Skellie of Skelliewag and Anywired recently wrote a four part series on Freelance Switch about Becoming a Freelance Web Worker.This isn’t just in reference to becoming a freelancer - the articles focus on how to be a freelancer who does 100% of their business online. I found the posts to be very helpful and informative!

The series focuses on:

How to find clients, how to work completely online and how to run your freelancing business from anywhere in the world.

Working as an online-only freelancer takes this flexibility to another level. You can work for who you want, when you want, in any state or country in the world (all you need is an internet connection and a computer).

I would say that the majority of my business is done online - in fact I don’t actually have any local clients. I think of this as a great thing, because that means I don’t have to deal with any in-person meetings.

Most importantly, I’m able to do all of my work from the comfort of home, or wherever my laptop takes me. With no local clients, I’m lucky enough not to have to go to their office to work, for example.

On the other hand, most of my clients and prospects prefer the phone to email, and most pay by check rather than by PayPal - so in this sense, I’m not truly a web worker yet.

However, the majority of my business either comes from referrals or from online sources (most have found my web sites through the search engines, for example).

My favorite post in the series is Part 2: Finding Work Online. Skellie lists 23 ways to find work online, and goodness knows we can all use tips on how to get more work… well, those of us just starting out, anyway, lol.

So, I am fairly close to being an online only freelancer - the tips in the articles below might just get me to 100%. Hopefully they will help get you there, too!

Becoming a Freelance Web Worker

• Part 1: Why You Should Do It
• Part 2: Finding Work Online
• Part 3: The Working Day
• Part 4: Working Anywhere

I just came across a new Ebook from one of my favorite blogs! Freelance Switch is an amazing blog for Freelancers. I’d just about have to say that it actually is my favorite blog.

They’ve recently published a 212 page Ebook titled How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer. (Currently available as an Ebook… due out in Paperback in January 2008!)

I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy yet - this book is extremely high on my wish list, though… if I get a little extra Christmas money, I very well plan on spending some of it right here.

So anyway, I can’t give my own review, but from what I’ve heard from other people who have read this book, it is a great resource. It apparently covers information that is not included on the blog. Goodness knows I’ve received invaluable advice from the Freelance Switch blog, so I can only imagine how much more helpful this book will be.

Topics include…

• Getting Your First Jobs
• Scoping & Timeframes
• Pricing Yourself
• Doing the Job
• Clients
• Getting Paid
• Marketing Yourself
• Building a Business

This sounds like a truly great read. A perfect last minute Christmas gift for any Freelancers out there.

This week’s find is a great one, and should be of particular interest to anyone trying to get their small business off the ground!

Naomi Dunford over at Itty Biz has recently posted a number of topics in a new series titled Marketing School. Naomi has a great writing style - it certainly does NOT feel like school, lol. She teaches many important aspects of starting (or beefing up) your business, including topics such as:

• What is a USP (Unique Selling Point)?
• How to Build Your Own USP
• Identifying Your Target Market
• and much more…

It’s definitely worth a read - I’ve learned a lot from the articles so far, and am anxiously awaiting the next post. I believe there will be approximately 30 articles to the series once it’s complete.

Today I’d like to highlight a new feature from a good friend of mine, Rose. This will be of interest to all of the Moms out there who own their own business!

From the Park Bench will be starting a new feature called Moms in Business.

I’m looking for a few good business moms. One of the features of my up coming site will be a weekly feature called “Moms in Business”. It will highlight a mom who’s providing a product or service for sale on the internet. The articles will be 100% free to the featured business. I want to do something to encourage moms to support other moms.

This looks like an excellent opportunity to help promote your own business. It’s rare to get Free opportunities like this one, and I love that the main point is to encourage Moms to support each other.

As long as you qualify, all you need to do is leave a comment or privately contact From the Park Bench to express interest in the feature. I for one am very interested in this and have already requested to participate.

I’ve got a great find for you all today! Wendy Piersall of eMoms at Home has recently been looking into issues with Google, Page Rank and paid text ads. More on that story here.

What I wanted to point at today, though, is her recent article: 27 Website Promotion Sources That Have Nothing To Do With Google or SEO.

Of course SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is still important for bringing traffic to your site. Wendy points out, though, that it is best not to depend too much on the search engines for traffic to your web site. There are so many other sources of traffic - at least 27, lol - plus some other good ones in the comments below the article.

I’ve finally started dabbling in a few of these - such as Social Bookmarking and Social Networking. I have a lot more to do though to utilize all 27 suggestions.

Definitely worth a read, and certainly worth bookmarking for future reference.

Thanks for the suggestions, Wendy!