Issue #17

Editor’s Note

I’m not going to talk about The New iPad. You should be busy finishing up your taxes anyway.

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Articles

Give it five minutes

Jason shares a lesson he’s learned, take 5 minutes and let “it” sink in before you rail against and idea.

Time for a Raise – 5 Tips on How to Make it Happen Painlessly

Timely for me as we just talked about this in the Ruby Freelancers podcast. Debbie has some good tips on how to raise your rates.

How to De-Clutter Your Home Office

The Urban Muse has a guest post by Angela Taylor about, well, de-cluttering your home office. Probably the single point I need to work on most: don’t eat lunch (or breakfast, or anything) at your desk. It’s unsanitary and unhealthy for a number of reasons. I’d go a bit further and say skip the dining room table and meet someone at a local restaurant. Fresh air, change of perspective and networking all as benefits.

The Freelancer’s Ultimate Introduction to Google+ Hangouts

More about Google+ Hangouts. Seem to be targeting the same type of folks that used Justin.tv or that other one.

10 Tips for Keeeping a Freelancer Covered

Things you should probably be doing, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded. Of note, pay your taxes. In the US they’re due the 15th, of March. Personal taxes are due a month later.

5 Tricks that Every Marketer Needs to Know to Exploit the New Facebook Page Design

Exploit is a bit sensational, but some useful tips if you’re curious about the new Facebook Timeline roll out.

The Solopreneur Handicap That Makes You Suck at Productivity

Teams help, maybe not everyone.

Setting Your Plate

Not quite the 500 words every day post, but about framing your day, still before you turn to consumption mode.

Tax tip: Are You Deducting Enough?

With taxes due next week in the US it may be a bit late for this advice. Find and hire a good accountant and keep good records.

Make the decisions you take the ones that actually count

25 Leo talks about only making decisions, or spending mental energy on decisions, that actually make a difference in his life.

Two sources of stress that (probably) apply to you

Dale comes to a similar conclusion to Leo, make trivial decisions quickly and figure out your priorities quickly and follow through.

When The Project Is Over – Gathering Testimonials

Neil gives some templates on how to ask your clients for a testimonial.

Resources

Freelance Freedom #248: Memory Memories

If you trust the cloud, that is.

RSA Animate – Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

30 Interesting look at what motivates us, old but worth the 10 minutes.

30 Great Examples of Pricing Plans and Tables

An updated list of really well done Pricing Plan and Table layouts.

15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly

Affect/effect always makes me stop and think.

Font Awesome

No, I’ll never get tired of Twitter bootstrap related links.

colllor

Cool looking color tool

Sponsor

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