Last month I read this really nice post over at youmoz about a website called Mindmeister. Mindmeister is an online collaboration tool that allows you to create mind maps - you know those charts where you’d circle an idea, then list related ideas, and keep branching away. You can share your “mind maps” with other users, and they can add to and edit your map. All revisions are tracked and can be easily undone.
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If finding questions with a lot of different answers made me money, this question would be a goldmine. It seems every freelancer has their own formula for determining how much to charge. Rightly so - as your price can make quite an impact on your business. If you charge too much you’ll be less competitive, and if you charge too little you aren’t going to make money. Most freelancers charge their clients by either an hourly rate or a fixed “per project” or “per item” rate. Regardless of which method works better for you, it’s a good idea to establish an hourly rate that is going to keep your head above the water. You can then use this rate as a basis to establish fixed-rate prices.
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I read an awesome article this morning that really made me happy to be a freelancer:
A guide on how freelancers can compete against large design studios
Customer service is so absolutely important in the freelancing business. I’d rather lose time and money than have a single unhappy customer any day.
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A few years ago I started offering web design services to those in need of a web site. Ever since, It’s been a constant learning experience. When I advanced from website coding to directly interacting with clients, I was taking a pretty big step. It was hard enough trying to understand this crazy markup language, and now I had to learn how to interact with clients? Sheesh. Thanks to trial and error, I’ve come to understand a few things about establishing and maintaining the best possible relationship with my clients.
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The other day I was going back and forth with a potential client about re-designing his web site. It’s a small site, and I worked with this person before - so it didn’t take us very long to hammer out the details. The next step was writing out the contract and getting him to sign off on it. I had heard about a service where you could electronically aquire a signature, so I figured what the hell, I’ll give this a try.
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