The Freelancers' Show

Get your Ruby Remote Conf tickets and check out the @rubyremoteconf Twitter feed for exciting updates about the conference.   02:09 - Philip Morgan Introduction TwitterPhilip Morgan ConsultingThe Positioning Manual for Technical Firms by Philip Morgan 02:30 - Thinking About Positioning and Communicating What You Do Expensive Problem: The Benefits of Pigeonholing 27:08 - Finding Target Markets 35:25 - Acquiring New Skills to Support a New Position 39:00 - Refining Your Positioning Marketing, Publicity 56:07 - Positioning Exercise Picks Kurt Elster: Email Templates for Freelancers (Jonathan)Expensive Problem: Market Research Cold Email Template (Jonathan)Bryan Harris: How I Made $10,000 in 24-hours With My First Product (Case Study) (Reuven)Jewish guide to visiting China by Reuven Lerner (Reuven)Spark by Readdle (Eric)AmazonSmile (Chuck) Listen to other people’s views (Chuck)Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries (Philip)Rolls MS111 Mic Switch Latching or Momentary Microphone Mute Switch

07:06 - Finding Work on Sites Like Elance and Upwork (formerly oDesk) Danny Margulies The Non-Scuzzy and Totally True Story of How I Earned 6 Figures in 12 Months by Mastering the “Hidden Elance Economy”Danny Margulies: How to Make Money On Elance – My $100,000 YearFiverr 14:24 - What sort of project/scope documentation do you generate for clients to supply time/budget estimates? ROI (Return On Investment)ChiliProject 23:26 - How much time do you spend with the client defining the scope of the work before you sign a contract? 27:20 - Do you have a timeline to review deliverables (weekly) or is it ad-hoc based on when the work is finished? 33:12 - You have mentioned, at least in the early podcasts, that you do about 20-30 hours of billable work per week, and you also have multiple simultaneous clients/contracts. I'm currently working a W2, 40+ hour week with a large product backlog that has me busy all week, so I'm struggling to visualize what a week in the life of a freelancer looks like. If you only

01:47 - Rob Walling Introduction Twitter GitHub BlogStartups For the Rest of UsMicroConf@MicroConf Drip@getdrip 02:46 - Rob’s Background in Email Marketing Rob Walling: The Number One Goal Of Your Website @ Business Of Software 2010 04:32 - Email Marketing ≠ Spam PersonalizationSmall vs Large Companies 10:07 - Drip FeaturesTaggingTargeted Emails 14:25 - Templates 19:20 - Best Practices     Email Capture Forms EverywhereAutoresponders Lead Scoring Eric's Mailing List 25:58 - Frequency and Growing Your List Patrick MckenzieSoftware by RobJames Clear 29:01 - Exclusivity Permalinking Nick Disabato PPublic, But Not Visible Social Shares 35:20 - Updating Content Michael Port 40:06 - Vanity Metrics 46:07 - List Segmenting NeverBounce 52:04 - Lead Magnets (Opt-in Rewards) Clay Collins Picks Saas Marketing Essentials by Ryan Battles (Rob)Bloxels: Build Your Own Video Games with Blocks by Pixel Press (Rob)Circa Notebooks from Levenger (Jonathan)Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easie

Check out Ruby Remote Conf! 01:56 - Alex Hillman Introduction Twitter BlogThe Coworking Weekly ShowIndy Hall@indyhallAmy HoyUnicornfree30x500: Build and Launch a Profitable Product Business Without Venture Capital 02:57 - Collaboration and Coworking Spaces 08:34 - Nights and Weekends? (After Hours/Night Owl Working) Unconferences and BarCamps 13:05 - Coworking is NOT a Talent Agency 15:02 - Isn’t Coworking Distractive? Choice ArchitectureFull-Time / Flex-Member Separation = Bad 22:33 - Forming Relationships for Collaboration Examples: Parker and JakeFlycops@flyclops  DominoAmanda and ChristineLanternfish Press@lfpbooks The Legend of Sherlock Holmes Kickstarter Project 35:13 - Interns 36:54 - Collaboration vs Cooperation Choice vs Forced Collaboration “Half Baked Ideas” Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson 45:20 - Committing to a Coworking Space 49:39 - Should You Cowork? Self-ManagementConfidence: “If I can do it, you can do it.”Honest Exposure 01:03:58 - Starting a Coworkin

Check out Ruby Remote Conf! 02:36 - Estimates Offering a Range Educated GuessConfidence ScoreWhen Clients BalkTrail MapAdding Buffers 12:09 - Roadmapping Eric’s Sample Trail MapIdentifying and Reducing Risks 18:12 - How to Sell It 23:06 - Roadmaps vs Estimates (Defined & Differences) Wireframes 30:21 - Dealing with Conflict (Estimate Pain Points) Communication: Feedback & Check-in Points 33:10 - Budget and Value Hourly Billing / Fixed Bid / Weekly Billing 39:43 - Mismatched Expectations (Communication Cont’d) Red Flags Episode 44:47 - Productized Services and Consulting Kurt ElsterWebsite RescuesThe Freelancers’ Show Episode #131: Tiny Sites and Productized Consulting with Kurt Elster Picks Eric's Sample Trail Map (Eric)  Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Eric)The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett (Reuven)INBOX PAUSE (Jonathan)CouldApp (Jonathan)Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman (Chuck)99Designs (Chuck)Fiverr (Chuck)

04:07 - At what point does it make sense to register as a corporation? Apart from liability, I assume. If you have profits to reinvest in the business? Types of Business Entities:Sole ProprietorshipLimited Liability Company (LLC)S-Corporations“Piercing the Corporate Veil”Errors and Omissions InsuranceAnnual Minutes and Organizational Meetings 13:25 - Do you umbrella all your products, brands, DBAs, etc. under a main corp? DBA (Doing Business As) 18:32 - What was the comical, but legit contract you mentioned on a show recently? (Contracts) Contract KillerSue => Fold 21:35 - Expensing Home Office for Tax Purposes Tax DeductionsTax Credits 31:12 - Errors and Omissions Insurance (Cont’d) 34:38 - Marketing to Launch Jeff Walker of The Product Launch Formula 41:26 - Contract Resolution 43:29 - If expensing a home office, do you pay for bills, utilities, etc. out of a personal or business account? 45:44 - Prototyping Tools 50:20 - Partnerships and Investments: “My friend has an idea!! ... I actually

02:44 - “We just fired our last dev. Can you help us?” 05:40 - Temporary Gigs 07:42 - Unrealistic Timeline 09:26 - “Our developers are above-average smart!” Lake Wobegon Effect 10:40 - Lack of Communication / Communication Skills Suck Prescreening Questions 14:15 - Bad CEOs / Crazy Personnel Changes 19:27 - When Clients Go Dark 28:03 - “We’ll pay you in equity!” or “We’ll give you a share of our profits!” 29:59 - Ridiculous NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) 32:04 - Vetting Processes 37:06 - Payment 44:56 - Low-Budget Companies Picks Kai Davis: Microconf 2015 Recap (Eric)Pricing with Confidence: 10 Ways to Stop Leaving Money on the Table by Reed Holden (Jonathan)CleanMyMac 3 (Reuven)

01:32 - Nathan Powell Introduction Twitter Blog 02:05 - Why move away from doing UI/UX consultant to a product? 03:38 - Nusii@nusiiapp Michael Koper, Co-Founder 06:01 - Getting Started Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup by Rob Walling 10:41 - Finding a Co-Founder 12:46 - Customer Feedback 14:36 - What Makes Nusii Unique? 17:46 - Nusii as SaaS Proposal Software Alan WeissBrennan Dunn 25:57 - Templates Episode #153: Workshop with Robert Williams 35:08 - Transitioning From Consultant to Product Owner Mastermind GroupsGet a Co-Founder 40:17 - What Would Nathan Have Done Differently? (Advice) Find a Co-Founder Right AwaySaaS’ Are BigHave a Mentor 45:43 - Pricing 46:25 - The Creator’s Guide to Better Proposals (Coming Soon!)   Freelancers’ Show T-Shirts are available! teespring.com/freelancersshow Styles include unisex up to 3x, ladies', sweatshirts, and long sleeve tees. Teespring also offers international shipping so that all of our listeners have a chance t

02:07: “Sales Conversation” Starts as: Initial Contact From a Prospect Culmination: Homework and Brain Dump Research for Phone Calls (on Both Sides)Writing a Proposal 05:47 - Value-based Pricing Resources Episode #96: Value-Based Pricing with Brennan DunnEpisode #109: How to Determine Value and Set Pricing with Kirk Bowman 06:08 - Is There an “Expensive Problem” to be Solved?   08:32 - “Value” ROI (Return On Investment) 10:38 - Qualifying Customers as People You Want to Work With Be Picky 12:49 - Sales Conversations When In Demand vs When You Need Work NOW Do NOT Be Desperate or NeedyConfidence 20:19 - Doing Your Homework 24:01 - Pitches and Avoiding Wipe Out 36:20 - What Do You Want to Communicate to a Client? Requirements: Get Treated Like an Expert and ProfessionalAll-Inclusive Rate/FeeTraveling Rates/Fees 54:02 - Demonstrating Your Value Picks Talk Python To Me (Reuven)The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir (Jonathan)Pitch Anything Book by Oren Klaff (Jonathan)The Reckoners Series by

02:07 - Robert Williams Introduction Workshop@letsworkshopEmails That Win You Clients by Robert Williams 02:28 - How Does Workshop Work? Lead Generation NewsletterHelp a Reporter Out (HARO) 04:07 - Getting Picked (Competing For Leads?) 05:24 - How is it Different From a Job Board? All Freelance JobsAll Project-BasedAll Remote 07:35 - Other Curating Services Compared Peter Cooper NewslettersCrew 09:47 - Finding Leads to Offer Wheelhouse 11:54 - Success Stories > Statistics Josh Pigford of Baremetrics 15:27 - Pricing and Value Kurt ElsterShopify 20:14 - Email Content 22:10 - Expanding / Contracting / Refocusing Based on Feedback? 23:56 - Writing Emails: Emails That Win You Clients by Robert WilliamsPR LEADS Top Tips: ShortDeliver Something of Value Thumbs Up/Yes for More Info (Kai Davis) Optimize Subject Lines 35:56 - Referrals 37:06 - Upsale Opportunities and Maintenance Agreements Non-compete Clause Picks Simplecast (Jonathan)Amazon Dash Button (Jonathan)Welcome to Night Vale (Reu

06:09 - Q1: Do you group your products / services into one big site to pool traffic, or do you think its better to build them as their own brands? “Online Split Personalities” to Appeal to Specific GroupsJonathan’s Starbucks Gift Card Story 17:39 - Q2: As a freelancer, a designer has a portfolio. As a programmer, do you think your blog / user group and conference speaking says enough? Or, do you need to have Open Source to help backup your work? Obviously, it depends if the person hiring knows what GitHub is or not. I'm thinking about screencasts to add more visible portfolio items since it’s not easy to show code by itself. Thoughts? 27:29 - Q3: If you are preparing to go freelance, you're wanting to show you're an expert and build clientele. You have some good long-term customers for the existing business. How do you recommend getting a testimonial from them that you could use while at the current business, and when you go freelancing, without compromising the business relationships? Do you try to steer

01:57 - Tools and Scheduling Apps Google CalendarSunrise CalendarCalendlyYouCanBook.meDue: The Superfast Reminder AppBusyCal 08:16 - Prioritizing and Planning a Productive Day (Making a Commitment and Sticking to a System) The Pomodoro TechniqueKanbanFlowGetting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen 18:27 - Getting Started Leo Babauta’s MIT Idea (Most Important Task) The “Dragon Task” <= That ONE Task Tracking Back and Forth vs Having Everything in One Place 25:17 - Booking and Filling Time Gaps Following Up with Past Clients and Contacting New Leads 28:16 - Weekly / Monthly Reviews 29:29 - Avoiding Scheduling Conflicts and Being Consistent with Your Scheduling Expectation Setting with ClientsBeing (or at least) Appearing to be “In Demand” 41:14 - Routines 47:08 - Keep Some Flexibility in Your Schedule and Setting Minimums to Avoid Stress 49:01 - Offloading to Free Up Your Schedule Have a “Workshop” Every Week The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Busine

01:35 - Josh Earl Introduction TwitterGitHubBlog Books Sublime Productivity: Code Like a Pro with Today's Premier Text Editor by Josh EarlWriting Sublime Plugins by Josh Earl Mailing Lists The Sublime Text Tips Newsletter (Sublime Text) DeskHacks (Standing Desks) JoshuaEarl.com (Marketing) 02:17 - Getting Started LeanpubPeter CooperTwitterRunning a Contest 05:17 - Format Wes BosSublime Text Power User: A Complete Guide by Wes BosTutorials 07:44 - Promotion and Getting Subscribers ContestsGuest BloggingTwitterLinkedIn 11:40 - Sharing Content ROI (Return On Investment)DripAutorespondersLead ScoringCourses Open Loops (i.e. Cliffhangers, Arcs)     23:58 - Lead Magnets CoursesFree ReportContent Upgrade 27:00 - Driving Traffic: Website or Email List? Email Marketing Clients DripRob WallingStartups For the Rest of Us PodcastAWeberMailChimp Lead Scoring Feature (Drip) 35:13 - Is This [Concept] New? Infusionsoft 42:07 - Strategies for Growth TwitterTwitter: Capture user interest with

01:46 - What is a Proposal? 3 Tier Options BudgetMiddleHigh-valueStatement of Work (SOW)Alan Weiss Sample ProposalsPO (Purchase Order) 15:18 - Legal Situations? Reuven’s Cautionary TaleArbitrationMediation 19:31 - The Proposal is NOT a Pitch (80/20) RFP (Request For Proposal) Negotiations and Agreements Have Someone On Your Side (Work With the Right People)Value-based Pricing 27:45 - Recycling Proposals vs Starting From Scratch Use TemplatesModify Text as Needed 30:34 - Things NOT to Put in a Proposal Never Change the Price or Give a Discount (Prevent Haggling)Write Everything Down => Meeting Notes 33:39 - Sales Conversations Are Everything 36:44 - Proposal-Writing Tools BidsketchNusii 40:11 - Understand Client Wants and Needs Picks Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life by Stuart Diamond (Jonathan)The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin (Eric)Workflow (Eric)YouCanBook.Me (Reuven)Calendly (Reuven)

Ask your questions via Twitter! Tweet to @freelancershow or show up to our next live Q&A on Tuesday, March 24th at 11AM Pacific, 2PM Eastern: http://freelancersanswers.com/webinar. 01:40 - Are RFPs (Request For Proposals) worth applying to if you’re a solo freelancer? What are some strategies for landing RFPs? 08:26 - Handling Taxes Hire an Accountant!Save Extra 13:02 - Subcontractors Form W-91099s 15:11 - Partnerships 19:56 - How does one break into a market to launch a product? Entering a Niche Email Lists MailChimpPodcastingWriting NewslettersTweet/Interact on Social Media Attend Conferences/MeetupsBe Genuine 28:06 - Popups, Guest Posting, Lead Magnets, and Giveaways See Also Authority: Become an Expert, Build a Following, and Gain Financial Independence by Nathan BerryNo Is NOT a Curse Word by Curtis McHale Picks Launch: A Startup Documentary (Eric)The Best of Art of Value Podcast (Curtis)The Quitter by Jon Acuff (Curtis)BLU Life 8 Phone (Reuven)John Sonmez's How To Build A Blog T

Freelancers' Answers -- Go here to submit questions for The Freelancers’ Live Q&A shows!   Check out RailsCasts on Kickstarter!! 02:19 - Lifestyle Choice and Changes 03:09 - Clients That Have Run Their Course 05:29 - Having More Work Than You Can Handle Hiring Subcontractors Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsSeasonal Highs and Lows Disappearing Clients     12:40 - Non-Résumé Worthy Work 13:33 - Getting Bad Vibes From Potential Clients Just Tell Julie 21:44 - Transitioning to New Kinds of Work Splitting Your FocusMoving to Product Building 37:14 - Management 39:13 - Reopening Doors to Previous Offers Picks Carbon Copy Cloner (Reuven)Vivis™ Knight V3 13000mAh Dual USB Portable Charger External Battery Pack (Jonathan)Gin Gins® Spicy Apple Chewy Ginger Candy (Eric)YouTube (Chuck)FFmpeg (Chuck)Ruby Remote Conf (Chuck)Developer’s Box Club (Chuck)

The panelists welcome back Jonathan Shank to talk about how to attract clients without doing sales.

The panelists discuss the importance of consistency in marketing.

The Freelancer's release their third live Q&A session which was recorded on December 23rd, 2014.

The panel talks about balancing work life with family life.