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Posts Tagged ‘creative freelancers’
Tips For Marketing Yourself as a Prime Freelancer
2/2/2012 3:39 PM By Artisan
So you’ve been searching for employment and you’ve just discovered your dream job. Maybe it’s a marketing position, a freelance writing project or a chance to draw snow cones — it doesn’t matter; this job speaks to you. The problem is, the project also speaks to 250 other freelancers, some of whom may be more qualified than you are. How do you make your voice heard? Here’s some self employment advice that will give you the upper hand.
First, we need to go back in time a bit. Before you started searching for employment, did you update your portfolio and resume? Let’s face it, for freelancers in particular, hiring is all about history. Every freelancer claims to have the most talent, be the best person for the job and be passionate about the work. However, it’s not about what a freelancer can say, but rather what he can show a potential employer in respect to his abilities. A good portfolio is a must. The best piece of self employment advice is to make sure that your best work, particularly your most recent best work, always finds its way into your portfolio.
Another trick to making yourself more attractive to potential employers is to stretch your limits and learn to do different things within your chosen field or related fields. Just because you’ve never written a press release before doesn’t mean you should assume you can’t write press releases. Give it a try — you might be good at it and even enjoy it. Then, when the employer advertises that a need for somebody to write a bio for the CEO for an event, you can say you are able to do that and a press release for the event, too.
Another word here about history and reputation — just as you can build a good reputation, you can build a nasty one even more easily. Any good marketing person knows that good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster so the mistakes you make and the bridges you burn can, and will, come back to haunt you. If you habitually miss deadlines, turn in low-quality work or generally don’t act like a professional, your reputation will precede you and you will find yourself being passed over for jobs.
There is one last simple piece of self employment advice you need when searching for employment as a freelancer. Be confident. If you don’t believe you’re the best person for the job, you will never convince anyone else. Besides, when you look at the portfolio you’ve prepared, you’ll see that you’ve accomplished a lot as a freelancer and you have every reason to believe that the job you apply for is yours for the taking. All that’s left to do is go get it!
Roger C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
The Surprisingly Lucrative Career of a Freelancer
2/2/2012 3:39 PM By Artisan
When most people tell their friends that they are freelancers, the response is sometimes a thinly disguised concern that you aren’t making enough to support yourself. Then they often follow up with something about how great it is that you’re following your dreams and wish they had the freedom that you do. What they don’t know (and we should probably keep this just between us) is that “creative staffing” freelancers can make a very good living and that their gigs can be just as demanding as professionals with fulltime jobs.
“Creative staffing” is a pretty broad term that basically applies to anybody who gets paid to create something, from writing to web design to information architecture to anything in between. How much they get paid to create something varies based on their experience, level of skills, contacts and, most of all, what their client is willing to pay.
As you would imagine, with so many variables you can have some creative freelancers who are doing extremely well for themselves and others living paycheck to paycheck. In order to get the highest pay possible (and more consistent work), it would be advisable to get in touch with a freelance job agencies, as they can expose you to a wider group of clients.
In terms of an average salary for creative staffing, it is hard to calculate because of the range of jobs and level of experience involved, but there are some accepted ranges. For instance, according to the New Jersey Creatives Network, a person who writes advertising copy could make between $33 and $120 per hour. Clearly, the high end of that scale is nothing to sneeze at. The average, however, is in the $50 to $60 per hour range – a pretty well paying gig by anyone’s definition.
Roger C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
Hiring Solutions: Freelance Graphic Designers for Rapid-Fire Marketing Projects
1/30/2012 1:50 PM By Vince Font
Do you work for a marketing company that needs to hire Graphic Designers for projects with an incredibly rapid turnaround time? The mere thought has been known to send hardened career marketing experts into tailspins of panic, especially considering the time and effort needed to launch a search to find qualified job candidates. If this story is starting to sound all too familiar, take a deep breath and relax. It can be done.
First, consider all of your options. Finding a freelance Graphic Designer or Production Artist might just be a far better solution than making a permanent hire. But will bringing in a freelancer—or freelancers, if your project requires nothing short of a small army—into the mix be cost effective? In a word, yes. Think about the following things you won’t have to worry about if you opt to hire Graphic Designers from the freelance market.
- No legal requirement to provide healthcare benefits. And fortunately for you, Artisan offers that option for its talent.
- Far less overhead costs, especially if the Graphic Designer in question can work remotely.
- Less need to provide training unless it is project or software specific. Most professional freelance Graphic Designers for hire are highly experienced, having worked in a variety of environments.
And if you work with a talent staffer like Artisan, where we’ve already taken care of everything from background checks to prior work history, you’ll have even less on your plate. Get a jumpstart on your marketing project by contacting us today.
Three Myths About Interactive Design and Web Development
1/19/2012 2:52 PM By Vince Font
Being a full-time Interactive Designer doesn’t mean you know all there is to know about building the perfect website. Believe it or not, there are tons of professional ecommerce Web Developers out there operating on totally false principles, completely obliviously. The real trouble with this is that buying into certain myths can turn a potentially fabulous designer into a mediocre one. Here are three common myths that Web Developers all too often take as gospel.
Too much white space makes a website look empty.
Wrong. While we’ll admit that too much white space can be a bad thing, it all depends on what your definition of too much is. Some people’s idea of the ideal website design is one that doesn’t waste a single solitary pixel. But as you might imagine, taking this approach can result in an incredibly unattractive and cluttered site. When used properly, white space can make a web page more digestable and leave a user with a far more positive impression of a brand or product.
Quality content isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Occasionally, you’ll hear someone ranting about how unimportant online content is by pointing to a popular website with zero content as a perfect example. The only thing is, situations like these are total anomalies and ecommerce Web Developers have to understand this. Effective interactive design balances quality content with quality layout and visuals. If one or the other falls out of balance, the whole site’s integrity is shot. Well-developed content may not be the only determining factor that gets someone to come to your website, but it can play a huge role in keeping them there long enough to make a purchase and often ensures they’ll come back again.
Copying a proven model will work every time.
This isn’t really a dangerous myth as much as it is a time-wasting one. Far too many people believe that they can take shortcuts to website preeminence by blindly following the example put forth by far more visible websites. The only problem is, that’s breaking one of the very basic tenets of organic interactive design. The most successful websites got to be that way as a result of trial and error, and years of making tweaks that not only took user feedback into account but that also anticipated the wants and needs of future users. Copying someone else’s model is like copying someone else’s Bingo sheet pattern. It just doesn’t work.
If you’re having trouble finding work as a full-time Interactive Designer, take heart. Even though companies hiring Interactive Designers and ecommerce Web Developers may seem few and far between, there are still ways to make money on the full-time or freelance market. Artisan is a creative staffing company that has established clients who are regularly seeking developers and designers for full-time and lucrative freelance projects.
Why Hire a Freelancer? 3 Cost Effective Reasons
1/11/2012 2:25 PM By Vince Font
Creative staffing companies like Artisan offer hiring solutions for companies seeking world class, A-list freelance talent. But is hiring a freelancer necessarily the best thing for you, or would you be better served by hiring a fulltime in-house employee? Here are a few things to consider when deciding:
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When you hire a freelancer, you save money hand over fist. True, freelancers don’t come cheap—and if you want the best you’re going to have to be willing to pay top dollar. However, when you weigh that against costs you won’t have to incur, such as running background checks, extensive training and providing health benefits, hiring a freelancer is much more cost effective.
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Bringing in a freelancer to handle a project is one of the best hiring solutions for companies that want new blood but can’t afford to hire anymore fulltime staff. If you hire a freelancer, you get the best of both worlds: a breath of fresh air and a temporary solution.
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Hiring a freelancer gives you an “out” if you determine after a few months that the relationship isn’t what you’re looking for. That’s not so easily done if you hire a fulltime employee, where you run the risk of having to pay unemployment benefits for letting them go even if the firing is on reasonable grounds.
If you’re now officially sold on hiring a freelancer, register with Artisan, a creative staffing agency that can get you in touch with talented freelancers in the field of print, web and multimedia marketing.
Weeding Out Web Designer Pros From the Flakes
1/9/2012 1:15 PM By Vince Font
The trouble many companies face when hiring Web Designers has little to do with finding people of skill and more to do with finding individuals who can produce high quality work on time. The reason? It’s easy for someone to get an education as a Web Designer. Work ethic, on the other hand, can’t always be learned and is seemingly in short quantity these days. If you’re looking to hire a Web Designer but want to avoid finding certain things out the hard way, we’ve got a few tips to help you out.
• Approach a creative talent agency in your search. You can still hire a Web Designer by listing the position on your company website or job boards, but top staffing agencies pre-screen all candidates and even perform pre-qualification interviews to be able to present you with a list of ideal job candidates.
• Know what you’re looking for. You don’t have to be an expert in web design to hire a Web Designer, but you should know enough to be able to discuss what you expect of them. It’s not enough to know what you don’t want, and it’s certainly unfair to expect someone to read your mind.
• Follow up on referrals. This is particularly important if you’re not using a creative talent agency or other staffing firm to find qualified people, since they’ll usually take care of all of the verification for you. You don’t want to find out that the individual you’ve hired for a critical project is not at all who you thought, so do your homework before signing a contract.
If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, it’s strongly recommended that you work with a staffing agency like Artisan who will be able to work with you to determine the quality of Web Designer you need and can provide a qualified match faster than it’ll take you to say “We should have come here sooner.”
Tips to Keeping Your Resume Locked and Loaded
1/4/2012 2:01 PM By Vince FontA lot of jobseekers aren’t aware that keeping their resume up to date is critical. The fact is, if you’re a freelancer for instance, you can go for months at a time from one job to another, not needing to provide your resume. Then all of a sudden, a potential client asks for it. If you haven’t worked on your resume in nearly a year, this can induce something akin to panic. But if you take action now, you won’t have to rely on scouring the web for freelance writing resume samples at the last minute. Here are a couple of tips to help you out.
• Get yourself signed up with a creative staffing agency. One of the benefits of being represented by a recruitment firm like Artisan is that we’ll assign you a Talent Representative who will go through your resume and make suggestions on how you can improve it. They may also remind you what key points to mention on your resume from your last gig. Having this free service at your disposal can be an invaluable tool to helping you land future copywriter freelance jobs, graphic design jobs or any other kind of gig you’re qualified for.
• Dedicate an hour per week to working on your resume. This may not seem like much, but in the long run it can make all the difference between being able to spring a job opportunity and missing out because you didn’t have your act together.
• Keep a text copy of all job postings for projects you get hired for. Even those who specialize in editorially-oriented fields like copywriting or technical writing need help with their resumes from time to time, and having these pre-written job descriptions can come in handy when updating your resume. The less thought you have to put into it, the better.
Even if it’s been years since anyone last requested your resume, don’t take this as indication that nobody ever will again. Use all of the tools at your disposal to keep your resume updated frequently so that if and when a potential employer asks for it, you won’t have to delay your response or rely on cheap resume samples to get you through.
Embracing the Unconventional: How to Be a Unique Presentation Specialist
1/3/2012 11:00 AM By Vince Font
In order to become a truly successful Interactive Presentation Specialist, you not only have to think outside of the box, but you also have to be willing to live your entire professional life outside of it. What exactly does this mean? It means that you have to look at innovation as a daily goal and not just something to strive for once in a while. You have to be willing to adopt the kind of daring that’ll get you noticed by creative staffing recruiters eager to scoop up unique thinkers, as well as by the high profile companies they represent.
So what’s the first step to escaping the confines of the box? The answer’s simple in concept, if not tough in practice: embrace the unconventional. If there’s anything about your past experiences as an Interactive Presentation Specialist that screams predictable, you might have to take drastic measures to break away from boring conventions.
• Deliver a lean, mean presentation. If you’re given an hour, shave your time down to 45 minutes. People love brevity, especially when they’re a captive audience. Your ability to deliver a trim presentation that hits on all points and still leaves your audience an opportunity to let it all sink in before having to race off to the next important meeting of the day is critical to your aim.
• Infuse your presentations with wit. Just because your audience is dressed in business attire doesn’t mean they don’t laugh or appreciate well-timed humor. Why so serious, anyway? Your audience will appreciate the occasional joke more than you can imagine. The trick is to keep it in context and good taste.
• Take risks. This isn’t an invitation to go insane, but it can be seen as encouragement to take-off-the-wall approaches that people don’t expect. Like launching your presentation by telling a story that captures your audience’s attention and primes them for the nitty-gritty details of your presentation. Or incorporating physical props, as long as your audience is in-person. Just remember both the story and the prop have to be contextually tied to your presentation, otherwise they’ll come off as distracting.
Above all else, you have to be willing to stretch yourself constantly by exploring new methods and seeking out inspiration that could possibly lead to your next great idea. If you’re not at least trying to incorporate state of the art software and methodologies into your interactive presentations, you’re stagnating. And there’s no worse fate that could befall the professional Presentation Specialist than that.
The Importance of Knowing Your Market
12/30/2011 2:56 PM By Vince Font
You can find all sorts of full-time and freelance marketing jobs by working with a creative staffing agency like Artisan. But when it comes down to being the chosen one for all of the sweet gigs on offer, there are a couple of things you have to do to make yourself a truly appealing candidate. One of those things, and quite possibly the most critical of all, is to know your market. Knowing your market means:
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Having a concrete idea of who your client is and who their customers are. This involves recognizing both parties’ needs and wants, from both a business standpoint and as a consumer. What makes this product and service unique and how is it different than it’s competitors?
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Understanding your limitations as well as your capabilities. If you don’t have enough experience or conversely are overqualified, you may be wasting time and resources applying to certain jobs. A resource like Artisan can help match you with opportunities at your skill and experience level.
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Being able to assign a dollar amount to your services. When finding full-time or freelance marketing jobs, there’s no room for feeling a client out to see how much they’re willing to pay you. Have a precise price list for your services that’s based on knowing exactly what you’re worth to potential employers.
All of the A-list, cream-of-the -crop Talent represented by freelance marketer firms and staffing agencies must know their market or learn it quickly. If you want to join their ranks, make it your New Year’s resolution to start following these suggestions.
Self-Employment Advice: The Importance of Mapping Out Your Work Schedule
12/22/2011 3:20 PM By Vince Font
If you’re working with a creative staffing firm to find freelance job assignments, you’re still self-employed. Even if you work through a recruiment agency like Artisan, where you may be granted access to actual paid time off and benefits, you’re still essentially a free agent, which to is music to many freelancers’ ears.
But beware, there are some pitfalls that you might fall into, and the need to manage your time properly is one of the most critical bits of self-employment advice you’ll ever get. It’s also the one that can make the biggest difference in determining whether you succeed beyond your wildest expectations or end up taking a job you don’t want at hours that conflict with your life.
Your first step to tackling the issue of time management is to assign yourself specific office hours. Don’t work around the clock or you’ll burn out. Likewise, by working around the clock you run the risk of slacking off and not getting things done by misusing flexible hours. Failing to keep a regular work schedule is one of the biggest mistakes that self-employed people make, and it can lead to a pile of messes including backed up work, missed deadlines and killer stress.
To help you accomplish this, get a day planner specifically dedicated to your freelance life. Every few hours of your work day, from lunch breaks to max productivity time, should be mapped out in advance so that you don’t fall behind on a project or deliver a substandard end result. It’s also important to plan days off for yourself even if you’d rather work. Taking a break from the stress of a job you love is another vital piece of self-employment advice that’ll help ensure your longevity and continued passion.
