This is a heads up to all clients and potential clients, not-so-cleverly disguised as an informative blog post. I am raising my rates at the beginning of April by about 10%. This is both a cost-of-living raise and reflects my improving skill-set and specializations. If you are a current client – don’t fret, I’m not going to raise the price halfway through a project. Rates for future projects may be slightly higher, or not, depending on several factors. 

If you are a new potential client and would like to lock in a project at the current rates, then contact me now – I’ll be quoting based on current rates till the end of the month.

The rates charged for different freelance services vary drastically between individuals. What I charge $50 for, another writer might do for $10 and another for $120. While there are definitely market bands in freelancing, they are often more fluid than you realise, and it’s impossible to get a “standard rate” by which you can benchmark yourself.

That’s why it’s important for freelancers to consider raising their rates every year. You need to take a look at your business and figure out if you’re earning what you’re worth, whether your rate needs to go up, and by how much. The same goes from anyone in a non-freelance business – year-end time is coming up fast and it’s a good chance to assess your pricing and whether it’s time for a change.

Read On…

This article is a friendly warning about the perils of neglecting your marketing. It’s one of those things, like brushing your teeth, you really should do every day. And yet, when we get busy and stressed and run off our feet, our marketing calendar is usually the first thing we drop. And that would seem to be perfect sense. After all, if your business is doing so well, why do you need to hunt for MORE business?

I’ll tell you a little story, about a writer named … Suzie. Suzie had been copywriting for small business clients while working a full-time job at a local charity, as well as writing a few blogs, partaking in several hobbies, and leading a very active social life alongside her rather handsome husband (he was a drum- I mean, he played the tuba). Over the last couple of years, Suzie’s clients were asking her to take on more and more work, and she was at the stage where she could cut back at her office and make a real go at being a full-time freelancer. This would mean Suzie wouldn’t have to work so many evenings and weekends, and would have much more time for hanging out with her friends and headbanging to her husband’s band at the local … jazz club.

Read On…

Guest Post by Lamer Cook

Working as a freelancer is a fantastic decision in our current era, and the value of freelance work seems to be on the rise. There’s a few clear reasons why freelancing skills can be better than many career options for millions of people, and many employers could even learn a thing or two from all this.

Reason One: Build an Immaculate Portfolio or Start a Business

Most employers these days are looking for individuals that already have experience. This creates a kind of “dead zone” for entry-level workers with marketable skills. They want to gain experience with the job, but they can’t get the job to gain experience. It’s an unfortunate catch-22, and contrary to popular belief, a college degree does not replace the desire for hands-on experience in the workplace. Businesses do not want to pay to train people any more than they have to, and this attitude is creating a shortage of trained individuals.

Read On…

For any new business, pricing work can be a total guessing game. On the one hand, you want to undercut the competition, beucase you know everyone wants a bargain and you want to get your product out there. On the other hand, you want to eat. How to solve this quandary?

The pricing problem becomes further compounded with creative businesses, because the product you’re selling isn’t something people can easily place value on. Artwork doesn’t immediately solve a pressing problem, or offer some kind of stable market for which you can compare models and prices. The price a person pays for artwork is whatever they feel it is worth. If they don’t feel it’s worth the price asked, they won’t pay for it.

Read On…

When it comes to online conversion rates, email still dominates. Email is the vampire of the online marketing world – old-school, eerily seductive, and packs one hell of a bite.

The recent numbers from the DMA show email’s conversion rate is still the highest, bringing in $40.56 for every dollar spent on it this year. Although this is down on previous years, it’s still miles ahead of the next highest converter – search-based marketing, at $22.24 per dollar spent.

Email marketing is a powerful thing. When customers give you their email addresses, they’re giving you permission to send your message into their home. Emailing a customer is a bit like walking into their home and glueing your business card onto their cat’s forehead.

NB: I don’t advocate glueing business cards to felines as a viable marketing tactic.

But you can’t just go emailing people willy nilly – you have to get their permission first, much like a vampire can’t enter a home without permission. Vampires are gentlemen – they only go where they’re wanted. Your business is like a vampire …

Read On…