One of the hardest things to get your head around when using Twitter is the hash tag. What are they? What do they mean? Where do they come from? A hash tag is simply a way for people to spread information and make it easier for people to search for tweets that have a common topic.
One of the most attractive aspects of freelancing is that despite working from home, working online offers you many opportunities to land projects from clients across the globe. With English serving as the global business language of choice, for the native English speaking freelancer there should be no barriers to attracting a diverse and international clientèle.
Although many businesses both big and small still struggle with shaking the snail mail, a new report has claimed that the great hope of the paperless office, email, is on the way out already. It is surmised that email will be replaced within a few years by private portals which allow users to post messages to a “wall” and tag individuals, essentially giving corporations their own private Facebook.
UK companies have been warned to take control of employee’s social media usage in the workplace or risk facing reputation damage and security breaches. With the recent rapid increase in social media usage, it has been revealed that 51% of employees engage with sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn while at work.
Royal Mail has announced that the letters division of the business lost £120m last year. This is compared to a £20m profit a year earlier. The business overall showed the worst performance for seven years.
Rachel Soothill | Guides,Technology
Now we have established what a powerful communication tool social media has become, the next step is to learn how to harness that power and use it for getting your business and key messages out there. Social media is rapidly becoming the chosen channel for businesses to communicate and share ideas, and should form a strong part of your online marketing strategy.
Rachel Soothill | Lifestyle & Time out,Technology
If we didn’t appreciate the power of social media previously, the latest news headlines have confirmed just how influential platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are. Twitter in particular has hit the headlines recently after making a mockery of England’s privacy laws. While I couldn’t care less about who Ryan Giggs is bonking, the situation has grabbed my attention as it highlights the effectiveness of social media communication.
TimothyTim | Lifestyle & Time out,Training
We’ve all had them – clients who are pushy, moneygrubbing or just downright moronic. Some days it can be difficult to step away from the keyboard and take some deep breaths. If you could, what would you say to these numpties?
TimothyTim | Getting a Job,Money
Lets face it; human beings are lazy, good-for-nothing bags of horny resentment and given the choice would spend every day sat in their underpants eating pot noodles and watching Quincy. Unfortunately Pot Noodles cost money so we all work and save our comfy pants for the weekend.
Jen Stakes Roberts | Resources,Training
With the gloomy economic outlook in the UK, there’s been a lot of talk recently about Freelancers rescuing the economy with their flexible working practices, ability to tap into global markets and the safe bet to employers of short-term contracts.
According to new research, poor communication is costing small businesses a crazy amount of money. The survey was undertaken by T-Mobile and involved over 2,000 small businesses, 86% of whom felt they wasted time talking to suppliers, customers, partners and staff.
A phone company suggesting that people talk too much? What next? EMI discovering that we excessively listen to music?
Ian Ozsvald | Guides,Resources
Monetising your knowledge is a core skill for freelancers – making money whilst you sleep is a necessary step forwards as you build your freelancing career.
Professional Screencaster Ian Ozsvald shows us ways of making money by screencasting. This post follows the earlier tutorials on Communicating more effectively and raising your profile through screencasts.
Ian Ozsvald | Resources,Training
Building a visible profile is essential if you want to receive a steady stream of readers and referred clients. Demonstrating your knowledge with screencasts is easy and is a very effective way of showing visitors that you’re on top of your game.
Professional Screencaster Ian Ozsvald shows us how short online tutorial and demonstration videos are a powerful way to raise your profile. This post follows the earlier tutorial on (Communicating more effectively with screencasts)
Ian Ozsvald | Resources,Training
Getting your message across to customers and clients is vital and, as a freelancer, communicating clearly and effectively with can make a big difference to the success or failure of a project or product.
Professional Screencaster Ian Ozsvald shows us how short online videos are a powerful way to get communicate clearly.
Andy talks to Web and Social Media Developer John O’Nolan and Darren Fell of Crunch about the power of personal branding. Choosing your brand Using Twitter to create a conversation Facebook, following and fans Social media as customer service Social media strategy and setup Listen to the podcast:
Podcast 24: Personal Branding for Freelancers & Contractors [ 29:46 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Think networking is where people go because they want to sell more stuff?
You’re a little bit right, and a big bit wrong.
Freelance Advisor and copywriter Leif Kendall shares four reasons why getting to know your peers will make you a better, happier freelancer.
I was reminded recently how I used to get frustrated by people not coming back to me if I emailed or left a message. Well, that’s an understatement. I often used to see it as a personal offence and affront and get wound up if it repeatedly happened.
Over the years I have learnt to reframe lack of response and see it from another point of view.
Reframing is a really useful NLP technique that helps prevent negative responses, such as losing motivation or creating frustration. Below are some ways to reframe a lack of response from people as well as some practical tips on getting people to respond.
The PCG have just launched a rather useful, comprehensive and interactive guide on how to work with and get best value from freelance workers.
Aimed at clients the guide provides easy to follow advice on wide ranging tips — helping them to ensure success when working with freelance professionals. There are video interviews with company bosses and freelancers outlining their personal first-hand experiences and it highlights potential pitfalls and blunders when planning a project.
