I know that question is sort of like where's your favorite fishing hole. Hi, all -- I've been a freelancer for about a year and a half now, and for the first time, things are slow. I guess I'm on the famine side of the feast-famine freelancer cycle. Two questions: 1. Are there e-learning groups (besides Articulate of course) that have helped you generate leads/work? 2. How much of your work comes through cold calling? (I have an aversion to cold calling, but will pull up the big boy panties if need be.) I'm guessing that your work comes from a little bit of everywhere (traffic to your site, repeat business and referrals from clients, cold calling, etc), but I don't really know that till I ask. Thank you in advance for your time and input. --Daniel

Always a great topic, Daniel. We had a similar thread last year: http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/908/3243.aspx I've heard from several folks that their Screenrs helped get them gigs while others have received offers after sharing templates and other freebies in the community. A lot of work can be found from established vendors and boutique studios--companies who specialize in e-learning design and development. Getting into their contractor pool is one way to bring in steady work.

Hey Daniel, I'll echo the others here. I just finished my 90th day as a full-time freelancer. The biggest thing I've learned thus far is having a full project plate pretty much eliminates business development. To answer your first question, this community is by far the best I've associated with in terms of networking and leads. My participation here is not to get leads but to help others and share tips. Occasionally I'll get a ping either directly or as a referral. As for your second question, I don't cold call and don't anticipate ever needing to, nor wanting to. Couple tips that helped me over the past couple years to be able to go out on my own: 1. Follow Bruce's points about your site. Get some visibility. Even if you don't have a portfolio ready, at a minimum have a blog where you can share ideas, tips, etc. to show readers what you can do. 2. Follow other industry blogs, communities, groups and participate in those conversations and comment on articles. 3. Take small projects to get used to managing your time. Don't worry about money at this point. Your goal is to show you're a trusted contractor to your client. THAT will bring you return business and referrals. One of my first ever clients is still with me for two years now. 4. If you can, attend one or two of the big annual conferences. The sessions themselves are fabulous, but the face-to-face networking is invaluable. 5. Set some goals. Max # hours you can work a week. Manage 1, 2 or more projects at once? Learn a new skill. 6. Finally, be patient. It's about your passion for the craft and producing quality outputs. Your work will speak for itself. Crush it!

hello daniel, I think a good idea is to join some elearning groups on linkedin. beside tips and tricks there are some business opportunities. launch a search and join them!

Daniel - I'm coming up on my 5 year anniversary as a freelancer, and all my work comes from referrals - so network, network, network is my advice. I find that the online stuff typically supports or validates your track history, but may provide leads for you. Instead of cold calling, I`d be more strategic than that and figure out if you have any connection to an organization and get a warm intro instead. Kind of like "six degrees of separation". The ups and downs are a pretty natural part of freelancing and while it can be stressful, you have to know it's there and plan/prepare for it. Use the downtime to create a business development strategy, otherwise you might get a bit panicky and take anything that comes your way, which may end up being the wrong thing. Best of luck.

David: Thanks for the link to last year's discussion and the sharing idea. And, of course, for all your help on this forum and youtube (e.g., Audacity tutorials). Mindmapping tutorial was very helpful. Holly: Thanks for reminding me that this "downtime," which is actually nice to have -- I mean when you're slammed you can't really read about ID or learn new skills -- is the time to develop strategies for new biz. Congratulations on the five-year mark. That's cool. Hope we cross paths again. --Daniel

Freelancers -- where do you find most of your work?

JulieStelter
Community Member
11 years ago
Hi Ron, Have you considered selling the course to a professional association who could distribute it for you? Cheers, Julie
Mohammad-Hassam
Community Member
11 years ago

Ron Black said:

Hi Freelancers,

I am looking for someone to help me convert some educational courses I have using Articulate software. I posted the project on guru.com; the pr0ject number is Project ID: 845569.

guru.com is a good site for entrepeneurs and freelancers to bid on jobs that are posted there. There are other sites like this out there- elance.com and odesk.com to name a couple. Hope this helps you expand your business!

Ron

Hi Ron,

I am interested to take this project but unfortunately, I couldn't find your project in GURU.COM .

I shall be glad if you kindly PM me the details of the project.

MH
MarianoA
Community Member
11 years ago

We are looking for someone with experience publishing Storyline content for desktop browsers and iPads and to be hosted and tracked in Moodle.

If you have done this before and you are available, please send me a PM.

EG
MarianoA
Community Member
11 years ago
We are still looking for someone. More details in next post.
MarianoA
Community Member
11 years ago

Does anyone have experience deploying Storyline content in Moodle for iPad? (not using the articulate player)

Please read below

http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/51018/274138.aspx#274138
ElizabethIsrael
Community Member
11 years ago
E-lance has gotten a lot more active for people with e-learning skills.
anoyatis
Community Member
11 years ago
I wouldn't consider eLance a realistic place for getting consistent work unless one is used to lowballing themselves beyond belief.

Alex
JayYearley
Community Member
11 years ago

All, I was wondering if anyone was able to shed some light on writing proposals. There were some comments in this topic which mentioned that you sometimes write up your own.

In the case where you're essentially your own E-learning business, I can see that creating proposals for the project is ideal, so that you can come to agreement with terms of the project (as Kevin mentioned: scope, requirements, deliverables, fees, tech considerations, etc.), and come to agreement on contract.

So the question is, does anyone have any complete examples of proposals they'd be willing to share that outline these items, and how to write one? (or possibly a basic template, or any type of resource - as am fully aware that all E-learning proposals are vastly different)

I'm familiar with working on E-learning (and all of the requirements, deliverables of the project), though not necessarily writing and creating the full proposals for the beginning of them (although I have done negotiating in other forms for other digital Web projects before, so not completely new to the idea.

I know there are books, and other resources out there on writing proposals and contracts and such - though not specifically for E-learning proposals. And as there are a lot of unique specifics that go into E-learning projects, that's where the question / request stems from!
AdeleSommers
Community Member
11 years ago

Hello, Jay!

This seems to be a frequent topic on the forums, and a number of excellent suggestions have been posted over the years.

Perhaps the easiest way to track several of them down is to open the Google/Articulate search engine (http://articusearch.com/), and enter search terms such as "proposal template." I think you'll find quite a few great ideas in the posts, which you can then combine or modify to suit your needs.

Best of luck with your proposal writing!

Adele
JayYearley
Community Member
11 years ago
Thanks Adele. That helps. Very nice, someone has created a search site just for these Articulate forums!