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SHOWING NEWS 411–420 OUT OF 732

February 21, 2022

FROM STUDENT ID TO BUSINESS ID NO. 3

This week, Masaryk University is launching the 3rd run of its course From Student ID to Business ID — arguably the first general full-semester university course on freelancing in Czechia and wider Europe.

For 3 months, the 100+ participating students will have a chance to e-meet a diverse lineup of accomplished independent professionals. Three of them are our members: Pavel Minar, Barbora Baronova, and Robert Vlach, who has also been involved in the course production.

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February 18, 2022

BEHAVIOR GAP

Behavior Gap is an excellent weekly newsletter by Carl Richards, who, through simple sketches, shares his insights about personal finance as well as other business tips. Curated, brief, and worth subscribing.

"My goal is to give you a little shot of distilled wisdom that will only take you a few minutes to read, but if I do it right, it will leave you thinking all day."

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February 17, 2022

THE FREELANCE WAY IN INDIA

On March 2, HarperCollins India will publish The Freelance Way by Robert Vlach as THE business book for independent professionals rooted in the best practices, tools and strategies used by American and European freelancers 🗽

If you happen to live in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, or Maldives, you can pre-order it on Amazon.

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February 16, 2022

35 LESSONS FROM 35 YEARS OF NEWSLETTER PUBLISHING

While many creators see social media as a failed promise, content newsletters keep booming, and they are vital for many freelancers too. Here, the 35 Lessons from 35 Years of Newsletter Publishing by CJ Chilvers really ring the bell — take these few examples:

  • Email lasts. You will have a medium that best speaks to your style (maybe audio or video is what keeps you excited), but email is as universal as we’ve gotten online as a species, so far. It’s still the king.
  • There is no competition for your personal voice.
  • The best metric is replies.
  • Keep track of what delights you about other newsletters — not what engages you (that’s too easy — A.I. can do that). Engagement is good for a few sentences. Delight builds anticipation for the next issue. You’re probably not producing enough delight. You probably should be.

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February 15, 2022

CONFIDENT CONTENT CREATION IN ENGLISH

This can be very useful for international freelancers who are not native English speakers: 4-week free online course for non-native speakers Confident Content Creation in English by Lenka Silhanova. She is an active member of our freelance community and a very nice person to deal with (here’s a recent interview with her).

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February 14, 2022

QUALIFICATIONS AS AN ASSET?

“I think if you’re a freelancer, the first thing you need to do is to inspire somebody with the possibility of what they could achieve with your help,” says Mark McGuinness about whether qualifications are important for creatives in this short clip from his talk Forget the career ladder — Start creating assets!

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February 11, 2022

MAILCHIMP’S BENCHMARK REPORT 2021: FOR FREELANCERS

“The top 10% charge $197 per hour,” claims Mailchimp in a report about freelancers on their platform, titled simply Benchmark Report 2021: For freelancers.

The report isn’t representative of the wider freelance economy, but it is both insightful and telling of freelancers who use emailing tools like Mailchimp in their business.

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February 10, 2022

STRIKE.MARKET

If you invest part of your freelance earnings in stocks, you know how crucial it is to use good screening tools. Beyond the semi-professional paid options like Stock Rover, there are also many free ones. Our latest favorite? Strike.market by Lenka Schanova & co. Check it out!

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February 9, 2022

10 LESSONS FROM THE BEATLES

10 lessons in productivity & brainstorming from The Beatles, based on the new 6-hour-long documentary Get Back (IMDb rating 9.1) directed by Peter Jackson:

  1. The “Yes… and” rule
  2. Keep going (until you stop)
  3. Defer judgment
  4. Use rapid prototyping
  5. Embrace happy accidents
  6. One conversation at a time
  7. Don’t be scared to be stupid
  8. Pretend to be someone else
  9. Don’t repeat the same idea
  10. Lots of tea and toast

Go get ’em, Ringo! 🥁

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February 7, 2022

WARNING SIGNS OF BAD CLIENTS

These are 6 early warning signs of a bad freelance client, according to a recent article on Freelancers Union website:

  1. They don’t respect your time
  2. They downplay your skills and experience
  3. They’re bad communicators
  4. They question your rates multiple times
  5. They have unrealistic expectations about outcomes and deadlines
  6. They try to wiggle out of signing a contract

…and some tips on how to avoid them:

  • Underpromise and overdeliver
  • Ask all the necessary questions
  • Look at past reviews from other freelancers
  • Trust your instincts

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