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As creative professionals, gig workers, freelancers, and small business owners, many of us are familiar with the challenges and benefits of working remotely from home. In fact, according to Gallup’s article from March 2020, 43% of U.S. employees already worked remotely some or all of the time and studies show remote workers can even be more productive and profitable than in-house employees. Yet there’s a learning curve to remote work, and those of us who’ve recently made the transition are discovering which practices translate from office to home—and which need to be reimagined altogether. One of the biggest considerations being
Did you know more than 57 million Americans freelance, according to the Freelancing in America report. I myself was freelancing for nearly 10 years before starting my S Corp, and I’ve experienced firsthand the ups and downs that come with taking on clients, managing the workload, pricing your services and so much more. As a […]
That first phone call with a new client is a nuanced maneuver that’s equal parts fact-finding, checking for professional rapport, and understanding the scope of the job. It’s kind of like a first date: What is each party hoping to get out of the relationship? Are they looking for something long-term, or a brief engagement? Does everyone have similar or complementary ways of operating and communicating? How much are they willing to invest in the partnership? And — most importantly—do you want to see each other again? Like most things, this is an effort that gets easier with practice. And
“So, what do you do for work?” This is one of the first questions we’re asked—or that we ask—upon meeting someone in both professional or social settings. We might reply by mentioning our title, role, or the company we work for. Yet rarely does this paint the full picture of the value we contribute. Furthermore, sometimes simply replying with our title or the company we work for gives no context to the asker. A rote answer can also be a reflection of our own confusion about why we do the work we do or an indication that we’re on autopilot—maybe
Being more confident and comfortable with yourself will have a real impact on everything from your decision-making to your self-esteem. How often have you felt stuck and completely unsure of how you really feel about something? This ambiguity signals being out of touch with your intuition and your instincts. Connecting with that impulse can serve as a guiding light in times of uncertainty and allow you the freedom to get out of your comfort zone. And when you trust yourself, it’s often easier to evaluate who else you can trust. This inner strength can ripple out across your creativity, productivity,
The Branded Solopreneur
- How to Use a Interactive Quiz to Set Your List Building Roof on Fire
- How to Get 25+ Images from One Styled Stock Photo
- Brand Personality: A Real AF Guide to Getting Under the Hood
- 4 Ways Of Creating Images Without Using Stock Photography
- 8 ways to build brand recognition with your images
- 3 Ways to Create a Color Palette That’ll NEVER Fail You
- The DNA of a branding color palette
- 5 Types of Branding Color Palettes That Reign Supreme
- The Idiot Proof Guide to Using Transparent Overlays To Style Your Brand Photography
- How To Use Fonts Like a Boss, Even If You’re a Design Newbie
From Ray Manley dot com
- Case Study: Waging a successful local publicity campaignIt’s not always possible to quickly measure success in business, so when it happens, it’s worth dissecting the elements that contributed to the success. That’s why I want to look at a recent community toy drive spearheaded by Ripped City Gardens, an artisan cannabis grower based in Portland, Oregon. The post Case Study: Waging a […]
- Casual communication: The silent killerBusiness casual. We love it, but when it comes to business communications, it can be a killer...or at least an "injurer." The post Casual communication: The silent killer appeared first on Ray Manley.
- Best of the Web: December Productivity EditionI find that there’s an insatiable appetite for anything that might increase our productivity: tips, hacks, apps, ideas, approaches, philosophies, potted plants, odors, better chairs – anything. That’s why I collect the best articles from around the internet that give us ways to boost our productivity. The post Best of the Web: December Productivity Edition […]
- Still a slave to keywords? Set yourself free!See what you think of this book title: What happens when a strong-willed woman and man try to make a relationship work during a time of social upheaval? The post Still a slave to keywords? Set yourself free! appeared first on Ray Manley.
- Best of the Web: 22 shades of great adviceThere’s more content than usual in this installment of the best of the web. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling the last few weeks and neglected my curation duties, so I had some catching up to do. Sit back, relax, scan the 22 articles below and find the nuggets of wisdom that you can […]
- 3 lessons every business can learn from the Hallmark Christmas MoviesI realized that we have another tell-tale sign that Christmas and the holiday season are bearing down on us like a brakeless semi-truck the other day when one of my Facebook friends boasted that she was dressed up and ready for the Hallmark movies. I may be a little late to the party, but I […]