Quick, name a soft drink.

Maybe you said Coca-Cola; perhaps it was Dr. Pepper or 7Up. Either way, the soda that you picked obviously has a strong, memorable branding strategy.

We don’t have to preach to you about the importance of a strong brand (If we did, we wouldn’t be very good at our jobs). Analysts have spent their time, energy and countless kilowatts of brain power trying to create a measurable way to rank brands by how memorable they are.

If only they’d have thought to just ask people. Then, they ...

Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in Software Development, Blogging, Web Development and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable $7 a month. ...

Don’t let it happen to you – here are my four top tips on how to keep the freelance work flowing!

Many freelancers work by the maxim of ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ and concentrate on the jobs they ...

Throughout our careers, we research new trends, techniques, tools, and other designers. We’re always on the lookout for that one new thing which will make us better at what we do, or will make our jobs easier. We love our craft, so we read articles, analyze raw data, consult with experts, and more. What is life without improvement and progress?

But so often we neglect to research the one tool, the one common factor, present in ...

With all the buzz around online marketing and SEO, you might assume that printing presses have fallen silent in the midst of the Internet revolution. But one look in your mailbox will show you that print marketing isn’t dead… at least not at the moment.

Back in the 1950s, people in film and radio thought their jobs would die in the ...

When [my wife] takes a job, she has a “marriage” mentality about it. She doesn’t devise an exit strategy or consider her next steps. There are no stepping-stones in her book; she has no backup plans.

She’s not like ...

Of late, there is a new crop of ...

A close competitor could be just what you need to super-charge your performance. Consider the extraordinary flourishing of creativity that occurred during the Renaissance in Italy. In ...

In response to this ‘race to the bottom’ more and more sites are springing up ...

Getting lost can be an unsettling feeling, making us miss important meetings and appointments, wasting valuable time and money for everyone involved. Fortunately, there is extensive search-and-map technology available for iPhone to help you find your way quickly every time.

Here are 10 of the most popular navigational apps for iPhone:

Waze is often described as a social networking navigational app because it allows users ...

Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in Ecommerce Development, Interactive Media, iOS and Android Development and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable ...

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But in reality, you can’t move forward professionally until you get out of your head and into action.

If you find yourself feeling like a victim to a creative project, follow these steps to empower yourself. I’ve seen them work with time coaching clients around ...

Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in WordPress Design, Mobile Ecommerce, Email Design and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable $7 a ...

He began by labasting Labour’s fiscal misbehaviour in years past. Osborne claimed the previous Government under Gordon Brown let jobs move overseas and grew the Government unsustainably, hoping an “uncontrolled banking boom would pick up the bill.”

Under constant heckling from opposition MPs, Osborne delivered a depressing outlook for the Eurozone, pointing out that 40% of all UK exports went to the EU, so our economy ...

Today we have a guest post from Brie Weiler Reynolds. Brie is the director of content and social media at FlexJobs, an award-winning site for telecommuting, flexible schedule and freelance job listings. With a background in human resources and career advising, Brie has over 8 years’ experience working with job seekers and employers, and she offers career, hiring and work-life balance advice through the FlexJobs Blog and social media.

Before the advent of workshifting, moving for a job was seen as an inconvenient necessity, often just another part of securing solid employment and advancing your career. Now that a ...

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The details make design special. Designer Hidde van der Ploeg pulls out some of his favorite tiny details, including OS X’s “All My Files Icon” which has Steve Jobs quotes written on the pages.

If your work shows you have an eye for details, it’s also more probable you will get the job you’ve always wanted. Companies love to hire people who think of all the little details.

The details in a product are the thing which will inevitably make or break it. Take your time, think about the little details and polish, polish, polish until they are ...

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Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in Web Development, Video Production, PHP Development and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable $7 a ...

The key to successful marketing is advertising a solution, and selling the tool that provides it. Put another way, by looking at the jobs people are trying to accomplish, marketers can better interact with their prospects. Now imagine we think about UX in the same way: the key to a successful product is creating a solution (a better way to make a hole), and not just a tool (the drill).

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” – Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business School.

Sales and ...

In fact, I politely decline projects all the time. You might think, “Oh, she’s overloaded with work and she’s turning projects away … how obnoxious.”

You might think I’m ungrateful. You might think I’m successful and boasting about it. In fact, that’s probably what I thought when I started out and people talked about turning down jobs. Gosh, how are they turning down jobs when I’m dying to get jobs?

But I’m not overloaded with work. I’m not raking in tons of cash. I’m not even close to making my ideal ...

On the face of it, freelancing and parenting should go together like ice cream and chocolate sprinkles. After all, how many jobs allow you to go to little Johnny’s school play without taking leave, guaranteed ‘tickle breaks’, and hours that fit in perfectly around the school day?

That’s what many parents-to-be naively imagine, anyway.

“When I first started working at home we were planning on having our first kid. I actually thought, ‘This’ll be perfect because I’ll work at home and can be around my kids.’ I had no idea how hard it would be!” says father-of-two writer ...

I have always been self-employed so don’t know any different. However, I started my current business because I saw a gap in the market and took it!

Before I started this business I was an actress and did odd jobs including sales, temping in offices and private tuition.

If freelancers could invent our own clichés, one might be: no two jobs are the same. Each gig we take on brings with it new personalities, new challenges and new rewards. Despite these differences, most any freelancing gig will fit into one of these twenty types.

Where does the job you’re (supposed to be) working on now fit in?

Have you done each of these kinds of jobs before?

My guess is that most experienced freelancers will have encountered quite a few!

The job you’ve always wanted, the job you’ll tell your grand-kids about. You get ...

Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in Marketing Design, Web Designer, Animation and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable $7 a month. ...

“Photographer” is one of those professional titles that many people want. And why not? Taking pictures is fun and exciting.

However, reality isn’t so glamorous. According to a report prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “More than half of all photographers are self-employed, a much higher proportion than for most occupations.” The BLS adds, “Salaried photographers—most of whom work full time—tend to earn more than those who are self-employed.”

In short, what we have is a business that isn’t a hotbed of jobs – or high earnings for those who aren’t employed as ...

You may not be on the curb groveling with a paper cup for coins, but that is what starving artist mode can feel like for many creative professionals. Chances are you’ve been there a few times.

For many creative professionals, moments come and go when we feel like the traditional starving artist. Maybe we are not pulling in as much money as we’d like, or we know we should be charging more. Perhaps we take jobs we otherwise wouldn’t accept out of fear or the feeling that we don’t deserve much better—or because we are desperate for money. Or we’re ...

By finding the right web design niche, you can increase productivity and revenue and make your freelance business more profitable.

Web design is a competitive industry, but there are excellent opportunities for those with clear goals. A Google search on “freelance web developer United States” yielded over 51 million results, yet the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook reports that IT jobs for web ...

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Today we have a guest post from Brie Weiler Reynolds. Brie is the Director of Content and Social Media at FlexJobs, the award-winning site for telecommuting, flexible schedule, and freelance job listings. With a background in human resources and career advising, Brie has over 8 years experience working with job seekers and employers, and she offers career, hiring, and work-life balance advice through the FlexJobs Blog and social media.

It starts slowly: a sneeze from one cubicle, a muffled cough from another. As winter approaches, the quiet symphony of cold and flu symptoms grows into a cacophony of illness. Traditional ...

And while I’m a huge advocate of having a day job (only if it adds value to your life and lets you pursue your passions in life…remember, don’t hate freelancers with full-time jobs), I have to wonder why job security seems to be such an issue.

I mean, think about it for just a sec:

Which is more secure, a job where you punch a clock every day (metaphorically or not) or one where you ...

Finding gigs isn’t hard for most of us; actually a lot of freelancers know what works for them in order to secure jobs. Over time, however, we can become so busy with the influx of gigs that we forget to continually market our businesses. We know it’s something that has to be done, yet, we don’t do it.

If you cease marketing your business, not only can that dry up your pipeline of incoming work; it can also be a detriment if you’re relying on new business so you can increase your rates over time.

Working with the same clients ...

Today we have a guest post from Elena Bajic, founder and CEO of IvyExec.com, a selective online career network for top performers. Ivy Exec provides access to hand-picked executive jobs and professional development tools to a community of 185,000+ carefully selected professionals. 

Update: Since Elena drafted this post, her power, phone and Internet have been restored. Still, we believe the points of the post are relevant. 

As I write this, I am without power both at home and at my office in NYC, a parting gift from Hurricane Sandy that hit the Eastern Seaboard with great ...

Since the recent keynote by Tim Cook (October 2012), there has been a media furor on how it is going to be the end of Apple, or that Apple after Jobs is dead.

I’m going to risk sounding like a Fanboy and say that this just nonsense and really a “heard” mentality going viral. What is more likely is that people and blogs are jumping on the media bandwagon for more eyeballs or mouse clicks. One prominent reviewer of the iPhone 5 even retracted his initial bored dislike and proclaimed the iPhone 5: “the best phone to ever grace ...

With increasing competition on the Internet, it can take a great deal of hard work to expand your client base and continue to retain existing jobs. Businesses invest a lot of time and money in marketing campaigns that will earn them new clients and keep old ones coming back.

Unfortunately, it ...

This is our weekly selection of our favorite web designs from the past week. Thanks to everybody for their recommendations and please feel free to comment and let us know what you think.

Via

by firecareers.com

Via

One of the things that makes would-be freelancers nervous to quit their day jobs is the whole issue of paying taxes. When we’re employees, our company handles most of our tax responsibility for us, deducting required amounts so we never miss the money.

As freelancers, this responsibility falls squarely on our shoulders. But tax-phobia shouldn’t keep you from pursuing the freelance life.

There is some paperwork you’ll need to do, but it’s not overwhelming. You can do this. With a small amount of forethought and planning, you can reduce your tax burden and make sure you get all the tax ...

Looking for a new client? The FreelanceSwitch job board is a great resource of freelance gigs and opportunities. These opportunities are in various fields, from development to writing to design, and come from a wide range of potential clients. The job board is hand-moderated by dedicated staff and volunteers from the freelance community.

Each week, we’ll feature a selection of the best job opportunities posted for the week. This week, we’re featuring jobs in Programming, Front & Back End Development, Mobile Design and more!

To apply for any of these jobs, simply pick up a FreelanceSwitch membership for an affordable ...

Some of the greatest beneficiaries of this program are specially designated Targeted Employment Areas, also known as TEAs. The EB-5 Visa Program provides an incentive to investors by allowing them to invest $500,000 instead of $1 million if ...