OK, this is an oldie but a goodie. I wrote this book many moons ago. Thanx to FITC it is now a free sponsored ebook you can download. I get many emails from people asking advice about going freelance. This book is the answer, and hey you can’t beat the price =) So download your *FREE* copy today! (no strings attached, really!) And if you could as a favour link back to my site “airgid.com” on your blog if you like the book or find it useful in some way. Google link credit always helps.

Airgid Media Inc. is proud to announce the launch of our new book “CO2 and You: Teach young children how to reduce their eco-footprint“. The book features hand crafted (in 3D Studio Max and zBrush) 3D characters and a custom made puppet called “Leo”. Look for the companion animated short on DVD the end of 2009.

Over the past few weeks the stream of resumes filing my in-box has grown significantly. It is a sign of the times that many 9-5′ers have lost their jobs and are now trying their hand at freelance. For those among you who can not find work and have decided to do the freelance gig I have some advice for you. Since your probably so freaked out right now you probably don’t want to read alot here it is in small pieces…

The FlashBlog has a really great interview with the company that built all the futuristic interfaces for the various Star Trek ships. OOOii is the same company that brought the Minority Report UI to the silver screen as well. Of course all done in Flash!

” For Star Trek, senior developer Dave August created a complete ActionScript 3 framework for compositing and sequencing various effects that was used live on the set during filming. He also created an AIR application which was used for authoring the various sequences and also to control them as the actors manipulated them.” [via The Flash Blog ..]

Determining what to charge for your services can be very a difficult decision. “It will forever dominate your destiny”, as Yoda once said to Luke in Star Wars. In my experience, you do not want to start your hourly rate too low, because once you land a few larger clients you will have great difficulty migrating them to a higher hourly rate (that is, if you decide to charge hourly). What you charge hourly should reflect what the market would bear. So in other words, you should try to charge as much as clients are willing to pay …..

One of the biggest struggles I have found being a freelancer is keeping in contact with my clients. Sometimes my clients will go five months before they do another project with me. Over time I have learned I need to keep my name and e-mail address in front of them constantly, so they think of me first when they have a new project they are considering. But how do you do this without bugging the hell out of them? These are busy people, so sending them jokes and ? ˜hi how are you doing?’ …

In December 2002, Randy Cohen of the New York Times answered a reader’s ethical question regarding a friend who had used Google to do some background checking on a man she had been on a date with. When she learned that the man, a doctor, had been involved in several malpractice suits, she had a much lower opinion of the man, which presumably affected the relationship.

The following is an interview with Kirill Brusilovsky the founder of the popular site crossmind.net This interview originally appeard in the “Web Designers Success Guide” published several years ago. This information is still useful so I post it here now.

So how do you go about getting a small base of paying clients? The way I started was by simply using my network of friends and associates. I heard it once said that philosophy is common sense dressed up in a 3-piece suite. And it is true even for a one-man-show freelance business. E-mail your friends, family, associates and acquaintances and tell them you are looking for freelance work.

One of the most important parts of your advertising arsenal is your Web site. Your Web site is the place where you display your product to potential customers. Your product is design and interactive media, and it is important that these potential customers can view a wide range of projects. Often interactive designers will post what they feel is their best work to their Web site. While this is a good idea, I have learned that it is better to have a wide range of styles and types of projects posted online.