After a bit of thinking over the past few weeks, I’ve decided to put the Freelance Chi podcast on hold for now. It was taking as much time to produce as this newsletter and I feel like I could put that same effort into the newsletter and create more value.

I might start it back up again later. Podcasting is still really interesting to me and I’d like to expand into additional shows, but I need to focus on the best 80/20 work right now.

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How to make your resolutions a reality in 2015 (freelancersunion.org)

One new thing I’m doing this year has been to have larger goals (actually I call them targets because goals have too much conceptual baggage). This article from Justine Clay has good tips around taking your large goals and making them more than just ideas.

15 books every successful freelancer should read (nusii.com)

Nathan Powell from Nusii lists several books for freelancers. They are a bit design focused, but I’ve read about half of the books and would agree on their usefulness.

The Freelancer’s Guide to Long-Term Contracts (theadmin.org) SPONSOR

Long-term contracts have been the one technique that really made my freelance business a success. So successful in fact that I’m able to work one week each month, taking the rest of the month off, and still make enough to live off of. This training teaches you how.

How to Continually Sharpen Your Skills (envato.com)

It’s easy to stuck in a rut and continue doing the same thing you’ve done month after month. As a freelancer this can become dangerous, especially if you work in a rapidly changing industry. Sometimes it’s easier to make continuous, minor improvements like the ones described in this article, than it is to perform a massive overhaul all at once.

What you can do for your clients (theadmin.org)

Selling your skills can win you a few clients but you need to focus on what you can actually do for your clients. When applied, what will your skills accomplish?

“Let’s keep in touch”: how to stay connected to former clients (freelancersunion.org)

A strong follow up process has helped make sales easier to manage, but I’ve never been able to stick with a follow up process for former clients.

4 Easy Tests to Run on Your Consulting Website (consultingsuccess.com)

In this article Michael Zipursky introduces some ideas you can use to make your website stronger, based on conversion optimization ideas from product-based websites.

Expenses or investments: What are you selling potential clients? (guerrillafreelancing.com)

Mike Smith writes about how important the words you use to describe your business are to clients. I’ve been paying attention of this a lot myself which is why I now refer to my role as a “software consultant” instead of “programmer”.

Thanks, I’ll see you next week

Eric Davis (@edavis10)