Diana Marinova

Freelance Mentor & Marketing Consultant

Diana Marinova

I'm a freelance marketing consultant by day and a traveler by heart. ツ I help fellow freelancers and small business owners achieve their goals within budget. Stay updated and get a free ebook - join here!

Professional Benefits of Networking Online

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Online networking is a mystery for many – seemingly it takes so much time and one can hardly ever see results of it, at least on the surface. This is an ongoing discussion I have with a couple of friends and I recently received the same question from one of my LinkedIn (LI) connections:

Mostly I see you so actively involved in different types of discussions at different forums. I could not yet understand what professional benefit people get by involving in public discussions. It takes so much time to reply the queries and then of course you are left with much less time for your actual work. Can you kindly give me an idea how you utilize your active participation in discussions.

So that’s what today’s post is about – a brief overview of professional benefits of online networking.

Freelance Marketing: One Sure Way to Stand Apart from the Crowd

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If you use freelance websites like oDesk and Elance to find work, you know tens and sometimes hundreds of people apply to the same project. Many starting freelancers can’t bear the level of competition and quit before they have even started.

If you are pitching clients directly, you don’t battle competition as directly as on the freelance job boards but you are still battling competition. There are many qualified freelancers out there looking for work and quite possibly pitching the same prospective clients you do.

In both cases, the key to your success is to stand apart from the crowd.

Start Moving from Day 1 of Your Freelance Career

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Not long ago I blogged about the occupational hazards of freelancers. Today I’d like to add one more to that list – lack of exercise and excessive (improper) sitting.

I know what you’re thinking… “Right, I am desperately trying to find clients and a way to get money to pay my rent, she’s nagging me about my sitting. As if I don’t have bigger problems?!”

I thought that, too!

Don’t underestimate the lack of exercise!

How to Write a Useful Review to a Client or a Freelancer

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Don’t you hate it when you see a client review just saying “job well done”; or a freelancer review saying only “good client, recommended”? Such reviews are pretty useless to me – they raise more questions and doubts than bringing me peace of mind that I am making the right choice working with the said client or freelancer.

What was the job that was done so well? What does “well done” mean – without corrections? On time? Ahead of time? Above and beyond expectations? For less money than anticipated? All of the above? Something else?

Why was the client so good to work with – good communication skills? Paying on time? Paying bonuses? Not asking questions? No edit requests? Prompt feedback? All of the above? Something else?

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