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How do you nurture your freelance network? 11 effective ways to grow your freelancer contacts

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Ah, networking. Otherwise known as "talking to other people about what they do" or "collecting as many business cards / twitter / LinkedIn connections as physically possible". Have you ever read an article about networking that wasn’t full of common sense points and cliché? They mostly describe networking experiences as working something like this: In … Read more

A Change of Direction

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I have been blogging at Pudding Relations for 2 1/2 years ago – not a bad run at all. But the irregularity of blog posts appearing there made me think that what I was writing about didn’t interest me as much as it used to. A change of direction was needed. After a conversation one … Read more

Tech For Good: The Rise of a Movement

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"Tech

 

One of the things I’ve been struggling with as a freelancer lately is focussing in on a sector that matches my own values and who the clients I work with give me work that I enjoy doing. Often when your values and your clients’ are aligned, your work will be better as a result. This has the added benefit of making your client happier too.

This is easier said than done.

I’ve been struggling because some of the clients I’ve been working with recently haven’t matched my values and so poor work, somewhat beneath my usual standard, has crept through. This hasn’t been anything to do with my clients, who are fantastic to work with and appreciate my work, but is more to do with me and the opportunities I take on.

I often chat to my better half about what kind of clients I want to work with. She says I need to focus on a particular group of clients I enjoy working with and match my values. I agree and resolve to do something about it, only to take on a non-value-matching client the next week, under the guise of a nice client and good money. C’est la vie.

That has changed though, as I’ve found the area I want to focus on: Tech For Good.

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London Coworking Spaces

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London coworking spaces are popping up everywhere, as shown by this map from coworkinglondon.com. But the nature of coworking itself is changing, as shown by rising prices, the "niche-ing" of spaces, the increase in established companies opting for coworking spaces, and the bigger office retail companies opening up coworking spaces – either under a sub-brand or … Read more

Freelancer of the Year Finalist

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I’ve been shortlisted by the nice people at IPSE as a Freelancer of the Year finalist in their Freelancer Awards. This is mainly for my work at Montfort, but also for other initiatives like Freelance in 30 Days. It’s a lovely surprise. The other 2015 finalists are: Rebecca Seeley Harris, re:legal Consulting Nick Forshaw, Weakend … Read more

Freelance Guides, Tips and Tricks

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[et_pb_section admin_label="Section" fullwidth="on" specialty="off"][et_pb_fullwidth_header admin_label="Fullwidth Header" title="Stop postponing your freelance dreams" subhead="Get off the hamster wheel and out of the rat race. Life’s too short to only dream about freelancing. Try my FREE 5-day course to turn your freelance dreams into reality. Join over 3,000 people learning how to go freelance and create a better … Read more

How to cope with email chaos and benefit from professional email platforms

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According to the stats, over a third of the global population uses email and the number of the available email accounts has exceeded 5 billion. That means that the world now lives in the era of digital communication – a trend that’s only destined to grow. No matter what reasons lie behind the trend, we’ll continue to … Read more

How to write better emails, letters and reports

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If you want your letters, emails, or reports to have an impact on the people who read them, you need to be able to communicate clearly through writing. If you are unable to get your message across, your written documents won’t have the desired effect on your audience. Writing is a lot different than speaking … Read more

Tips for acing your interviews and getting an executive position

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Companies prefer hiring successful, articulate, and competent executives, although the initial encounter between a candidate and the company usually puts the candidate in a highly stressful and uncomfortable situation, which is the interview. The truth is that you need to deal with the process of hiring as it’s currently constituted. To achieve that, you need … Read more