It is Saturday morning again, so sit back and enjoy this weeks selection of beautifully designed web sites and mobile apps. And of course, doon’t forget to click the ‘Change Viewport’ button to explore each site in detail.

REI 1440 Project (Responsive)

REI 1440 ProjectChange Viewport

Engage Interactive (Responsive)

Engage InteractiveChange Viewport

Future Insights Live 2013 (Responsive)

Future Insights Live 2013Change Viewport

Kod & Form (Responsive)

Kod & FormChange Viewport

Suburban Textieldruk

Suburban Textieldruk

82nd & Fifth (Responsive)

82nd & FifthChange Viewport

Notsirk (Responsive)

NotsirkChange Viewport

Talkbits (iOS & Android App)

Talkbits

Kount.ly (iOS App)

Kount.ly

Groove! Metronome (iOS App)

Groove! Metronome

Camp (iOS App)

Camp

The Color Of (iOS App)

The Color Of

Hy, How Much Water Did You Drink Today (iOS App)

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Hy, How Much Water Did You Drink Today

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Freelancing is riddled with challenges.

First, freelancers are left to figure out how to land new clients. They have to cold call potential leads, effectively display their portfolio, and expertly request for referrals to keep a steady stream of work coming in.

Once that’s taken care of, they have to manage their time and their projects to get everything finished by the promised deadlines. They also have to critique their own work to keep the quality at a high level.

Yet even when the finished work is great, there are numerous stories of clients who don’t pay, end up paying late, or only make a partial payment. There are also numerous clients to keep happy, often all at the same time (which is why you need to fire some clients and refuse bad business).

Freelancers end up being part copywriter, marketer, creative director, customer service representative, and tax expert all on their own. If anyone thinks that doing freelance work is easy, they need to think again.

And that’s why it’s so important to make sure you don’t fall into the freelance pricing trap. There are so many other challenges, you want to make sureto avoid this one.

The Freelance Pricing Trap

So what’s the freelance pricing trap?

The freelance writing trap is not charging enough for the work that you do. And it happens much more often than you would think.

Many freelancers feel like they don’t have enough experience or expertise to charge a certain rate so they don’t. They bid below the market rate because they feel they aren’t qualified to charge for more. Actually, they even feel bad for charging more. They feel like it’s too expensive and that they can’tjustify charging so much.

However, if you want to make it as a freelancer, this needs to change.

The Reason It Needs to Change

Not charging enough for your services is a huge problem because it sets up the wrong expectations for clients. It makes them devalue the work that you do. They’ll begin to think you’re not as talented as another freelancer because you don’t charge as much they do.

This is a real problem. I know a tutoring company that couldn’t get work in a rich city because they didn’t charge as much as the competition. Since they didn’t charge as much, then they must not be as good as the other tutoring companies. This happens to tutoring companies, and it happens to freelancers as well.

Image Source: Business and Media Web Icons via Shutterstock

It also makes the work you do less rewarding. And since the work is less rewarding, you’re much more likely to get burned out. Consider this common scenario for a moment:

A client calls you up asking how much it will cost to do a project. You ask for some details, take time to count the number of hours it should take, and then respond with a price. But this is where it gets interesting.

The client tells you he can’t afford that much and counters by asking if you can do it for half the price. Not wanting to lose out on the business, you agree since you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to negotiate for a higher rate. You also really need the work and don’t want to miss out on the revenue. Or so you think…

You begin doing the work only to realize that you’re getting paid for half of what the project’s worth. If you’re just starting out, that’s not necessarily a problem because you’re building a portfolio, but if you’ve been freelancing for a while, that’s a huge problem. You’ve got bills to pay, mouths to feed,and taxes to cover at the end of the year; you’ll end up working extra hours on other projects just to make up for the drop in pay you’ve received on this one.

You become resentful and disappointed, mostly wanting the project to just be over. Instead of putting in your best work, you give it about 50% effort. And why shouldn’t you? You’re only getting paid 50% of what you’re worth.

Then it comes time to get the project approved. Surprise, surprise: the client has changes he’d like done. But you’re already over on hours! And you’re already getting underpaid!

More resentfully than ever, you dig back into the project with only about 50% of your heart. When will this project finally be finished?

Have you ever experienced a project like this? If you have, you understand the primary reasons it’s detrimental to charge less than you’re worth:

1. You won’t put your heart and soul into the project.
2. You won’t produce your best work which ultimately is what allows you to raise your rates in the future.
3. You’re training clients to pay a discounted rate.
4. You aren’t making enough money to pay the bills you need to pay.

What should you do instead?

In order to not fall into the trap of discounted pay, here are three tips:

1. Find out what the market pay for your type of service, and get to that rate as quickly as you can.
   Whether it’s photography, web design, or copywriting, there’s a market freelance rate that professionals realize they need to earn in order to make a living. Instead of thinking you can win business by undercutting this price, do whatever it takes to get to the market price as quickly as you can. Yes, you’ll need to spend some time building a portfolio. But once you have, don’t continue offering discounted rates.
2. Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth.
   Lots of freelancers don’t like asking for more money or even to ask for the going freelance rate. They feel like they’re not qualified or experienced enough. If that’s the case, continue building your portfolio, but if it’s not, don’t be afraid to ask what you’re worth.
3. Incrementally raise your rates.
   The number one thing that shoots negotiators in the foot is being desperate to close a sale. If you’re desperate for the business, you won’t be able to negotiate well. This means you’ll have the most trouble at the beginning of your freelance career. But once you start picking up clients and have a decent amount of work, start raising your rates. If you aren’t desperate to pick up the next client, you can afford to ask for more money. If they take it, you can drop a lower paying client at the right time and raise your rates again with subsequent clients. Just remember to continue raising your rates once you have a healthy amount of work to do. It only makes sense that you would charge more as you get better at what you do.

Image Source: Business and Media Web Icons via Shutterstock

If you feel like you’ve fallen into the trap of not charging enough for what you’re worth, make a decision today to start charging more. By incrementally charging increasing your rates, you can quickly get to the market rate for your type of freelance work, and if you’re really good at what you do, you can even start charging more than the market rate. That’s the kind of “trap” you want to fall into (especially if you start finding better clients who are willing to pay more).

What’s your experience with freelance pricing? Do you feel like you charge less than you’re worth? Any tips on how new freelancers can incrementally raise their rates and start charging more? Leave a comment to discuss.

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The world of commerce saw a huge radical change with the advent of the internet. With a bloom in e-commerce, all firms and businesses found it inevitable to have websites for their businesses. Now with the rise of the mobile internet services, the race for technological advancement has begun. Almost all websites now are adapting to the change by either facilitating mobile viewership of the websites or are creating new websites which are compatible with the internet provided in the phones. There is now an urgent need to transform the websites of the businesses. There are several variations between a website which is to be viewed on a computer and a website which is to be viewed on a mobile phone. This is where the mobile website design Northampton firms will come in handy. These firms will be able to provide a complete package of services which will ensure that you will have a mobile website up and running in no time. These firms will mobilize your sites and will in-turn maximize the traffic to your website.
The fundamental reason which should goad you to consider creating a mobile website is the increase in web traffic that a mobile website can bring. Recent surveys show that there are more chances of a person visiting a new website for the first time from the mobile phones. Almost every one who is exquisite about something new will invariably take out their mobile phones and do a quick google of the product or the service. You want to ensure that your website pops up and traffic increases. The mobile website design Northampton firms ensure that they provide end to end services which will enhance the traffic. These firms will be able to custom build a new website from scratch and will also be able to develop the website making it user friendly with all apps that are required. They will also be able to create CMS websites with a lot of ease. After the creation of the website comes the need to optimize the website for various search engines. The mobile website design Northampton firms will also be able to perform this function. They will help generate the required content and will also make sure that the website has PPC management capabilities.
The mobile websites are more useful for the people who wish to have e-commerce websites or online stores. Developing a mobile website for e-commerce can be rather tricky as the designer will have to strike a balance between easy access as well as security. The design firms will be able to create a perfect online store which can substantially enhance your business. There are numerous firms in the area which are well equipped to build a mobile website quickly and efficiently. There are few things that you will have to keep in mind before you select one of the firms. You will have to ensure that the firm has had considerable experience in creating websites for similar businesses or products and you can even ask for a list of the websites it has created. Finding one will not be very difficult but you will have to use your discretion in selecting the right firm for the job.

You know how some freelancers tend to effortlessly attract clients and business opportunities They don’t have to push sales, clients seem to call incessantly and they hardly have any time to fit all the new business in. For others, business is always a struggle. There’s never a guarantee when the phone will ring again, there’s a perpetual shortage of cash and a seeming need to always go out there and win new business.

Then there are people who have left all that behind and are playing a much bigger game. Just as Henri Cartier-Bresson has become a huge influence in photojournalism and Steve Jobs in the digital world, some artists get to a point where a freelancer label no longer applies – they start a movement or a company which takes on a life of its own and becomes a symbol of the cause they care deeply about.

The important thing to note here is that each one of these artists not only have a very different experience of business, but – much more importantly – they’re driven by very different motives. It’s tempting to look at their businesses and try to replicate the successful business models, but it’s important to get that their businesses are just a product of the motivations which drive their owners. You can never replicate the success of their business without first getting in touch with the headspace which gives rise to that success.

When building your freelance business, the temptation may be to do what you’ve been taught is the right thing to do: put your head down, work hard, learn more about business and persevere endlessly.

The trouble with that approach, though, is that anything you create will always be limited by the headspace you’re in. Our motivations determine our scope of vision which, in turn, will determine our actions and will shape the kind of business we build.

If you are a freelancer and feel stuck, the fastest way to experiencing success is not by doing more work that is driven by your current motivations, but by taking a closer look at the motivations that drive you, rising to a new level of thinking and exploring business strategies which present themselves to you when you’re there (and are not visible to you now).

There are 3 types of motivations that most freelancers will find themselves in – and they represent the stages that their business will inevitably be in.

Examine these stages to get an idea where you’re at, but use the labels loosely – you’ll probably find that you tend to drift between two stages (or maybe all three). There will be, however, a stage which you’ll notice most resembles your life and your business. And the single most important thing you can do right now to experience effortless success is to get to the next stage.

Stage 1: A “Me” Freelancer

First stage freelancer is involved in a “me” business. Me, me me, you say. It’s all about you.

Your thinking is primarily driven by your own needs – you need more money, you need to get out of your day job, you need more traffic, more conversions – and so you build “me”-centered strategies to achieve those goals.

First stage is epitomised by the saying “I need to make money” – which is a dead giveaway of where a person’s focus is. Money, of course, needs to be “made”, but at this stage the freelancer is not driven by a desire greater than wealth or status or a desire to quit work entirely once the money has been made.

(As a side note, the idea of “making money” is a complete myth – unless you’re in the business of printing it, I suppose. I find that a much more empowering way to look at it is that money can be generated as a welcome side effect of creating value. And as a freelancer you can easily create value – but you can never make money).

First stage freelancers are easy to spot – and you’ve probably had a few clients who are in that boat. Their communication has not yet developed much past themselves, which means they have difficulty articulating what it is they do (and for which niche). They also don’t firmly know what problem in the world they solve through their services and why it is they do what they do.

Their website is likely to say something like “I’m the founder and CEO of XYZ Design” and, of course, they’re a “chief executive” only by the virtue of the fact that they’re the only “officer” in the business.

You’ll find they don’t produce much content that is relevant to their niche and the value proposition isn’t strong because the person in charge hasn’t stopped thinking about their own needs for long enough to deeply consider real, current market needs.

I’m not writing this to bash anyone in stage one – there’s no right or wrong stage here – and I myself end up there at least a few times a week. I’m writing with the aim of identifying this headspace well so that if it resonates with you, you know what is stopping you.

It’s important to transcend stage one because it’s a hard slog. It’s a confusing and testing time – and this is where most freelancers abandon their dream of being a self-employed artist and settle for yet another corporate gig.

The key is to recognise this time as just a stage – not an indicator of how your life as a freelancer will always be – and get out of it before it beats you. And if you’re experiencing a degree of success as a freelancer, you’re probably very familiar with stage one. You’ve been in its trenches for a while and are starting to grow to stage two.

Stage 2: A “We” Freelancer

A second stage freelancer is involved in a “we” business. You begin to become curious about problems other people experience and wonder how solving them will benefit you as well. It’s epitomised by “let me scratch your back, and here’s what you can do to scratch mine” kind of mentality. Your focus is on adding value to the world while profiting yourself.

Doing a great job – not just any job – becomes imperative. You push yourself as an artist and get more clarity on what your talents are – and how you can use them to create value for others. You notice problems in the world and engage them not as things to complain about (as you did in stage one), but as possible opportunities for you to do business with other people.

Customers and other business owners begin to occur as potential partners, rather than identities whom you can get some money (or a link/retweet/like/etc) from. Business opportunities begin to occur as relationships, rather than transactions. You begin to think on a level of group. You find yourself getting inspired easier. “Contribution” is a word that begins to resonate with you more – you begin to see that the act of contributing to someone can be just more rewarding than getting something from someone.

Social media begins to make a lot of sense here. You’re looking for opportunities to contribute, partners, connections, problems, and inspirations – and your social media feed is ALL those things. (In stage one it was probably just a way to procrastinate and get some validation).

Second stage business is a golden place to be – compared to the confusion and futility of stage one, here you experience a good degree of effortlessness. Opportunities seem to present themselves almost by luck. Doors are opened to you. Customers come out of “nowhere”.

Of course, none of those things are accidental – they only seem so. You create them as a by-product of using your talents to add real value to the people and businesses you choose.

Stage 3: An “Idea” Freelancer

Third stage is not something I’ve hit for any great length of time yet, so I understand it mostly on a conceptual, rather than experiential, level.

Still, I’d like to throw it out there as something to mull over, to wonder about and something for us to develop and discuss. Perhaps, if you’re reading this, and are familiar with this headspace, you can expand on what I say here.

I see this place as a narrowing of focus and a pursuit of one idea with the aim of creating a greater good. It’s the stage of being able to clearly answer the question – “how am I going to use my life to make the world a better place“

It’s being driven by desire to make a real difference, and that pursuit is an end in itself – not for rewards it might bring to you. In fact, it might be of a detriment to you. There’s no recipe for what you might create in stage three – you may build a huge company that takes over the world or you may sit on a hill and draw grasshoppers.

The important thing here is not what you create, but why you choose to dedicate your life to creating it. The answer to that question will be very clear to you and it will be what feeds you and nurtures your soul.

How To Get To The Next Stage

So, where to now Well, awareness is the first step. If you can identify what’s driving you right now and how that’s shaped the kind of business you have, you’re already way ahead of most freelancers out there.

The next thing is to remain conscious of your motives as you go about your life.

I know this sounds almost like some kind of hippie advice rather than sound business knowledge, but that’s the key to it – your business is not separate from you. It’s a direct extension of your headspace and no amount of great business knowledge will yield results if your head is not in a place which gives you power in your conversations with people and opens your scope of vision wider than that of your competition.

Each time you’re about to take an action, implement a new strategy, write someone an email or put up content on your website pause for a moment and think – why am I doing this, right now What’s my purpose What’s driving me The answer will give you an indicator of what stage you’re in right now.

The next question to ask yourself would be: how would this action look if I was thinking from the next stage Would I still do what I’m about to do

The more you train yourself to think from a new place, the sooner it will become the norm and the sooner you’ll experience the amazing results you deserve and are capable of.

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It seems like every designer has a horror story or two (or seventeen) about getting ripped off by a client who refuses to pay. Once it happens, there’s not too much you can do. It sucks, but it’s the simple truth. If you didn’t get a contract or a clear payment process established in the beginning, a lot of the time you’re just going to have to eat the loss. You can’t sue someone without a legally binding document, so the only thing you can do is plead, pester, threaten, or try something possibly illegal like a CSS kill switch. That ain’t a pretty picture.

Image Source: White Collar Crime via Shutterstock

You Got Screwed – Now What

You’re probably going to want to slap me for this, but I’m going to say it anyway: I suggest learning from your mistake and preparing to do things better next time. I think I may be turning into the agony aunt of the design community: “Learn from your mistakes!” “A penny saved is a penny earned!” “Don’t eat your dessert with a salad fork – what are you, some kind of barbarian” But really, it’s often the only thing you can do if you find yourself in an unfortunate money situation with a client. Notice that the title of this article is not “Preventing Present Client Burn.” Perhaps you can’t afford to hire a lawyer or debt collection agency to get your money back from the jerks who stiffed you (although if you can, it can be a good “last straw” solution for a really stubborn client). After you stomp and wave your arms at your cat and/or spouse, it’s time to draw up Plan B.

The bright side to dealing with deadbeat clients is that there’s always a next time. And what should be the first thing you do with your next client Negotiate. There are plenty of resources online if you need some tips on how to negotiate a client contract, like this one, this one, or this one. But since getting paid has been an issue for you recently, I would start by getting an upfront deposit, ideally 50% if possible. Yes, it can be awkward and require some negotiating skills. But is a little awkwardness really worse than getting stiffed again I think it’s preferable to letting someone get away with being unprofessional and terrible to you.

Choose Your Clients Well. I Mean It.

You should be picking your clients as carefully as you would pick the person you want to marry. It sounds weird until you actually think about it – you’re entering into a relationship with this person. Relationships have rules and each person has a responsibility to clearly communicate their needs to the other person.

Don’t try to make a bad client into a good one; as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, it will never work out. Ever. Any client who exhibits the telltale signs of crappiness is only going to get worse and worse as a project drags on. You know this already. Don’t do it to yourself. Prevention over cure is always the best way.

Don’t Give Them A Reason To Get Annoyed

Let’s be honest here. Designers aren’t always noble warriors of integrity, put upon constantly by big, bad clients looking to rob them blind. I know because I’ve hired them. There’s rarely an excuse for non-payment, but sometimes, a designer’s conduct can leave a client desperately looking for one. What do I mean by this Oftentimes, designers are genuinely unaware of how they’re coming across to their clients, and believe that a particular client’s decision to get funny with the money comes out of nowhere, when in fact, the designer has been communicating poorly, or sometimes not at all.

I promise I’m not going to start attacking designers (I’m a designer too), since I know the industry is full of hardworking folks with integrity, but I’ve hired some people who were just flat out unprofessional no matter which way you cut it. I always paid, in full and on time, but boy did I feel crummy about it sometimes. One designer who shall remain nameless and genderless actually took an unannounced, four-day ski trip with their significant other right in the middle of the work week! I couldn’t reach them at all; my messages and emails were met with dead silence. For four days – a week before deadline. I was so shocked I couldn’t even think of what to say when they returned, all rosy-cheeked and oblivious (oh, how shall I fire thee Let me count the ways).

Image Source: Running Out of Money via Shutterstock

Of course, that’s an extreme example, and I’m sure none of you here would ever do something like that. But I wanted to provide a bit of context for those who might not realize that their actions are aggravating a client who has appeared perfectly reasonable up until now. Probably the biggest issue I have with many freelancers, as a client, is that they over-promise and under-deliver.

Too Much Confidence

Under-promise and over-deliver. Always. Never the other way around. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hired designers who claimed they’d have a website ready for me in some ridiculously short amount of time, and then not only failed, but failed spectacularly to do so. Instead of the “48 hour” or “3-days, max” ETAs I was promised, I waited for weeks; sometimes even months, before I got any work. It was dreadful. Eventually I got smart, and learned to stop working with designers who made impossible claims, because 99.9% of the time, people who promise you the moon end up delivering nothing but stinky cheese.

Designers, if you make wildly extravagant claims to prospective clients, you are shooting yourselves in the foot. Even if you think the time period you’ve given is “reasonable,” it’s usually not, and you’ll end up grossly underestimating the time it will take you to complete a task. You’ll be attracting all the wrong kinds of clients to yourself, and driving away all the right ones. Good clients know that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Be honest with yourself and figure out how long it’s actually going to take you to complete a project. Then multiply that number by three. That’s the time period you give to your client. Then make sure you finish under that time. Under. Not over, guys. Seriously.

On Time, Every Time

Okay, time to switch back over to freelancer mode. As a freelancer, I have never had a client who refused to pay me, or who was abnormally late with payment. Why Perhaps some of that is due to luck – sometimes a payment issue can truly come out of left field. It’s happened to big name designers as well as the little guys. Mostly, though, I believe my 100% payment success rate is due to me always taking the same precautions I’ve outlined for you today.

I never work with anyone I feel sketchy about, and you shouldn’t either. Don’t be so desperate for work that you’re willing to overlook a client’s red flags. Draw up a set of non-negotiable rules in your contract, and (this is important) stick to them no matter what. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing business with your grandmother, your head or state, or your pet bullfrog – if any prospective client complains about the rules, politely show them the door. You work hard enough for your income. Don’t work even harder just to get it in your bank account.

What Do You Think

How do you fare when it comes to collecting payment from your clients What precautions do you take to ensure you get your money

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The Remote Designer – Jumping into the Cloud

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