As clients scramble to spend their budgets before the end of the year, and suddenly realise that half their staff are heading off on holidays, December can be a very hectic time for freelancers! The last thing you probably want to do is battle the crowded malls, searching for gifts and food so we've picked our favourite online retailers to help you get your shopping done quickly and easily this year. Gareth Pike's compiled his wish list for Santa and Christine has some great tips for getting your brand out there over the festive season. If you feel like you're missing out on an office Christmas party, why not join us for the Freelancentral Freelancers' Christmas Lunch in Cape Town, or organise one in your area? Here's to a productive and busy last month of 2009!
issue 39 ::
November 2009
FEATURED SITE:
Personal financial management
This Wikipedia page collates several online and downloadable money management tools. Are you on top of your finances? If not, these can help.
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 NOVEMBER
Freelancers registered: 4,293
From Google Analytics:
- 2,423 visits
- 13,801 page views
- 5.70 pages per visit
- 40.36 % bounce rate
- 5:21 mins average time on site
- 52.54 % new visitors
BOOKS FOR FREELANCERS
Check out our new "Have you read...?" section on the Freelancentral website. You'll find a selection of essential reading for freelancers.
PORTFOLIO CRITIQUE SERVICE
Are you selling yourself effectively in your Lite or Full portfolio? Wouldn't it be great to have someone give you an honest critique 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 email 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
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||
___________________
CURRENT PLACEMENTS
Flash cartoon animators - mid/senior, ongoing work, based anywhere with a good internet connection
Flash interface designers - mid/senior, ongoing work, based anywhere with a good internet connection
After Effects animator - mid/senior, ongoing work, based anywhere with a good internet connection
Web developer - mid/snr, Cape Town, 12 month contract starting January
___________________
Painless Christmas shopping
As freelancers we are used to working remotely with our clients, so this Christmas why not keep in the groove and shop remotely? The Freelancentral team has come up with a list of online shops which are guaranteed to cover all the bases while providing some clever, uniquely South African Christmas gifts. Read more...
Freelancentral featured in SASI Top 30
This month a new index was launched, listing the tech start-ups in South Africa - the SASI Top 30. And Freelancentral has just squeaked in there! The index measures things like the business's idea, funding, international potential, and site traffic. Although we're a little further down the line from being a start-up, having been around for over four years now, we are still looking to make significant changes and enhancements to our site. Watch this space!
Gareth Pike: A freelancer's Christmas wish list
Dear Santa... Hi. Hope you haven't been having too much trouble with the Reindeer Unions lately. Just keep telling them it's a day's pay for a day's work; otherwise you'll get the labour brokers to bring in some springbok (so much more reliable). Watch out especially for that troublemaker Rudolph, hey. I mean, what's with the red nose? I think you should check the barracks for his little whisky stockpile... Click here for Gareth's wish list...
Missing that office party?
Feeling left out because you don't have an office party to go to this holiday season? (Or maybe you're relieved!) Come and join other freelancers for a casual end-of-year lunch at Jakes (Steenberg Village) - 12h30, on 22 December 2009. Food and drink will be for your own account. Come dressed with a little bit of seasonal sparkle. We need at least 8 people to make it happen, so send us a mail to book your space now!
CHRISTINE ONLINE: Getting your brand out there over the festive season
The festive season is a booming time for shops, and online retailers are no exception. Walking around shopping centres, you've probably noticed all the decorations, fake snow and bold Christmas banners inviting you into stores. All very festive indeed. But, what is the best way to get customers onto your site specifically over the holiday period? Read more about marketing your brand here.
___________________
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.
