For all the seasoned graphic designers out there, where have you found the best working environment when it comes to agency vs. freelance vs. inhouse design for a company? [more inside]
posted by RubyDoom on Feb 8, 2010 - 15 answers

Looking for creative ways out of freelance journalism limbo. [more inside]
posted by thelastenglishmajor on Jan 29, 2010 - 9 answers

What's the best time for a travel writer to pitch a story to an editor? Before the trip, when you still have some flexibility? Or after, so you don't have to retract your well-worded promises when the place/angle turns out to be a dud? [more inside]
posted by nicoleincanada on Jan 26, 2010 - 8 answers

A little 1099, a little W2. How do I file? [more inside]
posted by jmoneystl on Jan 22, 2010 - 13 answers

Unemployment-filter: freelance job, getting paid with two checks..how to claim? [more inside]
posted by mattsweaters on Jan 21, 2010 - 5 answers

Has "design philosophy" officially moved into played-out cliche territory? [more inside]
posted by johnnybeggs on Jan 15, 2010 - 3 answers

How large a referral fee is appropriate to offer another business for sending me clients? [more inside]
posted by vegsister on Jan 15, 2010 - 11 answers

If you don't fire the client, how do you manage the relationship? [more inside]
posted by bleary on Jan 11, 2010 - 22 answers

Five years ago I was a senior marketing coordinator and graphic designer at a successful start-up. I left to be a stay-at-home mom. Bring me up to speed on what equipment I would need to do freelance graphic design and marketing work at this point of time. What has changed in the last five years? [more inside]
posted by Ostara on Jan 8, 2010 - 5 answers

Competent journalist with not-so-competent (yet) French skills, hoping to freelance in France. What non-traditional venues can I pursue? [more inside]
posted by nicoleincanada on Jan 8, 2010 - 2 answers

My freelance job is negotiating the hours I turned in, and refusing to pay me. What do I do? [more inside]
posted by beingresourceful on Jan 5, 2010 - 29 answers

How do freelance web writers/journalists archive their published work for portfolios or C.V.s or other reasons? [more inside]
posted by spicynuts on Jan 5, 2010 - 4 answers

Brainstorm with me. I've got two babies, a failed life plan, no resume, and I need to build a future. What would you do? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 27, 2009 - 39 answers

Times are tough, and I am looking for part-time employment. I have been doing freelance video work for the past 3 years. How do I reflect this on my resume and what do I say in a job interview? Has anyone had a similar problem? Any tips so I sound professional and not like I've been slacking off?
posted by OrangeSoda on Dec 25, 2009 - 3 answers

Tax advice for a freelancer, contractor, and full-time employee [more inside]
posted by lunalaguna on Dec 14, 2009 - 3 answers

I'm a freelance writer who's considering suing a client for nonpayment. Before I go there, please give me the benefit of your experience. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Dec 10, 2009 - 12 answers

How much should a freelance writer charge for a catalog essay? [more inside]
posted by serial_consign on Dec 7, 2009 - 9 answers

Job_Offer_Filter: I'm a struggling freelance writer trying to (someday) break into the pr/communications field. I've just been offered a staff writer position at a small local newspaper. Does accepting the job inch me closer to my desired field? Or just burden me with a ton of unmarketable experience? [more inside]
posted by sureshot on Nov 23, 2009 - 11 answers

What is that I'm doing? Tag my business. [more inside]
posted by b33j on Nov 20, 2009 - 14 answers

Which (if any) NYC area colleges and Universities are teaching valid hand marked-up xhtml and css in their web design courses? [more inside]
posted by stagewhisper on Nov 17, 2009 - 1 answer

Books on freelancing? Looking for inspiration to take the plunge. [more inside]
posted by Spurious on Nov 14, 2009 - 5 answers

Apparently I am one of the freelancers whose profiles Outsourcingroom.com (allegedly) stole from elance. Unfortunately, the Outsourcingroom.com profile appears very high in Google searching for my name. How can I get Google to remove this badness from their index? [more inside]
posted by chesty_a_arthur on Nov 10, 2009 - 2 answers

How much should I charge for two small illustrations that will be printed on wedding invitations? [more inside]
posted by Mizu on Nov 5, 2009 - 11 answers

What books can I read that will give me some idea of what it might take for me to make my living as a writer or journalist? [more inside]
posted by AAAA on Nov 3, 2009 - 19 answers

I am a freelancer in a sub-genre of graphic design. In a bid to get more clients, I'm attempting (through Craigslist) to hire a marketing professional (or professionals). My general idea is that they would work to get me more clients, and I would give them a percentage of sales resulting from my work with those clients. My question here is what the specifics of the deal should be. My initial thought was 15% of income for life on the clients they bring me. Does that sound reasonable? Too much? Too little? The wrong way to go about it entirely? I really like the commission model, at least for now, because I don't have money to lay out up front and I like that we both benefit or both don't. Is there any kind of standard for this kind of relationship?
posted by The Dutchman on Oct 7, 2009 - 13 answers

Talented, creative, experienced (but mostly non-German-speaking) Canadian digital artist looking for postproduction/retouching work in Berlin. Got any leads or advice for my girlfriend? [more inside]
posted by freudenschade on Oct 5, 2009 - 0 answers

I've nearly finished my degree. Help me work out my future. [more inside]
posted by b33j on Sep 28, 2009 - 5 answers

I am planning to leave my current job in about a year, and hope to be able to make some money (I don't need a lot) by doing freelance web development/programming. While I have a bit of experience with programming and very basic web design ((X)HTML/CSS), this would pretty much be a new field for me. I guess I'm wondering - is this a realistic goal? And if so, what steps should I take to help me get there? [more inside]
posted by shaun uh on Sep 24, 2009 - 10 answers

Fellow freelancers and/or marketing gurus: where is the fine line between staying on a potential employer’s radar and being a pest--and how do I get as close to it as possible? [more inside]
posted by gottabefunky on Sep 14, 2009 - 5 answers

How do I successfully do freelance writing (my night job) about my industry (my day job)? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Sep 10, 2009 - 3 answers

Sometimes I get small job requests that come from outside my fulltime job. They don't pay much (barely over 1k this year) but it's enough to require me to report myself as a business. Does that mean it's a second job?
posted by mallow005 on Sep 10, 2009 - 11 answers

Is there anything similar to Mechanical Turk on the Internet? [more inside]
posted by VC Drake on Aug 25, 2009 - 5 answers

Freelancers, if you're subcontracted by company A to work for a big client, company B, do you include both company A and company B in your portfolio? Does this change if you're actually employeed by company A, but still want to maintain a freelance portfolio? [more inside]
posted by miniape on Aug 22, 2009 - 12 answers

How would I best go about making a web-based writing portfolio with limited internet abilities? [more inside]
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! on Aug 17, 2009 - 4 answers

Do you work less than 5 days/week (9am-5pm)? and/or do you work from home? If so, what is your job, and how did you obtain it? [more inside]
posted by Jason and Laszlo on Aug 5, 2009 - 28 answers

I want to start to do freelance programming in Ruby on Rails. Although I have experiences, in programming, architectures, rails, I would like to get good sources for finding orders. Can you give me advices, how to do it well? [more inside]
posted by fifigyuri on Aug 3, 2009 - 4 answers

How do you find freelance work? [more inside]
posted by barc0001 on Jul 31, 2009 - 10 answers

How long to deploy CMS? [more inside]
posted by Fuzzy Dog on Jul 24, 2009 - 11 answers

Tell me what I need to do, or which bums I need to kiss, to write a storyline for a video game. [more inside]
posted by metalheart on Jul 8, 2009 - 15 answers

I found a job posting from a Mac software developer for a support/QA guru that pretty much sums up exactly what I want in a job right now. However, circumstances are not right for this particular position. How can I still do this as a job? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 7, 2009 - 1 answer

Freelance web designers - what factors do you use to estimate the number of hours you'll spend on a project? I'm looking for examples of reasonable rough estimates (based on scope). [more inside]
posted by Fifi Firefox on Jul 7, 2009 - 7 answers

Freelance writing: how to indicate that you would like compensation for your work after an article has been accepted? [more inside]
posted by Wavelet on Jul 2, 2009 - 13 answers

How do I get my money from a client who is trying to dodge me? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 28, 2009 - 18 answers

I'm going to be moving around and traveling a lot for the next few years. Help me figure out how to live a responsible lifestyle as a modern day nomad. [more inside]
posted by crackingdes on Jun 20, 2009 - 18 answers

How to politely fire a client? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 15, 2009 - 18 answers

What are your best tips for a small business/entrepreneur/freelancer? [more inside]
posted by Wolfster on Jun 15, 2009 - 5 answers

I want to be an adventurous, globe-trotting photographer! How do I do that? I can't really see my current situation leading to any globe-trotting, so I'm leaving in August to travel through South America for a few months and find some place I like enough to stay. What can I do right now to make it easier to sell photos and pursue my dream when I get there? [more inside]
posted by borkingchikapa on Jun 7, 2009 - 7 answers

How much do I pay a freelance blogger? [more inside]
posted by ben242 on May 22, 2009 - 5 answers

Consulting to help create a "draw" to bring people into booth at medical tradeshow. How much should I charge? [more inside]
posted by UMDirector on May 14, 2009 - 1 answer

I wowed folks at my job interview for the full-time position being a webmaster / graphic designer / marketer. But they want me as a contractor first due to the economy. Thoughts on compensation? [more inside]
posted by umlaut on May 14, 2009 - 15 answers