Freelancing

Why you should invest $1,000 in launching your freelance business.

by

cost of starting a businessIf you wanted to open a coffee shop it would likely cost you somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000.

If you wanted to buy into a franchise fast food chain, it would cost you six figures or more.

And if you want to begin a freelance copywriting business, and are aiming to make six figures a year…how much would you be willing to invest?

What, you thought starting your own business would be free?

It can be free, if you want to freelance as a hobby.

But it’s not free if you want to build a freelance business that will earn you a big, fat income.

Read the full post…

Monday Spark: The secret of success is to not give a damn.

by

don't give a damn negotiationOddly – at least I think it’s odd – I’m pretty good at negotiating.

I’m at my best when sitting across the table from someone and figuring out a price for my services. (I’m not so good when I’m alone at home and putting together an estimate.)

In one memorable one-on-one negotiation I just sat there without saying a word, while the other guy kept raising the fee.

Another time, when interviewing for a job as an employee, I totally dug in my heels and refused to budge an inch on the salary I was asking for. What was surprising about that interview was that I really, really needed the job…and if I didn’t get it, I would probably have had to wait months and months for a similar position to become available. And yes, I got the salary I asked for, even although it was a lot higher than the figure they had in mind.

How did I pull this off?

Read the full post…

3 Ways in which Freelancing Rocks.

by

freelancing rocks on waterI’m a big fan of the freelance life. I should be, because I have been freelancing for most of the last 32 years.

I have raised four sons. I am raising a daughter. I have lived in two different countries and, here in Canada, have lived in four different provinces. I have worked on the kinds of projects I choose and enjoy. I can’t be downsized. I can’t be fired. And I love what I do.

What’s not to like about being a freelancer?

Let’s look at 3 ways in which freelancing truly rocks.

As a freelancer, I can focus on what I do best.

This doesn’t often make the top 10 list of reasons to become a freelancer, but for me it’s huge.

Over the last couple of decades I have been an employee three times. Each time I lasted about 12 months before becoming a freelancer again. There was nothing wrong with those three companies, but in each case I ended up being asked to do work that was not central to my core skills.

Read the full post…

Monday Spark: To be happy, work on what you do best.

by

doing something wellCompetence makes you feel good.

The task can be fairly ordinary, like making coffee. If you are good at making coffee – gourmet coffee, that is – the simple act of brewing a great pot of coffee will make you feel good.

Conversely, if this isn’t something you do well, and your dinner guest are all coffee snobs, the act of making coffee will probably make you feel anxious.

It’s not much different if you are an employee at a company. If you are good at what you do, you will likely enjoy your work. But when a colleague takes a sick day, and you have to take on her tasks, which you are not so good at, that sense of satisfaction quickly evaporates.

All this is a preamble to suggesting that in your freelance life you should pay more attention to what you do best.

Read the full post…

How to stop wasting time on learning new stuff.

by

learning too muchIf I look back over the last 10 years, I can’t even imagine the number of things I have learned. For the sake of argument, let’s say I have learned 10,000 different things that might be useful to my work.

I have learned from articles and posts, from books I have read, from conversations I have had, and so on.

Now let’s say, out of those 10,000 things I have learned, I was smart enough to identify10 things which, if I applied them, could actually have a significant impact on my success. Those were 10 moments of learning that had the potential to transform my business in some meaningful way.

But out of those 10, how many did I actually apply? And of those lessons I have applied, did I work at them hard enough to achieve some positive change?

Read the full post…

Monday Spark: Overcome fear with practice and preparation [VIDEO]

by

hadfield on fearA lot of freelancers find their forward momentum is slowed down by fear. Fear of making a cold call. Fear of reaching out to get work from a large or well-known company. Fear of charging more for their services. And so on.

And that’s perfectly natural. It’s normal to feel fear when facing an uncertain outcome.

But you don’t have to let it stop you.

One way to address fear is described really well by astronaut Chris Hadfield in the video below.

He is having a conversation with William Shatner. Hadfield is in the International Space Station and Shatner is at his home in California. And it seems they are big fans of each other’s work.

At one point in the interview, Shatner asks Hadfield how he manages to handle the fear he feels at dangerous moments, like when blasting off from earth.

Read the full post…