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.

As the show progressed, it became obvious that the topic of freelancing was becoming less and less prevalent in the course of the show. In August of 2008, Bob and Chris decided to make it official and formally put a halt to Answers for Freelancers! and shifted focus to a new show called Creative Independence which looked to explore the many ways creative individuals were finding to make a living besides being freelance guns for hire. However, the one problem we were facing was that the new show lived in the same space on the web as the old show, and it was becoming confusing to many of our listeners; sometimes even for us.

In December of 2009, we have taken the time to split the feeds. Creative Independence has taken over the old feed and the branding for the show. However, with 33 episodes already in the can, we have chosen to archive the old shows here. What will we do next with Answers for Freelancers!? We’re not entirely sure. Obviously, there’s a lot of life left in the show and the concept, however, we simply don’t have the time or resources to really do it justice. Perhaps it will find a rebirth with Bob and Chris at some point in the future. Perhaps it will morph into a different concept. Or perhaps a new set of hosts will take the reins and move it in an as of yet unseen direction.

Until then, we hope that if you’ve recently found these, that you enjoy them and that you eventually join us over at Creative Independence.

Sincerely,

Bob Ostrom & Chris Wilson

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

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

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.

Items mentioned in this episode:
S.C.O.R.E. (Service Core of Retired Executives)

Shows we’re listening to:
Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing Over Coffee

Jonny Goldstein’s Freelance Blues

The Joe Kuberts School of Cartoon and Graphic Design

The New England School of Art & Design

Answers for Freelancers Intern Search

Katie’s Mailbag Questions are here.

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.

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:

Michael Bailey of Mobasoft

Phillip Zanini of the Biography Podcast

Laura Fitton of Pistachio Consulting

Jeff Cuttler of the Bowl of Cheese Podcast

Thanks also to Chris Brogan for helping me get the panel started.

Also, special thanks to Jared Spool of the Spoolcast for calling me out in front of my peeps. Let me know if I can return the favor some time.

Thanks to Luis for promoting the show and encouraging us so often.

Special Projects:

9 MonthsToTri @ TrisportMedia

The Daily Bob

Out Twitter feeds:

Chris – http://twitter.com/aithene

Bob – http://twitter.com/bobostromstudio

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

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

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!

Bob and Chris both give out their favorite tips for using iPhoto to deliver preliminary artwork to clients.

Bob puts up our new merchandising line on http://www.zazzle.com/answers4freelancers.

Also, we touch on what to do when you face burnout on a project (hint: don’t go careening down the side of a tree-covered mountain on a bike).

Finally, we talk a bit about Twitter, how to use it, and why to sign up. Twitter’s home page is at http://twitter.com/ and a list of software, both for the Mac and PC, can be found at http://twitter.com/downloads. To follow Bob and Chris on Twitter, just swing by the website and look for our twitter tags. From there you can just click on the “follow” links and you’ll be all set (if you have a twitter account).

So, is that enough for one show? We sure hope so. Maybe next time we can find a topic and stick to it! By the way, I truly know what “in the can” meant. I was just trying to give Bob a hard time.

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!

Guest Introduction by Seth Harwood

Logo designs by: Bob O’s Logos

Make sure to say hello to our new friends at: Freelance America

If you’re looking to use the internet and New Media to promote your skills and craft, this interview should prove to be very inspiring and chock full of advice to help you map your next steps.

J.C. is launching the third book of his trilogy on July 7th.

You can find more information on J.C. and his work at http://jchutchins.net

Turns out Chris overbooked his free time, and worked himself silly until he literally got sick. All the while Bob got industrious and built himself a brand new website to showcase his unique take on logo design: http://boboslogos.com.

The guys wrap up the show with a recording of the trip to J.C.’s. So pack your bags and come along for the ride. There’s plenty of room at J.C.’s for everyone.

Seth is putting the finishing touches on his latest pod-cast novel, Jack Palms 2 This is Life, the sequel to Jack Wakes Up. Look for JP2 to be released June 3rd at:

SethHarwood.com.

SHOW NOTES:

Featured Podcast – Bells in the Batfry

Album Art by Alexandre Tchobankov
If you would like to send your artwork in for inclusion in our album art, feel free! Make the artwork square. No bigger than 250px by 250px. Make sure that Answers for Freelancers! is the point of the art. Add your signature and a link to your web portfolio. Keep it clean. We’re a family podcast.

The famous LL Bean Snowy River Hat.

Others who sent in letters this show are Edward Wedig and Daniel Young.

The Podcast novelists that we talked about are J.C. Hutchins and Scott Sigler.

Also coming up is an interview with Dan Thompson, cartoonist of Lost Sheep fame.

Mark is also an accomplished painter and talks about his latest gallery opening. If you’d like to learn more about Mark please check out these exciting links.

Mark Covell

Mark Covell’s Blog

Marks Gallery Opening

Editors note: Congratulations if you downloaded the earlier version of this pod-cast. You now have in your possession a rare behind the scenes valuable collectors edition of Answers for Freelances Ep2-7. The first person to write in and identify our mistake wins a free limited edition autographed Answers for Freelancers T-shirt. Good luck and happy hunting.

Technorati Profile

Matt asked us to track a job from start to finish… kind of like that School House Rock where a bill becomes a law…. Well it took a little while, but here it is. Starting with a phone call and ending with an invoice. This episode is all about the life cycle of a job. Thanks for writing in Matt.

Well folks, you guessed it… it’s time for another Wheel of Misfortune. This time we hear from Chris and he tells us about a slow train, a bus comute and a missed plane. Poor Chris can’t catch a break, but he can catch a cold.

We got pretty busy these last few weeks, and so it took us a little longer than normal to get this show out, but we’re here.

NOTES:

Bum Rush the Charts

We all have a personal brand, whether we work on it or not. What people think of you. What they think of your values, your personality, your dependability, the quality of your work and your character. Its something that just exists. Grabbing hold of your personal brand, and making sure that people see you for who your really are, is a task that most of us neglect.

The fact of the matter is, if YOU don’t take control of your personal brand, then either someone else will, or worse, no one will, and it will present itself differently to everyone you meet. How do you take control of your personal brand? What kinds of action can you take to promote it? How does your elevator pitch fit in, and what’s the best way to introduce yourself to those who are in your network?

This interview is a favorite of both Bob and Chris. However, because we had so much fun doing it, the interview definitely ran long. Its a full hour. Some of the language in this episode is a little harsh, thus the explicit tag, but its nothing racy or explicit.

Show Notes:

Twist Image Blog:
http://www.twistimage.com/blog/

Six Pixels of Separation Podcast:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=157616278

Mitch Joel’s presentation with C.C. Chapman at Podcamp Boston:
http://www.managingthegray.com/2006/09/11/
building-your-brand-podcamp-boston-presentation/

Just One More Book!
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/10/28/listener-input-show-5/

This Week in Tech: http://www.twit.tv/TWiT

This week in Media: http://www.twit.tv/TWiM

Podcasting Software:

CastBlaster (Windows) – http://castblaster.com/

UberCaster (Mac) – http://ubercaster.com/

GarageBand (Mac) – http://www.apple.com/ilife/

http://thebatfry.com/

However, there were a whole lotta problems all the way around with this episode.

First, we did the Mail Bag during the weekend of the big internet changeover in our town. Apparently, Comcast was taking over from Adelphia. So, we kept losing connectivity, and by the end of our 35 minutes of audio, we had spent about an hour and a half trying to record while dealing with dropped calls. Frustration reigned supreme at the end of that call.

Second, apparently Bob’s machine sometimes switches over into “super static” mode. So, even once we were finished, when I got the final audio, it was noisy.

Third, Bob is smack in the middle of some of his worst deadlines this year, so we couldn’t re-record. The decision: Do we miss an episode and re-record it in a week or two? Do I record it myself, all over (I can hear you now, “No, Please No!”) Or do I clean it up the best and I can and put it out as is? Right. Put it out! Here it is. Enjoy!

Show Notes:

Wheel of Misfortune event by Pia Sjolin – http://www.pia-us.com/

Mail Bag links

Jay Montgomery’s Website – http://www.jaymontgomery.com/

Podcamp Atlanta – http://podcamp.pbwiki.com/PodCampAtlanta

Aquent/AIGA Design Salary Survey 2005 – http://www.designersalaries.com/

Aquent/AMA Marketing Salary Survey 2006 – http://www.marketingsalaries.com/

National Association for the Self-Employed – http://www.nase.org/

Special apologies for cutting Dan Salzman’s information out of the notes we were using for the Mail Bag. Dan’s website is at:
http://www.dansalzman.com/

Glad to get this interview out there.  I interviewed Bill last November, just a couple of days after our interview with Michael Gerber, which caused such a stir amongst ourselves and some of our listeners, that we ended up revisiting the Gerber topic and sitting on this interview longer than we expected.  Sorry, Bill!

Show Notes:

Networking You – http://www.networkingyou.com/
Why Don’t Doctors Cold Call – http://networkingyou.com/self_study.htm

Networking Boot Camp – February 1st – Glastonbury, CT

Books mentioned by Bill, written by Harvey Mackay:

Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten

You know, if we’re gonna keep linking to books, maybe we should get an affiliate account?

Online Networking Resources mentioned in the interview

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/
MySpace – http://myspace.com/
Second Life – http://secondlife.com/

On the other hand, deadlines can be the fuel to keep your business running on time, keeping projects from being delayed, and keeping even the toughest clients happy with your results.

In this roundtable discussion, Bob, Ken and Chris discuss the importance of deadlines, how to keep them from becoming your downfall, and how to turn them to your advantage.

Also, Bob gives you would-be adventurers a pep talk and an art director’s perspective on getting your portfolio out there. Don’t Hesitate. Do it now. Not later. Don’t wait. Really. Why are you still reading this?

Show Notes:

Introduction and Promo: Dennis Gray from 101 Uses for Baby Wipes.

Show Art: Alexandre Tchobankov – http://sashil79.googlepages.com/

We take a hard look at the differences between freelancing and entrepreneurship. How are they fundamentally different? How do you apply Michael’s techniques to either to become more successful? Is one doomed to failure while another is a rocketship heading to the moon? Not necessarily, but until you understand the key features of each, you can’t really start to grow either, or grow beyond where you are now.

Give it a listen and weigh in. All of us, the hosts AND your fellow listeners, are anxious to know what you think. Where do you stand on this idea? Did you like the topic? Would you like to see us continue to offer more of this diverse type of subject matter? Let us know. Shoot us an email, leave a comment below, or drop us some audio using our My Chingo account to the left.

Yup, we know we were a little later than anticipated getting this out, but that just really goes to show the strong feeling we have on this subject.  We’re glad you’re still with us.

Pod on.  Chris, Bob and Ken

If you have reached a point in your career where you are looking for this kind of growth, then this is an interview you don’t want to miss.

Freelancing is an idea that is full of romance and wonder; doing your own thing, anywhere you want, anytime you want. Traveling the world while creating your art, or working from home while watching your children grow up. Paying the bills when your ‘real job’ disappears. Freelancing presents itself as an ideal solution to many people under various circumstances, and if it didn’t work, people all over the world wouldn’t be doing it.

However, the very nature of freelancing is this: as guns for hire, we only make money when we are producing. This means that eventually we hit a threshhold we cannot pass beyond, since we can only work so many hours, and we can only charge so much. Also, for most of us, as we get older, the number of people we are responsible for providing for keeps increasing. Finally, as creative individuals, most of us have all sorts of projects that we wish we could be working on, but our freelance duties keep us from accomplishing them. How do we move beyond that?

When its time for you to move beyond the pay-per-piece or pay-per-hour world of Freelancing, but you want to continue working as a independent artist, its time to get a fresh perspective on your business and what it will take to truly make the next phase of your career take flight. Our interview with Michael Gerber serves to open the door to this line of thinking, and we hope you will join us as we consider these new ideas.

Show Notes:

E-Myth Worldwide: http://www.e-myth.com/

In the Dreaming Room: http://inthedreamingroom.com/

Michael Gerber’s Manifesto: http://blog.inthedreamingroom.com/

E-Myth Revisited: Amazon.com

Also, make sure to follow up with us next week as we discuss in more detail many of the ideas that Michael has presented in his book that we simply weren’t able to touch on in our interview.

Now, Pia is bringing all of these talents and disciplines together as she begins her 4th business venture. Trying to eliminate the necessity of “matching” fabrics, wall papers, glass and other home decor items by creating entire sets based on the same patterns and looks, she is pushing all of her experience and skills to new horizons.

Show Notes:

Pia’s Website: http://www.pia-us.com/

Currently, information for the “Stars and Stripes Mixed With Yellow and Blue” conference and show scheduled for Nov 6 & 7, 2006 can be found at http://ssac-usa.org/

Pia will be showing her work at the Farmington Valley Arts Center (http://www.fvac.net/) in Avon, CT between Nov 17 and Dec 23, 2006.

I think that’s about it! Hope you enjoyed the show. As always, if you have a question or want to send us feedback, send your email to: answersforfreelancers@gmail.com

Show Notes:

Introduction and Promo: John Cost from the Mac Tips Daily podcast.

Bob’s ArtGeek Moment:
Bob Ostrom’s new and improved website. You know, the one that Wichita Rutherford has been telling everyone on Satellite Radio about. And, oh yeah, here’s Wichita’s site again, just for good measure. You can check out Bob’s larger-than-life rendering of Wichita in the new logo.

FTP Clients: Bob uses Fetch. Chris uses Transmit.

Here’s a direct link to Apple’s support site. Also, almost anything you might need to know about your Mac itself can be found by clicking you desktop, then clicking the “help” link at the top of your screen and choosing “Mac Help”.

iPhoto as a Content Management tool:
iPhoto is a part of iLife, which comes with any new Mac. Upgrades can be purchased from Apple.

Here’s a direct link to iPhotoBuddy. For all sorts of other tools for you Mac, including others to help you manage multiple iPhoto libraries, visit Apple’s Made 4 Mac products guide.

I think that’s about it! Hope you enjoyed the show. As always, if you have a question or want to send us feedback, or want us to start fighting internally by telling us which of our podcasters is your favorite, send your email to: answersforfreelancers@gmail.com

Show Notes:

Promo: 101 Uses for Baby Wipes – Dennis Gray explores the various facets of parenting from a father’s point of view.

Show Notes:
Round Table -
Keeping control of your life, amidst the freedom of working for yourself.

Lance Panstrom: PodCamp Boston is coming September 9 & 10. Chris will be attending. Visit Podcamp.org for more information.

Guest Musician: Oh, no! We don’t have a guest musician this week. We could choose artists that we like from the Podsafe Music Network, or Garageband.com, but we’d rather have your music. Send us your website address, and we’ll check it out. If we like what we hear, we’ll play it! answersforfreelancers@gmail.com

Promo: 7th Son: Descent - (explicit) JC Hutchins spins a tale of intrigue, suspense, action and clones.

All of it but this, that is…

Show Notes:
Round Table -
Comparing Apples to, ummm, non-apples. Think Macs are just way more expensive than other computers? Check out these reports.
NY Times
Mac Daily News
Macworld

Lance Panstrom: Send us your news. answersforfreelancers@gmail.com

Building your Portfolio with iPhoto, .Mac, and iWeb -
iLife
.Mac
Bonus note: Bob built his portfolio using iWeb and implemented the slideshow option mentioned in the article. Check it out. Its real nice.

Guest Musician: Van Heffer – Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” in Blue Grass, the way it was meant to be. Find more about Wichita Rutherford and Van Heffer at www.5minutesWithWichita.com

Promo: 7th Son: Descent – (explicit) JC Hutchins spins a tale of intrigue, suspense, action and clones.

Promo: The Mac Cast – Get all the latest Mac news, info and rumors downloaded directly to your iPod.

Show Notes:

Round Table Pt. 1 -
Ken’s Online Portfolio – www.kenperkinsillustrator.com
Bob’s Online Portfolio – www.bobostromstudio.com
Chris’ Online Portfolio – www.aithene.net

Arnold Shortzarebiggr: free online space
www.Flickr.com
www.MySpace.com
www.BlogSpot.com

Round Table Pt. 2 -
www.MarketingTool.com – Sign up for a free listing under a number of relevant categories: Illustrators – Photographers – Writers – Flash Designers – and more.
www.CareerBuilder.com – Online Job Board. Post your resume and set up job search agents. If you set your preferences to Contractor and Part Time, and set one of your Job Categories to Consultant, it effectively returns jobs where people are looking for Freelancers.

Guest Musician: Van Heffer – Ozzy Osbourne in Blue Grass, the way it was meant to be. Find more about Wichita Rutherford and Van Heffer at www.5minutesWithWichita.com

Introducing Bobo the Gorilla and Spalding Breedwell. They will be hosting our Gorilla Marketing section.

The Melman from the Mailroom Show: send in comments, ideas, rants and random thoughts to: answersforfreelancers@gmail.com with ‘mailroom’ in the subject line.

Show Notes:
Intro by Rob Walch of Podcast411.com – inside the podcaster’s studio.

Freelance News: send in your Freelance stories and news to Lance Panstrom: answersforfreelancer@gmail.com with Freelance News in the subject line.

Wheel of Misfortune: send in your freelancing tales of woe to:
answersforfreelancers@gmail.com with ‘misfortune’ in the subject line.

Guest Musician: RD Roth and the Issues @ rdroth.com and cdbaby.com

7th Son – Podcast novel from J.C. Hutchins

The Melman from the Mailroom Show: send in comments, ideas, rants and random thoughts to: answersforfreelancers@gmail.com with ‘mailroom’ in the subject line.