Harry sat in the plain white waiting room, leafing through a magazine he wasn’t really interested in. He could hear muffled voices coming from beyond the closed office door. Good, very good. Inside the office, James sat in the swiveling chair, turning it back and forth and looking uncomfortable. “Why are you here?” The social worker didn’t seem phased. “Well…” Good question. “Well, see, I’m a freelancer. Or not, really. An online entrepreneur.” That was more like it. “And I work.” Of course he did. “With kids. I mean, I don’t work with kids, but
> Read MoreArchives for November 2008
Blog Archives
Enjoy 1,000+ articles geared to your content-marketing, writing, freelancing or small business endeavors. Scroll down for recent posts, select a category, or browse the archives here.
How to Increase Your Rates for the New Year
Written by
2009 is just around the bend, and that’s usually the time when many professionals set their prices for the coming year. If charging more is the right thing for you, then it’ll soon be time to tell current clients that you’ll be increasing their expenses. Fun stuff. Writing that letter to advise customers of a rate hike can be uncomfortable, and it can be difficult to find the right words. You don’t want to lose clients, after all. You simply want to be paid a rate that you feel is fair for the work that
> Read MoreBuild it from Scratch or Customize a Template?
Written by
James recently did a little research on what other graphic designers and WordPress site developers are charging for their services. It’s good to know what the competition is doing and how we compare. He noticed some wild pricing extremes. One site offered themes at two different rates, one low, one high. There didn’t seem to be much difference between the two services, either. I offered the suggestion that the more expensive option probably meant the designer built new themes from scratch versus customizing template themes. This prompted more questions. “Why reinvent the wheel each time?”
> Read MoreWant to See Task One of the Sticky Business Contest?
Written by
Round one of the Sticky Business Contest has ended, and the contest is still going strong. We’ve already received comments from people thanking us because we’re helping people achieve the goal of finally making change in their life to reach a dream. That’s pretty cool. People know that even if they don’t win, this contest is going to help them do something about their life. So how many people registered? 177, in fact, which is a great number considering the contest wasn’t as easy as a drop-your-name-and-sit-back. Nope. Our contest involves four tasks that people
> Read MoreWhat Grocery Stores Teach You About Free Content
Written by
I’m easy, but I’m not cheap. I’m certainly not free. It seems I’m a bit of a loner, in that respect. I see so many bloggers who are quite happy to be cheap, easy and free. Then they complain they’re trying to earn a living and having a hard time of it. Well, geez, I guess so. Everything is free these days, to the point that people turn up their noses at anything with a dollar sign. When we mentioned that our forum would one day become a paid-membership site, people were aghast. Pay money?
> Read MoreDrive-by-Shooting Sunday: The D Spot Redeux
Written by
Detroit, Motor City, home of the U.S. automotive industry, Motown and Kid Rock. James was in his glory, knowing he’d be visiting the hometown of his favorite rock star, and he was already trying to get directions through the GPS on the Solstice. Harry, on the other hand, wasn’t thrilled at all. He would have preferred to stay and linger at last week’s hit. He didn’t like cities. They were big, dirty and overcrowded. But he couldn’t let James go sniper alone. Who knew what trouble Chartrand would get into? Harry had looked up the
> Read MoreHave You Taken Your Product for a Test Drive?
Written by
“Houston, we have a problem.” One of the most common mistakes I see with businesses is the failure to test their products, sites or launches in advance of the day the product goes live. Why in the world would you go through all that effort, pouring your heart and soul into your Big Idea without testing to make sure potential customers have a smooth experience? The Eleventh Hour Syndrome Neglecting testing can have disastrous results. You might have bugs on your site that hinders perfect viewing, your documents might not upload, download or open properly,
> Read MoreDon’t Miss Your Chance to Reach Your Dream
Written by
Have you entered the Sticky Business Contest? There’s still time before the Task One deadline closes on November 23rd at midnight, so get busy! We have nearly $20,000 in prizes to give away to three lucky people who are serious about making a change in their life. Is that person you? Our whole contest is geared to helping everyone who enters, too. You benefit just by participating. What are you waiting for? Register now for the Sticky Business Contest. It’s your opportunity to get unstuck from where you are, start making change in your life
> Read MoreFacing the Real Costs of Doing Business
Written by
Before you read this post, we’d just like to let you know that you should grab a coffee and make yourself comfortable. It’s a long one – but one we feel is worth the time to read. Enjoy – and please share your thoughts in the comment section. What do your clients cost you? That’s a very good question. It’s a question I think every freelancer should revisit each three months or so. It’s not an easy question to answer, either, because it sounds silly. Clients are supposed to increase our revenues, not increase our
> Read MoreFiguring Out What You Really Sell
Written by
What do you sell? Did you answer content or design? Did you answer an e-course or a book? Did you answer consulting services or marketing tools? Well, if that’s what you believe you sell, you’d be wrong. What you’re selling isn’t about what you sell at all. A Conversation With James I’ve had many revelations this past month as I think more on our business, the systems we use, how we work and how it all fits together. A conversation with James on one of my recent revelations had him laughing. “Let me ask you
> Read More