• Panel
    • Gina Trapani
    • Molly Ditmore
    • Matthew Haughey
    • Annalee Newitz
    • Penelope Trunk
  • As a freelance web geek, your self presentation do matter
  • Independence doesn’t mean you’re “too good” to do self-marketing
  • Newitz
    • Just published book “She’s Such a Geek” about women in technology
    • Working on getting her book publicity
    • Has found that if a book (or website or whatever) is really good, people will just magically find it is NOT TRUE
  • Molly Ditmore
    • First piece of advice: have an elevator pitch
    • An elevator pitch is a precise, heavily practiced, pitch about what you do
    • Be brief, be positive (say what you do, not what you don’t do)
    • Don’t be embarasses to rehearse your description in the mirror
  • When you’re explaining what you do or what your product is about, talk about how it relates to them, not just about the topic in general
  • Make it relevant to the listener
  • Matt Haughey
    • Differing opinion: marketing is not black and white
    • Build a great product and build a great reputation
    • Find web design meetups and other smaller group meets to network
  • Listening is more important than talking
  • Self-linking
    • Matt thinks linking to earlier work has too much bias
    • If you are linking to yourself, make sure you are being reasonable and only linking to relevant other information, not promoting yourself excessively.
  • It’s important to participate in several social groups, but not too many. Like only be in about 2 to 4 groups. (If you’re in too many, people will wonder why you have so much free time on your hands)
  • Can turning down jobs make you more desirable?
    • Sometimes. You should always choose jobs that enhance your career path
    • Matt says you never say ‘No’ in freelance; just double your price ;)
  • Blogging or keeping a personal site of some kind helps immensely in developing street cred, as well as bringing a sense of trust to someone who is considering hiring you
  • The sad truth of freelancing is that you should spend 50% of your time promoting yourself
  • Q: What is your Absolute Truth?
    • Ditmore: Show, Don’t Tell
    • Haughey: Have a great site and show them you’re the best
    • Trunk: Specialize. Say exactly what you do, dont try to do everything.
    • Newitz: Don’t stop, just keep going.
    • Trapani: Trust your gut and keep with it.
    • (Audience member recommends Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg)
  • Q: What is your experience with the online freelance marketplaces?
    • Many community sites are setting up job boards
    • Check them but don’t rely on them
    • Networking by finding designs you like and contacting the designer works better