On professionalism

The Born Freelancer replies to a comment on bridge-burning Last month, “Dude” commented on my post about blowing up bridges: “I think it quite ironic that in this post you caution against bridge burning, then two posts down celebrate the life of someone who was fearless—and sometimes reckless—enough to burn every bridge he’d ever built. [...]

Posted on February 17, 2012 at 10:25 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

Seeking space: The Born Freelancer’s tips on finding an out-of-home office

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. In a previous post I discussed the various benefits of having your own office separate from your living space. In this post I [...]

Posted on February 3, 2012 at 9:39 am by story board · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

A room of your own: The Born Freelancer on the merits of out-of-home offices

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. The recent poss.ca article on the benefits of working at home, already recommended on this blog, is excellent. If you haven’t looked at [...]

Posted on January 20, 2012 at 9:00 am by editor · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , , ,

Get outta here: The Born Freelancer’s top 10 reasons to travel

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. The Born Freelancer no longer makes New Year’s resolutions (an almost certain guarantee that they will never be accomplished as a result of [...]

Posted on January 6, 2012 at 10:00 am by story board · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , ,

Taking stock: The Born Freelancer’s 2011 posts

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. A very happy and healthy New Years to you, my fellow freelancer. New Years is always a good time for stocktaking. Looking back [...]

Posted on January 6, 2012 at 9:00 am by story board · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: ,

It’s a small world, after all: The Born Freelancer warns against burning bridges

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. A 9-to-5er recently commented to me, “It must be great being freelance. You can always tell your boss where to go if they’re [...]

Posted on December 22, 2011 at 8:34 am by editor · 3 Comments · Tagged with: , , ,

Dealing with gig loss: The Born Freelancer’s 10-step program

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. Getting that first gig is perhaps the novice freelancer’s hardest obstacle to overcome. But the endless hours of toil, of self-doubt and of [...]

Posted on December 8, 2011 at 3:39 pm by editor · 2 Comments · Tagged with: , , , , ,

Gifts that keep on giving: the Born Freelancer’s tips on testimonials

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer shares personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. I was looking at some impressive freelancer websites the other day and noticed a common element on the sites that were the most [...]

Posted on November 24, 2011 at 11:53 am by story board · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , , , ,

On fear and hunger: the Born Freelancer’s open letter to employers

I was having coffee recently with a colleague. Okay, actually, in my case, it was hot chocolate. Hey, it was cold outside and I needed a sugar hit. But we freelancers haven’t yet come up with a better expression than “having coffee” to denote a casual meeting. “Having tea” sounds too lightweight. “Having hot chocolate” [...]

Posted on November 10, 2011 at 1:51 pm by story board · LEAVE A COMMENT · Tagged with: , ,

To blog, or not to blog, that is the Born Freelancer’s question

This series of posts by the Born Freelancer will share personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. I’m told that blogging is dead in this era of tweets and retweets. I must respectfully disagree. It may be long dead [...]

Posted on October 24, 2011 at 10:00 am by story board · One Comment · Tagged with: , , ,