Discussing the life and business
of being a freelancer.

This is the new home for the podcast show Answers for Freelancers! Those of you who have been following us from the beginning know that we originally started in May of 2005 and ran for several years under the name of Answers for Freelancers! However, you also know that after the first couple of years, the show content became split between the topics of freelancing as a career, and looking at alternate income sources for creative individuals.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:22 — 27.1MB)

Well, you’ve all waited patiently for months for us to return, only to find that this is our final episode.  The truth is, after 3 years (more of less) of talking about freelancing, its time we move on.  Is this good bye?  Take a listen and find out what this means for Bob and myself, and also for you.

Featured Links:

Bob’s New stuff – http://BobOstromStudio.com/

Chris Triathlon training blog – 9 Months to Tri

Chris & Louanna’s little side business – Intelligent Acne Treatment

Twitter Pages:

Chris – http://twitter.com/aithene
Bob – http://twitter.com/bobostromstudio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:31 — 34.4MB)

Hey, all.

Well, I told Bob that I would get this episode up almost 2 months ago, then got sick. Then got busy. Then ran a triathlon.

So its all my fault this episode is so late.

The good news is that it seems we’ve gotten our recording schedule taken care of.  We’ll explain it next show.  Until then, enjoy this episode from *gulp* February. Keep that in mind when I make the crack about “congressional hearings” and ball-players on steroids.

The image above just isn’t as good as it was in my memory, but since I was in high school, I suppose it only makes sense.

We’ll be back VERY soon. I promise. Until then, catch us on Twitter.

Chris – http://twitter.com/aithene

Bob – http://twitter.com/bobostromstudio

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:49 — 40.2MB)

So, what happened with our numbering? This was originally recorded as episode 1, but then Bob and I got completely snowed under in work, life and other stuff, and it got postponed. This was supposed to be Episode 1, the next show was supposed to be Episode 2, and Seth Harwood’s Wheel was supposed to be episode 3.

However, since we got caught behind our own schedule, and because Seth is such a friend of the show, we wanted to help him out by running his Wheel episode just before the launch of his new pod novel, Jack Palms 3, and the print debut of the novel that started it all, Jack Wakes Up and we moved it up so that the show aired in time for his book release. If you’re a fan of crime noire fiction, check it out. Its good, adult oriented fiction with a ‘kick you in the teeth’ flavor.

So, if this feels familiar, then you’ve probably had the misfortune of seeing Firefly as it was aired on the Fox Network. Sorry about that. We now present to you, the REAL episode 1 of season 3. About, um… 2 months late. We would’ve gotten it to you on time, but no one volunteered to do our regular work for us. Thanks a lot, all of you.

Anyway, enjoy this month’s episode as we talk about what we’ve been up to, catch up on a few odds and ends, and answer listener Katie’s questions about college and internships.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:57 — 17.4MB)

In honor of Seth Harwood’s attempt to climb the charts on Amazon.com this Sunday, March 16th we have gone back into the archives to find this very special episode featuring Seth and the Wheel of Misfortune.

Seth tells us a story about the early years, a lost hard drive and his attempts to recover it from the wasteland known as the customer service. Seth pulls out all the stops and goes straight for the jugular in an attempt to recover his lost hard drive and and his first 300 page novel. Did he succeed? Was it worth it? You decide in this action-packed Wheel of Misfortune episode.

*Note to our listeners
Hi listeners, Chris and Bob are hard at work retooling the podcast and website. We will be cutting back releases to once a month to allow us the extra time we need to bring you the new and improved product.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:37 — 29.1MB)

This episode, we bring you a quick glimpse of Chris’ Podcamp Boston 2 experience and then kick right into a fun Wheel of Misfortune from Jonny Goldstein that I call the Twinkie Caper, but which he calls Freelance Blues. OK. So, we go with Freelance Blues. Why not.

Special thanks to a bunch of folks whom I ran into and especially who helped me with my Living la Vida Freelance! panel.

In order of appearance are: Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:43 — 35.5MB)

A beautiful sunny July morning in Framingham Massachusetts 1989. A young artist and his art director are out for a casual morning stroll. The art director turns to the artist and without warning blurts out, “We’re laying off some people and… you’re one of them”.

Suddenly unemployed and with no where to turn Bob blindly stumbles into what will one day become a successful 20 year freelance career, but first he’ll have to spend a few years in the school of hard knocks.

Bob answers the age old question…”How did you get started?”
Hang on to your hats listeners. Bob finally tells the story of how he got started as a freelancer all those many…many…years ago.

Links:

A4F Zazzle Site

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (25.1MB)

Not sure what you’re worth? Chris explains the difference between hiring someone with experience VS someone just starting out. How much are your services worth? Are you charging enough? Are you charging too much? How do you adjust rates to suit your clients needs and when it’s time to move up to the next level.

Special thanks to Seth Harwood for today’s pic. Seth is sporting a Zazzle shirt featuring one of Bob’s illustrations, “Junius Lives”. Junius is a character from the Seth Harwood pod-cast novel Jack Wakes Up. You can find out more info at SethHarwood.com

Junius Lives- Seth Harwood

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:21 — 19.4MB)

OK. So, we’re back on schedule, right? We think so. We’ll see.

Anyhow, in this episode of Answers for Freelancers we talk about a bunch of things beside Chris’ new pink office.

Chris is scheduled to attend Podcamp Boston 2 on October 26-28, 2007 at the Boston Expo Center. For more information on the event, including who’s attending, what discussions are going to be had and how you can participate, go to http://podcampboston.org Also, Chris (and Bob if he can make it) are going to be chairing a couple of sessions. The first is a recap of how to decide what you need to charge and the second is a panel of freelancers that will just answer audience questions about what its like to freelance. If you want these discussions to happen, write to the organizers and tell them to make sure that we’re scheduled.

Bob puts out the official call for the A4F Intern Search. We should put up a page for that, shouldn’t we? This is for actual college internship credit. And its not limited to artists, either. If you feel that you can contribute to the show in a meaningful way, either as on the show or behind the scenes, try out!

We have a new JibJab movie. Enjoy!

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Hey, everyone!

Answers for Freelancers! is looking for the world’s first virtual podcast intern to join our ranks.

We’re not locked into what duties you will perform, so there are a lot of possibilities here. If you’re a student and your field of study leads you into social media, digital audio, art, design, illustration, writing, journalism or some other facet of podcast production, we’d love to hear from you.
To be considered you must:

• Be a current student.
• Send us links to your space(s) – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blog, etc.
• Email us an audio piece of up to 5 minutes. It can be an interview, a report, a tutorial or something entirely different.
• Need to have the tools to accomplish whatever you are applying for and access to the internet so that you can work with us.
• Email us your resume and audio file in MP3 format to Answersforfreelancers@gmail.com (you can also post it to the internet and send us a link).

If you need actual college credit for the internship, don’t forget to send us your college’s paperwork and we’ll see if we qualify.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Pod On!