We take a look at where to start in building your freelance writing portfolio and making sure your bank balance doesn’t suffer as a result of your career move…

Set Up Shop

Make sure you have a well-polished, up-to-date portfolio to tout around to potential clients. Setting up a website is a great way to accomplish this. Your CV, examples of your work, a contact form and – if possible – testimonials from people you’ve worked with in the past should all be incorporated into the website. You can then link to the site from any social networking and professional networking profiles you have online – and pop a link in your email footer too.

It is at this point that you may also choose to register as self-employed with HM Revenue and Customs, you can find out more about doing that here.

Use Previous Contacts

If you’re considering working as a freelance writer, the chances are that you’ve already honed your craft in a permanent position or two. Going back to previous employers or colleagues and letting them know that you’re available for short-term projects is a real no-brainer.

Even if they’re not looking for anyone at the point you get in touch, they could be further down the line or perhaps know someone else who could do with your services.

Similarly, ensure you’re connected with previous colleagues and employers on LinkedIn, that way you’ll be able to connect directly with people they know. LinkedIn also has various groups associated with freelancing, which can offer a great way to network.

Search for Work

There are a number of freelance writer job hubs online that pair writers looking for work with those looking for writers. Registering with an agency is another way to get an ‘in’ at companies looking for freelancers.

You may also choose to look on classified sites, such as Gumtree and Craigslist, where you’ll find ads for specific freelance writing jobs. This can sometimes feel a little less above board, so make sure you get legitimate contact details and credentials for any clients you take on.

Showcase your Talent

Setting up a professional website outlining your experience as a freelance writer is a great way to demonstrate what you can do. However, another way is to create a blog that is specific to your area of expertise, along with an accompanying Twitter profile.

Creating live, fresh content that reacts to current events will impress potential clients. It will also allow them to get more of an idea about what you’re interested in, what you know about and what your standard style is; they could end up working fairly closely with you, so it’s good to give a fair impression of what you’re like as a person on there too.

Get Out and About

There is a whole host of different freelancer events held regularly throughout the country, such as the ones run by The Freelance Writers Den. These can be a great way to learn more about the market, hone your skills and get to know fellow freelancers.

You may question the logic in getting to know the competition but this can be a great strategy when looking for work. Established writers can often find themselves having to turn work down due to a lack of availability. Ensuring you’re front of mind with them could result in being put forward for the jobs they can’t take – just make sure you return the favour whenever you get the chance!

Take Precautions

Operating as a freelancer does leave you vulnerable to delayed payments and – in the worst cases – not being paid for the work you’ve done. Remember to get an agreement for any charges involved before undertaking work and keep email records of what you’ve agreed to do at every stage.

Then once you have been paid, make sure you set enough money aside to pay the tax bill you’ll end up with once the financial year draws to a close. Though freelancers do tend to pay less income tax than those who are permanently employed, it’s a good idea to pop 25% of whatever you earn into a separate bank account. This should prevent you from spending it by accident and help you to avoid any nasty surprises…

Julie writes on behalf of Clickinks. Julie works in design and marketing. In her spare time she likes to learn how to code and plays the piano.

Features

The theme supports WordPress 3.0 featues such as post thumbnails, wp-menu system as well as widgets. A custom jQuery Tabbed Container is embedded in the sidebar. This showcases your posts which is randomly ordered, as well as post tags in the second tab. Custom styling for your photo galleries, with a built in lightbox functionality known as “Prettyphoto” – courtesy of No Margin for Errors. So all of the images linked to another image will pickup this plugin by default.

I’ve implemented plenty of CSS 3 techniques in this theme. You will notice both loud and subtle text shadows in the headings, text orientation and box gradients. I’ve used plenty of Google fonts – which renders faster than the popular Cufon. The theme is tested to work in IE 7, 8, Safari, Chrome and of course Firefox.

Conclusion

So what now? If you run a WordPress blog and need a real make over – this might be the theme for you. Install this puppy and you’re ready to go. I’ve mentioned that this theme is ideal for new blogs – only because its easier to attach post thumbnails as you create new posts. Although Lucky Guess will still work with or without thumbnails. So what do you say? Leave them in the comments section below.

In this article we’re going to take a look at 7 tips that can really help you increase your online productivity.

Be Organized

Being organized can always save you some time which is worth big money. Having a good, well-arranged space of work can boost your productivity. A well-written to-do list is good as well because, it’s very good to set some goals that must be achieved during a day, week or even a year! After the completion of that to-do list you could reward yourself, in order to be really pleased for the hard work you’ve done. Along with a nice working place and a to-do list, planning your day, not just working hours is a good method to keep all the things up. Sometimes having an office is a great advantage for your work (good to have one when you’re not living along, but with children, wife, parents), even if you have to pay for it. If you think that you are in need of one, you can find other persons to share the office with, so the price will be less.

Use Tools

Using tools is probably one of the most important details in increasing your online productivity. There are many applications you can use to manage your time like: RescueTime and Kukuklok. But along with time-management applications, there a lot of browser addons, invoicing applications, web tools and different generators that can help you save a lot of time. Even if some of those tools are charging for using them monthly or only a one-time payment, the time you are going to save with this kick-ass applications is going to be worth the amount paid.

Know your Limits

A lot of freelancers are constantly searching for more clients, all under the guise that more business will inevitably lead to more income, more freedom, and more success. By following this method, you are probably going to fail. As this though will bring you a lot of disadvantages, like providing low-quality work and even loosing the most of your clients. You should now your limits and not overload your self with work. Working the whole day and then working on nights also, will is the most important notice that you are following that thought. You should stop that, immediately. Use some time-management applications listed above and create a (not-impossible) to-do list to start working normally, and get pleasure out of the job.

Do the Dreaded Tasks First

There are many opinions from freelancers saying that they they would do the most hard job firstly, in the morning, on a “fresh mind”, and then proceed to the easy job. It’s a good position for your work-flow, and productivity. However, this is just a relative opinion. The best decision for your work flow depends on you, however it is very good to do the hard, and “joyless” job in your “productivity cycle” time. Some people only do their very best work after midnight. Some freelancers to a great job in the morning or after lunch. Find your productivity cycle time, and do the hard job in that interval of time, if possible.

Simplify Stuff, when Possible

Simplifying actions that take some time, and disturb you from your work could be a great productivity improving tip. A nice example would be clients invoicing. You could use some great applications like FreshBooks to invoice your clients and save some time! Protecting yourself from unnecessary calls with a caller ID could also help you save some time. If using a PC, the hibernation method will help you not getting your computer restarted, in this way being concentrated just over your work. Some other tips like ordering food online, not going shopping and also preparing your meals in bulk would help you save some extra time also! Always try to simplify things, but be sure that you will not loose from quality of it.

Stop Being Informed every hour

Most of the world lives on information overload. We must eliminate mindless Internet surfing. Stop reading five different newspapers a day and checking your RSS feeds and e-mail account(s) multiple times a day. Otherwise, you’ll never get anything done. The key is to limit yourself only to information that you can immediately take action on. A well-written to-do list would help you to avoid such time-loosing situations.

Take a Rest

Taking a rest is an important “productivity-increasing” tip which surely has an influence on your freelance job. Rewarding yourself with a month of “take off” after a finishing a big project, that took you a lot of time and many not-sleeping nights is great. After a while of time without work, you’re going to have a “fresh mind” and some great ideas for sure. However, before taking a vacation, you should be sure, that in the respective interval of time, your freelance business will not fail. All of your clients will be using your services after you “come back” and you will not loose the connections you’ve already made.

It’s your Turn

What about you? Do you have some tips that you think improves your efficiency online? Have you noticed a pattern when you start (or stop) doing something that has led to better performance in your online ventures? What about an experimental practice that surprisingly works? Inquiring freelancers are always standing by for good information. Please feel free to comment below:

This has been a guest post by Stelian Subotin. Stelian is a enthusiast and design fan from Republic of Moldova. Right now he is working on his new design-related blog called Rocket Graphics. Visit RocketGraphs or follow his twitter account @rocketgraphs.

A number of leading designers have already dominated this WordPress premium themes market; quite notably: Woothemes, DIYThemes and StudioPress.

But amongst these big names you may have come across a more succinct, straightforward and classy premium theme designer – simply named “Elegant Themes“.

Who is Elegant Themes?

Elegant Themes is owned by a designer named Nick Roach. This means that all of the designs and code that is produced from Elegant Themes is from this mighty fellow. According to Nick:

I created this website to provide WordPress themes of quality and integrity. I craft my themes with a goal of simplicity and professionalism and strive to inject each design with a dose of modest elegance. I believe that your website is not just a tool, it is an integral part of your identity. My job is to respect each customer by providing attractive and userfriendly templates that will help you achieve your online goals.

What’s so special about Elegant Themes?

Quality over quantity. Elegant Themes is hardly a large collection – I mean, there’s only about 30 downloadable themes at the time of this writing. But note they are quite high quality. Check out some of them below:

Wooden

Very down to earth, classy and professionally done – this theme can transform your blog into a modern website wonder.

Lumin

Soothing to the eye with subtle textures and sharp, detailed accents – this theme is packed with visual amenities that scream WEB 2.0!

GrungeMag

Semi-magazine, semi-newspaper – beautiful textures, slider, thumbnails – simply stunning.

Evid

Create your own “Hulu” styled video website with this theme:

Deviant

The ultimate grunge look! Random page tears, crumpled paper, dirty textures – you want your blog to stand out from the crowd – this be the theme for you!

Like Nick said – “each design is injected with a dose of modest elegance”. With each theme you will find excellent color schema, superb use of typography, plenty of textures, just the right amount of Javascript, and above all – originality. The themes obviously took time to build.

You Can’t Beat 20 Bucks a Year!

I don’t think I can elaborate on this any further. $20 dollars a year gives you unlimited access to all of Elegant Themes. Whether you’re a blog owner, an entrepreneur, or even a web developer – you’ve already won by having this arsenal of elegant designs to beautify your websites; all for about the same price as a bucket of fried chicken. Head on over to Elegant Themes!

After choosing the theme you want to use, another important thing is to find cheap webhosting for your site.

Argyle’s Drudge has a very narrow content area of only 746 pixels. I chose to stay away from the standard 960 grid design because I find that grunge layouts don’t seem to play well with it. Speaking of grid based design, find this article about lining up your posts perfectly within the grid. As I was saying – the whole point of grunge is random and spontaneous – conforming to a grid just doesn’t fit.

More Details:

The pale blue watercolor splash background is courtesy of my Backgrounds etc. The beautiful hand sketched fonts is known as “Fail Font” and can be downloaded from DaFont.com. Note that since “Fail Font” is free – it’s the perfect opportunity to use Cufon in your coding. Cufon is the technology that enables you to use any kind of font in your pages (read article).

Argyle’s Drudge is completely free to use for your next theme of choice. May it be WordPress, Blogger, Typepad: all I ask in return is for you to follow my updates in Twitter or leave a comment below.

Download Argyles Drudge.

Usage

Blue Rooster is ready to use out of the box. The standard blog template will work with or without assigning thumbnails to your posts. In order to use thumbnails – you would have to assign custom fields to your posts with name: “image“. To learn more about custom fields – check this link from the WordPress Codex. You DO NOT have to resize your images for the thumbnails, thanks to the Darren Hoyt for his TimThumb script which made this all possible. The thumbnails are also powered by jQuery: PrettyPhoto – which is a lightbox clone where the larger images are displayed when clicked. A link to the single post is also included with the larger image.

The Bonus Templates

If you want to use the slide show in the front page – just apply the template “template-home” to your home page. Then make this page the static page of your site. To customize the slide show – simply replace the images in the images folder. Note that there are two sets of images: the larger image and the bottom bar. The active state and non-active state of the bottom bar matches the larger image. The Testimonials section in the template are actual posts under a category: testimonials. Simply create this category and start creating posts under it. The testimonial author works as the title for this section.

The Photo Gallery page is as simple as applying “photo gallery” to a page. The images in this gallery are automatically populated from your custom field thumbnails. So in order for this to populate – you must use thumbnails in your post.

Other Stuff

A custom login form is built in the header which is also jQuery powered. Once logged in will give you quick access to the dashboard, as well as quick “Edit” links after each post. The single post page includes an author information which feeds information from your user profile and Gravatar. So to utilize this section – your user information and gravatar must be filled out. The comments section support threading and pagination.

How to add links inside the Slideshow

In the template file called “template-home.php” is a section called “rotate” (means a div with an id named “rotate”). Within this rotate section, is a series of empty divs that have different ids – namely: fragment-1, fragment-2 and fragment-3. Even though these fragments are empty – they are styled with a background image in the stylesheet – so they appear that they have a large image.

You can enter anything inside these fragments as you wish (text, other images and even links).

Save the template and view

Now it’s totally up to you to change the background image, to fit the new link. It is also up to you to change the “style” of the link – to make it into a button, a large image – whatever you wish.
As mentioned, these div fragments are empty – so you can add anything you want.

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The Home Page

The Garamond’s home page mimicks a magazine layout. This was made possible without any special wordpress queries, nor does it filter by categories. Instead, the latest post is automatically styled different. Thanks to this neat trick by Ruhani Rabin. The feature image and the thumbnails are automatically resized upon client request. Meaning, you can upload any size image (preferably wider than 540 pixels – which is the size of the container), assign it to a custom field – and voila! Images are cropped, zoomed and sharpened when once the browser hits it. The code I used is from Darren Hoyt known as TimThumb.

The Inner Pages

The Garamond is a bloggers theme. Traditional templates are intact: search, archive, category etc. I also included an authors bio at the end of each single post, as well as an author template which grabs all their articles. I went a little overboard in styling the subheadings for the post (shown below). The default font family used is of course – Garamond; although since it is not a standard font – Georgia is used as back up. The contrast between the larger text and the tiny Verdana is striking – which I felt was good.

Other Features

The two sidebars and the footer are all widget driven. Comments support Gravatars, pagination as well as multi-level threads. I’ve also added a random quote container right below the header – which requires the Stray Quotes plugin by Italyisfalling.com


You can view the demo from this link, or download directly from here. All I ask is for you leave a comment below – or follow my updates via twitter.