1. Go to your WordPress administration panel.
2. Hover over Plugins and select Editor from the flyout menu.
3. Make sure you have selected to edit Simple Post Thumbnails from the drop down selector on the right side of the page.
4. By default, simple-post-thumbnails/thumbnail-poster.php, should be selected and ready to edit. If it isn’t selected, select it.
5. Look for function p75GetThumbnail
   • In that function, find the line that says:
     return WP_PLUGIN_URL . “/simple-post-thumbnails/timthumb.php?src=” . P75_THUMB_WEB . $thumb . “&w=” . $width . “&h=” . $height . “&zc=1&ft=” . $fileType;
   • Replace that line with
     return P75_THUMB_WEB . $thumb;
6. Click Update File
7. Reload your blog page, and you should be good to go

Keep in mind that by doing this, the thumbnail images will NOT re-size on the fly like they would have before, so, you may need to do some image editing and reattach new thumbnails to fit into your theme properly. If I get an itch to dive into finding the problem with the timthumb.php file, I will post a fix, but don’t hold your breath on that.

The proposed SOPA (and equally odious “Protect IP Act“) legislation is fundamentally flawed in how it works and the damage it is likely to do to the Internet, which has been the greatest platform for innovation the world has ever seen. For that reason we will be joining the blackout organized by our friends at Reddit by blacking out the iBright Development’s site on January 18th from 8am to 8pm EST (1300-0100 UTC).

The Internet is a global creature. A “Made in the USA” solution will no more work to stop the problems talked of than would one made in any other single nation state. Worse, the US has been at the forefront of ensuring that the Internet has remained free and a platform for innovation for the last fifteen years. With SOPA, or ProtectIP, that leadership will effectively end and Syria, China, Iran and others will not only use the US as a role model, they will also use these actions as further evidence of US control of the Internet and justification for trying to turn it over to the UN/ITU. This is best described by Susan Crawford.

Worse, the legislation itself is fundamentally corrupt. It is bought and paid for by big media, trying vainly to protect anachronistic business models. This has been demonstrated clearly in all of the hearings and the very conduct of the debate. Listening to how deeply uninformed those being asked to legislate this issue are has been nothing short of scary. Watching how support and opposition has lined up has been disheartening. This is the worst example of the kind of fundamental corruption that is at the heart of the US political system currently and is well defined by Professor Larry Lessig. If you have ten minutes please watch this video on the subject. If you have an hour please watch this one.

The Internet is not a corpus, it is not a thing. It is a series of protocols, which are really agreements on how computers will behave when connected to the Internet. Treating the Internet like a thing to be legislated and controlled is as ill conceived as treating “Intellectual Property” like physical property and leads to even greater perversions. If governments squeeze too tightly, the Internet as we know it will simply get up and walk away. It will fracture and split with a “clean” Internet and a much larger Darknet. than there is today, but not one used mainly for file sharing. Instead the Darknet will become the real Internet. Brands will sell things and Media will offer content on the “Cleannet”, but the Darknet will be where ideas are shared, plans are made, memes are propagated and where most of the cool people, including most of our children, will be.

Prohibitions have never worked to change behaviors. They simply make people who fear things feel good and create a new mini-industry for fear mongers to make money off of. They do not change behaviors.

If you wish to get involved we suggest you visit Stop American Censorship, BlackoutSOPA.org and that you follow @tucows on Twitter where they’ll be tweeting regularly about the movement to stop SOPA. You can also follow iBright Development on twitter as well.

Google Mail (Gmail) launched a native Merging Contacts service in September 2011, and it sorts your contacts into an efficient list that finds duplicates in any field, and merges them. Don’t worry, you can still scour the document and confirm accuracy using the check boxes provided.

How to de-duplicate your contacts:

1. Import your contacts via .CSV to Gmail (If you don’t have Gmail, get a Gmail account here)
2. Open the Contact Manager
3. Follow the instructions on this page
4. Export your contacts to your desktop using .CSV, which is legible to Excel and most every other type of address book.

Enjoy your clean, orderly address book.

Let me guess what your reaction was. You first tried to update the phone again, not being sure why the update failed. To your surprise, it failed again. Now you are starting to freak out. People have no way to reach you, and if this is your only phone, no land-line, you are stuck in the mud and cant call Apple support, so, you click the “More Information” button that pops up on your screen and takes you to the apple support site that references the error code you are getting. You more than likely ended up here.

You see your error in the list and start looking for a solution to the problem. (I happened to get the error code of 1013, and that is the main point of this article)

So, you see that error 1013 may be the result of the connection to gs.apple.com being blocked, redirected, or interrupted…

Error 1004 and 1013: This error may be the result of the connection to gs.apple.com being blocked, redirected, or interrupted. Adjust your hosts file or security software to ensure that connections to gs.apple.com are not blocked. If the issue persists, try restoring on another computer with a known-good connection. If this restore is successful, you will need to contact whoever supports your install of the operating system and security software installed on your computer for assistance. If your hosts file redirects requests to gs.apple.com, you may choose to follow Can’t connect to the iTunes Store, in the “The ‘hosts’ file may be blocking the iTunes Store” section.

What does this mean to you? Well, it could mean a whole lot. The first thing I would recommend is checking your host file to see if it has been modified. If you have ever done a jailbreak on your Apple iPhone, then chances are, your host file has been modified and removing a simple line from your host file should do the trick.

Check your host file by following the steps below

Mac

1. Open your Mac Terminal (Applications>Utilities>Terminal)
2. Lets make sure you have access to modify the file and open it all in one command
   

   sudo nano /private/etc/hosts

3. You will be asked for your computer password. Type it in and press the “Enter” key.
4. Your host file should now be open.
5. Look through the file for
   

   74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

   or something similar that references “gs.apple.com”. (Tip: for beginners to using the terminal, you may need to scroll down in the file to see it all. If you do, you will see a list of menu items in the bottom of the terminal, one in particular that says “^V Next Page” the “^V” means to press the “control” key on your keyboard)

6. If there is something referencing gs.apple.com, REMOVE IT
7. Once removed, use the command “^O” to save the file. Save it just how it pops up by pressing “Enter”. The message would look something like…
   

   Fale name to Write: /private/etc/hosts

8. Now use “^X” to exit the editor
9. You can now exit the terminal and you should be able to restore your iPhone

Windows

1. Launch Notepad (In Windows Vista and Windows 7, you will need to launch Notepad as Administrator. Right click on the Notepad icon and select “Run as Administrator”)
2. Go to “File>Open” and navigate to “C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc”
3. Make sure the drop-down menu, in the bottom of the window, is set to show “All Files”, NOT :Text Documents (*.txt)”
4. Open “hosts”
5. Look through the file for
   

   74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

   or something similar that references “gs.apple.com”.

6. If there is something referencing gs.apple.com, REMOVE IT
7. Save the file, close Notepad, and restore your iPhone

I hope this will help you in your quest of turning your iPhone back into the wonderful device that it is intended to be. If you are getting other error codes, try to follow that the support page says to do for your particular error, and if that doesn’t seem to work, you can always schedule a Genius Bar appointment with your local Apple Store. Click here to schedule an appointment now.

Nowadays, almost everyone wants/needs a website for personal use, business, or social networking. Unfortunately, not all of these websites do what they are supposed to do. There are many programs out there that give people the ability to build a website, but that does not mean that the program will build you a good website. Here are ten main factors that help build a professional and marketable website:

1. Elegantly Simple Layouts and Design – Flash animations are elegant and beautiful, but they are not simple, and can be confusing to your user. Furthermore, Flash is not search engine friendly. Sites should look clean, be easy to use and should load fast, even for the users who don’t have fast broadband connections.
2. Search Engine Optimization – Unique text-matching keywords and site content should be used to draw-in targeted, pre-qualified leads and customers to your website. Having the right keywords matching your site content will result in higher search result ranking and boost the site traffic to a higher volume, making better quality traffic.
3. “About Us” Page – The key to a great “About Us” page is the same as the site design: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Having a clear biography about you or your company will give your customers a way to learn more about with whom they may be making a purchase. Make it friendly and enjoyable to read so that the customer feels they have grown to know you.
4. Contact Page – Having easy-to-find contact information on your website is vital and just as important as having an “About Us” page for your website. This page should consist of your e-mail address, phone number(s), fax number(s) or any other bit of information that could be used by your customer to reach you. Make the contact page easy to find and navigate.
5. Fresh Content – Routinely updated content will not only help boost your search rankings, but also keep customers coming back to see what you will add next.
6. Navigation – User-friendly navigation is the most important tenet of a site, but is often overlooked. If your customers can’t find what they are looking for, they will not return.
7. Page Names and Titles – Creative page names and titles ensure that search engines find all the pages of your website. Make sure that your keywords are relevant to the page name and title.
8. Social Networking – Joining web forums and sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, submitting your website to directories like Digg, or building a Squidoo lens to create links back to your website for promotion are all excellent ways to draw traffic.
9. Site Map – A site map does more than just provide links to the various parts of your site; it’s an organized outline of links, and the best links include a descriptive phrase or sentence. Because of the word choice (keywords) used throughout the sitemap, this feature becomes an excellent way for a search engine to spider your website without missing anything. This is especially useful if your navigation bar is comprised of graphical buttons.
10. Proofreading – Surprisingly this factor is often overlooked. Always proofread and check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors before you publish the content on your website. Content that is full of spelling or grammar errors is off-putting to any customer, and it looks unprofessional.

If you follow the tips in this article, you will exponentially increase your website goals.

Original article posted by Amber on freelancefolder.com

There have been several debates on whether or not you should specialize your services. It’s almost as heated as a debate as whether or not you should charge hourly or project rates.

However, I firmly believe that specializing my services and clientele was what really allowed my own business to take off and succeed.

Being a Generalist

Before I specialized, I tried to do everything from consulting to design to development, backend programming, SEO and copywriting. I targeted every and any kind of client, not caring if they were a large or small business, agency or single entrepreneur.

I quickly found myself in a predicament. First-off, I was not busy at all. I barely had any work coming in. Also, the work I did have coming in really sucked. The budgets sucked, the project ideas sucked and the type of required of me sucked. I hated design, SEO, copywriting and anything not related to front-end development.

I finally decided on a risky move–I wanted to specialize both my services and the kinds of clients I would work with. I would only offer front-end development and WordPress services only to agencies, freelancers and designers.

This move was risky because it seems logical that by narrowing your field of clients and services, that your narrowing your chance for work. However, it only increased my work!

Why You Should Specialize

So why should you specialize? Basically, no matter how much you learn, it’s impossible to be great at everything. And to be a really successful freelancer, you have to be great at what you do.

Specializing allows you to become an expert in your field. You’re also more likely to be perceived as one by potential clients. Just by offering front-end dev and WordPress work, I became known to my clients as “the” WordPress expert.

Specializing also allows you to focus on honing your skills and is easier to keep up with new developments. This allows you to quickly become better at what you do than the generalist.

How To Specialize Your Services

In order to specialize, you need to decide on two things:

• What you’re really good at
• What you really enjoy doing

Normally, the answer to those two questions is the same, but not always. If not, I suggest going with the work you really enjoy doing, as you’ll eventually become better at it the more you practice. After all, you did go into business for yourself in order to do the work you really loved, right?

How to Specialize Your Clients

Specializing your clients is equally, if not more, important as specializing your services. Deciding what type of clients you want to work with will make you happier in the long run and will increase the effectiveness of your marketing. It’s much more effective to get your message to 10 perfect-fitting clients than to get your message to 500 clients who won’t work for you.

So, how do you choose who you want to work with? Ask yourself:

• What type of services are you now offering?
• What kinds of clients are the ones who’d need those services?
• What is your ideal working relationship and which clients from above would fit that idea?

You Just Need Time

Just remember, as with every other kind of marketing effort, it will take some time for clients to notice that you have specialized. Just remember, if specializing doesn’t work for you, you can always go back to offering everything to everyone, but I seriously doubt that will happen.

Your Thoughts

Have you specialized your services or clientele? How did it work out for you?

Original article posted by Laura Spencer on freelancefolder.com

One the hardest decisions that a freelancer will ever have to make is that of deciding what to charge for their services.

If you get this decision wrong, you could be paying for it for a long time. The wrong rate could ultimately even cause your freelancing business to fail.

There are many different opinions about what a freelancer should charge. No one rate fits every situation or every freelancing specialty. There are, however, certain general principles that every freelancer can use to determine what they should charge.

In general, setting your freelance rate should be based on three factors:

1. What you need
2. What your competition charges
3. What the market will bear

What You Need

Your freelancing rates need to be adequate to meet your needs.

Not only do your needs include your personal living expenses (what would be called a “wage” at a traditional job), your needs should also include your overhead and any project-related business expenses that you incur.

If you are in business for the long haul, then your rates need to be adequate to cover overhead costs. (Many freelancers forget about overhead when they are starting out.) Overhead costs include:

• Marketing your services
• Accounting and collections
• Office equipment
• Software expense
• Record keeping
• Professional education
• Health insurance costs
• Down time and sick time

What Your Competition Charges

The price that your competition is charging to provide a similar product or service is another key factor in determining your freelancing rate.

There are number of resources that you can use to discover what your competition charges, including:

• Freelancing income surveys. Many professional societies conduct periodic income surveys. Such surveys often include freelancers. Try to find the most recent survey that pertains to your specialty.
• A comparison with what in-house professionals earn. Personnel and recruitment offices frequently update in-house salaries. You may be able to get this information from a human resources professional or from a publication targeted to human resource professionals.
• Competitor websites. Many freelancers publish their rates on their website. If you use this method to find out what your competitors charge, then be sure to check on more than one competitor’s website.

A good rule of thumb when setting your rate according to the competition is to stay towards the middle. You probably do not want to charge the highest price for your services, but you should not charge the very lowest price either.

What The Market Will Bear

Freelancing is particularly sensitive to the market principle of supply and demand. If many freelancers are offering the same service and there is not much demand for it, then rates tend to drop. Conversely, if there is a lot of demand for a particular service and very few freelancers who offer that service, then rates tend to rise.

As a freelancer, you may find that you have to periodically re-evaluate and re-adjust your rates to meet the current market situation. Over time, you may even notice certain trends in your field. You may wish to adjust your business model to take advantage of those trends.

If you do find yourself freelancing in a specialty where the freelancer supply outpaces the demand for services, then you may want to consider adjusting the specific services that you offer. Ask yourself if there is there a slightly different, but related, service that you could offer that most other freelancers do not currently offer.

Share Your Pricing Strategies

Have you been freelancing for a while? If you have, share some of your experience with choosing your freelance rates.

What method did you use to determine your prices?

What rate-related pressures have you felt?

How often do you adjust your rates?

Original article posted by Laura Spencer on freelancefolder.com

Last week we ran an article about the various characteristics of a good client. This week, we’re going to look at the other end of that: ten different types of bad clients, and what you can do to avoid them.

If you’ve been freelancing for long, then there’s no doubt you’ve read some of the horror stories about bad clients. You may have even run into a few bad clients in your own business.

Over the years, I have noticed that most bad clients seem to fall into certain common patterns. In this post, I share those patterns with you. Keep in mind that none of these bad client types are specific to any one client that I’ve ever worked with. Rather, these examples are a generalization of the many different characteristics a bad client can take. Personally, I rarely ever have to deal with a bad client in my business, and I’ll explain how you too can avoid them later on in the article.

Here are a few descriptions of some bad clients that you might encounter during your freelancing career:

Ten Types of Bad Clients

1. The free samples guy. Before you can get a gig with this “client,” you have to submit an original free sample for which you will not be paid. No matter how hard you work on your sample, it is never quite up to par for this client. With a few exceptions, I think this is a scam to get free work from a freelancer. Yes, it is important for clients to see samples, but that is why we have a portfolios.
2. The scope creep gal. The project seems relatively small, so you quote a reasonable (but fairly low) price. Once you start, however, the project changes. Ms. Scope Creep contacts you with this, “I forget to tell you, the job also includes. . .” Even when you’re done, you’re not. There’s still more work that she forget to mention. . . all for the same low price that you originally quoted.
3. Vague Victor. Vague Victor needs something for his website and he wants you to provide that something. The trouble is, Victor is just not sure exactly what that something is. “I’ll know it when I see it,” Victor says. Unsuspecting freelancers often try to help Victor find out what is wrong. The trouble is, what the freelancer suggests is never quite what Victor had in mind.
4. Fannie Freebie. The job description sounds like a perfect fit. What an awesome opportunity! You can’t believe your good luck. To think that they would pay someone to do such a fun project and they have approached you! Wait one minute – where’s the pay? You scan the listing eagerly, only to discover that there is no pay at all. It turns out that Fannie Freebie is not hiring freelancers at all. She’s looking for volunteers.
5. Mr. Unavailable. You have some questions for this client so you send him an e-mail (he hasn’t left you with a phone number). Days, maybe even weeks, pass. There is still no answer from Mr. Unavailable. You’re beginning to wonder if this client is even still in business. Suddenly, without warning, he reappears. “Where’s my project?” He demands. Your questions are still unanswered.
6. Clingy Sue. Clingy Sue is the exact opposite of Mr. Unavailable. She is so opposite, in fact, that communicating with her take up most of your working time each day. She contacts you several times every single day. She asks for a copy of your initial ideas, outlines, preliminary drafts, rough drafts, and first drafts. If you are late answering a single e-mail, Clingy Sue wonders why.
7. Revisionist Ronnie. Accepting a job from Ronnie will keep you busy. Unfortunately, this client will not keep your pockets full. No matter how good the work is that you turn in, it is not quite good enough for Ronnie. He always has one more change request, one more fix, one final revision . . .
8. Gossip girl. At first you might be flattered by this “client.” She seems to have the “inside scoop” on all of your competitors, and all of her competitors too. She’s more than willing to share (confidentially, of course) what she knows with you (especially when it comes to what she knows about other people). Watch out, though! Before you know it, this client will be dishing dirt out about you.
9. The check is in the mail guy. This is the one “client” that every freelancer dreads. At first, he appears to be a normal client. Then you invoice him and his true nature comes out. Suddenly, he has all kinds of reasons not to pay you (none of which have to do with the quality of your work). He has had a family emergency. He is in a temporary cash crunch. His bank made a mistake. Whatever the excuse, you can be sure that it is not his fault. He will put the check in the mail as soon as he can. In fact, the check may already be in the mail (except that it never comes).
10. The lowballer. Most freelancers have probably encountered this “client.” No matter what price you quote for their project, they know somebody else who will do the work for even less. “Is this your best price?” The lowballer interjects. “The market rate for this on XYZ site is .” My answer to the lowballer is always the same: this is a fair rate. If you can get the work done somewhere else cheaper, then go ahead and do it.

How To Avoid Working With Bad Clients

As I stated before, I have great clients. Part of the reason that I have such good clients is because I research each and every client before I accept an assignment from them. I search on the Internet to see if other freelancers are talking about this client. I check with the Better Business Bureau (companies that treat their own clients badly will likely treat you badly as well). I check on the client’s website.

Here are some ways you too can avoid bad clients:

• Thoroughly research your prospective clients before working with them
• Discuss and outline all project details before accepting a client
• Be honest with yourself, and don’t take on new clients out of desperation
• Follow your instincts, and don’t take on clients that give you a bad feeling
• Watch out for catch-phrases, under or over communication, and other potential clues of a bad client

If there’s any doubt in your mind about whether the client will be a good one, then I don’t recommend you accept the project.

Share What You Know

Encountering bad clients can be frustrating and discouraging.

Have you had any unfortunate experiences with bad clients? How do you avoid working for such clients?

Let’s hear your stories. (No specific client names, please!)

Original article posted by Ritu on freelancefolder.com

Productivity is just one of those qualities that we all yearn for. As freelancers we have to be productive in order to get projects done before the deadline approaches. The more productive we can be, the more money we earn — it’s a simple equation.

We’re all productive to a certain extent, but there are always a few things that we know but often fail to apply. Of the many things I’ve tried to boost my productivity, some have failed and some have worked wonders.

The ten tips that you are about to read are the ones that I practice regularly in order to keep my business going. Some of you may already practice these and, if you don’t, I hope this post serves as a productivity-boosting reminder.

10 Productivity Ideas That Work:

1. Break It Up – We all want bigger projects, but with bigger projects comes more responsibilities and more work. It’s easy to accidentally take on way too much work, and before you know it you’re overwhelmed by a seemingly impossible number of things to do. Instead of getting lost and unproductive, try to break up each project in smaller parts, and finish one project before starting the next. This way your work is much more organized, and putting everything together at the end is much easier.

2. Pump Yourself Up – Although this might sound cheesy, it seriously works. If you are finding it hard to devote time to a project, simply start giving yourself a little pep-talk. Learn what it takes to motivate yourself, and make sure to apply it whenever you need that extra boost. Whether it’s the reputation that comes with the completion of a project, the cash in the bank from the final payment, or a long term picture of success — remind yourself of the goals you are shooting for.
3. Fly In a Trap – When it comes to sticking to a routine, think of yourself as a trapped fly. Many freelancers work from home and at times it’s tempting to do the more enjoyable things even if there is a lot of work to do. As we all know, procrastination can easily overcome us freelancers. Create a routine and stick to it like a fly stuck in a trap. It will help create a pattern in terms of both work and leisure.
4. Work Isn’t Going Anywhere – I have heard freelancers say time after time, “I’ve been sitting here trying to figure this out for hours.” Well, that’s why it’s not working. If you are stuck on something then try taking a quick break. Go for a cup of coffee, a short walk to the park, or just sit on the deck and relax. Your work will be there when you return, the only thing that will be different is the fact that you will have a refreshed brain to think with.

5. There Is Only One — We freelancers are bloggers, designers, marketers, web socialites and many other things. At times it’s hard to fit in all the aspects of our work, and it’s easy to go way overboard with multitasking. You might be writing a blog post, using twitter, and trying to do client work at the same time. You might get one thing rolling but then get interrupted by an email. You could easily get sucked into a conversation on twitter and work falls behind. Try to eliminate this harmful multitasking as long as it’s not a must. Focus on one thing at a time as much as possible, and eliminate other distractions.
6. 11:30 AM and am Done – Can you imagine getting your work done by 11:00 AM in the morning? Well, although this doesn’t happen often, I have had those moments — and boy it feels good to be done before the day is halfway through. I am a night person but every so often, I hit the sack early and start my day 5 AM in the morning. I grab my laptop, sit out on the deck, listen to birds and feel the breeze and keep plugging in. It’s actually very relaxing and the morning air has something that just inspires you to get things done. Try it out and see how it works for you.

7. Those Handy Little Slips — Yes, I am talking about those little pieces of paper that everyone else talks about when they write a productivity article — To-Do Lists! Although it is one of the most talked about tips when it comes to getting things done, many still fail to make a to-do-list, and they really are surprisingly effective. You can get a lot more done if you know exactly what the goal is for the day. Make a habit of adding 10 more minutes at the end of work day to create a to-do list for the next day. You will find things going much more smoothly with help from this handy little slip. I know you’ve probably tried it before, but do you stick with it? If you don’t, do it for two weeks, and I bet you will find a drastic change on how you get things done.
8. You’re Only Human — At times we expect too much out of ourselves. We try to make everything perfect and although it’s not a bad thing, it is a huge stress factor. While trying to perfect something beyond “perfection” we sometimes end up procrastinating. For example, you might be working on a design and choose to let the deadline slip and finish it up the next day, hoping it will turn out better. Well, in most cases it won’t. Perfectionism will quickly lead to procrastination. Besides, what might not be perfect for you may be one of the best things that someone else has ever seen. When looking at your work, keep in mind what your client wants and what you have created. Perfection isn’t always the answer. We are only human and trying for perfection on every project might be pushing it.

9. Hammer The Toughest Nail First – Usually we like to knock the easy stuff out. Personally, I think this is a wrong approach. If we end up finishing the easy task first, it still gives us a sense of completion. We end up procrastinating and when we get to the tough part the day keeps dragging onward. Frustration and stress makes it even worse. After a good night sleep it’s best to hammer the toughest nail first. Get a head start by completing the worst task first and slowly make a transition into easy ones, you’ll feel great to have completed so many things by the end of the day.
10. You Live in the 18^th century – Okay, not really. However, sometimes thinking that way can help you boost productivity by ten fold. Imagine not having to worry about email, twitter, facebook and other distractions that suck us deep into the interwebs. It sure would be nice. Of course, we need computers and modern technology to get things done — but sometimes a paper, pencil, and nature can do more than any amount of technology. Try going computer-less for a couple hours each day. If you are a designer, use a sketchpad to sketch out your ideas. If you’re a writer, write key points that will help you create a killer post. This tip can really work wonders for your productivity.

Do You Know Any Interesting Productivity Tips?

These are some of the productivity rules I try to follow to keep my freelance business going strong. Let’s carry the discussion in the comments section and help each other out with some more tips and ideas.

Original article posted by Laura Spencer on freelancefolder.com

There are some freelancing mistakes and pitfalls that you can easily avoid, if you are aware of them. And no, I’m not talking about grammar or spelling mistakes here, either.

Before I get too far into this post, I need to confess that I learned about a few of these freelancing mistakes the hard way–that is to say, I made the mistakes myself. Other mistakes I learned about secondhand from freelancing comments on forums and blogs. But, just because I made some mistakes when I started out doesn’t mean you have to make them too. In fact, that’s part of what Freelance Folder is all about, freelancers helping freelancers to succeed.

In this post, I’ll list 26 common mistakes that freelancers make when they are starting out–mistakes that you can avoid because you’re reading this post. I’ll start with the mistakes that I’ve noticed and wrap the post up with mistakes that other Freelance Folder writers have blogged about.

10 Freelancing Mistakes I’ve Seen Over the Years

In no particular order, here are some common freelancing mistakes that many freelancers make:

1. Falling for a big dollar number. Fortunately, I’m pretty good at math so the first thing I do when determining whether a project is worth my time is divide the dollar amount offered by the amount of effort (in hours) that I think the job requires. Not every freelancer does this. I was recently discussing this topic with a freelancer colleague who took on a huge project (both in dollars and hours). Sadly, the project almost bankrupt him because the big dollar amount (in the thousands of dollars) was really not enough to justify the months of work that the project involved.
2. Failing to get an agreement in writing. Of course, getting a contract is ideal–but failing that I at least try to always get some sort of agreement in writing. Sometimes email works for this, but sometimes you may need something more formal. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read comments from a freelancer who is having trouble getting a client to live up to their end of the bargain, only to find out that there was no formal agreement.
3. Not meeting deadlines. Fortunately, I don’t struggle with this one (much)–but I know that some freelancers do. When you take on a project it’s important to pencil in enough time on your calendar to get the project done. If you find that your calendar is too full for you to meet all of your commitments, you’ll have to do one of three things: outsource (if you can), turn work done, or negotiate new deadlines.
4. Not knowing what to charge. I confess that I didn’t really know much about freelancing when I started eight years ago, and I had no idea how much to charge for my services. As a result, I often took on work for less than I was worth. Yes, I was underpaid–but, it was largely my own fault for not doing enough research to find out what an experienced freelance writer should earn.
5. Not saving money for taxes. Luckily, I was warned about this mistake before I ever started freelancing. I had the good fortune to work with a freelance programmer who was being paid an extremely high rate for his services. Everything went well for him until his taxes came due at the end of his first year of freelancing. I’ll never forget how his lack of preparation forced him to close his freelancing business and accept a “permanent” job or how his tax liability took him very near to personal bankruptcy.
6. Not branding yourself properly or consistently. Personally, when I started out as a freelancer I gave very little thought to my online image. I had my resume, my references, and my samples. For many clients that was enough. I don’t think I would be so lucky if I were to restart my freelancing business in today’s competitive environment. Branding is crucial to freelancing success.
7. Picking the wrong partner. I’ve always been a solo freelancer, but I’ve heard some freelancing horror stories about traumatic partnership break-ups. There are many advantages to being in a partnership, but it’s also important to pick your freelancing partner very, very carefully. A bad partnership breakup can be devastating to both parties.
8. Not taking advantage of free resources. There’s a lot useful free resources and information online for freelancers. In fact, the depth of what’s out there still amazes me. In future posts, we’ll be sharing some of those free resources with our readers. Sadly, when I started out as a freelancer I had no idea what was available. I could have avoided a lot of trouble and extra work by taking advantage of some of those resources.
9. Not getting help when you need it. Eventually, every freelancer needs help. It may be that you need to outsource some of your project load so that you can put your best efforts into your work. Or, it could be that you need to hire a specialist such as an accountant or an attorney to handle some of the legal and financial aspects of your business. Not getting help when you need it is a big freelancing mistake.
10. Making the same mistake over and over. Every freelancer makes a mistake eventually. There’s no shame in that. The most important thing to do when you make a mistake is to stop and try and analyze what went wrong so that you can avoid that mistake in the future. If you fail to do this–if you fail to learn from your mistakes–you may be doomed to making the same mistake over and over again, which is something that no freelancer wants.

I’ve shared some of the most common freelancing mistakes that I’ve observed over the years. Now it’s time to take a look at some of the freelancing mistakes that other Freelance Folder authors have identified.

16 More Freelancing Mistakes

We’ve looked at freelancing mistakes on Freelance Folder in the past. Here I’ll identify 16 more common freelancing mistakes that other Freelance Folder authors have written about and link you to their posts.

From Chris Garrett, My Top 5 Biggest Freelancing Mistakes. Chris’s mistakes are as follows:

11. Under-pricing
12. Over-committing
13. Failing to Sell
14. Always saying ‘yes’
15. Not following up

From Glen Allsopp, Four Freelancing Mistakes You Don’t Need To Make. Glen’s mistakes are as follows:

16. Giving Away Too Much Information
17. Leaving Jobs Until the Last Minute
18. Wasting Time on Unproductive Work
19. Acting Like Someone I Wasn’t

From Tim Wasson, Why I Failed at Freelancing. Tim’s mistakes are as follows:

20. Too inexperienced
21. No focus.
22. Slippery slope of slow business
23. No savings
24. A part-time job
25. Debt
26. Client relationships

What About You?

Is your freelancing mistake on this list? Which one was it?

Did you make mistakes that we haven’t written about yet? Share your mistakes in the comments (and tell how you overcame them).

Image by hans.gerwitz