Freelancing Gods: Freelancing Tips via Rails Camp 4
http://freelancing-gods.com/posts/freelancing_tips_via_rails_camp_4
The Atlantic Online | June 2006 | The Management Myth | Matthew Stewart
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200606/stewart-business

The impression I formed of the M.B.A. experience was that it involved taking two years out of your life and going deeply into debt, all for the sake of learning how to keep a straight face while using phrases like “out-of-the-box thinking,” “win-win situation,” and “core competencies.”

Taylorism vs. Mayoism: Both management theories fail.

Most of management theory is inane, writes Mathew Stewart, the founder of a consulting firm. If you want to succeed in business, don’t get an M.B.A. Study philosophy instead. [Atlantic Magazine, June 2006]

This was on the del.icio.us Popular Booksmarks list. I've only read the first paragraph, but I am finding myself inclined to agree with the general thrust of this article. To be read in full later.

“Learn from the best, or die like the rest.” Sobering words for a freelancer! In this article we try to discover what separates the best from the rest. What are the world’s top freelancers doing that the rest of us aren’t? Some of the advice you read here might seem surprising or counter-intuitive. You may read hints you have never tried. The question is: Will you give them a go? 1. “End every prospect meeting or phone call with an agreed-upon next step.” - Ed Gandia Ed Gandia is a freelance copywriter with a lot of experience. Starting his business life as an entrepreneur at age eight, he spent eleven years as a sales professional and senior account executive before starting starting his copyrighting business which focuses on software and high-tech industries. This melding of sales experience and successful freelancing makes Ed a voice worth listening to. Ed’s advice could come straight from a David Allen “Getting Things Done” book. In his article “The Power of the Next Step“, Ed

Advice to marketers on choosing social media consultants.

by Beth Harte (cross-posted on the Harte of Marketing) and Geoff Livingston Our original post Top 25 Ways to Tell ...

1) Believes in the generous web and practices cross-linking in their blog (example: Kami Huyse) 2) Highlights others’ work in their blog (example: Chris Brogan) 3) Integrates social media as part of larger marketing strategy(example: Razorfish) 4) Doesn’t pretend to be an expert in all things digital; instead simply focuses on what he/she/they do best (example: Common Craft) 5) Gives away best practices in an effort to educate, grow social media in general (example: Todd Defren/SHIFT Communications) 7) Will tell you that there is no magic bullet for determining social media ROI and that you need to go further to accurately monitor, measure and determine the effectiveness of social media. (example: K.D. Paine). 8) Understands that social media is an important part of the larger word of mouth marketing principles (example: Ogilvy’s John Bell) etc...

m.don This has never happened to me, all clients are accommodating and understand the flexible and changing needs of all the factors, including market, technology and business priority.

"so you're gonna show us how we can make it on our own at home, k?"

Hilarious YouTube video

do i pass?

Excerpt: "If you know more than 5 people, chances are you now know someone who declares themselves a social media expert. How can you tell if someone's claim of expertise is legit? Here's my quick quiz."

ROI

Freelance Contracts: Do’s And Don’ts « Smashing Magazine

If your company, no matter how big or small, has hired a social media consultant to augment (or God-forbid, replace) your PR team, there are some things you should probably be sniffing out and identifying as red flags

"If your company, no matter how big or small, has hired a social media consultant to augment (or God-forbid, replace) your PR team, there are some things you should probably be sniffing out and identifying as red flags:" ... good checks on the hype here.

“…we have a glut of people selling their expertise on how you should handle “the Twitter community” who have zero experience using the service the way most people do. They hopped on board the Consultancy Express, went straight to the head of the line, and now want to tell you how to talk to people at all of the stops they skipped.”

Behind-the-scenes story about uselessness of consulting companies. But forgets to expose their value. Example: My friend who consulted for a multi-billion company...if it cost $10m and they got 1 bit of insight, it'd be totally worth it

What I could not get my head around was having to force-fit analysis to a conclusion. In one case, the question I was tasked with solving had a clear and unambiguous answer: By my estimate, the client’s plan of action had a net present discounted value of negative one billion dollars. Even after accounting for some degree of error in my reckoning, I could still be sure that theirs was a losing proposition. But the client did not want analysis that contradicted their own, and my manager told me plainly that it was not our place to question what the client wanted.

working in the economic downturn , excellent article http://bit.ly/IbXh7 [from http://twitter.com/markedgington/statuses/1257829325]

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February 17, 2009 Filling Your Dance Card in Hard Economic Times by Pepi Ronalds

RT @ddudgeon & @andreaexpat #Freelancers The scariest pricing idea ever. Would u do it? http://bit.ly/bIAsKL RT @nona_jordan @freelancery

It goes like this. Instead of quoting a fee or negotiating a price in advance, you tell the client: “Here’s what I suggest. Let me jump in and do the work as we discussed. I’ll hit this as hard as I know how, and make it as good as can be done.” “When we’re finished, just pay whatever you feel the work was worth, based on what it contributed to your overall project.” “I’ll accept whatever you decide, no questions asked. Provided it is more than a buck sixty-five.” Scary? Absolutely. Risky? Maybe a little. Foolhardy and stupid? Not at all.

Getting clients to "fill-in-the-blank" on the invoice.

Very interesting: The scariest pricing idea ever. That works - http://bit.ly/9MXGsl - Will you try it? #smpricing – Smashing Magazine (smashingmag) http://twitter.com/smashingmag/statuses/12762457741