We monitor countless quality sources on freelancing and choose only the best content to save your time.
Subscribe to our monthly Freeletter with a curated selection of world-class freelance news and subscribers-only content + get our free PDF guide How to become an international freelancer right now as a new subscriber:
Your privacy matters: We won’t share your email address with anyone else and you can cancel your subscription anytime. Also, we do not store anyone’s IP address nor do we track who opens and reads our newsletter.
As the gig economy continues to expand, it's increasingly capturing the interest of young students. Yet, as Adam Jama points out in his article for Freelancer Club, many schools in the UK remain slow to adapt, falling short in addressing the opportunities freelancing offers.
To truly prepare our youth for the modern world of work, he suggests it is crucial to integrate freelancing into the curriculum, especially post-GCSEs.
"If you’re thinking that freelancing is suitable for a select bunch of sectors such as IT, graphics, art and photography, you’d be mistaken. Virtually every career path could now be introduced into the discussion of freelancing."
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
The Economist has published a sobering article claiming that the often-mentioned AI productivity boost is nowhere to be seen in the wider economic data, except in parts of the tech industry and some market niches.
The implications are that the real-world onset of an AI-powered future might be much slower than predicted just a year ago. Since many freelancers are at the forefront of the ongoing shift towards AI, some may need to re-evaluate their bets on using the technology to replace existing tools anytime soon.
“Concerns about data security, biased algorithms and hallucinations are slowing the roll-out. McDonald’s, a fast-food chain, recently canned a trial that used AI to take customers’ drive-through orders after the system started making errors, such as adding $222-worth of chicken nuggets to one diner’s bill.“
Read more in the article: What happened to the artificial-intelligence revolution?
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
Do you write, create, or do some kind of knowledge work?
Then you might be interested in Google NotebookLM AI tool, which is newly available also in EU countries.
NotebookLM makes it easier to write and develop your own ideas using sources you upload to the tool, which are then processed by the Google Gemini 1.5 Pro AI model. NotebookLM assists with research, writing, and editing, while keeping your data private.
The development of this tool involves Steven Johnson, the author of several popular science bestsellers. Another respected expert on knowledge management and the author of the book Building a Second Brain, Tiago Forte, describes NotebookLM as “the best software ever created for leveraging AI in your creative work.”
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
Our freelance meetup at Impact Hub Ljubljana in Slovenia on July 31 is only a few weeks away!
If you wish to join us, the free registration link and other details are included in the LinkedIn and Facebook events.
Our recent international freelance meetups in Dresden, Barcelona and Madrid were each absolutely unique. Hopefully, the summer meetup in Ljubljana—only 100 kilometers away from Slovenia’s coast—will be just as colorful!
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
How are you doing as a freelancer?
This is not a rhetorical question. We are deeply interested in your point of view, so we have decided to organize a survey that maps your freelance business from A to Z.
The questionnaire is anonymous, and it takes just 15 minutes to complete.
Thanks so much for your support and time, it's for a good cause! 💙
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
Here are some pictures from our freelance meetup at the Impact Hub Dresden on June 20–21, 2024.
The longer 2-day format proved to be perfectly suited for long conversations, informal networking, and engaged debates.
On the first day, we held a 3-hour deep-dive debate with Robert Vlach about advanced freelance pricing and client negotiations, upselling techniques, growth strategies, preventing costly mistakes, and much more. The second day included a closed-door workshop debate on individual pricing and various business models for scaling freelance work.
We also joined the Hub’s community breakfast, visited the local university campus for lunch, and enjoyed long dinners while talking late into the night.
All of this happened thanks to Impact Hub Dresden’s team and its founder and CEO, Lorenz Weil. We highly recommend their two beautiful coworking spaces in the heart of Dresden as an ideal work setup for freelancers. No wonder there are so many of them among the Hub’s members already. Some also joined the meetup, and it was fantastic!
Next month, we will hold a similar freelance meetup at Impact Hub Ljubljana in Slovenia.
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
A couple of weeks ago, Freelancermap published their groundbreaking Freelancer Study 2024, which we both supported and reported on with selected highlights.
The final, extensive PDF report also included quotes from 11 leading freelancing experts, including Robert Vlach as the founder of Freelancing.eu and best-selling author of The Freelance Way. His recommendations quoted in the report were distilled from written answers to submitted questions.
Here are Robert’s answers, published in full as a follow-up. They offer deeper insights into various aspects of freelance entrepreneurship, such as pricing, sales, business negotiations, career strategies, and more. Enjoy!
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
Are you struggling to stand out in the crowded freelance market? Austin Church shares a game-changing strategy in this extensive article, encouraging freelancers to consider productized services as a method to boost their business. This involves repackaging your skills into clear, fixed-price offers with defined scopes and deliverables.
As Church says, productized services streamline your workflow and make your offers more attractive by solving direct problems, which means less time marketing and more time earning. He outlines a step-by-step process to transform your freelance offerings, from identifying popular services to combining them into compelling, profitable packages. However, he also mentions the drawbacks, suggesting that they are not suitable for every client or situation.
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
Let us introduce you to Impact Hub Dresden, which runs two unique coworking places, where our international freelance meetup takes place next week.
Here’s their intro from our invitation:
“Impact Hub Dresden is a proud member of the international Impact Hub Network. It operates two beautiful coworking spaces known as Hauptbahnhof and Galerie/Zentrum, both close to each other by walking distance. They boast a perfect central location and ideal working environment for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and transformative organizations. You may enjoy carefully designed office space with flexible membership plans, friendly community atmosphere and memorable events.”
In other words, a perfect workplace for freelancers 💜
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink
In this older but very relevant article, Nick Maggiulli presents how to think about time in relation to economic activities, such as investing or freelancing, and money through the lens of maintaining long-term health.
Maggiulli explains that even a moderate investment of time in exercise (e.g., four hours a week) can yield substantial benefits, adding years of healthy life, which, as we all know, is crucial for us independent professionals.
Share or discuss: LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) Permalink