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Twitter is a great social media resource for any business, freelancing included. It can help you brand yourself, build a network of like-minded users, promote your work, and share news about your business. As the social media manager for three print publications, I spend a fair amount of time on Twitter each day. And I’ve learned a thing or two about Twitter etiquette.

Twitter offers you 140 characters to share information, but there’s much more to it. No matter if you are new to the Twittersphere or you already have a Twitter handle, here are five things that can kill you on Twitter.

A Bad Profile Photo

Your profile photo on Twitter has got to be simple—there is no room for anything complicated. The best idea is to use your logo. If you want to use a photo of yourself, make sure it’s professional. Using a photo of you passed out at someone’s bachelor party is NOT a good idea.

I would also discourage changing your profile pic too often. You want people to recognize you and your brand. Keeping your Twitter profile picture simple and stable is the best way to go.

Sharing too Much Personal Information

It’s OK to post personal information on Twitter; we’re not robots. But if you are building a brand for your freelance business, be careful what you divulge and complain about—you don’t want to alienate potential clients and no one likes to listen to a Debbie Downer.

Some people have a separate professional and a personal Twitter account, which are used to stay in touch with two very different audiences. Your friends might find it funny that your 2-year-old just puked into your favorite pair of loafers or care about how angry it makes you that your husband doesn’t help with the laundry, but your business contacts are not going to care. As a freelancer, you want people to care about what you say and follow you on Twitter for the right reasons.

Following Everyone

Following 1,000 people on Twitter and having just 50 followers of your own doesn’t look great. In fact, it looks desperate. The people I follow for the wedding magazine I work for are chosen deliberately. I follow people in the wedding industry like photographers, event planners, florists, bakers, and reception venues. And since the wedding magazine has a specific geographical target, I try to follow the best vendors and industry experts in that area. It doesn’t make sense for me to follow hospitals, bio tech companies, or a 45-year-old married guy who drives a tractor trailer for a living—that’s not my target audience.

I also follow companies who advertise in the wedding magazine in the hopes that they follow me back. I also try to follow people our sales team targets as potential advertisers. You never know what you are going to learn about potential clients on Twitter. It’s good to show them you’re interested and engaging.

Ignoring Your Competitors

You know the saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”? It applies to the world wide web, too. If you are not following your competitors you are shooting yourself in the foot. Instead of snubbing them, follow them! It’s a great way to keep tabs on what other people are doing in your industry and open doors for networking opportunities.

Installing the Twitter Application on Facebook

Facebook and Twitter are different beasts. For marketing purposes, your Facebook status update should be updated a few times a day, max. Tweets should be used more frequently. If you tie them together you run the risk of annoying your Facebook followers with too much information; you don’t want to alienate your followers. Your aunt and your college friends aren’t going to want to be inundated with your business Tweets on their Facebook page.

Think about why you use Twitter and what you want to accomplish before tweeting. Sometimes what you don’t tweet is just as important as what you do.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Steve Garfield.

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As freelancers, we tend to want to keep the number of tools we’re using to a minimum. We’ll set up some sort of accounting tool, maybe something to help us handle project management and not much more. But there are reasons that finding a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that you’re comfortable using is worth the added hassle.

• The more you know about your clients and (prospective clients), the better. Good CRM tools help you collect and maintain information about the people you’re working with. Many of the newer tools even go out and pull in information from social media about given people in your CRM database. You can use that information to better tailor your services: perhaps a recent tweet from a customer has given you ideas on how better to design a website for him. Similarly, a well-timed birthday wish can show your client you care about more than his checkbook.
• You can better track the differences between clients. Every client has her quirks: some want you to include a specific purchase order number on every invoice, others need to run revisions past multiple stakeholders. Bringing all those details into one place, such as in your CRM tool, will make it much easier to manage each step of the process. All you have to do is check what quirks you’ve noted as you send out invoices or other communications. 
• You can manage the contact information for the people you’re working with. Have you ever found yourself in a position where you absolutely have to talk to one of your clients right this minute — and you didn’t have anything easily accessible beyond an email address? Using a CRM tool helps in two ways: first, if you know that you want to fill out as many fields in a client’s entry in your database as possible, you have an incentive to actually ask for more information. And many of the more recent additions to the CRM marketplace integrate tools that will pull information about an individual out of their email signature, as well as other places, helping you create a centralized record. 
• CRM software can keep you out of your inbox. Personally, I have a problem that when I head into my inbox to send an email to a client, I can get sucked into dealing with any new email that has arrived — pulling me away from that one email I really ought to be working on. But when my first stop is my CRM tool, it can be asier to stay focused. The tool that I rely on is integrated with my email account so that I can send emails without actually switching into my inbox. 
• You can outsource some of your communications with a little more ease. If you want to bring in a virtual assistant to handle a little bit of your email — maybe something as simple as contacting past clients and offering them a special deal — having all your contacts in a CRM tool makes a lot of sense. You can give an assistant access to your CRM tool without handing over your email password, as well as have him track the communications directly in your CRM tool.
• You can get a reminder to check in with old contacts. It’s easy for people to fall off our radar, especially when we get busy. But a good CRM tool can remind you to stay in touch, with updates on when the last time you communicated with a particular person was. You can also make a habit of going through your database regularly and checking in with a certain number of people. Even brief emails can bring you back in contact with someone who may need your services.

There are a wide variety of CRM tools available online these days, with varying features and varying prices. Some are even at that magical price point for a beginning freelancer — free. Test out any options that look good. Since most tools offer at least a free demo, it makes sense to get a feel for them before you fully commit to moving all your contacts over from your address book or wherever else you keep information.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Yuri Arcurs.

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By now, thousands of freelancers tweet, growing their brand and connecting with others 140 characters at a time. It’s an important tool for promoting your freelance business. And one of the most powerful aspects of promotion on Twitter is to get retweeted (or RT in Twitterspeak).

It’s the Twitter equivalent of forwarding an email or sharing a link you enjoyed in Facebook. RTs benefit freelancers by helping them spread content, grow their followers, and position themselves as experts. So, how can you help ensure that your tweets get retweeted and (hopefully) go viral? Follow these tips.

Focus on Quality

Just as people hate getting one of those email forwards with a silly story that has no relevance to their lives, people on Twitter appreciate tweets and links that offer useful and relevant insights. Yes, humor is a popular strategy but try to use humor to make a point instead of humor for humor’s sake. Almost everyone on Twitter is interested in how to tweet better, so Twitter-focused posts are often widely shared. Ditto on posts relating to social media, although that topic may border on over-done these days.

Think in Headlines

In addition to the quality of your content, the other thing that gets people to RT is an intriguing headline. Lists are often popular. For instance, this post describes how an article called 10 Most Common Writing Mistakes was tweeted over two thousand times! That headline also proved popular because of its clarity, specificity, and its targeting of people who want to earn money writing.

Other popular techniques include writing headlines that include a question, quote, or provoke debate. But keep it relevant because readers don’t appreciate sensationalism or headlines that promise something not delivered in the accompanying link. Throw in a few too many unrelated Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga references just to get clicks and you’ll lose credibility faster than Gaga changes looks.

Keep It Short

RTs usually include a string of people who’ve already shared that tweet (the Twitter method of attribution), so if you tweet something that’s already approaching 140 characters, it’s harder for people to RT with your Twitter name if they have to get creative and shorten your tweet. Not everyone has the patience for this, so do them (and yourself) a favor by staying closer to 100 characters. Shorten links using a service like ow.ly or tiny.cc. The latter allows you to choose a custom URL which can help brand your tweet with a keyword.

Ask for Retweets

Some people disagree with the idea that you should ask for retweets. But plenty of others will tell you it’s a highly effective strategy. In fact, Dan Zarrella analyzed the top 10,000 most RT’ed tweets in his database and found that the “please retweet,” “please,” and “please RT” were among the most commonly RT’ed phrases. I’d use this strategy judiciously, though, asking for retweets on one or two posts per week that you feel have the most potential to go viral. That way you’re not constantly asking followers for RTs, which could lose its impact.

Be Generous

If you RT the interesting and relevant content of others, they’re more likely to reciprocate by sharing your content. The other benefit of RTs is that even if you’re not the original creator of the tweet, your followers will often include your Twitter handle when they RT you. And if you have an interesting Twitter handle (for instance WebWizard2011 instead of JWSmith), their followers may get curious and follow you.

Want to learn more about RTs? Dan Zarella’s Science of Retweets presentation offers some interesting data, as does this graph showing the optimal times of day for RTs.

What’s worked for you? Do you agree or disagree with these tips?

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Gopal Raju.

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Should I continue with this sort of videos? Comment and/or press like/dislike to express you oppinion! And yes, if you do have any suggestions for fun kills, do comment on it or PM me or right here on YouTube! This is an idea that I (Defur) created and worked on along with the rest of the original Jeet Kune Do members back in 2008, but along with our noobiness we failed to save the demos every update and the movie got destroyed 3 times. Now a couple of years later, when I finaly decided to get a hang of editing I took the oppertunity to re-make the start of the movie we made – alot has been changed from the original but I hope its not to shabby! This is also the first time I tried on After Effects to create an intro screen for JKDProductions, which I will continue to use in my videos later on. : ) Shoutouts to the actors: Jukebox Arild Zebbosai Mavve Flax Squide And the original JKD members!: Arild (DOUBLESHOUTOUT!) Lavandor Daffy Sudden JeCa (director of the original movie) Shadow Danne Flax (DOUBLESHOUTOUT!) Zorkk Killcone X-Fluke Didgi Seymour Agge Sic STJ

credit: by kaibara87 on Flickr

Okay, admit it. You can’t even carry a tune in a bucket. Or perhaps the happiest day of your childhood was when your parents stopped making you take piano lessons.

So, what could you possibly learn from a book written for musicians? Quite a lot!

My own encounter with David Cutler’s new book, The Savvy Musician, happened by chance. I was browsing the library’s new books shelf, and there it was. The Savvy Musician includes vignettes of 165 working musicians who enjoy meaningful and prosperous careers. I’ll admit that I’ve only heard of Anonymous 4 and the Kronos Quartet. Maybe that means that my ears need to get out more.

One thing that these musicians have in common is a high level of skill. And luck.

As Cutler says, “They have all experienced fortunate breaks, partially or completely out of their control. Their lucky moment may have been getting a job offer (no one better for the position happened to apply), winning a composition award (their aesthetic happened to suit the judges), or being signed by a recording label (a talent scout happened to listen to their demo).”

However, Cutler adds, “[T]here seems to be a science to getting lucky.” He offers 10 suggestions for increasing your luck. I think that they apply very well to freelancers:

1. Be good at what you do. When you’re good, word gets around.
2. Have a plan for your life. Set goals and define how you’ll accomplish them.
3. Schedule “luck” time. Periodically review progress toward your goals.
4. Make “luck” happen. See an opportunity? Pursue it with all you’ve got!
5. Build your network. The more people who know how good you are, the better the odds are that they’ll spread the word.
6. Increase your level of “fame.” Successful people are perceived that way. Shouldn’t you be too?
7. Be flexible. Opportunities don’t always show up at the right time. Be prepared for when they do arrive.
8. Plant a lot of seeds and see which ones grow. Cutler advises musicians to apply for 20 grants, rather than one. See any similarities to your freelancing business?
9. Plant better seeds. Over time, you’ll know which of your seeds are most likely to grow. Concentrate your efforts there.
10. Turn negatives into positives. Don’t view obstacles as road blocks. View them as things that you can maneuver around.

Another thing that struck me about Cutler’s savvy musician friends is how they take the expression “Multiple Streams of Income” to heart. They don’t just play concerts. They record and sell CDs. They own music schools. They organize music festivals.

And more.

Take, for example, New York percussionist Justin Hines. He succeeds in making the rest of us look like slackers by deriving his income from 15 different sources.

Among other things, he plays in a wide variety of ensembles, including Broadway pit orchestras, writes songs, develops curricula for arts-in-education residencies, and hosts concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Not surprisingly, Cutler refers to him as “the quintessential freelancer.”

Does Justin Hines’s multiple streaming wear him out? Nope. Cutler says, “This huge variety of activities keeps Justin energized while allowing him to constantly evolve in exciting new directions.”

Last but not least, this book will show you that there’s no shame in having a day job. A lot of musicians have day jobs, and guess what? They work hard at work – and they enjoy their jobs.

Ever heard of jazz pianist Denny Zeitlin? He’s not included in The Savvy Musician, but the keyboard isn’t his day job. Practicing psychiatry is.

Likewise, my friend Jim Hewitt. His day job is computer applications development. On evenings and weekends, he’s a bluegrass fiddler who records and produces his own albums.

Photo credit: kaibara87 on Flickr

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The holiday season is one of the best times to be a freelancer. Setting your own hours means steering clear of the malls come 5PM – the time when stores become filling with tired cube-dwellers anxious to shrink down their to-do list.

But on the flip side, stepping out to shop during the day can snag your productivity. Just how to balance the two?

1. Be the early bird: Stores open early pre-season. Parking is ample and crowds are thin in the morning. Make a specific list in advance, get there when doors open, and be at your computer by 10:00.
2. Mail order: Normally, freelancers should avoid one more reason to surf the web, but this time of year it can be big timesaver. Keep it controlled: set time limits or surf only during your (timed!) lunch or coffee break
3. Swap your workday:  If holiday shopping means leisurely afternoons at the mall, make a swap: indulge in a quiet, midweek day shopping day in exchange for working a day on the weekend.
4. Stay in town: Forgo the malls or big box stores. Smaller stores in your own town can yield a fresh gift idea and be a rejuvenating break to your workday. Dash out midday, pick out a gift, be back to work with enough time left to read your favorite blog.
5. Use your network:  Most freelancers know people all over, so why not propose an errand swap? You pick up few boxes of salt-water taffy near your Oceanside abode, your friend stocks up on the famous southern barbeque sauce you’ve head about.  Swap by mail, and you’ve got unique gifts to give.

Don’t let the stress of shopping and errands impose upon your workday.  Use your freelancing lifestyle to knock off errands at more convenient times with minimal interference to your working time.  Then, sit back and enjoy the season!

Photo credit: WTL photos on flickr

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The theme of this year’s Blog Action Day is water. That means that approximately 2,500 blogs around the world are, in some way, writing about all-precious H20. At FreelanceSwitch, that got us thinking. Aside from not having to drive to work, how can freelancers go green—and fluidly continue doing so?

There are a variety of simple things you can do as a freelancer to go a little easier on Mother Earth.

Choose an eco-friendly printer. You love your business cards and brochures, so why not choose a vendor that respects the globe as well? Some to check out include:

• GreenerPrinter
• Green Printer Online
• Eco Friendly Printer

Another way to use eco-friendly printers is to refer your clients to them. And if you are responsible for marketing collateral fulfillment, promote the fact that you use a green printer and let clients know which one.

Select green vendors. Your clients probably know that you have low overhead if you work at home and naturally save energy. But you can go above and beyond by choosing an eco-friendly printer above, or working with other vendors. I would try not to go nuts here: your clients won’t care if your desk chair is made from organic cotton, but they may like the fact that you only use recycled paper.

Be aware of your electricity use. If you are working at home, it can be easy to shift from work to other tasks. That’s why it is important to pay attention to how many lights you leave on. If you are like me, you are multitasking, going from your office to other rooms. I often leave the light on my laundry room, and there’s no reason to. By being more aware of using only the lighting that you need, you can conserve energy—and your energy costs. Same thing goes with leaving the computer on when you’re not working. Try to put it on a lower energy setting or shut it down.

Recycle paper. I print out a lot of my content during the proofreading process because I do better checking it when I can hold it in my hand. The result? Well, for a large website that can be 30 to 50 pages of content. Instead, toss the paper in a recycle bin in your office and either reuse it internally or recycle it separately through a local program. Hint: The back of printed-on paper is ideal for a quick fax coversheet. And if you can read on the screen, you won’t have to worry about any of it.

Choose eco-friendly equipment and energy-saving appliances. Even smaller office equipment like printers and fax machines come in energy-saving models. Also, when you are running your equipment, set the power management features to their eco-friendliest (such as choosing standby) to make sure they run efficiently. A Lawrence Berkeley Lab study from 1999 estimated that one computer-and-monitor workstation left on after business hours is responsible for power plants emitting nearly one ton of CO2 per year. If you work at home, selecting smart appliances and a high-efficiency HVAC system can help—not only do you get the perks because you’ll save on your bills and enjoy new items, but you can rest assured that your office is running efficiently. I just replaced my HVAC system because the house needed it, but I feel more comfortable running the air conditioning in the summer if I need to. As a side note, make sure to recycle your computers, batteries and cell phones.

Skip the Starbucks cup—but never the latte. Like many freelancers, you may relish a trip out for coffee everyday—there’s nothing wrong with that. Why not bring a reusable cup? It’s one less thing to throw away and clog up your tiny office trash can. Similarly, if you work at home all day, use your regular dishes. Take time to prepare a meal instead of producing more waste from take-in or eating out. Using paper plates may mean no cleanup, but you may go through a few in addition to cups and utensils. Instead? Take a much-needed break from work to load the dishwasher or scrub the pans. You’ll stay productive and get a rest from work.

By making a few new habits, you can do your part to contribute to the eco-friendly efforts of others. Just because freelancers work solo doesn’t mean one person can’t make a difference!

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Another great thing about being a freelancer is the number and diversity of clients you can have.  By introducing them to each other, you are creating valuable connections that will likely result in more work for you.  If you can help your clients be successful, it’s almost a sure bet that you will benefit, too.

Here are 5 ways to introduce clients to each other:

Drink More – Ok, maybe not alcohol, but schedule a coffee meeting between two or three clients that share a similar industry (but not direct competitors).  Introduce them to each other, and see how the conversation goes.

Eat More – Host a BBQ and invite a few of the clients that you enjoy working with.  Don’t have a place to have a BBQ?  Plan a picnic in a local park or at the beach.  It doesn’t have to be a large expense, just tell them that you’ve reserved a spot, and they are welcome to bring their own picnic lunch and have a relaxing day.

Play More – If you share an interest in sports, invite your clients to a game.  If you’re like me and don’t have the sports gene, host a LAN party or xbox tournament.

Write More – Create a newsletter or email to share amongst your clients.  If you have a regular newsletter, create a “featured client” section.  Send regular updates when new clients sign up.  If your clients think you’re busy and successful, they’re more inclined to recommend you to others and keep work coming your way.

Give More – If you like to volunteer, invite your clients to join you.  Community gardens, local shelters, and local or national associations can use an extra set of hands, even if it’s just one day at a time.

As the host, it’s your responsibility to set the tone for these meetings.  Find the balance of professional and casual that works for you, and then take steps to find the people that share your values.

Good luck, and have fun!

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The more clients I get, the more amazed I am at the way the world is shrinking as the internet grows.  I have clients in the US, Australia, the UK, India, and right here in Canada, on the other coast and within my humble city.

I love freelancing, but it’s not something I would choose to do for free – despite what the clients think!  I’ve had to explore some of the available ways to get paid, and I’d like to know how you handle this essential part of the business. How do you choose which way to receive payments online?

The options that I’ve found for receiving payments online:

Paypal.com – this seems to be the de facto standard for online payments.  It’s easy, it’s recognized by pretty much everyone on the internet, and the costs aren’t outrageous.  With the ability to create and send invoices, this seems to be a decent option for most freelancers. Their fee schedule says that payments are between 1.9% – 2.9% + $.30USD, but there are a few other fees that get tacked on.  2.5% for currency conversion, and 1% to receive payments from other countries.  In my experience, the fees run about 5% – 7%.

Elance.com – If you get your projects through elance, you have the ability to use their escrow system.  While I am a big fan of knowing that the money is there waiting for me to finish the project, I’d much rather have it in my own hands.  Elance takes a bigger piece of pie for this, around 6.75%, as well as your monthly membership fee.

Worldpay.com – I haven’t used worldpay yet, but I have heard about it.  The bad news is, while researching their site I learned that their small/medium business solution isn’t available in Canada.  Lichtenstein, yes. Canada – not so much.  Maybe they think we’re part of the US?  Anyways – it looks like they charge about 4.5% on credit card payments, but again – it’s not easy to find an exact amount.

Moneybookers.com – Separated from their competition by providing  a link on their home page labelled “Fees,” moneybookers looks like it might be worth looking in to. To upload funds through the major credit cards, the fee is 1.9% , and for you to withdraw funds it looks like a flat fee of less than $5USD.  Moneybookers charges 1.99% above the wholesale exchange rate for their currency exchange, so keep this in mind for your transactions.

Checks – Personally, I love the daily thrill of walking to the mailbox in search of a new check.  There are no fees, but there can be a substantial wait – especially from a particular client. I have a U.S. bank account with my Canadian bank, and I transfer the funds when the exchange is favorable.

What service do you use to get your payment from your clients?  If you were going to create an online payment service, what service would you provide that makes you different from anyone else?

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