With 20% of working days in April being written off as public holidays, it's been a bit of a slow month for many. Not so for freelancers, who would rather work through the holidays than lose 20% of their income! This month we look at very simple ways that you can make your applications for contracts stand out; Pike is putting himself out there to round up new clients; and Christine investigates what all the fuss is about with Twitter.
issue 33 ::
April 2009
FEATURED RESOURCE:
YourLogoMakesMeBarf.com
Breaking away from serious matters, YourLogoMakesMeBarf is a feast of comic sans, Word Art and really, really bad design. One for the designers and aesthetes among you, this site is sure to make you cringe, laugh - and will definitely hurt your eyes. You have been warned!
Got a resource you'd like to recommend to the Freelancentral community? Send your favourite blog or website links, book titles or software recommendations to info@freelancentral.co.za.
GET THE LATEST SENT TO YOU
Want the latest news, new member listings and placement ads sent to you as they are uploaded to Freelancentral? Simply sign up for our RSS feed - click on the link on our home page. If you don't already use a feed reader, we recommend Google Reader as an easy way of aggregating the latest posts from all the sites you read regularly.
SITE STATS FOR APRIL
Freelancers registered: 4,162
From Google Analytics:
- 2,775 visits
- 15,889 page views
- 5.73 pages per visit
- 32.51% bounce rate
- 5:29 mins average time on site
- 54.56 % new visitors
IS YOUR PORTFOLIO DOING YOU JUSTICE?
Are you selling yourself effectively in your Lite or Full portfolio? Wouldn't it be great to have someone give you an honest assessment of your portfolio, and tips on how to improve it? For just R350 we will review your portfolio and send you a personalised report on how you can make it more appealing to clients. Just call the Freelancentral team on 021 780 1364 or mail us
GET 25% OFF YOUR NEXT FULL PORTFOLIO
Don't forget that if you send us your Freelancentral success stories and we publish them in our newsletter or on the site, you'll get 25% off your next month's Full portfolio. Submit your stories by sending us a mail.
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
newmembers
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
___________________
** STOP PRESS **
PLACEMENT: Project manager with writing skills (part time, 14 month contract, Gauteng) Find out more.
** STOP PRESS **
___________________
10 ways to secure a great contract in a recession
When times are tough, competition for the work that IS available increases. We've seen, from our own Placement ads, that people are applying for positions for which they are not qualified, and are also rushing to get as many applications in as possible that they don't read the instructions properly. Simply by ensuring you're properly qualified and providing all the information required is very likely to get you an interview.
What we learned from this is that there are 10 simple ways that can help you stand out from other applicants:
- Apply only for positions for which you meet all the criteria.
- Read the brief properly and answer all the points on it.
- Let your personality shine through in an intelligent and enthusiastic covering letter.
- Keep it relevant: tweak and tailor your CV to suit the position you're applying for, playing up your strengths appropriately.
- Be honest. In the days of Googling people, it's pretty easy to check up on candidates.
Click here to read more about the above - and for the remaining 5 tips.
PIKE: Putting yourself out there
So. Phew. Tough week. I had to let Ricardo go yesterday. You know Ricardo? My performing monkey? Yup. Had to let him go, after seven glorious years. Why do they call it that? "Let them go"? As if, when you retrench an employee, they're just dying to get out there and walk the streets looking for a new job, while their wallet thins and their bank manager gets antsy.
So, OK, to call a hamster a hamster: I had to force Ricardo to go. Recession and all. Banana money drying up. Etc. He has now (I assume) joined the consistently swelling ranks of wi-fi surfers and cappuchinas hanging out at Vida e Caffe, like rats clinging to a welcome piece of flotsam in an angry, empty sea. Read more...
CHRISTINE ONLINE: Do you Tweet?
Twitter is a social media phenomenon that has been around since 2006. While early adopters may have been onboard since its inception, it has only really grown enormously in popularity over the past year or so. To many people tweeting might should like a load of twaddle unless you're referring to a bird. However many tweeple ("people" in the twitterverse) do it with relative dexterity and ease. Let's cut out all the twitterisms - and they are aplenty - and get down to the nitty-gritty of this month's article. Read more...
Changes to full portfolio reference requirements
Don't forget that Freelancentral members no longer need two pre-approved references in order to qualify for a Full portfolio listing. Clients can still see how many references a freelancer has had pre-approved by the Freelancentral team on each freelancer's portfolio. These are reassuring, so we encourage freelancers to continue submitting references on the site. Clients can feed back on a freelancer they've worked with by clicking on the little blue speech bubble on each Full listing.
___________________
Read how Freelancentral is helping South African freelancers
on our new Testimonials page - and do send us your success stories too.
If Freelancentral has connected you successfully,
whether you're a client or freelancer, we'd love to hear from you.
___________________
Our monthly newsletter contains news, tips and advice on freelancing, articles written by freelancers, offers and much more.
Subscribe now!
You are being sent this newsletter as you have either requested it or because we have identified you as potentially being interested in it. To unsubscribe, click here.
Comments, suggestions, compliments? We'd love to hear your feedback about our site and service. Tell us what you think.
