Just before the first breakout session on Friday morning at the Creative Freelancer Conference, I sat down at a table next to Ilise and together we marveled at how great the first day had been. As we talked, I pulled…

I do my best thinking at the long end of the leash. For some people, it’s in the shower, or during the commute, or while they’re dreaming. I’ve always had mental breakthroughs when I’m out for a walk with the…

As Ilise and I were having our many conversations over the summer about developing this new blog, one idea consistently got us the most excited. We wanted to make this more of a community, a meeting place, a space where…

If you're like me, your brain is still jam-packed more than a week after the Creative Freelancer Conference ended. For those of you who skipped the event, you missed a ton of really compelling info that was directed at helping…

This year's CFC (that's #CFConf for you Twitter folks) will be, in most respects, the kind of small, focused, hands-on, connected event that creative freelancers have come to expect since the event debuted in 2008. But in Denver, it'll be…

An article on MSNBC.com says that contract work may be on the verge of becoming the norm. From the piece:"Littler Mendelson, one of the largest employment law firms in the country, predicted in a report last year titled “The Emerging…

If you attended the first Creative Freelancer Conference in Chicago, you may have met Steve Gordon—one of the people who added a real spark of energy to the proceedings (I'm thinking of Kendall Ridley and Velvette Delaney here, too). Steve…

As we speak with creative freelancers, we hear that marketing is one of the biggest challenges in running your business. You don't have time. You don't have money to spend. You get buried with work and lose track of your…

We weren't surprised to learn that Bay Area writer/marketing consultant Alisa Bonsignore was the first person to register for this year's Creative Freelancer Conference. She's been to the first two. I recently interviewed Alisa about what she's learned from past…

Creative professionals—particularly freelancers, I would guess—are wary of NOT being busy. That half day or day here and there, when you don't have looming deadlines, or you're between projects, or the phone just isn't ringing. While those of us who…

A full week after the conference ended, and we’re still seeing all of your blog posts, recaps, photos and comments. Thank you!! We’ve been posting links from the CFC Facebook group (please join, if you haven’t yet). Also, be sure…

Since Colleen Wainwright, aka the Communicatrix, will be speaking about social media at CFC next week, it seemed appropriate to try a demonstration of the power of social media. So I interviewed her via Twitter—a twitterview (due credit to our…

Ask my husband (seriously: he'll be joining me at the conference), and you'll discover that I am obsessed with dinner--the planning, cooking and enjoying thereof.So it's no surprise that I'm already scouting restaurants near the Omni hotel in downtown San…

After my previous skepticism about all things Twitter (just ask Jeff Fisher!), I've become a real believer it its ability to connect people and help them share information. Sure, there are lots of Twitter users who just post about what…

Last week, I spent four days at a ranch owned by one of my family members that sits on the eastern fringe of the Rocky Mountains. The place is down 30 miles of unpaved roads from the nearest town of…

More of my conversation with freelance designer Steve Gordon, Jr., author of "100 Habits of Highly Successful Graphic Designers" (see the two previous posts here and here.)I asked Steve about Habit #75: Enjoy the time off. Don’t freelancers sort of…

I posted recently about my interview with freelancer Steve Gordon, who recently published "100 Habits of Highly Successful Freelance Designers" with Rockport. I asked him about one of the habits that I think a LOT of creative freelancers (writers, illustrators,…

FOH (that's Friend of HOW) Steve Gordon, Jr. has been a professional graphic designer for a decade, and he hangs out his own shingle in Omaha, NE. (The story of how Steve became a FOH is a good one; I'll…

More advice on the social media/online networking front, just in case you're still hesitant or don't see the value. (I was in that position just 6 months ago; now I'm a social media convert.)Kristen Fischer, the prolific freelance writer and…