1The caveat of a happy client.

Okay first, a bit of honesty: I didn’t come up with the idea for this post on my own. It came as the result of a conversation with a good friend of mine (and fellow web guy) Brandon Richards. There, I said it. Now let’s get on with it.

Any freelancer worth their salt will tell you that word-of-mouth is an important form of advertising. I don’t know the statistics, but I’ve talked to numerous business owners who say that word-of-mouth is their main source of advertising. They might put an ad in the paper or the phone book and maybe even have a TV spot, but I’ll bet you money that the majority of their business comes about because someone told someone. Continue Reading The caveat of a happy client. »

0Quit Dreaming of Success.

I forget who said it, but someone once imparted some great advice to me that was all about moving on, pressing forward, and staying fresh: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” I think this is a large issue for a majority of us in the Freelancing industry. We’ll push push push for that gig or that networking relationship, and once things calm down, it’s all too easy to kind of mellow out and relax and lose that steam. We begin to roll with the punches, and pretty soon, we’ll have to find the motivation to get pushing again.

I think it would be much easier if we quit dreaming of success. That right, I said stop dreaming of success. There’s nothing so unproductive and depressing than “dreaming of success.” You’ll spend so much time thinking about how things would be so much different or how much happier you’d be “if only”. Baloney! Pardon me for sounding like an episode of Dr. Phil, but it’s true - the only one standing in the way of your success is you. Quit dreaming of success and be successful. Be successful on a regular, constant basis. Have goals. Meet those goals and celebrate in your own way. If you’re consistently successful, staying successful becomes easy. Notice, I said “consistently” not “constantly”. The worst way to get your success is to do it 24/7. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Pick your nose up off the grindstone every once in awhile and enjoy life. You’ll find being successful is a lot more enjoyable that way.

07 ways to make 2008 great

I love it when we get to go into a new year. It seems to be a refreshing chance to redo all the stuff that we messed up on last year. While the consequences of yesteryear may or may not really go away, it’s important to see the opportunity we have in starting anew. Will this year be the one where you finally step out into freelancing full time? Will it be the one that has a dramatic impact on your finances or your social life? Here are eight tips to helping you make the year 2008 your best year yet. Continue Reading 7 ways to make 2008 great »