Freelancers at Home: Cures to Common Problems

Here's an interesting article by Onextrapixel blog:


Cures to Common Problems

You're Too Close to Your Work
This can be something that makes it harder to feel that you can rest and do other things. If you have many ongoing projects and know they're just sitting there in your office waiting for you - it could be very tempting to go work for an hour or two. Working an extra hour occasionally doesn't hurt, but the feeling of being at work can for many be overwhelming.


Image credit: Picture by Royce Hansman

Fixing this problem can be a bit challenging. First of all you have to try sticking to set hours. Close your office door when you're done for the day and don't allow yourself to go back in there. If you feel the need to work extra, allow yourself to do this on one scheduled day of the week – but not too often. Practicing this over time will have you feeling calmer about the whole situation, but especially in the beginning this can be tricky.

You're "always" at Work
The previous point is about what you feel yourself about being in your work-environment during your spare time. This point is about what others feel. You could have people calling you after work hours or dropping by for work-related things, because you're always there. If you have the required discipline to put all these things aside until your next day at work – great! If you don't – you will feel as if you don't have much private space.

By being very specific about working hours from the start, you will gain a lot of more respect from your clients. Let business related calls go to voice-mail, don't check office mails after hours and be clear....read entire article

New Cards in Target

On Friday I like to I like to post something I recently designed. Here are some cards that are being released on the American Greetings section of Target Stores.

Sign up on my business facebook page to see other releases.

How to Promote Your Design Business on the Cheap

Here's an interesting article by webdesigner blog...

Ah … the life of a freelancer. It’s not enough that you’re creative and technically savvy. No, you have to be a clever businessperson as well. No matter how talented you are, when starting out you probably won’t get clients unless you pound the pavement for them.

But you likely don’t have the time or money to engage in any sophisticated advertising campaign. Fortunately, these days there are plenty of ways to market your business for little to no cash.

Twitter definitely has its haters – not everyone wants to hear you describe your lunch in 140 characters or fewer. But it’s a highly searchable tool that is free and takes moments to manage.

Once you set up your account, search for your favorite designers and studios as well as friends, businesses you frequent and companies you’d like to hire you. This alerts potential customers to your existence – they might in turn follow you and seek you out for future jobs. Tweet your blog, news about your business, a fun project you’re working on, artwork you find inspirational, a handy tutorial – keep your tweets short and informal. Twitter is not the place for heavy copywriting, though it IS a great place to offer exclusive deals. ...read entire article

Stationery Trends at the New York Gift Fair

(Note: Kathy Krassner walked the gift show and was kind enough to give her "roving reporter" news to Greeting Card Designer Blog)

By Kathy Krassner

I'm happy to report that there were plenty of great greeting card and stationery companies exhibiting at the recent New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF), held August 14-19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and Piers 92 & 94 in New York City. In fact, there seemed to be more stationery-related exhibitors there than in recent years past, with cards and other paper products appearing throughout various sections of the show, including Accent on Design, Studio, General Gift, Handmade, Museum Source and New York's Newest.

A new, "concentrated presentation" of stationery and book publishers was located in Aisle 7500 on the lower level of the Javits Center, where card companies such as Notes & Queries said they were pleased with both the traffic and the number of new accounts they opened. Show producer George Little Management is hoping to grow this stationery-focused section at the NYIGF, but several card companies with whom I spoke said they preferred to stay in their current location at the show.

As I walked the aisles, it was apparent that certain themes such as cupcakes, robots and monkeys continue to be a popular presence on a variety of stationery merchandise. Yoga is also proving to be both a big lifestyle and product trend, as evidenced by its appearance on card lines such as the "Cardiology" blank notecard collection from Flavour Design Studio.

Also popping up at several booths were stationery items bearing the message "Keep Calm and Carry On" -- from an iconic poster originally produced in 1939 by the British government to raise morale at the start of World War II. Although never used, the poster was rediscovered in 2000 and is now being used on products such as notecards and journals from Peter Pauper Press and 2011 weekly planners from Cavallini & Co.

The DIY trend also continues to influence the stationery market and has spurred fun items such as the "Stitchable Journals" shown at AMH Design, LLC. This mashup of stationery product and craft project includes everything needed to create a needlepoint monogram accent on the journal's laser-cut cover.

Also merging two categories are "Flat Flowers" greetings distributed by OOTS!, which are 6" x 6" blank notecards featuring a floral-themed static window sticker attached to the card's cover. The presence of such innovative stationery products helped to make this summer's NYIGF fresh and exciting.

Kathy Krassner, former editor-in-chief of Greetings etc. magazine, is the owner of Krassner Communications, a writing-services firm specializing in the stationery and gift industries, based in Ringoes, NJ.

Services provided for clients have included writing print articles, website articles, e-newsletters, greeting cards, trend reports, blogs, catalogs, brochures, marketing materials, book proposals, packaging copy, and more; providing public-relations support; and conducting seminars.

Current clients include Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine, the Invitation & Stationery Alliance, and NobleWorks Inc. She can be reached at krascom@yahoo.com.