The Freelance Rant

Productive Use of Twitter: Are You Stalking or Are You Talking?

Johnny — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:02:35 +0000

I tend to have an on-again, off-again relationship with Twitter. Some weeks are just so busy with work that Twitter plays second fiddle to it. I still don't get paid to use it so, sorry there little avatars with personalities, you'll have to wait until next week (or after a night out later tonight).

Maybe it's time to rethink that again for a second.

Now I'm not one to buy into using Twitter for the whole celebrity "reaching out to your fans" experience. I can just see it now if I did my daily Twitter stalking and finally received that coveted response. [...]

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Top Ten Freelancing Rules To Break, Just So Things Don’t Get Boring

Johnny — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:33:39 +0000

Some wise man once said that all rules were made to be broken (I know, cliche). It's true though. Who ever got by as a freelancer by happily obeying the rules of the working world? Yet despite this career choice, there still always seems to be more rules to have to follow. Well, I give you permission to break these ten so you can get on with your career already.

10. Set and meet deadlines. If it doesn't involve kidnappings, legislation or nuclear standoffs, then it really isn't important in the grand scheme of things, is it?

9. Be attentive to your clients. Your clients are mature adults fully capable of handling themselves. So be repectful and treat them as so. [...]

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The Week In Freelance: July 23rd

Johnny — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:01:38 +0000

Geez it's hard typing all this on your phone! Anyway here is the week in freelancing news for July 23rd. [...]

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Winning The War on Computer Disasters

Johnny — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:24:37 +0000

Well, it happened sooner than I thought it would. Not too long ago, I gave the automated online backup a try so I could relieve myself of the pesky task of having to remember to do it myself. Turned out it was like buying life insurance before a vacation to Afghanistan. The beloved tower of power, a workhorse to countless projects and surviving deadly viruses, had passed away.

He was 4.

Despite a quick mourning, the sudden death didn't really phase me. His understudy, the Vista laptop, quickly took over the reins and was left a nice fortune from the completed and up-to-date backup sitting online. [...]

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The Week in Freelance: July 16th

Johnny — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:39:44 +0000

It's about time for that happy hour special. Not before you get the week in freelancing news for July 16th though. [...]

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Freelancer Rage, Another Extension of Your Driving

Johnny — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:18:31 +0000

I'm not ashamed to admit that some of my biggest mistakes (and biggest lessons) as a freelancer came as a result of letting my emotions get too far out of control and take over my decision making.

Such as the time long ago when I sent Mr. Henderson an email to the effect of, "YOU HAVEN'T PAID YET. PLEASE PAY NOW!" just three days removed from handing him a $50 invoice.

Then there was the other time when I dropped some f-bombs on beloved colleagues who have been providing me plenty of work the last three years [...]

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WebDev Corner: Are You Making This Mistake In Your MySQL Queries?

Johnny — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:04:02 +0000

I have a lot of respect for the designers who get their hands dirty and learn a little PHP and MySQL to code those websites themselves. I can sympathize with you that it doesn’t seem different from learning Chinese. Maybe not that hard but you get the picture. Unfortunately, I see a common mistake made, [...] [...]

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The Week In Freelance: July 9th

Johnny — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:15:13 +0000

Sitting with a fan on high, cold beverage and ice cream in hand to bring you the week in freelancing news for July 9th. [...]

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Top Ten Freelancing Survival Tips For Summer

Johnny — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:29:47 +0000

Nothing like the heat of summer. Trips, barbecue, pool time and just general fun to be had. Hell, what are you even doing here reading this? Shouldn't you be outside enjoying yourself? I guess since you're here, might as well read a few tips to help make it the best one to be had.

10. A real vacation is a trip to that new Starbucks all the way across town. Go ahead, spring for the Caramel Macchiato and crumb cake. Yeah, you know you deserve it.

9. Harvesting that layer of dust on your desk makes excellent tinder for campfires. [...]

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4th of July Homework For Freelancers (After Your Barbecue)

Johnny — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:52:17 +0000

Yes, it's one of those few celebrated holidays of the summer. So before you're about to scarf down your allotment of barbecue and potato salad for the year or head out to Yosemite for a nice hike and a picnic, you may have already realized you're at the midpoint of the year. Already!

While you're resting and recharging, it's also a good time to reflect on the past year so far. Is your freelancing business going how it should? Is there anything you want to change or haven't begun to do yet? What can you do better?

Those are a few questions a serious freelancer would think about throughout the year. So I'll leave a few compiled posts here to get you started for the holiday break. [...]

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Recognizing The Red Flag Client (Like a Bad Date)

Johnny — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:59:23 +0000

Picture this: A potential client consults with you. You give a (rather pricey) estimate. He is still interested and looks like a nice project to keep you going for a while.

Then you get to further discussons. He doesn't pay attention to your suggestions. He is unclear of his goals and vision for the project. You just don't see eye-to-eye.

Memories of a bad date are popping into your head.

So now you face an interesting dilemma in freelancing. Do I give up a great project and the nice income it will provide or do I take those red flags into account and let this client slip away to another freelancer? [...]

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The Week In Freelance: June 25th

Johnny — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:05:46 +0000

Kicking off the summer with the week in freelancing news for June 25th which makes me wonder why aren't you're not outside instead. [...]

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Scared of Upgrading to WordPress 3.0? Well…

Johnny — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:13:13 +0000

Chances are, if you have a self-hosted Wordpress blog, you've dealt with issues when upgrading to latest versions. In my experience (and likely yours), most upgrades are completed without issue but there are always those few that make you spend half the day trying to get the Wordpress back to normal, much less, up to date.

Now this time, Wordpress has reached a new milestone. Three point zero. A new era for Wordpress.

Or in the case of your own blog, just the thought of upgrading to it creates a panic with flashbacks of the Y2K millenium bug thrown in. Maybe not that bad but you get the picture. [...]

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The Week In Freelance: June 11th

Johnny — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:00:38 +0000

Take a break from all the oil spill updates for the week in freelancing news for June 11th [...]

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Ten Things A Freelancer Hasn’t Gotten Around To Doing, But Probably Should

Johnny — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:40:56 +0000

As I said in my last post, taking a day off from your freelancing activities is necessary every once in a while. When you return, though, work piles up, you do this and that but there still some unfinished business that you've been putting off that needs attention. The list can go on forever, but these are likely some of the most urgent [...]

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