Our early days resembled a freelancer coop more than a traditional agency. That history still helps us today.

Check out Shane’s freelance primer video. It’s the definitive get started in freelancing resource.

I gave an hour and twenty minute talk at How Design Live / Creative Freelance Conference in Boston on the art of the start. This talk has some serious meat on its bones. The organizers were kind enough to provide me the audio and I then paired it with the slides to create a video […]

I will be speaking at How Design’s Creative Freelancer Conference in June 2012. A few weeks ago I gave a 10 minute interview touching on the key topics I plan to cover during my talk. Check out the interview at Creative Freelancer Blog. Talk: Planning for the First Year of Freelance I started freelancing full […]

I interviewed 93 freelancers in 2010. The most important questions I ask them tend to focus on where they are trying to go. What are your dreams for your business? What are your dreams for your life? The most common aspiration I hear is: “I want to work on bigger projects, team up with these […]

The topic at hand: Freelance Camp! We are beginning to put together a bar camp in Santa Cruz on the topic of freelancing and running a small service business. This is a community event and we are actively looking for volunteers to make this kick ass. If you can help find sponsors, spread the word, […]

Quite often sales is like dating. The no-no’s in the land of courtship are exactly the same cardinal sins of the land of sales. Talking about yourself through the whole meeting. Never asking any questions about your date’s situation and needs. Taking the time to ask those questions, and not listen to their answers. Thanking […]

Four years ago, Julie & I decided we were (emotionally) ready to buy our first house. Santa Cruz is quite expensive, with the median house price weighing in at $740,000 and the medium apartment around $480,000. This was going to have a significant impact on our monthly cashflow. We had some savings, and a loving […]

There have been “aha” moments in our business that have substantially affected our income. One was bookkeeping & clocking (read Are you working for free?). The second major “aha” was realizing that even though I work with technology each and every day – I am in a people business. I solve people problems. People decide […]