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andrewmrudd79 · 6 years

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How to Start Freelancing (And Get Your FIRST Client!)

The SPI community has been asking about the world of freelancing a lot lately, so I thought I’d share some recent thoughts on freelancing to guide you in how to start freelancing (and get your first client).

But first, I want to take you back to a post I shared in November 2017:

The 2 Quickest Ways to Generate an Online Income

In that post, I explain that freelancing is one of the two quickest ways to generate online income (the other is affiliate marketing). Freelancing allows you to quickly get paid for a task that can actually help solve problems for people.

And when you’re first starting out, freelancing is the number one way to get started online. It’s not a passive stream of income, which is an important thing to understand. Freelancing is definitely not passive; it’s super active. If you don’t do the work, you’re not going to get paid. But if you are dedicated and put in the effort, freelancing is a great way to get your foot in the door of an industry or niche you’re interested in. It’s, quite simply, a great way to get started in business.

After all, think about this: You just need one client. One client to make a little money. One client to get the ball rolling. One client to make a difference. And then, as you’ll hear me talk more about later in this post, you can take what you learn working with clients, and turn it into something more passive—with tools, or even a team! But first, let’s figure out how to get that first client.

Let’s get started!

What Is Freelancing, and Why There’s Huge Opportunity in Freelancing

I think it’s important first to define what freelancing is. Freelancing is, at its core, offering a skill you have in exchange for payment. If you have a skill a particular client or brand or business needs to help them solve their problems, they will want to hire you to solve it. And you do so with your specialized skill.

The cool part about freelancing is that there are so many different types of freelancers out there, offering up a huge range of skills. Even if you don’t have that skill right this moment, who says you can’t learn it and eventually offer up that skill too?

Here’s just a sampling of some of the types of freelance skills out there:

Graphic design

Photo editing

UI design

UX design

Video editing

Video production

Voice acting

Web design

2D animation

3D animation

Ajax developer

Java developer

API developer

HTML developer

WordPress developer

Administrative support

Email tech support

Virtual assistant

Transcriptionist

Data entry

Academic writing

Copywriting

Copy editing

Proofreading

Editing

Creative writing

Ghostwriting

Translation

Accounting

Bookkeeping

Business analyst

Quickbooks

Excel

Advertising consultant

Google AdWords

Marketing strategy

SEO

PPC

Lead generation

And that’s just a small portion of the types of freelance skills available on the market. That’s a huge benefit when it comes to starting out in freelancing. You probably have a few of those skills already. And even if you don’t, you know that there’s a big opportunity for you to build your base of skills for your future clients.

Another benefit of freelancing is that it empowers you to enter a particular business space, get to know the people in there, and learn the ins and outs of that specific business type or industry. You may be hired for a specific skill, but you (or them or both) soon realize that there are other opportunities that you see, other areas where you can benefit the business.

You just need one client. Once you have your own client, the road ahead gets a little easier. Don’t get caught up in thinking you need ten clients out of the gate. You just need an audience of one to start.

To help guide you through what that’s like, I had a chat with Charli Marie of CharliMarieTV.

In the video (embedded below), Charli, a successful freelance designer, shares essential tips for how to get your first freelance client, best practices for working with that client to make sure that it’s a great experience, and advice for making sure you get paid on time.

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Once you have your first freelance client, how do you start making more money? In the second video in my freelance series, I continue my conversation with Charli Marie on the topic of:

5 Ways to Make More Money (As a Freelancer & Entrepreneur)

So, you have your first freelance client. Now what? How do you start making your freelance life fruitful? There are many ways you can start making more money as a freelancer and entrepreneur, but we’re going to focus on just five ways for now.

1. Start building a reputation. As Charli says, building up your brand and getting your voice out there allows you to be “known for your craft.” A few great mediums to make yourself known is a blog, YouTube channel, and podcast—all platforms I use to build and grow my brand and reputation. The more you put out there, the more useful and relevant content and information you share with people online, the more you’re going to look like an expert in your particular craft or skill.

2. Have a good process in place. Know your process, and know it well. A good process means that you have an organized system and way to work with your clients from the start, the middle, and the end. If your process is non-existent, it’s just a disorganized mess, the less likely your clients are going to want to continue working with you, and probably won’t recommend you to their friends.

3. Serve the clients you already have. It can be tempting to want to always go after new clients, or to land the next great client. But when you’re too focused on new clients, you’re often forgetting about the clients you are already serving. Focus on your existing clients and the ways you can improve your service to them.

4. Authentic upselling. Upselling can be tricky, and in some cases has a bad reputation. But here’s how Charli does it for her freelance clients: a tier-based approach:

Tier 1: You do the basic work to meet the client’s stated need

Tier 2: You meet the basic needs of the client, but also provide additional value

Tier 3: You have a solution for the stated needs of the client, but then you also offer an additional service based on your review of the client’s situation and your experience

5. Increase your prices. Most freelancers undervalue or underprice themselves when they’re first starting out. It’s an easy thing to do because you’re just doing everything you can to get your foot in the door. But it doesn’t have to be that way—especially if you have your one client. Focus on what you do and your value.

For an extended look at more ways you can make money as a freelancer, check out my video with Charli Marie below!

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Now that you’ve started freelancing, what’s next?

Freelancing, THEN WHAT? Career & Biz Options for Freelancers

As a freelancer, you’ve probably felt the pull to do more in your career. It’s totally natural. And so in this final section of this post, I am going to share a few ways you can expand on your freelance career and business. (And don’t forget to watch the video below for the full deep dive into your many options—with Charli Marie and Caleb, my videographer!)

1. Freelancing can transform into a full-time job. In the video, Charli shares how she got her first full-time design job after doing some design work for a company. If you do good work for your clients, and you have a good relationship with them, that’s a potential opportunity if the client is looking for a more long-term, stable solution.

2. Your side hustle can transform into a full hustle. Caleb, my videographer, used to work at Fizzle doing video work. He loved that part of his full-time job so much that he set out doing videography as a side hustle. And that side hustle is now a full-time hustle! In the video below, Caleb shares how he prepared for that transition, and how he masterfully worked his way to a successful videography business owner.

3. If you want to scale, you have to hire people. I know this very well, as I tried to do everything myself for a while before realizing that I needed to bring in a team to free me up to do bigger and brighter things for Smart Passive Income. The same is true for Caleb’s business. He wanted to grow and push the limits, and he realized he couldn’t take that journey alone.

Make sure to check out the full video below for an extended conversation about career and business options for freelancers!

youtube

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https://www.youtube.com/subscribe_embed?usegapi=1&channelid=UCGk1LitxAZVnqQn0_nt5qxw&layout=default&theme=dark&count=default&origin=https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/

Before I go, make sure to also check out SPI Podcast Session 158 with my guest Brian Casel, who shares how to productize your service-based business—a great lesson for freelancers like yourself.

Look out for Brian Casel’s return in episode 314 coming soon, so make sure to subscribe to the SPI Podcast!

And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for instant access to my weekly videos!

Again, you can check out the full Freelance Video Series below:

youtube

Happy freelancing!

How to Start Freelancing (And Get Your FIRST Client!) originally posted at Homer’s Blog

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webbygraphic001 · 7 years

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10 Free Kick-Ass Ghost Themes

Ghost is a newer blogging CMS placing simplicity over all else. It’s one of the easiest platforms to install and learn on your own.

But it certainly doesn’t have as large of a community as WordPress so theme selection is limited. Thankfully there’s a big open source community around Ghost so developers who do create themes often release them for free.

And for this post I’ve curated the top free ghost themes you can use to spice up your blog’s design.

1. Ghostium

Medium’s layout is widely synonymous with blogging. It’s one of the most popular free online blogging platforms and Ghostium aims to mimic their minimalist design style.

With Ghostium you’ll get a clean sidebar area with links and extra details about the author. This also comes with a wider page area full of crisp dark text.

If you want something incredibly simple with strong readability then Ghostium is a fantastic choice. The live demo is unfortunately offline but you can see a preview photo on the GitHub repo.

2. Mention

The Mention theme is also incredibly simple but it comes with a bunch of extra features like a scroll indicator and an estimated reading time.

These are all built into the clean single-column interface that most Ghost themes follow. The design is fully responsive and comes packaged with Google’s Roboto webfont which adds a unique style to the text.

You can find a full install guide on GitHub along with a download link and more details about the Mention theme. It’s also featured as the theme for Vanila’s blog since they developed this theme from scratch.

3. Ghost WBKD

For a more visually pleasing theme design take a look at Ghost WBKD. This free Ghost theme is gorgeous from head to toe with brilliant colors, crisp text, and a strong two-column layout.

Many Ghost themes rely on minimalism and reducing complexity down to the absolute minimum. This is not true of the WBKD theme, or more properly called the “WebKid” theme based on the WebKid blog.

Definitely a cooler design if you want some pizzazz and it supports partials for page headers/footers.

4. Albireo

Another single-column theme is Albireo. This takes on a bit more of the Medium design with centered text and dark bold headers.

This is a theme that hasn’t been updated in a while, currently dating back about 3+ years. But it’s still fully functional and it can even serve as a base for creating your own theme rather than starting from scratch.

5. Whisper

The team at ST Solutions released their own Ghost theme called Whisper. It’s a modified version of the default theme Casper and this one has more in the flyout menu and page design.

Whisper is also incredibly simple but comes with no main header. This can actually be annoying if you want to link back to your blog through a logo, although you can add a logo yourself with a bit of code.

The side flyout menu animation is gorgeous along with the Open Sans & Merriweather font combo. I really do like this theme but I think it’d work better as a template to build on rather than a finished product.

6. Ascend

Ascend is one of the many free themes you can find at Aftertype. They offer a free membership with a handful of themes and a custom Ghost automation toolset.

The Ascend theme is pretty unique since it uses a fixed vertical sidebar alongside the main blog page. This is fairly common with WordPress but not many Ghost themes follow this layout style.

You can view a live demo to see what you think before running this on your site. To download you will need to sign up for a free Aftertype account, but this is only a minor barrier and the theme is totally free to use for any project.

7. Slimpost

To add a little color into your Ghost blog you can try out the Slimpost theme. This comes with a centered single column design and has a customizable background color around the main content.

This is a great way to keep the minimalist approach while avoiding the plain black-and-white design techniques you see on almost every Ghost blog.

Slimpost also supports OpenGraph/Twitter cards and rich snippets for SEO optimized content. For in-post content this also has a fullscreen image viewer and Disqus integration for user comments.

Easily one of the more feature-packed themes in this entire list and it’s got a brilliant design to boot.

8. Ghostwriter

Ajax loading themes are becoming the norm with open source JS libraries growing larger every year.

The free Ghostwriter theme is the perfect choice for an Ajax-powered Ghost theme. It’s fully compliant for non-JS browsers using graceful degradation to load links properly. But the instant page loading feature is really cool!

Other features include fully responsive images and videos along with styles for quotes, codes, lists and other common page elements.

To see this beast live in action take a peek at the online demo.

9. Coder

Tons of developers love Ghost because it’s simple to use and offers a unique framework for hacking together themes/plugins.

Any developers reading this might like the Coder theme since it’s built to showcase coding projects in a blog-style format. This can work very well as a development portfolio website along with an online blog.

It’s completely mobile-friendly and comes with the Elusive iconset which also supports retina screens. And this theme has full syntax highlighting so you can add code snippets for all your favorite languages.

10. Crisp

Last but certainly not least is Crisp. This theme uses bright colors and strong typography along with a fixed left-hand navigation menu.

Strangely this blogging theme doesn’t support featured images in the archive so it’s very simplistic. It also works better with a single person/brand so it’s best used as a personal blog.

But it comes with plenty of basic design features like social sharing buttons and Font Awesome icons for visual appeal.

Any one of these Ghost themes can work well for your blog, it’s just a matter of taste and design requirements. Unfortunately some don’t have demos so those you’ll need to download and test locally.

But if you know what you’re looking for then one of these free themes should fit perfectly with your Ghost blog. And if you’d rather use WordPress we have a massive collection of WP themes for bloggers too.

Hi-Res Marquee Light Bulbs Creator Kit – only $14!

Source from Webdesigner Depot http://ift.tt/2uhrmJ1 from Blogger http://ift.tt/2tb7JCW

#Blogger

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tanmath3-blog · 7 years

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Justin Bog is a very smart man. He has a great sense of humor and always makes me giggle. He is very kind and is willing to help anyone and I really respect that about him and almost all of the amazing Indie Authors I know. Recently I had the pleasure of reading his book The Conversationist and a review will be coming very soon! I look forward to reading more from him. He also has the most amazing handwriting I have ever seen! If you haven’t met Justin Bog yet please make sure you so and read his books you will like them! Please help me welcome Justin Bog to Roadie Notes……

1. How old were you when you first wrote your first story? Probably around twelve, and these were short skits, what would be called flash fiction today, humorous bits in the vein of Saturday Night Live plays. One centered on a trip to Mars as newsflash and the mission being doomed from the start.

2. How many books have you written? I have written a few more books than I’ve had published at this point. I have published five books so far, both indie and through two publishers in the past.

3. Anything you won’t write about? Interesting question. I won’t write about pets, dogs or cats, in pain or facing inhumane situations. I write about realistic people, but tend to set these characters loose in the suspense/thriller/horror genres. I’ve written literary short fiction and a crime novel.

4. Tell me about you. Age (if you don’t mind answering), married, kids, do you have another job etc. I’m at the beginning of my sixth decade, married, no kids, one dog, Kipling (missing the second and searching for the next puppy), two barn cats, Ajax The Gray & Eartha Kitt’n, I am a development/content Editor and I’m working on my first job as a ghostwriter. I also have been helping out the local middle grade and high school as an Emergency Substitute Teacher.

5. What’s your favorite book you have written? Wake Me Up is up there because it took over ten years to polish. It’s the complex tale of a family facing one calamity after another after the son and only child is the victim of a hate crime. While recovering, or not, in a coma, the son somehow is able to see his family and the secrets they’ve hidden away from him, and themselves, for too long.

6. Who or what inspired you to write? I loved reading since second grade and always carried a book around. I was a “library kid” who haunted the stacks. I read books beyond my age as a pre-teen and teenager, the scarier the better. King, Jackson, Straub, Poe, Carver, Cheever, Irving, Ingalls were all influential.

7. What do you like to do for fun? I love to read, walk my dog along the hiking trails on the island I live on…there are thousands of acres to still discover here. I also love to watch movies and binge great television series. Hanging out with good friends is always on the docket.

8. Any traditions you do when you finish a book? I’m relieved whenever I do finish a book, and its publication date, since these happen so infrequently, are meant to be celebrated. I’ll go out to dinner, and within days I’ll be working away on the next book.

9. Where do you write? Quite or music? I write in my home office to random music, shuffling albums. I love The Clash/Kate Bush/Nine Inch Nails/and classical music.

10. Anything you would change about your writing? I wish I wrote many more hours than I do, but I’m also happy with how prolific I am. Having one book published each of the past five years is something I’m proud of. I hope to publish two this year: The Conversationalist: Horrorstruck Novella One and The Threads: Horrorstruck Novella Two sometime this fall.

11. What is your dream? Famous writer? My dream would be to somehow find a larger readership. Mine is small, yet growing. I love hearing how the tales I create hit someone.

12. Where do you live? I live on Fidalgo Island in the Pacific Northwest, part of the San Juan Islands north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, B.C. A lot of my recent stories take place on Fidalgo Island. The Conversationalist and the dark short tale added to that novella are set in Anacortes, the small city on Fidalgo Island.

13. Pets? I’ve mentioned my pets earlier, and I still miss my big male long coat German shepherd, Zippy, who passed away last fall.

14. What’s your favorite thing about writing? I like that writing can take my mind into a different state where I don’t even remember the songs playing in the background, when I’m really “into” the story, and I’m anticipating what my characters will do next. They often surprise me.

15. What is coming next for you? I just published The Conversationalist: Horrorstruck Novella One, and I’m in the long editing phase of the second horrorstruck novella right now. This novella is currently almost 400 pages, and needs to be cut in half. There are really two parallel stories being told in this book, and shortening it will make the book tighter. I hope to do this work next month. After that I’ve already written the beginnings of the next two novellas in this four-novella series. When these four are complete I’ll bundle them together into one book along with a connecting story that will introduce each novella. This will be a spooky story as well.

You can connect with Justin Bog here:

Justin Bog: A Writer’s Life blog — http://justinbog.com

Amazon Author Page — https://www.amazon.com/Justin-Bog/e/B0081R77IC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Facebook Author Page — https://www.facebook.com/JustinBogAuthor/

Twitter Page — https://twitter.com/JustinBog

Some of Justin Bog’s books:

Getting personal with Justin Bog Justin Bog is a very smart man. He has a great sense of humor and always makes me giggle.

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fincham-moniqueu03j2ep-blog · 8 years

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Blog Ghostwriter

Contribute to ghostwriter development by creating an account on GitHub. Ghostwriter is a simple AJAX driven theme for the Ghost blogging platform released

You want to get found, to increase your reach and reputation, and to teach prospects to choose you. MarketSmiths blog ghostwriting can do it all.

6 Feb 2014 Creating a blog is a great way to share your passions, interests and knowledge with the world. It's also a great way to make some extra money

Contribute to ghostwriter development by creating an account on GitHub. Ghostwriter is a simple AJAX driven theme for the Ghost blogging platform released

We provide blogging services for companies looking to commit to a long-term blogging strategy. This includes a blogging strategy, title brainstorming, blog

You want to get found, to increase your reach and reputation, and to teach prospects to choose you. MarketSmiths blog ghostwriting can do it all.

Ghostwriting; Copywriting; Editing; Book Writing; Fashion Design; Research; Nutrition Ghostwriting; Creative Writing; Article Writing; Blog Writing; Copywriting

30 Sep 2015 A little collaboration with your ghostwriter will go a long way toward getting you exactly the content you need.

We provide blogging services for companies looking to commit to a long-term blogging strategy. This includes a blogging strategy, title brainstorming, blog

Ghostwriting; Copywriting; Editing; Book Writing; Fashion Design; Research; Nutrition Ghostwriting; Creative Writing; Article Writing; Blog Writing; Copywriting

Contribute to ghostwriter development by creating an account on GitHub. Ghostwriter is a simple AJAX driven theme for the Ghost blogging platform released

If you want to hire a ghostwriter for your blog this step-by-step guide will help you find a qualified freelance writer quickly and easily.

1 day ago Find freelance Ghostwriting work on Upwork. Looking for some content for our website / Blog on a regular basis. Fixed-Price - Expert

If you want to hire a ghostwriter for your blog this step-by-step guide will help you find a qualified freelance writer quickly and easily.

6 Feb 2014 Creating a blog is a great way to share your passions, interests and knowledge with the world. It's also a great way to make some extra money

1 day ago Find freelance Ghostwriting work on Upwork. Looking for some content for our website / Blog on a regular basis. Fixed-Price - Expert

You want to get found, to increase your reach and reputation, and to teach prospects to choose you. MarketSmiths blog ghostwriting can do it all.

Contribute to ghostwriter development by creating an account on GitHub. Ghostwriter is a simple AJAX driven theme for the Ghost blogging platform released

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pkmn-spira · 8 months

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"I remember at one time that a League challenger once asked why my arena gimmick prevents my Ghost types to be affected by any status effect whatsoever, so I just answered with:"

"Bro. They're spirits."

#;ic #;the ghostwriter // Ajax

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pkmn-spira · 8 months

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Ajax Adams

An Elite Four member who usually keeps to himself and the horror comics he's making for public reading. However, despite the looks, he's actually pretty outgoing for a recluse.

About

Age: 23

D.O.B: December 3

Height: 5'8"

Birthplace: Axel City, Spira Region

Biography

Originally, Ajax wanted to focus solely on making horror themed comics to get good scares and good sales. Though after being dealt a poor hand in life years ago, he went on to start dabbling into Pokémon training and battling, only to find out that he was damn good at it. From then on, he continued on the battles, and using the places and ruins he finds himself in as a medium of inspiration to his work, and thus this caused a ripple effect on his comic sales increasing alongside his popularity.

Despite not being able to beat the previous Champion, said Champion offered Ajax a seat in the Elite Four, which he had accepted, for he had already qualified himself enough for beating the previous Elite Four challenge before challenging the Champion.

Nowadays, he's now found a steady, comfortable balance between comic making and battling.

Pokémon Team

Being part of the Spiran Elite Four, Ajax uses a complete team of six Pokémon:

Mimikyu

Held Item: Mimikium Z

Ability: Disguise

Known Moves: Swords Dance, Shadow Claw, Play Rough (Let's Snuggle Forever), Shadow Sneak

Chandelure

Held Item: Charcoal

Ability: Flash Fire

Known Moves: Calm Mind, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Overheat

Spiritomb

Held Item: Leftovers

Ability: Pressure

Known Moves: Will-o-wisp, Snarl, Calm Mind, Dark Pulse

Gengar

Held Item: Life Orb

Ability: Cursed Body

Known Moves: Thunder, Sludge Wave, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast

Dusknoir

Held Item: Leftovers

Ability: Pressure

Known Moves: Substitute, Shadow Ball, Shadow Sneak, Focus Punch

Banette

Held Item: Banettite

Ability: Frisk / Prankster (Mega)

Known Moves: Destiny Bond, Shadow Claw, Gunk Shot, Taunt

Public vs Private Knowledge

Public:

-Ghost Type specialist of the Spiran Elite Four

-Known for his 'Phobosphere' horror comic series throughout Spira. Has also produced several other horror comics that were well known too, mostly one shots, namely 'Undulating Spiral', 'The Carnival and the Hypno', and 'The Grandmoss Phantom'

-Once taken the Spiran League Challenge himself, and offered a spot in the Elite Four

Private:

-Had a near death experience in Anodyne Amusement Park of Cryptid Isle, involving a Spiran Hypno. This is only known between himself, and Morgan Pennywort, the Fairy Type specialist of the Spiran Elite Four, with 'The Carnival and the Hypno' being a direct recounting of the experience, albeit with liberties taken as to keep Cryptid Isle's confidentiality

-Currently has a camp set up in Mt. Necros

#;IC #;The Ghostwriter // Ajax

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