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Freelance Careers Worth the Effort

Working as a freelancer can be challenging. You have to work hard to get clients, and when you do get them, then the hard work really begins. Basically, you’re doing the marketing and the labor. You’re doing everything!

Nonetheless, there are some freelance careers that are quite lucrative for students entering the job market. Along with being lucrative, many people find that they can grow their business by doing freelance work while they work a steady job at the same time. Here are a few freelance jobs you may want to look at:

Green Design Consultant
For students with an interest in the environment and design, the green movement has set up some interesting opportunities for freelancers. Whether you major in architecture, design or even engineering, business and home owners are looking for green design consultants that can help their business thrive in the green market. If you have an interest in working outside, interesting freelance careers focusing on green landscaping, waterscaping and even agriculture are becoming more and more available each year.

Specialty Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is a fairly common career, but with many magazines and newspapers suffering from low sales, it’s getting harder to acquire staff positions. Instead of just writing copy or advertising materials for whoever comes along, consider specializing and becoming an expert in a certain field. Most of the sites on the internet that pay writers are looking for experts that can provide authoritative information on a particular subject.

Pre-med, pre-law, philosophy, government, and architecture students at a CBT college in Miami or a New York State college, for example, will have a specialized skill set, so they can write efficiently on their subject matter. You might have to hustle for work, but when you get it and do a good job, clients will return to you, often increasing your paycheck over time.

Social Media Expert
Social media has become a huge part of the way businesses attract clients and spread their message to consumers. Many companies don’t know how to make the most of social networking sites like Facebook, so they need to bring an outside consultant in to market their company effectively. Social media experts often work with in-house advertising teams to help companies grow, so a degree in advertising will be beneficial here.

When you’re thinking about getting into any freelance business you need to consider how saturated the market already is. Work in a field that still has room to grow and do something creative in your efforts. This will make it easier for you to get new work and continue to expand your business.

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4 Ways to Reach Your Target Market

Even with a great product there is risk that you’ll never find the people you made it for. Every entrepreneur struggles when attempting to connect a good idea to the public, but there are a few tricks that can help fix this problem. We sat down with a group of successful startup founders and asked them “How do you reach your target market?” Here’s what they had to say.

  • Connect with businesses in your market: After failing to reach customers directly, Judge.me pivoted to partner with other institutions in the same niche.“I target marketplaces and try to partner with them for their dispute resolution. I only just started selling this way, but the results so far are encouraging.”

    By going to markets rather than attempting to attract one customer at a time, this startup was able to grow their user base much faster and see better traction. – Peter-Jan Celis (Judge.me)

  • User Test, then user test again: It’s true, your marketing woes will be greatly diminished if you do a huge amount of user testing before launching. This is one of the easiest but most overlooked aspects of building a product. Let real people tell you how to build it and other real people will like the result.“It’s all about products. Our users love us. We give them tools to share the app and they do the rest. We are constantly in tune with our customers to make sure we are giving them what they want and the rest takes care of itself.” – Brett Martin (Sonar)
  • Sponsor Events in your Field: Be active amongst the people who might use your product. A great way to do this is to be a supporter of big meetings; it’s simple enough to set up and doesn’t take a lot of work. A word of caution though, it’s not enough to simply write a check and hope for the best, you’ve got to be present at the events you’re sponsoring and show that your business really wants to connect.“Any time we can be at or sponsor an event, it’s a big win for us, because that’s when people need cards – when they are at there meeting.” – Ketan Anjara (CardFlick)
  • Use Crowdfunding: Platforms like Kickstarter and Indie go-go are great ways to not only test the market, but also bring in some positive cash flow. It’s a simple process to list your idea, and if it resonates with customers you’ll get the “kickstart” you need.“Kicksarter is a way to get pre-orders for your game and find out how many people will like it. It’s also a great way to get traction and for people to hear about your business. – Richard James (Evertide Games)

There’s an unspoken rule that many entrepreneurs buy into called the 80/20 rule – 80% marketing for every 20% time spent building product. Even if you make something awesome it will still need customers to become profitable. Have you had success using strategies to reach your target market? Please add to this list in the comments below!

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How to Design Your First Office

Designing your first office is an incredibly exciting is that. Being an entrepreneur has an unlimited number of benefits and flexibility that comes with being your own boss. Having the full ability to design your first office is definitely one of the best perks of being an entrepreneur.

Showcasing the Face of the Business
An entrepreneur needs to remember that an office is considered the first phase of the business that a client gets to meet. The overall ambiance of an office can greatly influence the future of business as well as a client’s perception of business. This is why it is important to remember that an office is a place of business and not necessarily an extension of your home.

An office design should not be treated as a personal space and should not include an abundance of personal items. An office needs to have the access to stylish wastebaskets and clutter free furniture. This overall minimal look can ensure that a client will feel as if they are in a professional setting and in the hands of an experienced business.

Relaxation in the Workplace
Even though a great amount of work may take place in an office setting is important to create a sense of comfort and relaxation in an office and among fellow employees. Choosing comfortable conference chairs for your office ensures that employees will be comfortable during work hours and will continue to produce the best level of quality work. Personal touches can be added in an office if they are restricted to small items that do not distract from the overall design of an office.

Completing a Design
With equipment and supplies ready to be set in place it is important to remember unique touches that can add to the overall feel of the offices design. Items such as attractive plan and simple window treatments can be extremely budget friendly while maintaining an overall eco-friendly theme in an office. The use of live plants can add to the overall atmosphere in the office as well as increase the energy level in the space.

An office needs to be designed in order to meet certain form and function criteria. There are definitely no rules when it calms to designing an office. It is definitely important to plan and analyze the nature of the business as well as your personal needs prior to jumping into any office design projects.

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