How a Nice Girl Negotiates
I am a really nice person. And, although it’s not a preclusion being mean, growing up in the South definitely shaped my niceness persona. My friends and I were raised to be welcoming, friendly, able to converse with anyone in the world. It is practically hardwired in...
BrainLeaf at Venture Atlanta 2014
We had a great time listening to the presentations at Venture Atlanta last week. We took a few photos while we rubbed shoulders with the giants in the Altanta startup space. There were a lot of voices at the conference, but the one note we kept hearing was how Atlanta...
4 Essential Skills for Freelancing
Scooting through Tech A guest post from Cristina Cruz Soltesz, an events troubleshooter, poet and dancer in San Francisco. From education, investment, virtual events, audio technology to nonprofit, my role in a given project is constantly changing. So I've opted to...
Why? / Why Not?
A guest post from Erick Flores, an aspiring young designer from Mexico. This is my first post for a blog, ever. I was invited to write here, and I'm very honored. But, honestly, when I was asked to collaborate on this blog, I was kind of afraid. I have never written...
Negotiation Always Happens Before Signing
What many people don’t realize is that contracts are negotiable. On every contract you receive, you can make changes. A Few Words of Wisdom from Rochelle Long When someone gives you a contract, you need to read it, all the way through. You could get your attorney to...
Laying the Foundation for a Great Sales Force
I want to bring up something that I think a lot of developers and designers tend to forget: it’s not always about design and development. If you don’t have any sales, then you won’t have anything to build. Project managers, developers, designers—we all constantly...
Marketing Is A Reflection. What Are You Reflecting?
The following is a guest post from Jason Scott Montoya. Most of us have heard the saying, "Fake it until you make it." In 2007, we launched a marketing company called Noodlehead Studios. When we started, "fake it until you make it" would have been a good phrase to...
9 Fantastic Tips on Marketing Yourself as a Designer/Business Owner
A guest post from Luchia Bloomfield. Hi, my name is Luchia Bloomfield. You probably don't know me but I have been living off of my design business for the last year... remotely. My clients are in other countries and in most cases, I haven't actually met them yet. I...
I need to hire someone, what do I do?
If you are just starting a web business, or any business for that matter, hiring employees is a wormhole of confusion. Putting them in the right position and growing them into a keeper, that's an even bigger one. Luckily, there are people like me who have already gone...
How to Build Your Skills and Grow a Community as a Freelancer
How one freelancer built her skill set, found an efficient workflow and began networking in a community. After landing my first desk job shortly after graduating, I realized that traditional corporate culture wasn’t for me. Like many freelancers, I hated being...
Your Brand is SO Much More Than a Logo
A guest post by Stacy Kleber Jensen What is your brand? Many people think that a brand is simply a logo, but it's so much more than that. Although a logo is an important part of a business, a brand encompasses much more. A brand is everything that people think of...
Get on the Phone!!!
When you started, did you create a list of people or companies that you would LOVE to work for? Have you been working as a freelancer for several years and you still haven’t worked for that ideal client you dreamed of having when you started? Are you just starting out...