Egganomaly

The guys from frelancefolder wrote a good post about freelance work, four ways to help you keep your work coming. It works for me, hope it works for your too. If you need any help just send me an email or write a comment.

Method One: Break Down Traditional Barriers

If you were at a conference or a meeting, you wouldn’t just start pushing your business cards into other people’s faces. Before sharing business information about yourself there is usually some initial form of communication.

If you are linking to your own articles or promotional messages constantly, that’s like throwing ads into people’s faces. You can’t think of your links as billboard or TV ads (that people don’t necessarily want, but are forced to see anyway). The Internet world doesn’t work like other media. On the web, people have too many options to be held captive by an advertisement.

Be generous and allow yourself to break the traditional barrier of always promoting yourself. Give to others, rather than always asking. You will soon see exposure, loyalty, and referrals coming your way.

Method Two: Share Referrals and Link Out Often

When it comes to promoting your freelancing services, it’s key to be seen by others in your field. If you are a freelance writer who is too busy to take on any more work, refer a client who is looking for a writer to a colleague who is looking for work.

<>Be sure to tell the client to let your fellow writer know that you referred them. When the other freelance writer finds out that you referred them, they will get in touch with you. When time comes for them to refer a client to someone, they will think of you first. Sharing referrals is a good way to build loyalty from other freelancers in your field and get your name out there.

Another key to getting exposure and marketing your services is through blogging. As you may already know, some people create posts with “must follow” lists of “designers, writers,” and so on.

When you mention someone in a post, they usually come back to thank you for mentioning them. You can also mention others in your blog posts by linking out to relevant articles written by others.

Freelancers are a community of like-minded people who work in different fields, but have similar goals. Help them when they are in need and they will help you to grow your business.

Method Three: Be Transparent

It doesn’t matter whether you are a corporation or a one-man team, transparency in today’s world is key. When you are using different social media and networking platforms, make sure you allow others to see the true you. Be yourself and do not try to sugar coat anything you are saying.

If your office is in the basement and happens to be a storage area, do not tell others you have a gorgeous beach view. What’s the point of lying? Sure you might fool some into thinking that you are doing well, but in the long run lying is not going to help. Be yourself. Do not sugarcoat things.

If you are not knowledgeable about something, but want to talk about it, don’t act like you are an authority on the subject. Being genuine has bigger rewards for you and your freelancing business than being a “poser.” Let your true self be seen so that your potential clients can see not just the work you do, but also the real person behind the work.

Method Four: Embrace Giving

This is a tried and true method. The key to building a thriving community around you and your freelancing services is giving to others.

We are all busy. We all have our plates full. At times, we end up sleeping at our desks. However busy you are, try to squeeze in a few minutes to reply to an email that asks for your input or tweet back to someone who has a problem with something that you might be able to help with.

One of the best ways to keep your name visible on different platforms is to be there when people need you. When someone has a problem and they turn to you, be there for them. If you can’t be there, at least direct them to someone who might be able to help them. They will be grateful to you for your help and your helpfulness will eventually get your name out there.

One last thing that I would like to stress — do not ignore someone just because they are new to blogging, web designing, etc. Help them when you can because when they succeed they will remember you as the one who helped them learn the ropes.

Via freelancefolder.com/

The Mac’s always been a strong platform for design applications, but it’s now also the obvious choice for web developers.

A built-in Apache server and the ability to run Mac OS X and Windows browsers simultaneously (the latter via virtual machines) takes you part of the way, but high-quality software products for development really make the Mac stand out in this space.

If you’re new to the platform or fancy some shiny new tools for working on websites, our list below details the best you can buy.

Direct Link

One of the coolest things about being a freelancer is that we have the ability to work as much or as little as we want. We can look at this blessing in two ways. Either this means that we can spend more time with our families, or more time to manage projects and make money.

My private school teacher worked from 8:30am-6pm and then one hour in the night. He did not mind working almost 12 hours of being bossed around by the bitchy principal simply for his set wage of £40K…and he thought he had hit the jack pot!

Freelancers have the ability to be able to go above and beyond this as we have no boss to order us around but also because everything we make is ours. The private school I mentioned provided a service for a price, and the only person really making money was a rich snob. He could afford to pay high wages because he was making silly amounts of money. A freelancer is in the position of the rich snob, as we provide a service for money and we do not need to give employees a cut.

This gives us the advantage of being able to excel more-so than others and get rich faster. I understand that many people will feel wrong to be motivated by money, as most of us entered this field in order to do something we enjoy. I, however see no harm in using money to motivate you, because ultimately we need it.

1. The 10% Rule

Paul McKenna and many other self-help gurus will tell you of an ancient concept if you want to make money. This concept spans the millennia and even then the 10% rule applied.

The concept is simple. From your monthly income, put 10% out of reach. Out of reach means make it untouchable and live nine tenths of the life you were living before. Save the 10% and build it up until you can take advantage of number.

2. Invest the 10%

You should trust yourself more than anyone else. When investing the 10% ensure that you invest it in such a place which you know will definitely make you money. If you want to invest in something you have no idea about, don’t! Instead invest in yourself.

Use the money to market your freelancing business and grow your business to new levels. If you are an entrepreneur, then you may want to carry out a project with this money. There are several positive ways in which you can spend this money, whichever you chose stick with it.

3. When You See Returns – Reinvest

Whatever positive investment you do with your money, when you see a return, don’t use it, reinvest it!
It may be that you began a marketing campaign and this boosted your income by 40%. When you get the extra cash, do not got running to buy a new TV, instead be wise and reinvest it like you did in step two. Only when you see returns on your returns, you can enjoy these and spend them.

4. Expand

By learning new skills you will expand your skills and by investing more into your business you will expand your business. More growth leads to more income.

5. Charge More

Freelancing has really been bruised by so many people in third world countries charging next to nothing. Many clients have decided to compromise quality for a cheap job.

Such an odd phenomena, bearing in mind that if a client wants a redesign of their site (for example) they go to someone who is dirt cheap and does a dirty job. I would ask the one who practices this weird behaviour why they redesigned in the first place?

Unfortunately, this price drop has made many freelancers to cut their prices, which in turn reflects the entire market forcing all of us to drop our prices.

A simple solution is to stay true to your pricing theory, thinking independently of what some dude in another country is charging. Even if you are in a developing country like the sub-continent, Africa or South America, I would urge you to charge more. By all of us charging what we are worth, we will lift the entire web-freelancing industry and be paid fair prices.

If you double your prices, and due to this half of your clients leave you, you are now making the same money for half the work! Up your price tags!

Conclusion

Becoming a well-off freelancer all depends on your mindset. You should start by telling yourself that you deserve more because you are worth more. Once you have a clear mind of exactly what you want to achieve, you will be heading out toward your goals every time you think about them.

via freelanceshack

Why the hell wouldn’t you want to make some money on the side while you’re building your freelance business?

Got your attention yet? Good.

As a freelance web designer, I can speak from the heart when I say that there are times in my business building process that I just wish I could work on things I liked all day long and not have worry about anything else. Passive income is the answer to that problem and since I’m sure that I am not the only one who has thoughts similar to this – you need to continue reading

In this article I am going to list and discuss 8 different methods we can earn some passive income and build the ultimate side hustle. In my opinion, a side hustle like this is a must have for any freelancer, because we all know about the feast or famine cycle and the troubles that come along with depending on one source of income. You know the phrase “don’t put all your eggs in one basket“? Yeah, we’re not going to be doing that anymore.

If at the end of the article you come across some questions or would like to discuss things further, just drop a comment and let me know and I’ll answer any questions you may have.

Stock Photography

With the relative low cost of a decent quality camera these days, anyone can take it outside for an hour or two and shoot some pictures to sell on stock photography websites. One site that sticks out in my mind is iStockPhoto.

Imagine uploading 10 photos a week for an entire year. At the end of the year, you’ll have over 500 photos that people can purchase and you can make money off of. This will take a minimal amount of time on your part and will also give you the added benefit of actually getting away from your computer and getting outside.

Vector/Graphic Files

We’ve all heard of Envato and their huge list of marketplaces that totally dominate the entire world, right? (ok, so they don’t dominate the world, but you get my point)

Why not take some of your old designs that clients didn’t accept, polish them up and place them on sites like Graphic River or Video Hive to see if you can earn some extra cash?

Reseller Hosting

Any web designer out there can utilize this method of passive income to the fullest. Places like This* Web Host (aff link) offer super low cost reseller hosting packages that you can use and sell to your web clients.

Now, you don’t have to build an entire web hosting business (you know, domain, logo & website), but by simply letting your web design clients know that you offer hosting, you can earn some really nice passive income over time. Imagine having 20-30 people paying you $10.00 per month hosting – thats an extra 2-3 grand per year in your pocket.

T-Shirts/Clothing

No matter if you’re a web designer, logo designer or anything in between, we all have creative juices that sometimes just flow out of control.

No matter if you’re a web designer, logo designer or anything in between, we all have creative juices that sometimes just flow out of control.

Put that extra energy to use and design some t-shirts. Make them for yourself and you never know who else might love the design. Places like Design by Humans have members vote on t-shirts and the winners win money. The shirt of the day wins $750, the shirt of the week wins $1,000, and the shirt of the month wins $1,750.

How To’s & Ebooks

You know a lot about your line of work, right? Could you put 20-30 thousand words together in ‘how-to’ form and tell people how to do what you do? Our friends over at Freelance Folder put out the Unlimited Freelancer book and I am sure are making some great passive income from the sales of the book.

Price your book right and pack it full of kick ass information and it can earn you some nice bank while you’re away from your computer doing something else you love.

Consulting

Along the lines of the method above, why not take some of your knowledge and teach others how to do things the right way.

Do you know how to market a freelance business properly? Sell consulting services that teach other freelance business owners how they can make more money by marketing the right way. What about design/coding consulting? You could turn your knowledge into a pretty nice bank account by offering classes/seminars and giving out tips/tricks on how to design better.

Themes/Templates

There are two choices (in my opinion) that you can follow here. One, you can create templates (xhtml/css) or themes (wordpress, ecommerce, ect) and sell them on sites like Theme Forest or you can build your own brand up and sell premium themes like Woo Themes and StudioPress.

Yes, if you build a quality brand the work involved may be big, but in the end you’ll have the freedom to design things you love and not have to answer to clients – plus, if you’re that busy building themes, you’re obviously making good money, so stop complaining

Affiliate Marketing

No matter if you’ve only got a website that is your portfolio, you can place affiliate links to your web hosting company and other things like the invoicing software your use or premium membership sites you belong to, in the footer of your site where people usually place the “powered by” text.

You can also offer affiliate links during conversations through email/social networks/forums when you’re giving out advice. Make people aware of the links (like I’ve been doing in this post) and you’re good to go. The more your affiliate links are out there, the more likely you are to make some money from them.

So What Are You Waiting For?

Get out there and make some money! Any other tips you’d like to share? I’m sure we could all use some of your wisdom, please share your ideas with the rest of us!

via spyrestudios

Hoje em dia existem centenas de CMS pela Internet fora, mas qual escolher? A webdesign ledger testou alguns deles e seleccionou os 10 melhores CMS para designers.

Todos estes CMS são uma excelente escolha para quem esta a começar ou não tem grandes capacidades de programação.

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Para quem esta familiarizado com frameworks php e quer começar a desenvolver em Code Igniter aqui vai uma lista de 40 tutorials muito interessantes.

O Code Igniter é um framework de desenvolvimento de aplicações em PHP.

Seu objetivo, através de um abrangente conjunto de bibliotecas voltadas às tarefas mais comuns, de uma interface e uma estrutura lógica simples para acesso àquelas bibliotecas, é possibilitar que o usuário desenvolva projetos mais rapidamente do que se estivesse codificando do zero.

Code Igniter permite que se mantenha o foco em seu projeto minimizando a quantidade de código necessário para uma dada tarefa.

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Este ano decidi registar-me para o codebits 2009.  Felizmente fui aceite, e não vou sozinho, dois amigos vão me acompanhar nestes 3 dias.

Para quem não sabe o codebits é um evento organizado pelo Sapo.pt, onde junta pessoas que trabalham na área da informática/programação. Vai juntar cerca de 600 pessoas para 3 dias de workshops, discussões, competições e muita diversão.

Faço intenções de entrar nas competições de programação, vamos la ver se saio de lá com algum prémio, vai ser renhido visto que vai lá estar pessoal com excelentes capacidades nesta área, o que ainda torna a competição mais aliciante.

Se algum dos leitores deste blog for à codebits que diga alguma coisa para nos encontrarmos por lá.