How To Manage Freelance Jobs For Work-at-home Freelancers

Freelance work is growing by leaps and bounds. Perhaps this is because what Americans earn in their regular jobs is no longer sufficient to support their monthly expenses. With the rising costs of living, this is not surprising anymore.

Freelance work also benefits the company. As opposed to hiring regular employees, companies don’t have to provide benefits to freelance workers. In fact, most of these freelance workers have a job of their own and are just in need of a little extra cash in their hands.

Freelance jobs often involve creative works like websites, web content and graphics. Some also need or hire people who can sell products on the side in exchange for a commission. Though it is not so hard to do freelance work, it is important that people manage their time as this can become a source of stress for them.

Below are some tips you can follow to have a stress-free freelance job.

Make a time table

As hard as it is to do and as obsessive-compulsive as it may seem, setting a time table for your freelance work is one way to deal with it. This is important as most freelancers have a day job that they attend to.

Divide and conquer

Eating a whole pie in just one serving can give you indigestion. The same goes with freelance work. Doing all the work in just one day can lead you to high stress levels.

What you can do to avoid this is to divide the job into smaller pieces that you can “chew” everyday during your free time. This way, you are slowly completing the job without feeling a lot of stress. Make sure when you divide the job, you will not lose the continuity and make the job appear to be disjointed.

This is especially true with jobs that must have coherence such as with writing or with drawing. Moods for the day can influence the drawings and the style of writing. Before you divide the job, make sure you have taken this into consideration.

Discipline yourself

Managing your time and dividing the work cannot be done if you don’t have the discipline to see it through. This means you have to make sure you stick to your schedule. For instance, if you have to finish a specific amount of work at a certain period, then make sure you finish it.

If you don’t, at least make sure you can cover what you have not done on your next day. For example, if you promised yourself to finish three articles every day and you managed to finish only two today, then you will need to finish four the next day.



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Home Study Interior Design

For those that wish to study interior design, home study interior design is becoming increasingly more popular. Many students continue to work and even raise families thus taking an online program is much more suited to their lifestyle. A degree in the interior design profession is more important today as well due to the strict regulations imposed by many states. You must pass a qualifying exam in order to call yourself an Interior Designer.

One of the first steps you must take is to research the school you wish to attend. Make sure they are an accredited institution. Find out whether home study interior design is available.

A nonprofit accrediting body develops guidelines and standards that the interior design schools must maintain. If the school does not meet the guidelines then the school is not accredited. The nonprofit agency is called the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. Some schools that do not have the accreditation may not have applied for it. It is up to the student to do their due diligence. Contact Interior Design firms and ask them what schools they recommend.

The prospective student should research the various programs offered to get a better idea of exactly what program best fits their needs. Find out if financing available for the student. If possible speak to former students, were they able to secure a position that they wanted after graduating. Can the student learn the proper techniques through home study interior design?
Set up an appointment with a faculty member.

Find out as much information as possible before committing to a particular school. Try to find out whether students who take home study interior design actually get the same type of jobs as students who physically attend school. Do you have the workspace and time allotted to take on something as challenging as interior design home study? You must answer this important question. Are you ready for the commitment? If you are then it could be one of the most important decisions of your life.


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Model Releases - Do You Need One?

An important question for photographers and models today is whether or not release forms are necessary. Educational and informational use of photos generally does not require a release. Beyond those two general categories however, release forms raise interesting questions.

The professional photographer/model relationship is given legitimacy and clarity with a release form. The model knows exactly how the photographer is going to use her images, and she gives explicit permission for such use. Misunderstandings are avoided and the photographer is free to use the photos as the release dictates.

This is especially important in using images on the internet. Models need to know how and where their pictures are going to show up. A generic statement that includes all possible media and venues, a ‘covering the waterfront’ statement lets them know the photographer is in charge of where the images will be placed.

Some commercial venues are obvious—printed advertisements, brochures and posters advertising a product or service, any product that will be ultimately sold to the public, and any eCommerce sites (such as photography), to name a few. Although legal issues surrounding use of photographs in the industry are almost unheard of, obtaining written permission from models to use photographs of them is good insurance. The photographer can avoid even the potential legal hassle with a release form.

So what about non-commercial uses? Or the commercial-gray areas, such as photojournalism? If photos become a story that is sold to a magazine or newspaper or ezine, is a release necessary, especially if one or more photos feature a person? The owner of the story is making a profit from the sale of the article/pictures. Does the person featured have a proprietary interest in the pictures? We suggest the answer is yes, even if it’s only on grounds of behaving with respect and consideration for others. The legal issues haven’t been identified, so far as we can determine. However, out of respect for those whom you shoot, whether it is a professional model or a passerby on the street, securing their permission to use their image(s) is respectful.

Securing permission is wise even when you photograph people you do not know. Written permission on a release form prevents someone from subsequently changing his/her mind.

Some really great candid photography shows up sometimes years after the actual photo was taken. You may have opportunity to use a photo stored in your digital picture files that is just perfect for a commercial project you’re involved in. When the photo features a person, it’s not only wise and respectful but also helpful to know who that person is. Release forms provide that information.


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