This is for copywriters, designers, or programmers who are going from employee to full-time freelance.

Learn what it takes to be a successful freelancer. Develop a freelancer mindset, get comfortable with money, get clients that are right for you.

This checklist will help you have the best chance to be a successful full-time freelancer.

Governments have a lot of communications work that they give out to agencies, freelancers, and consultants. It’s not easy or obvious how to get in, but once you do, it can be very rewarding.

Here’s how and why you may want to pursue this business.

A competitive communications overview gives your client a concise report of what the competition is saying and doing.

This can be very useful for your clients and create numerous projects for you. For you or your agency, it’s also a change from the usual types of projects. you do. Here’s what you need to know…

Clients are not all the same. It’s helpful to know in advance what makes some clients wonderful to work with, while others are awful.

Learn how to deal with unprofessional clients. (Get money upfront.)

Also, learn how you can be a better supplier. Communications is a two-way street. Be your best.

Common wisdom says, “Whoever has the money is the boss and calls the shots.”

But that’s not necessarily true. Think of the last time you went to a lawyer. You’re the one paying, but they’re going to tell you what they’ll do.

Why is that? Simply, because they’re a professional. You should be a professional too.

Here is how you should pick a niche, why you’d want to do it, and where to find the high-paying niches.

Some niches are more obvious than others. The good news is that there are hundreds to choose from. Also, learn about the difference between vertical and horizontal niches.

It’s interesting to read the discussions about how much creative freelancers charge. Sooner or later, these phrases come up:

“Know your worth.” “Raise your rates.” “Add 20% to what you were going to charge.”

Use these tips on how to charge, and how to charge more.

How to make sure you have the skills you need, identify the right niche for you, and then find your ideal clients.

Also, how to work on developing confidence in your work and your client presentation skills. Both are vital to success.

Should you get a job before going freelance? I’ll tell you what I think.

How many of us consciously start our business with the idea that it could run without us?

Too few, I’ll bet. Not me, either.

Portia Burton did. Learn about how her agency, DocumentWrite, helps tech clients create thorough documentation and processes.

You could apply these learnings to your agency.

A big question for freelance writers, designers, and developers is whether they should incorporate their business.

Here are the three main reasons to do so:

Reduce taxes by paying yourself dividends, limit your liability, and look more professional.

Let’s get into it…

If you have employees, you have to talk to them about money at least a few times—once when you hire them, and then at review time.

Many people feel awkward talking about money. But avoiding money talks leads to problems and misunderstandings.

As the employer, you should be in control of the money talk.

Use the power of three when you present concepts for websites, ads, and promotional material.

It’s simply presenting three ideas for any concept. Not one, two, or four, but three. Three is the magic number. Make sure they’re all strong concepts and charge for them.

Ideally, you should be actively targeting the companies you’d like to have as clients. Here’s what worked for me.

Look at your current client list and group them by industry sector. Which sectors are your favorites? Your goal is to find more clients that fit into those sectors.

Here are 9 tips to get you started…

Often freelancers don’t have the confidence to grow their billing and earn more money.

Confidence comes from learning to do things well and then doing them over and over again. That's true for writing, designing, programming… any creative pursuit. How do you build confidence? Let's have a look.