What I've Learned in my First Two Weeks of Freelancing

A snippet of what I've been working on lately.

1). It's good to put on real clothes once in awhile.

I love being able to work in my pajamas, but doing that too many days in a row can mess with your head. Putting on real clothes in the morning definitely helps get my mind in the working mode!

2). Naps are awesome.

I love the make-your-own-schedule part of freelancing. It feels good to be able to take a nap when I need it and then work late into the night when my brain is actually more awake (I'm a night owl).

3). It really is all in who you know.

It has been said that the best way to get new clients is through word-of-mouth from the old ones... and repeat clients are even better! I'm currently working on a blog re-design for one of my previous clients, which I never would've gotten if I hadn't reached out to her to let her know about my new design portfolio! Don't be obnoxious when you're promoting yourself, but it definitely does your business good to remind people once in awhile that you're available for work.

4). My TiVo missed me.

My poor TiVo got so neglected in the last month or two while I was working hard finishing school. It's been nice to have down-time again and catch up on some of my stories!

5). There are a lot of learning resources online.

I've also spent a lot of time this week watching web coding and Photoshop videos. Those are two areas I don't feel entirely competent (we mainly used Illustrator and InDesign for my school projects), so beefing up on my skills, even when I'm not working a lot can only help me in the future. A few awesome video tutorial sites I've found are here: 1, 2, 3.

Comments

DIY Art Journal

Hi, my name is Linda and I am a 25 year old law student living in Manhattan. I blog over at My Passion Is... about my life, scrapbooking, DIY crafts, photography, exploring NYC & more. I am honored to be sharing a post with you today on Jen's blog, so thanks for having me! I recently completed a mini album that I made out of a pasta box so I wanted to share a tutorial with you so you could make your own! What you need: empty pasta box [I used a whole foods penne pasta] scrapbook papers & embellishments a single hole punch sturdy tape [like packaging tape] a paper cutter and/or scissors some sort of binding, either binding rings or ribbon First, you are going to flatten out your pasta box. Then you are going to cut it down to two 6x6 squares [or whatever size album you want to make]. If the box doesn’t fit perfectly in those shapes that’s alright, just piece them together using packaging tape to hold the squares together. Once you cover them i...

Etsy Giveaway: Desert Rose Knit Shop

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!! 39 comments are entered - if there are any more at a later time added, they will NOT count. ********** Today I'm christening my new(ish) blog with an Etsy giveaway! I'm offering one lucky winner a cabled beanie of their choice ( pick your favorite color !). This giveaway will run for a week - so you have until next Monday, January 23rd, to put your name in the hat. 6 ways to enter: Comment below about which color beanie is your favorite. Subscribe to my blog on Google Friend Connect . Blog about this giveaway on your own blog. " Like " my Facebook fan page . Follow me on Twitter . Tweet about this giveaway. Please leave a separate comment below for each entry. At the end of the contest, I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner!! Here's a look at some of the color options available. Browse other color options over at my Etsy shop ! ***** Thank you for enteri...

The Disconnect Process

I've begun the disconnect process this afternoon and boy does it feel good! Also a little anxiety-inducing. I switched my Netflix account to have NO streaming and only one DVD at a time. I'd almost forgotten what anticipation felt like! It'll be fun to await each new arrival in the mail. No longer is media instantly streamable for me. Strange but oddly relieving. I deleted my Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr accounts. As much fun as they were, they were also far too demanding of my time. The constant drug-like pull of them to constantly stay connected was too hard to ignore. I turned off all notifications on my iPhone (with the exception of texting, which I rarely use anyway), and switched Mail to be manually pulled. Now I'll have to intentionally check to see if I have new messages instead of being demanded upon to deal with them all as soon as they arrive. I plan to check email once or twice day, so if you don't get an instant response from me like you used ...

Living the Creative Life

Search This Blog