How to Become a Freelance Graphic Designer

How to Become a Freelance Graphic Designer If you’ve always had a passion for art, illustration, and other forms of graphic design, then you really do have a marketable skill. Whether you’re looking for a little side gig to earn you fun money through college or are hoping to make a full-time career out of graphic design, you can do it. There are so many businesses and entrepreneurs out there in need of a talented creative mind with the artistic skills that they are lacking. Our guide on how to become a freelance graphic designer will offer everything you need to know to get started turning your passion into a paycheck. Before we get too deep into it, you need to understand that there really is demand for graphic design. It’s always been a need, and it always will be. So if any naysayers are telling you to get a real job, just point them to this list of people who regularly pay for graphic art. Small Business Owners. More than 600,000 businesses launch every year . Do you think that every plumber, roofer, restaurant owner, and retailer has the artistic skill they need to make a good first impression? Probably not. They’ll need a professional who knows what they’re doing for logos, business cards, pamphlets, brochures, and more. Web Masters. If you think there are a lot of business start ups who need your skills, wait till you hear the stats on websites. Almost 400 new websites are created every minute. By the time you finish reading this post, that means more than a thousand new websites will have been born. And plenty of them will need someone to design images, banners, and other graphics. Marketers. Graphic designers are called upon for just about every form of visual marketing you can think of. There are about 341,000 billboards dotting the United States, and you can bet a lot of them had a professional designer behind the scenes. Vehicle wraps, posters, packaging, mailers, and branding materials are similar graphics that marketers employ on a regular basis that require an artistic eye. https://www.legiit.com/ Learning how to become a freelance graphic designer obviously starts with being awesome at what you do. Whether you are self-taught or formally trained, what matters most to your clients is delivering high quality work consistently. For this reason, you need to take an honest assessment of your skills and fill in what’s missing. The wider your skill set, the more marketable you are going to be to clients. For example, if a business owner hires you to design a logo, they may later look to you for help with an infographic or marketing mailer. You want to be in a position where you can say “Yes!” rather than “Let me train myself first”. At the same time, you don’t have to know how to do everything. As a freelancer, you get to pick and choose your clients and the jobs you’ll take on. So if you […]

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How Good Is Freelance.com SA (EPA:ALFRE), When It Comes To ROE?

While some investors are already well versed in financial metrics (hat tip), this article is for those who would like to learn about Return On Equity (ROE) and why it is important. By way of learning-by-doing, we’ll look at ROE to gain a better understanding of Freelance.com SA ( EPA:ALFRE ). Over the last twelve months Freelance.com has recorded a ROE of 13% . Another way to think of that is that for every €1 worth of equity in the company, it was able to earn €0.13. How Do I Calculate Return On Equity? The formula for ROE is: Return on Equity = Net Profit ÷ Shareholders’ Equity Or for Freelance.com: 13% = €4.4m ÷ €34m (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2018.) Most know that net profit is the total earnings after all expenses, but the concept of shareholders’ equity is a little more complicated. It is all the money paid into the company from shareholders, plus any earnings retained. You can calculate shareholders’ equity by subtracting the company’s total liabilities from its total assets. What Does ROE Mean? ROE measures a company’s profitability against the profit it retains, and any outside investments. The ‘return’ is the yearly profit. The higher the ROE, the more profit the company is making. So, as a general rule, a high ROE is a good thing . That means ROE can be used to compare two businesses. Does Freelance.com Have A Good ROE? Arguably the easiest way to assess company’s ROE is to compare it with the average in its industry. However, this method is only useful as a rough check, because companies do differ quite a bit within the same industry classification. The image below shows that Freelance.com has an ROE that is roughly in line with the Professional Services industry average (16%). ENXTPA:ALFRE Past Revenue and Net Income, September 21st 2019 That’s neither particularly good, nor bad. ROE doesn’t tell us if the share price is low, but it can inform us to the nature of the business. For those looking for a bargain, other factors may be more important. If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). How Does Debt Impact ROE? Virtually all companies need money to invest in the business, to grow profits. That cash can come from issuing shares, retained earnings, or debt. In the first two cases, the ROE will capture this use of capital to grow. In the latter case, the debt used for growth will improve returns, but won’t affect the total equity. Thus the use of debt can improve ROE, albeit along with extra risk in the case of stormy weather, metaphorically speaking. Combining Freelance.com’s Debt And Its 13% Return On Equity While Freelance.com does have some debt, with debt to equity of just 0.34, we wouldn’t say debt is excessive. Its very respectable ROE, combined with only modest debt, suggests the business is […]

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Steps to Writing a Cold Email to Get Clients

Getting Clients by Writing Cold Email

Does this describe you?

You have utilized freelancing websites like Upwork.

You enjoy a steady supply of work that has allowed you to develop your skills as a writer.

You have an extensive portfolio that spans many industries, but you have also found a niche that you most recently have focused all your efforts on.

You write all the live-long day, but you don’t seem to be increasing your income.

If this describes you, it may be time for you to be more proactive. After all, you have a skill that few people have. There are struggling business owners who need someone to bring in clients. Instead of waiting for those business owners to come to you, perhaps it is time to sell your services directly to them.

To begin the process of finding such clients, perhaps you want to try a cold emailing campaign.

Here are some things to consider as you attempt to grow your SEO business.

1. Start with your niche.

In the process of developing your business, hopefully, you have found your niche. As you attempt to find higher-paying customers, your niche is the best place to start.

Before you send a copy and pasted email to all the local businesses in your niche, you should develop a plan. Instead of finding new clients who will pay you a similar fee to what you have been earning, why not focus on clients who can pay you hundreds or thousands a month for an effective SEO strategy?

For example, if your niche is lawn care, you should focus your efforts on lawn care companies that could afford to pay a substantial amount for your services. You probably want to avoid the small mom and pop business that can’t afford a large SEO budget. You don’t want to work longer hours. You want to work for more money.

Instead, try to find lawn care companies with regional, state-wide, or national presence.

2. Find large or profitable businesses within your niche that need your assistance.

The next step is to do a Google search for businesses in your niche in a specific area. Instead of picking the companies that appear at the top of your Google search, scan the list to find businesses that appear near the bottom or on page two or three. Again, your goal is to look for large enough companies that can afford to pay you decently, but at the same time, companies that are struggling with their current (or non-existent) SEO strategies.

Besides using a basic Google search to get ideas on who to reach out to, you will also want to spend time with your favorite keyword research software. Whether you use Ahrefs, Moz Pro, or Google Keyword Planner, look for a keyword related to your niche industry. Find sites that have a domain rating between 0 and 10. You may also want to see how much traffic they actually get.

Finally, also pay attention to the companies that appear as a paid ad for a specific keyword. If those companies do not rank organically as well, they may also need the SEO expertise that you can provide.

3. Send a personalized email.

Once you have the names of the target companies based on your research, find the contact info and name of the owner or manager of the company. It is up to you if you want to reach out to the marketing department. These people may not be as open to your services since if they were doing their jobs, the company would rank higher.

Although personalized emails may take more time, it may be worthwhile in the long run. In your short, but sweet, email, mention that you noticed that their company ranked 23rd or 38th when typing in the keywords “lawn services Denver.” You may even want to send a screenshot showing the Google search.

This email doesn’t have to be lengthy but asks if you can schedule a call or a visit to talk about your ideas for a new SEO campaign. You may even want to include a link that would allow them to make an appointment directly from the email.

4. Follow through.

Once you have a scheduled appointment on your calendar, make sure you show up for it. Whether it is a call or an in-person meeting, salespeople fail when they don’t follow through with their clients.

That’s it! Will it take time to complete this process? Of course, it will! But as a result, you could work a lot fewer hours each week and make a lot more money.

This article was originally posted at Freelancing buzz.

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Benefits of Freelance Gig Economy for Employers

The biggest ways the freelance gig economy benefits businesses: What is a Freelance Business Gig ? Workers are the most flexible option for gig employers. They can often level the playing field with larger more well established competition, by providing access to very large, talented, diverse, and highly skilled resources from around the world, at affordable prices. Gig workers allow for flexible scale and deployment opportunities, leading to a more efficient use of working capital. Every new freelance services post (your post) will be linked to thousands of Communal News articles, including the news focused on your area of expertise. https://communalmp.com/ As a paid contractor the business doesn’t have to worry about paying employment taxes or workers compensation. This not only helps save costs, but it greatly reduces the amount of bureaucracies, accounting and regulatory requirements within the company. Accessing gig workers is a way to expand into new markets with lower company overhead, but it also helps elevate the average experience or talent level of your workers, speeding up production time . For those who can’t afford the overhead cost associated with full-time workers, Freelance Business Gigs are an excellent path . This also gives employers the freedom to work in much smaller spaces, even virtually, because they don’t require a work area for in-house staff. Often gig employers are surprised to find that many of the people who offer their services for a short contract (gig), are some of the very best in their fields. Many of these workers have highly competitive skills, but they don’t like the corporate culture and want total freedom. They specialize in specific industries, and they often list their services on a gig platform so they can have total control over their destiny. As the gig professions progress what is rarely discussed is that employers have an early opportunity to secure fantastic offers. Most freelancers go into this work with the goal of building relationship with preferred clients, or at the very least encouraging repeated arrangements. This new gig economy is changing the world . Newest Freelance Gigs Submit Your Ad Here… Due to the freedoms and flexibility freelancing creates, gig workers can select when and how often they work as well as their location. Freelancers set their own schedules, often pick the projects, and never have to ask for time off. For many it’s a dream come true. Most companies start with a quick hire opportunity as their online strategy . However, in our experience employers benefit most from repeated exposure, where you become a “committed employer” as your company builds its own community of repeat “gig” workers, much the way a home contractor might hire many subcontractors prior to a development. You should keep good documentation of every gig and build a primary and secondary list of gig workers based on their particular function and/or skill, that way you even have a quick backup. Plus, you should always be open to upgrading your gig community. This commitment greatly improves your […]

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City publishes first draft of freelance workers protections policy

City officials and local freelancers hope the proposal will help increase client accountability. Hailee Schievelbein As more people turn to the gig economy as their main source of income, city officials are looking to help independent workers hold stingy clients accountable. Building on protections laid out by wage theft legislation on both the city and state levels earlier this year, city of Minneapolis officials published the first draft of an ordinance Sept. 12 that would outline protections for freelance workers. While still in its early stages, local freelancers hope the policy will help retrieve payment from clients who fail to pay for their services. As a companion piece to the city’s wage theft policy that will go into effect in January, the freelance workers protections ordinance would provide steps for the city to take if employers fail to compensate freelancers for their work. City officials first announced their intent to draft the proposal at a City Council committee meeting in June. “As we are seeing our economy shift, it’s really important that we as a governing body adapt to these changes,” Ward 4 City Council Member Phillipe Cunningham said at the meeting. “I’m grateful to be able to be a part of this work.” The policy, co-authored by Cunningham, Ward 13 City Council member Linea Palmisano and Ward 3 City Council member Steve Fletcher, requires employers to establish a written contract for potential independent workers. Employers who violate the agreement will have to pay compensatory damages to the freelancer, in addition to the unpaid wage, and face a fine of up to $3,000 by the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights. Metropolitan State University student and freelance photographer Awa Mally said the possibility of untimely payment is something she considers before agreeing to work with every client. The policy would make getting compensation from clients for unpaid work much easier, she said. “Just messaging people doesn’t work because they’re not accountable to anything,” Mally said. “If the City gets involved, and it’s a law, then people have to respond and be liable for the agreements that they made.” Seventy-one percent of independent workers have trouble getting paid on time by clients at least once in their careers, according according to a 2015 report from nonprofit organization Freelancers Union. The same report says the average freelancer loses up to $6,000 per year from unpaid work. Hibak Mohamed, a Minneapolis-based freelance writer and photographer, said she hasn’t always been paid on time for her work in the past. “I’ve had instances where I’d get paid really late, like I’d do a project and then I’d get paid for it like three to four months afterwards,” Mohamed said. “That’s like a really big issue within the freelance writing community.” The Minnesota Legislature passed a wage theft bill late last session that would make minimum wage violations and withholding tips a felony. New York City’s 2017 Freelance Isn’t Free Act was the first policy on the city level to penalize employers for failing to […]

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One of the Best Markets for Freelance Business is Gig Publishing – Allowing Writers to Offer Their Work Direct to Business

Writers and journalist have possibly experienced the biggest single employment disruption since the Internet entered our lives. It has displaced the entire traditional paper publishing business as we know it. Newspapers, magazines, catalogues, yellow pages, the entire market is either gone or just a fraction of what it use to be. With our tremendous viewer leverage, we believe Communal Marketplace will achieve the network effect even faster than Communal News, and we don’t know of any platform that has this level of news-driven, enterprise-wide, free promotion directed solely so our clients can achieve a significantly higher level of success. https://communalmp.com/ What are writers to do? The need for good writers has not disappeared by any means. However, the platforms and the manner of publishing has seen a massive tsunamis of change. Articles claim: “reporters become bartenders and baristas while looking for work” and also, “in most industries, employers can’t find enough people to fill the jobs they have open but in news, it has been the opposite story. And it seems to have been accelerating.” Writers need to look ahead to the next business cycle instead of focusing on the past. Yes, many people still want that big corporate job, but it involves playing the game of musical chairs for decades and, over time, most workers lose. It’s time to look ahead, to a way of riding the Internet wave. How about posting your services on a freelance business gig platform ? If you understand the theories of disruptive technology, it’s much harder to stay in a dying industry then it is to grow within the new dynamic industries that are causing the disruption. One of the most robust disruptions is coming from the freelance gig service for business. You can start out reading about freelance business gigs for beginners here . You might consider specializing in writing for micro fields, where you become an expert. Start by offering 450 words for a set fee. Start low to build a clientele and a reputation. It doesn’t have to be a specific topic; it might be a type of writing. Focus on one area: Green Energy, Social media writing , religion, money, finance, even writing for blogs, websites , or news articles , ect. Whatever you choose, work hard to become an expert. The only cost in the beginning is your time. The effort to market yourself as a writer is also very low. You can do this while you’re bartending or being a barista and transition until it’s full-time work. The pay will not be the same as the corporate job, nope. That is part of the major technology disruption. This is a gig market and only over time, providing good work, will you gain trusting clients. But some have become very successful, especially the high skilled writers who understand regulatory documentation, cannabis and cannabis regulations, global governess, compliance polices, etc. There are countless ways to be useful to people running businesses . Many companies are looking for that […]

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Learn how to build your own freelance business and become a ‘solopreneur’

TL;DR: Become your own boss with this entrepreneurship training bundle — just $39 in the Mashable Shop. Pivoting from traditional employment to being a freelancer is good in theory, but it’s not as easy as what others make it out to be. Sure, you’ll get to manage your own schedule and do what you love every day, but you will still need a lot of guidance if you want to survive on your own. And you can get that from this online class on how to become a solopreneur . Comprised of 10 courses, this bundle lets you in on what you need to know to build a self-employed empire from scratch — and it will only set you back $39. Here’s a quick sneak peek of what you’ll learn: Freelance Bootcamp: The Comprehensive Guide If you have nary an idea on how to develop your freelancing business, use this guide as your springboard. From creating a portfolio to crafting proposals to even designing a marketing system that generates leads, it details the exact process of building and launching a lucrative freelance venture. The Modern Digital Marketing Master Course Being savvy with digital marketing is useful when it comes to helping clients gain exposure, but especially for growing your own business. This course is designed to help you grow your own digital marketing business through its comprehensive curriculum of over 140 video lectures. Expect to learn the ins and outs of modern digital marketing, including selling on Amazon and generating traffic that drives sales. Modern Copywriting: Writing Copy That Sells in 2019 Let your words do all the heavy lifting for you. This course is dedicated to training you to craft copy that can make people take action. Whether you’re writing a headline, sales copy, or social media posts, this training will fill you in on the persuasion techniques that stir up emotion in your reader, as well as the formula to writing copy that draws people in. Microsoft Excel: Data Visualization with Excel Charts and Graphs We hate to break it to you, but handling your own business means that you’ll also be dealing with numbers. Lots of them. That sounds icky, we know, but you can at least make it bearable by doing the number crunching in Excel. This course will help you gain a deeper understanding of the ubiquitous spreadsheet app and equip you with the data visualization skills needed to run a business. Master of SEO The bundle also includes a comprehensive SEO course, in which you’ll understand just how useful and powerful it is. You’ll get a primer on Search Engine Marketing, learn what works in the inbound marketing realm, and understand what it takes to convert leads into paying customers. When purchased separately, the courses in the bundle would set you back nearly $2,000, but for a limited time, you can take home the entire set for only $39 . The Become A Solopreneur Expert Bundle — $39 See Details

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