If you can pay someone less than your billable rate for any task you are doing then by all means do it. The increase in time will let you find more and better projects as well as spend more time on what you are really passionate about. I recommend either finding interns, contractors, virtual assistants or full time employees.

• Authentic Jobs
• oDesk
• Find a Virtual Assistant

4. Impove your Process

It is always a good idea to evaluate and try and improve your internal process. Is there something you could spend time on now to save more time later. I take time quarterly to try and look at what activities we perform at 3.7 DESIGNS constantly and try and improve our approach. I recommend the following books:

• Website Redesign 2.0
• Getting Things Done
• 4 Hour Work Week (expanded)

Gifts of Promotion

When you provide a service as opposed to a product you are faced with a situation where people are paying for something that seems intangible. You can't hold, feel or look at a website. One of the great ways to make your service feel tangible is by getting actual tangible items that carry your brand. This can be everything from business cards, folders, coffee mugs, letterhead, etc…

By providing several items to a client or potential client that are tangible items from your business it builds confidence that you have an established and credible company.

1. Paper Products

• Overnight Prints

2. Create a Portfolio

• Mixbook

3. Schwag

• Cafe Press
• UberPrints.com

Gifts of Reoccurring Income

Doing some work to develop some reoccurring income streams will allow you to be more selective about what projects you take on, who you hire for help or what other investments you are willing to make. Because a lot of time these can be developed so that the income is not specifically tied to an amount of hourly work (which is typically how we price our services) it provides a whole range of options that simply getting more projects does not.

Continue Learning…

You are the best at what you do. No other freelancer can do what you do as well as you do it.

The problem, however, lies in getting clients to understand this. This is particularly hard if you’re still in the start-up stage, where you’re having to find the clients, instead of them coming to you.

In certain industries, like design, it’s easier to get the client to understand the difference in quality and rates (although designers still get rate-comparing clients), but if you’re a developer or writer, it’s tougher to get the client to understand the difference.

So how do you convince the client that your $100 an hour services are better than the other guy’s $30 an hour services?

Think Like a Consumer

We are all consumers of products. A client-freelancer relationship is much the same as a consumer-product relationship.

When the consumer (the client) shops around for a product (the freelancer), several factors are taken into account before the consumer purchases anything. What are these factors?

Let’s pretend our consumer is shopping for a car. All cars are essentially the same in that they have four wheels, some seats, a radio and a windshield. They all get your from Point A to Point B in the same amount of time. So what makes a consumer pay $60,000 for a BMW when they can get a Yaris for $8,000? Perception.

• Perceived Value–A consumer generally believes that the more expensive product is of better quality.
• Perceived Status–A consumer generally believes the more expensive product makes him better looking, cooler or more accepted by society.

So how does this apply to a freelancer? You must make a client believe they are going to get a lot more with your services (the BMW) than the other guy’s (the Yaris).

Of course, perception is nothing without reality. If consumers found out that the BMW breaks down every week, uses cheap materials and was missing seat warmers, a premium stereo and other gadgets we’ve come to expect from luxury cars, the BMW would quickly lose its “luxury” perception.

Make sure you, as a freelancer, really are providing your clients with “BMW” services before you start charging that premium price.

Get Clients to Come to You

The best way to get clients to stop rate-comparing is to get them to come to you. This can be done several different ways.

• Referrals–If your client tells a friend that your work is super-awesome and that friend comes to you for some work–they’re less likely to haggle prices. This is because they already know you do awesome work and there’s no one else to compare your rates to, since they’re probably not shopping around. They’ve already seen the product and know how it awesome it is.
• Testimonials–Testimonials work similarly to referrals, but are less effective. Testimonials are especially effective when they can be tied to actual pieces in your portfolio.
• Through the grapevine–You hear other freelancers and experts talk about the importance of social media–and they’re right. If a client sees you active on Twitter, with lots of followers and professional conversations, and then sees that you have a popular blog, they’re going to know that you’re one of those experts. And they’ll pay more for that.

Don’t Use an Hourly Rate

Hourly versus set rates have been debated plenty of times before, but if you want to set yourself above other freelancers, you need to stop using hourly rates. This is important for several reasons:

• If you’re faster at what you do than most other freelancers, you can shortchange yourself by completing projects too quickly.
• Clients like to know what they’ll have to pay up front. What sounds better? “I charge $50 an hour and it will probably take me 10 to 20 hours to get that done.” Or, “That project will cost $1,000?”
• Hourly rates can be limiting. When you tell a client that you charge $100 an hour, a client only sees that hourly number. They don’t see that while you charge twice as much as the other guy, you’ll get it done in half the time (and do it better).
• There’s a cap to how much you can set your hourly rates–certainly no one will pay you $300 an hour for your services, but you can charge a $300 flat fee for something you know will only take you an hour to complete.

Go Above & Beyond

Don’t just offer your clients a design, development or writing service. Give them more and don’t charge for it. For example:

• Offer business or web-related advice.
• Deliver your product ahead of schedule.
• Tweet or blog about the clients’ site or business.
• Always answer the phone and emails with a smile on your face. It shows.

Make sure you’re giving them those luxury features to remind them of why they’re paying you more.

Focus on Benefits, Not Prices

A client once told me that although I charge a lot more than other developers, I was worth it because my work was great and I was easy to work with. This is the kind of response you want from all your clients.

Unfortunately, you’ll always have those low, or no, budget clients that always choose the cheapest freelancer, irregardless of the quality of services you provide. But, the great clients that you really want will recognize the quality you provide and are willing to pay more for it.

Don’t be sneaky about your prices, but try not to focus on it. State your price, but then talk about the benefits and ROI you can give that client. Why should he hire you and not the other guy?

Share Your Experiences

How did you get your clients to pay your higher rates? Are you still stuck trying to accomplish this?

continue learning

Freelancers come and freelancers go.

It’s a fact that many start freelancing, but not everyone who starts a freelance business sticks with it. What do you think it is that really separates those who stick with freelancing from those who quit?

Could it be talent? Is it the amount of knowledge that a freelancer has? Or, perhaps popularity is the true measure of a freelancer’s ultimate success…

While all of these factors are important, there is something that is even more crucial to freelancing longevity.

The answer lies in a single word–commitment.

In this post, we’ll discuss some of the traits of a committed freelancer. I’ll also share my own observations about freelancing commitment.

Traits of a Committed Freelancer

Those freelancers who stay in business over the long run tend to have a completely different mindset than those who try freelancing and then move on to pursue something else.

There are many traits that separate the committed freelancer from the rest of the bunch. Here are a few of them:

• Has a Plan B. Not only is it important to plan for success, it’s also important to plan for failure. If things don’t go according to their first plan, the committed freelancer comes up with another plan (Plan B).
• Goes the Extra Mile. The committed freelancer is not just the one who gets the job done. They also go the extra mile to make sure that the work is the best that it can be.
• Is Passionate About What They Do. Freelancing is not just about the money or the ability to work from home for the committed freelancer. They truly enjoy the work that they do. Many of them can’t imagine doing anything else.
• Determined to Succeed. Determination goes a long way towards freelancing success. For those who are truly committed, quitting just isn’t an option. They’ll keep trying until they make it work.
• Is Willing to Learn. I’m convinced that the freelancers who have the real staying power are those who are lifelong learners. They are constantly seeking out ways to improve their skills and grow their business.
• Works Smart. Oddly enough, the successful freelancer isn’t usually the one who works the most hours. Rather, it’s the one who learns to work efficiently and minimize wasted time who succeeds in the end.

The bottom line is, when it comes to freelancing, commitment pays off. Throughout the years that I’ve been freelancing, I’ve witnessed the benefits of commitment over and over again.

My Experience

In the seven plus years that I’ve been freelancing, I’ve noticed that many of the freelancers that I knew when I first started freelancing are no longer in business. Despite a seeming initial success, many freelancers ultimately leave the freelancing world and return to the traditional workforce.

At first, this observation frightened me a little bit. I knew that some of the folks who left the freelancing arena were more talented and probably much smarter than me. If they couldn’t make it as a freelancer, how could I?

Then I realized something. Those who quit had very little tolerance for setbacks. As long as things were going smoothly these seemingly successful freelancers were fine. However, whenever they encountered a difficulty they became frustrated and didn’t know what to do.

After one or two setbacks, these freelancers simply gave up. They weren’t adaptable and they weren’t committed to their freelance business.

What About You?

Are you a committed freelancer? What keeps you going?

Or, have you already left the freelancing world behind? We’d like to hear your story as well.

What traits do you think separate those who quit freelancing from those who stick with it?

Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

continue learning

There are no shortage of great freelancing blogs and websites out there that teach you the ins and outs of freelancing. One of the more popular ones, of course, is the Envato Blog, Freelance Switch. While these blogs do a great job of educating the masses about typical freelance work, many of them fail to touch on the subject of Freelancing Abroad. Today, I would like to pick up where many of these sites stop on this topic.

My thoughts and insights on the world of freelancing abroad don’t come from just reading a few travel books and watching the Travel Channel. No, the suggestions and comments I will make come from years on the road as a man of various trades.

While traveling, I have worked as a magazine photographer in Aruba, a travel writer in Nicaragua, and a web designer in Costa Rica. These are just a few of the jobs and locations I have held. So, no matter what type of freelancing you do, you are sure to gain some helpful information on freelancing from your dream destination.

Any of you who have closely followed Outlaw Design Blog may remember when my wife and I moved to Costa Rica over a year ago. While we are currently living in the States for the time being, we lived in Costa Rica for over a year. In that amount of time I learned things about freelancing abroad that no book or blog could have ever prepared me for. There are just some things about freelancing from exotic destinations that you can never really prepare yourself for. Hopefully, by reading this post all the way through, you will limit the problems that can come up from freelancing abroad.

Author’s Note:

Please keep in mind that abroad is a very broad term (no pun intended!). It encompasses the entire world. Obviously some of the things I say in this post will only be relevant for certain parts of the world. For the sake of this article, I am mostly referring to Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

While some people may dream of working in places like Europe or China, I won’t really touch on them in this post. For many, moving to another first-world country is nothing more than visas and red tape. Moving to a third-world country, on the other hand, has its own set of problems and drawbacks.

Establish Your Business First

I am not going to say that it isn’t possible to start up a design company in another country, but if you are new to freelancing, you may want to establish your business in an area with a more stable economy. Once you have learned some of the basic ropes of freelancing and have a number of repeat clients, then it’s a little safer to make the jump to a foreign location.

Reason being: if you are moving to a third-world country, you can pretty much assume that no one is willing to pay what your work is worth. Thus, the chance of finding local clients is slim to none. The ones you do find probably won’t see the benefit in paying $2,000 for a custom website.

In the event that things go wrong and you go broke, it can be a lot harder for your friends and family to help you out. Depending on where you live, getting money sent to you is sometimes easier said than done.

If I haven’t scared you off with the above information, then you might have the right mindset to freelance abroad.

Suggested Reading:

• A Comprehensive Guide to Starting Your Freelance Career
• How To Start Your Freelance Writing Business: Honing Your Craft
• How A Blog Can Kick Start Your Freelance Business
• What Fight Club Teaches Us About Freelancing
• What Not To Do When Starting Out as a Freelancer

Deciding Where to Freelance From

Many of you will already have a dream destination that you would love to work from. This is a great place to start, but you might want to be prepared for the fact that it might not be the most reliable place to work from. It really depends on what sort of work you do and what sort of internet connection you need.

For example, writers really have the most choices when it comes to location. This is because they don’t always need a high-speed internet connection. Even in some of the most under-developed cities, you are likely to be able to find a dial-up internet connection. Photographers, bloggers, designers, and other people who need a faster internet connection will be slightly more limited in the destinations they can choose from.

Your best bet in choosing a place to freelance from is to pick somewhere you have visited before and have enjoyed. By doing this, you aren’t as overwhelmed with the move and have a better idea of what to expect. By choosing a place that you have been to before, you have a better idea of what the internet situation is really like, what areas are safe to live in, the cost of living, and other useful information. This sort of first-hand information is invaluable, as it is very hard to find accurate information of this sort in any book or website.

Deciding where to freelance from is really a personal choice and not something I can really make recommendations about. What I can do is tell you a few things you may want to think about when considering where to freelance from.

How much money can you realistically make on a regular basis?

It is always best to low-ball this amount in case you have a really slow month and don’t have much money saved up.

What are the most important creature comforts to you?

Are you partial to hot showers or air conditioning? Not everywhere has these luxuries, so you might want to double-check that house ad before you pay a deposit on it.

Do you want to rent a house or live in a hostel?

Hostels can be cheaper to live in, but you have to put up with group kitchens, lots of people, and less-than-private accommodations.

How important is a high-speed internet connection to you?

As stated before, not everywhere has easy access to high-speed internet, so you might want to research what the internet situation is in a particular area before you decide.

Will you be moving with your family? Do your kids need to be near a school?

Traveling with a family is a lot different than traveling alone. Some under-developed countries don’t always have schools nearby.

How long will you be moving for? Six months? A year? Permanently?

Depending on how long you plan on staying in any one location, you may be able to get discounts on rent when you agree to 6-month or 12-month lease.

What is Passive Income?

If you are unfamiliar with the term “passive income” you probably don’t know how to make any! The idea of passive income is simple: it’s finding a means of making money without having to do anything. Of course, that’s a very simple explanation – the reality is a little more complex. Let me give you a more specific example of what passive income is; a designer makes a premium WordPress theme and then sells it on ThemeForest.

This is an example of passive income because the designer only had to create the theme once, but will make money from that single theme forever with little to no more work required.

That is how passive income works: by creating a product or service once, and then being able to profit from it time and time again with little to no work on your part. All the Envato Marketplaces are perfect examples of how creatives can start building up passive income.

• ThemeForest – Website Templates, WordPress Themes, HTML Themes, Code Snippits.
• GraphicRiver – Stock art, Vectors, Icons, Photoshop styles, Design Templates
• FlashDen – Animations, Image viewers, Menus, Site Templates, Loaders, Games
• AudioJungle – Music Loops, Sound Effect, Songs, Music, Source Files
• VideoHive – Stock Footage, Video Graphics, Project Files, After Effects

Another reason passive income is such a good idea for freelancing abroad is because it makes for a nice emergency fund. Even if your passive income streams only make $100 a month, that can turn into quite a nice emergency fund that you can probably have pretty quick access to if something should go wrong.

Suggested Reading:

• How to Create Jobs Abroad to Finance Your Travels
• Making Money When Things Get Slow
• Passive Income Opportunities for Freelancers
• What To Do Before You Take Your Business On The Road
• How To Resell Hosting: A Guide For Web Designers

Dealing With Clients Overseas

If you are already running the majority of your business over the internet, you will be in great shape when you move abroad. One of the hardest adjustments to make is getting used to having many different clients in many different time zones. Although this can be easily remedied with a few clocks on your computer, it still takes some getting used to.

There are so many apps and tools on the web these days that you can pretty much find any tool you need to conduct business online. Below I will list a few essential tools that many freelancers could find useful in running their businesses abroad.

Fax.com – Some clients would rather fax you back information than email it to you. There are a number of similar services like this that allow you to send and receive faxes via email.

Basecamp – This project-management software is great for designers and developers, but might also come in handy for writers or photographers. It could serve as your own personal organisation and backup area online.

RightSignature – Need signatures on forms and contracts but don’t have time to wait for snail-mail? RightSignature makes it easy to get legally signed contracts taken care of via the internet.

Skype – A telephone service like Skype or Google voice is an essential tool to have. It will give you a telephone number where clients can reach you, no matter where you live.

Earth Class Mail – If you still have a need for snail-mail, services like EarthMail will check your mail for you, open the mail you tell them to, and then scan the enclosed information to your secure account. This is good if you still have bills or important documents that you need access to while away.

Offering good communication between you and your client is critical to success for any freelancer. This is especially true when freelancing abroad. If you want to keep your clients happy while on the road, make sure you stay in touch with them. When living in a new and exotic location, it’s easy to put off client calls and email to head out to the beach for the day. I am certainly guilty of doing just that, but I always made it a point to email, chat or call clients at least once a day. Even if I did no other work that day, I made sure to stay in touch with my clients daily.

You need to get used to the idea that you may not have a phone or internet service in the house you are renting or living in. In some parts of the world, very few houses actually have a phone. Even less will have high-speed internet service. Start getting used to the fact that you will be spending a lot of time working from internet cafes. I mention this because it might make it that much harder to stay in touch with clients, depending on where the internet cafe is in relation to your living quarters.

Final Thoughts

Obviously there is a lot more to moving, living, and working abroad than this post covers. For that reason I am working on creating a membership site called Freelancing Abroad. The idea of the site is to help educate freelancers with basic knowledge with which they need to be able to run a profitable freelancing business from anywhere in the world. If this is of interest to you, I encourage you to sign up for updates at my site Freelancing Abroad.

Freelancing from your dream location might be the most amazing thing you can do with your life. Think about it: what could be better than doing something you love from the most beautiful place you can think of? I am here to tell you, it is not as hard as you might think. The hardest part is taking the first step and getting the ball rolling. Once that ball is in action, you won’t let it stop.

Continue Learning…

By Dainis

Being a freelancer can be extremely advantageous and it is probably a dream for many designers and developers. Not only you get to choose the job you are really interested in, you also have total flexibility in terms of time, whom you want to work with and where you want to work at.

However, there is always a flip side of a coin. What happens when if you are out of jobs suddenly? This following article is dedicated to designers and developers who wanted to achieve financial freedom in freelancing. We showcase a list of 50 Best Freelance Job Sites and you might want to go through to see if you’ve missed some of them. If you a company or individual looking to outsourcing or hire, these following sites might come in handy too. Full list after jump.

Digitalpoint Forum

Aside from being a very useful forum for webmaster, Digitalpoint is also an extremely strategic place where you can outsource work and seek relevant freelance professionals.

Smashing Jobs

A great thing about posting your job at this site is that the jobs listed here are soon featured among one of the top 20 blogs of the world. This is again a nice job portal to find programming and designing jobs, besides all others.

Elance

A famous online portal for freelancers, this is an ultimate place to meet professionals with business, technical and marketing expertise to get work done at an affordable price.

Odesk

Since its inception in 2004, this online marketplace truly embarked a revolution in the way world works. It’s win-win approach for both service providers and employers with meaningful work as well as top-flight talent, makes it an asset for both parties. Average size of a job here is $5,000.

GetAFreelancer

Bag a project or post a project on this platform to get the best bids from gamut of skilled web designers, copywriters or freelance programmers. Provide work or get work at the best prices. Sign up today as a work provider or a work seeker. A word of caution – Stay alert before trusting anyone as there are a lot many fraudsters as well, on both sides.

Sitepoint Marketplace

Sitepoint is a well-known paid webmaster forum. Looking to hire category providers a marketplace where you can find freelancers or clients from different industries and different countries.

Simply Hired

This online job portal allows you to find all kinds of jobs, whether freelance or full-time, based on your location, skills and experience in the field.

RentACoder

Rent a coder is a website where a software developer can get plenty of jobs there and in return can earn plenty of money. This is perfectly a legit site and the fact that it is only a medium for giving work to interested hunters makes it tempting.

Metafilter Jobs

Search and share jobs with other members of the site and mark the distance of your job from you, based on the latitude/latitude entered in your profile.

Problogger Jobs

If you are also one of the blogging enthusiasts, who has or who wishes to explore the income potential of this fun-filled hobby of ‘blogging,’ problogger.net is your right choice. Collaborate with other bloggers, share experiences and take your blogs to great heights. The jobs section of this blog can land you with several blogging jobs that pays you well along with enjoying what you love to do.

Dice

Dice is a job search engine dedicated to only finding technology jobs. It offers a targeted niche space for finding exactly the technology position you might be looking for. Dice also offers advice on writing resumes and obtaining IT certification, as well as a variety of discussion forums.

Scriptlance

Get access to thousands of designers and programmers with immense in-depth knowledge about an array of programming languages, ranging from Joomla, C++ to SEO requirements.

Guru

Like other freelance websites, this is another of the sources to find the indutry’s most ultimate professionals from world over. However, safer way to pay through Escrow gives this site an edge over other freelance sites. From business, creative arts to technology, select your favorite category and get started.

99designs

If you like to draw and your drawings are good and you want to earn from it, you can try your hand at 99Designs. 99Designs, basically is a site where various companies fulfill their need of designing their logos, banners, websites etc. They just give you the information about the background of their company, its ideas and goals. The designers use these facts and design logos or whatever is required by the company. If the contest holding company likes the job, it awards the designer with the pre specified prize money.

Behance Job

Find productivity and creativity go hand in hand at the job list section of this site that claims to ‘make ideas happen.’ This exclusive site is known to convert creativity into lucrative services or products to promote unique ideas.

Mistersoft Freelancing

Your needs may encompass a flash designer, a copywriter, a SEO manager, a coder, a data entry expert or any other professional, find the best of the lot at this amazing site for freelancers.

37signals Jobs

37signals job board provides a wide array of content from many geographies. If you’re looking to hire programmers and designers from around the U.S., 37signals looks like a site worth dipping your feet into.

Bixee

This hybrid job portal also form a part of Ibibo, which is a famous Indian social networking platform. Hence, you can find suitable jobs and research innovative content at the same time.

Jobs on Webdesignerwall

Design Jobs on the Wall — a job board managed by Web Designer Wall, where creative professionals come to find job opportunities. When you post your job here, it will be instantly featured on Web Designer Wall and others network sites where designers will see it. Due to website strong following, Web Designer Wall appears on loads of online portals and design publications.

Coroflot

Coroflot is an employment site for creative professionals – design firms post job openings and designers post portfolios – Coroflot makes the connection. Career and hiring advice, portfolio tips, how to find a design job and design salary surveys make Coroflot a valuable resource for the design community.

Freelanceswitch Jobs

Catering to the demands of all freelance professionals, this site is not just another place to find projects or seek the best of the manpower. Instead, it also serves as an information bank for freelancers and clients, providing them tips for easy and beneficial dealing as well as a healthy and interactive work environment.

Designm.ag

Array of designers and developers can now find full-time or freelance jobs all over the world in just a few clicks. Thank to Designm, talented professionals of the industry are now paid for what they are worth of and no longer have to toil to bag a handful of small and not-so-lucrative projects.

Lime Exchange

Making the ends meet between freelance talent and small or big scale businesses all over the world, Limeexchange allows professionals to not only find lucrative opportunities or get work done but also interact with one another at QnA platform and share recommendations and tips globally, about their respective industries.

GetACoder

The growth of a business is decided by the resources that it is able to explore and access, to get the competitive advantage. Save costs and enhance efficiencies by outsourcing your programming, writing and web designing jobs to the right people at this famous online freelance portal.

Crowd Spring

What makes Crowdspring different is that it doesn’t feel like a marketplace. You’re not trying to outbid each other with a better price. You’re not competing against others who have a better portfolio. How you approach a project, and how creative you really are is what can get you that project. You still get to compete with others, but it’s a healthy kind of competition. You put up your design to win the project, and not your price.

iFreelance

Your need may be of an experienced professional or an affordable novice, this is the place to find the top-notch photographers, web designers, proofreaders, data entry, bookkeeping and other such skilled freelancers. Freelancers are also free to choose projects that cater to their interest. What more? You need not bother to pay commissions to any mediator.

People per hour

Based on the simple bidding system, hire efficient freelancers here and enjoy the on-demand flexibility while saving money at the same time. Marketing, legal, accounting, writing, programming are some of the most common industry types covered by this site.

Krop

Krop is a Job Board and career resource website for creative professionals. Whether you’re looking for job, or hunting top-notch talent, Krop’s simple and powerful tools are geared towards connecting the worlds brightest minds with the best companies.

Sologig

Bridging the gap between experienced employees and qualified employers, this site is known to have the best talent in varied industries. You can seek both part-time and full-time contracts as well as consulting opportunities that nurture your talent further while filling your pockets.

Joomlancers

All Joomla professionals an now jump with joy as here is the site that caters to different work aspects of Joomla. Come and find work that adds more to your credibility as a Joomla professional and also reward you with a great sum.

Journalism Jobs

This is your best pick if your industry type is journalism and you wish to associate with a magazine, news group, radio, TV or any other type of media. Besides, you may also stay updated with the latest happenings of the industry with the news feeds and articles that are uploaded on the site.

Authentic Jobs

Creative and web professionals can seek reputed full-time and freelance opportunities here and get associated with well-known names of the industry like Sony BMG, HBO, HP, Facebook and many more.

EU Freelance

Eufreelance will help you find new customers around the globe. Submit a project and get the best possible price from skilled developers in India, Ukraine, Russia, Romania and other countries. Eufreelance is targetting the biggest market in the world with buyers from Europe and sellers from the whole world.

GoFreelance

Now it’s easy to market your freelance services and find all the business you need to succeed. Gofreelance have thousands of jobs in database, with fresh contracts and projects being added daily. So kickstart your work-at-home career by signing up for the free edition of The Freelance Job Report to get: Hot jobs and cool projects emailed to you daily and a free 10-day course: ‘The Secrets of Freelance Success’.

Freelance Designers

Industrial designer, advertising design, video production, architects, SEO, web designers and programmers are the primary categories at this job site for freelancers. Divided to precision into several sub categories, you can find your relevant category under the above listed major categories, to seek or provide suitable work.

LogoMyWay

Get an ideal logo designed for your company or website here. Let thousands of eminent professionals compete to get rewarded with your offered sum and in turn provide you gamut of logo choices to choose from. The minimum amount for which you can host a contest here is $200.

Project4hire

This freelance marketplace offers an array of opportunities to contractors and thereby require them to pay a small amount as a commission to tech site, on being awarded a project. Apart from this, it is easy to use and a great platform to post projects and find freelance professionals like coders, consultants, graphic designers, software developers.

See more sites here…

We spend a lot of time on Freelance Folder talking about marketing. That is because good marketing is very important to a freelancer’s success. It is important to get those clients in the door and signed up for your products or services if you are going to earn enough to really support yourself as a freelancer.

For some freelancers, though, that “in” door is actually a revolving door. If this is you, it may seem that no sooner do you get a client signed up for your products or services than they leave. You have no idea why you are losing clients, but you know that it has to stop.

This post should take some of the mystery out of why freelancers lose clients. It will also provide some tips for how to hang on to the clients that you do have.

Eight Reasons Why Your Clients Leave

There are many reasons why clients stop doing business with a freelancer. While we may never know all of those reasons, we can identify (and correct) some of the most common problems that clients have with freelancers.

Here are eight common reasons that clients stop working with a freelancer:

1. Missed deadlines. In general, clients like freelancers who meet their deadlines. They want to know when they can expect a completed project. While most freelancers occasionally miss a deadline, frequent missed deadlines give your client the impression that you don’t care about them. If you must turn a project in late, contact the client and let them know when they can expect the work.
2. Lack of communications. While no client has the right to expect a freelancer to be “on call” 24/7, they do have the right to expect timely answers to their questions. No client should have to wait days or weeks to get a response from a freelancer. If you will be going on vacation or otherwise unavailable, let your clients know ahead of time as a courtesy.
3. Quality. Do you take shortcuts with your work? If you do, guess what? Your client can tell. The quality of your work demonstrates how thorough you are. If your work is poor or has to be redone, don’t expect your clients to stick around. You can solve this problem by having someone else check over large projects or by double-checking your work yourself.
4. Talking too much. Many freelancers enter a project with a set agenda in mind–their own. Good listening skills are vital to the successful freelancer. Not only do you need to find out what the client wants, to do the best job for them you also need to find out why they want it. The only way to do that is through listening.
5. Not fulfilling instructions. Nothing makes a client more upset than a freelancer who ignores their instructions. Read the project assignment over carefully until you are sure that you understand what the client wants. If you have a question about something be sure to ask it. It’s better to ask a question early than have to do rework later.
6. Not keeping up with your field. What year is it? Do your business practices reflect the current trends and knowledge? If your work is out of date, then clients may want to go with a freelancer whose skills and knowledge are more current. This is why it is important for freelancers to make time to learn new things.
7. Dishonesty. This should go without saying, but unfortunately there are a few dishonest freelancers out there (just as there are a few dishonest clients). My best advice to you: don’t be one of them. Any so-called benefits that you may gain through your dishonesty will be far outweighed by the hit to your reputation.
8. Personality clash. Freelancers are people. Clients are people. Once in a while, they just don’t get along. While a good freelancer should be professional enough to work with many different personality types there are a few times when a freelancer should just acknowledge that they aren’t person to work with this particular client.

There’s good news, though. You don’t have to keep losing clients. You can stop the revolving door. To learn more, read the next section.

How to Keep From Losing Clients

The most important step that you can take to keep from losing clients is to recognize that you have a problem. Once you acknowledge that clients are leaving your freelance business you can begin to determine why they are leaving and take steps to correct the problem.

You can start out by reviewing the list above. Do one, or more, of these categories describe you? If so, you know what you need to do to solve the problem. Stop the offending behavior and you should start to retain more clients.

If you don’t fit into one of the categories above, don’t panic. It’s possible that you are losing clients through a misunderstanding. You may have to ask your clients why they are dissatisfied. Conduct a friendly survey of clients who have been inactive for more than a specified length of time.

How Do You Retain Clients?

Share your experience.

Have you solved a client retention problem? What did you do?

Let us know in the comments.

Conversely, are you the client of a freelancer? What would make you stop using a particular freelancer?

Share your answers in the comments.

See more articles here…

Isn’t working at home great? That’s why so many of us are either already doing it, or dreaming about doing it. We know it’s just the thing for creative types who don’t like structure and hierarchy. Working at home has its perks.

However, working at home also brings many temptations that can sabotage our productivity, creativity, sanity, happiness and even our health.

Below are what I consider to be the five most common pitfalls of working at home, why they’re bad for us, and how we can avoid or overcome them.

1. Working in Your Pajamas or Underwear

You have to admit, one of the best parts of working at home is never having to put on a suit ever again. Well, at least not every day.

However, some work at home professionals take this no-dress-code thing a little too far. Most people think all freelancers work in pajamas or, worse, their underwear.

Not dressing up for work can actually hurt your productivity. If you’re wearing a T-shirt with holes in it, even if nobody can see you, your sloppy appearance will affect your confidence and professionalism. This comes through when you talk to a prospective client on the phone, and even in your writing.

Another reason to dress in some form of regular work attire, even if it’s only jeans and a T-shirt, is that it puts your mind into work mode. It’s a cue that you mean business now and your mind boots up to deliver quickly.

So make up your mind what your personal dress code is. Make sure it’s presentable, but comfortable. My rule of thumb is to be presentable enough to open the door with confidence. And don’t forget personal hygiene

2. Not Having Set Working Hours

When you work at home, nobody cares if you sleep all day and work only two hours starting at midnight — as long as you meet deadlines.

However, it’s still a good idea to have specific working hours, at least most of the time. For one thing, your working hours should respect your personal productivity rhythm.

For example, I can only write in the daytime. At night, my brain is too fried to write anything cohesive. I need to respect this and work when I’m most productive. Otherwise, I’ll be working against myself, taking longer to get things done and producing less than stellar work.

Other writers do their best work late at night, when the whole house is totally quiet. Others need to wake up before dawn. Know when you’re most productive and set your work hours accordingly.

Besides, when you don’t have set working hours you’re more open to distractions. You’re more likely to take a little longer on a phone call, or get lost on Twitter, or blindly turn on the TV when your time is “open” and unstructured.

3. Sitting on Your Butt All Day

Did you know that work at home professionals gain as much as 30 pounds during their first year of working at home? Especially if you work primarily at the computer, the temptation is too great to stay in your chair, only getting up to get a snack from the fridge.

Before you know it, your hips and butt are spreading. You’re getting flabby and — worst yet — you’re losing the edge and sharpness in your thinking.

Our bodies and minds need regular breaks. This is why it’s a good idea to work in time chunks of, say 50-90 minutes, and then take a break for ten minutes or so.

A related pitfall deals with vacations (or lack of them).

4. Never Going on Vacation

Freelancers don’t get paid vacation days, so we tend to never go on vacation. A big mistake!

It’s better to take short, frequent vacations than get burned out or seriously ill and be forced to take a long break from your work.

Besides, those frequent breaks will help increase not only your productivity, but your creativity as well.

It is possible to organize a vacation without going broke.

5. Working in a Non-productive Space

Because we work at home, we pretty much have perfect control of where we work. We could work in our garage, in the basement, in bed, on the couch, on the grass in the backyard. Or, we don’t even have to work at home. We can bring the laptop to the playground or to Starbucks or the woods.

This is perfectly fine, once in a while, when we need a fresh perspective.

But, most of the time, we need a regular working space that’s arranged to support our productivity. We need comfortable furniture, appropriate lighting, preferably away from the TV and boombox, and with a view of the outdoors.

Our physical space affects our productivity. Clutter gets in the way, making it take longer to find what we need. Clutter also tends to make our minds jumbled and unable to focus.

Working in the same place every day helps you get more work done. You’ll spend less time getting settled in a working mode. Instead, your brain will be ready to go as soon as you sit in your work chair.

I have to admit, I’m guilty of working on the couch or at the dining table too often, especially now that it’s too cold in the basement where the home office is. I’ve tried to remedy this by using a laptop table, which I move from dining room to living room. That’s my regular, albeit portable, working space.

How About You?

Are you guilty of any of these pitfalls? If you stopped doing just one thing from the list above, how do you think it would affect your productivity, creativity, stress level and work satisfaction?