Web Worker Daily

As a freelancer, I get the chance to work with startup companies that are still too new or too small to have a lot of in-house staff. Because of this, I’ve become familiar with the common characteristics that many startups share. As I come to expect these characteristics with new clients, I become more efficient at avoiding problems and maximizing opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »

Two years ago I was starting to get conscious about my online presence, so I Googled my name. One of the first things I saw were links to my earliest projects, which were how-to e-books about dating and seduction. I remember using a pseudonym at that time so I was surprised to get the byline.

While I believed in my output and knew that the customer was satisfied with my work, I didn’t want these projects to be the first thing that potential clients saw. After all, I hadn’t written about dating for several years. I wanted to focus my writing efforts on business, freelancing and travel.

If you’ve ever done low quality work, accepted a project only for the money, changed niches, or even worked on something ethically dubious, you might understand this situation. There are just some past projects that should be buried by your current ones.

How can you make sure that happens? Read the rest of this entry »

Being a web worker can mean learning to handle many facets of running a small business, including dealing with difficult clients, which can often be one of the biggest frustrations that come with the territory.

But how do you know if your clients are abusing you? Here are a few telltale signs and tips for how to fix and avoid these situations. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you sell yourself and your services online, when you work in two or more fields? Won’t a potential client’s first impression be that you lack focus, and perhaps don’t excel at any of the things you do? Freelancers don’t always have the luxury of concentrating on just one field. We have to be flexible. We have to be creative with our talents. We have to pay the rent.

I was dealing with this a few months ago, when I was thinking of putting together a portfolio site. I was feeling like my presence on the Internet was scattered all over the place, and wanted a single site to which I could send professional contacts who wanted more info. I was tired of providing links to multiple profiles and blogs that didn’t tell the whole story, and I’m not wild about any of the “identity aggregation” services that are out there.

Given all the different things I do, my primary dilemma was to make a non-static professional site that gave a good overall impression of what I’m about, professionally speaking. Below are some of the issues and approaches I pondered. Maybe they will be useful to you if you’re in this position. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a strange thing, but in times like these, when prospective clients have fewer dollars to spend and when there’s more competition in the marketplace due to higher unemployment rates, instinctive responses have a tendency to take over our business decisions.

Recently, it’s been much easier to work from a place of desperation, taking every opportunity that comes our way and doing every marketing tactic imaginable to maintain a contracting sales pipeline. Suddenly, the “fight or flight” reaction becomes almost routine, an up and down roller coaster ride that started as an attempt to keep our businesses afloat during these tough times. Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous post, I explored the differences between freelancers who monetize just one professional skill and those who sell multiple skills. If you’re the latter kind, and market yourself as a copywriter/designer/consultant/etc., then you’ve probably faced this dilemma: Should you sell all your services through one storefront or  have several? Is just one blog or web site enough, or should you create separate sites for each service you offer?

I found myself contemplating these questions recently, and I’ve realized that there are advantages and disadvantages to both options. Read the rest of this entry »

Some years ago a web designer asked me if I thought it was right for him to design a site for a religious group whose values he completely disagreed with. “The site is actively promoting their beliefs,” he said, “and I’m not sure I want to be a part of that.”

I was reminded of his dilemma last week, when a potential client contacted me to ask if I could write sales copy for his multilevel marketing scheme — at twice my usual fee. After doing a bit of research on the company, however, it became apparent that this person was running a scam.

As freelancers, we sometimes get requests that we find shady. These can range from the above examples to creating promotional materials for companies whose ethics we don’t completely agree with. How do we deal with these requests? Read the rest of this entry »

“Are you going to buy this or what?” the clerk at the hardware store asked me yesterday, nodding at the new garden shovel I was holding in my hand. The frankness of the question put me off at first, but the urgency in his voice prompted me to act. I bought it.

Was he being rude or was it a sales tactic? I don’t know, but it worked. This got me thinking about my own approach to selling my freelance services. Could I get away with saying something similar to a potential client? I can imagine some of them getting turned off, while I can picture others saying “yes.” I wouldn’t dare try it, of course. The sales process is my least favorite part of online freelancing.

Still, whether we’re providing products or services, we can’t escape being a sales person from time to time. This is why we need to be aware of the different approaches we could use when making a sale. Read the rest of this entry »