The landscape is changing for freelancers. How do we navigate successfully? I share an update about the ABC Test that's in California's AB5 law and it's big brother, the PRO Act which has passed in the House of Representatives and is being considered in the Senate, and how freelancers have been and can be adversely affected by new labor laws. To maintain your independence, develop your business skills. I created Freelance Road Trip to teach you how to earn your living from your creative work.

Freelance Road Trip Podcast

Helping You Navigate A Changing Landscape

By way of a true story to illustrate the point, I share a mindset shift for visual creatives who want to elevate their status, pricing, and creative leadership when working with clients. That's by understanding what it is we really do which is far more than making things look good. The true value in what we do as creatives is in how we combine these 3 criteria in our work for clients. 

3 Criteria Creatives Use To Solve Business Problems

It seems counter intuitive to turn down a project when you need the income. But saying NO is sometimes the best thing to do for the sake of your future. Turning down a client may in fact be the best business decision you make in a day. Here's why, and how to say no to prospective clients, scope creep, and bad ideas.

How To Say No To Problem Clients, Scope Creep, and Bad Ideas

Whether you freelance full-time or part-time, these time management principles will help you win the struggle to juggle the professional and personal aspects of your life. 

4 Time Management Principles To Transform Your Work Week

Based on a true account of a miscommunication between me and one of my design students, I discuss the importance of being specific in what we communicate to clients, getting to the point, and diagnosing their needs accurately. It's also important that your client accurately receives what you're communicating. Both parties are responsible for communicating well. Good communication saves you time, builds trust, manages expectations, and reduces wrong assumptions.

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

Don't have conversations on the back end of a project that you should have had on the front end. When things go south with a client because they were expecting one thing and you were expecting another, it can ruin your relationship but also your reputation with future clients. Using a true story as the basis, I share how and why we freelance creatives need to manage expectations.

The Designer, the Infographic, and the Unhappy Client

How do you create a budget when your freelance income isn't steady? Can you mark up project-related expenses without feeling guilty? In this episode I answere these and other money-related questions submitted by readers and listeners. 

Mark-ups, Minimums, and Managing Money

Your portfolio isn't just about getting you your next client. It's a springboard into your future. It's a primary means of attracting clients you're best suited to serve. I share specific how-tos for creating a high quality, consistent portfolio that best represents your expertise, and the critical thinking behind the tips. The episode includes an excerpt from my online course, Crafting Your Professional Portfolio, which I've taught at design schools and is available to members inside the Freelance Road Trip program.

How To Craft Your Professional Portfolio

If you're a self-employed professional creative, you offer solutions to business and life problems. Your portfolio then, isn't a showcase of art, design, or photography, but a collection of creative solutions. The most effective portfolios demonstrate how you solve clients' problems. I share some practical, professional tips to help you sharpen your portfolio to attract the kinds of clients and projects you're best suited for.

Make Your Portfolio A Marketing Tool

A prospective client discovery session allows you the opportunity to manage expectations before you enter a working relationship. By asking the right kinds of questions you communicate to your client your expertise and empathy, and your ability to solve their business problem with your creative solutions. In this episode I outline proven tactics for a successful discovery call and subsequent project.

Master the Client Discovery Call

It's no fun being trapped in a bad working relationship with a difficult client. We can put filters in place to screen out prospects who aren't a good fit for us, but what do we do when things begin well but go sour in the middle of a project? It's important to recognize the "red flags" and deal with them so that you can maintain a comfortable working relationship with your client. I break out 10 red flags that can pop up before and during a project. Why should you be aware of warning signs? Because these types of problems can impact you creatively and affect your ability to stay in business.

10 Red Flag Warnings Freelancers Shouldn't Ignore

Many freelance creatives deal with having to do things to pay the bills while we're developing our freelance careers. The usual thinking is that these jobs are holding us back from doing our preferred work, stepping into our callings, and reaching our destinies. Rather than being deterrents, detours can be useful in a variety of ways, actually preparing and training us to do our best work.

Detours Are Not Your Destiny

You may not need a business plan to start your freelance business, but once you get a few clients under your belt you'll want to create one. A business plan acts as compass to keep you focused on the important things. It helps you control and manage outcomes. It helps you make good business decisions. Your business plan doesn't need to be a lengthy doc. I outline what to include in your plan and how those elements support your decisions and long-term success.

How To Write Your Business Plan

No freelancer ever does a project entirely on their own. A reliable support network is crucial to getting the job done. Freelance creatives focus more on attracting and working with clients but often neglect to invest the same level of relational care into their supplier network. In this episode I share why we need to apply the "Golden Rule" with our suppliers, a couple true stories from my own experience, and unpack specific areas to watch out for in keeping those relationships respectful and mutually beneficial.

How To Care For Your Suppliers

Independent creatives are known to seek out quick-win tips and tactics to fix their immediate problems. But if you want to build a sustainable business around your creative work, you need a strategic plan that acts as both a compass and an anchor. While both strategy and tactics are necessary and useful. This episode introduces the concept of strategic thinking connected to your larger purpose, and attaching your goals and action steps.

Why Strategy Trumps Tactics

The intersection of inspired creativity and common business sense for freelance designers, illustrators, and photographers who want to have fulfilling, successful businesses. Hosted by Alvalyn Lundgren.

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Freelance Road Trip Podcast

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