Discussing the life and business
of being a freelancer.

 

 S1-Ep2 - Creative Independence - Experiencing Technical Difficulties [25:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome to the second episode of illustrator Bob Ostrom’s and multimedia designer Chris Wilson’s new show, Creative Independence! The goal of this show is to explore and highlight the many and varied ways that intelligent and creative people are using their talents to create and run businesses that generage income in ways that are fulfilling and often do not include billing for hourly, project or any other pay per work rate.

We hope you enjoy it!

Opening:
Chris and Bob are experiencing technical difficulties with Chris’ audio equipment. Because of this, we’re totally unable to record a skype interview with artist and creator of The Dreamer comic, Lora Innes (http://thedreamercomic.com/).

—–

Bob Makes Headway with Twitter:
At about 5 minutes in, Bob relates a few experiences that he’s had using Twitter, and how he was able to leverage the twitter community to help him thru a tough situation in his work.

Twitterati mentioned include:
http://twitter.com/gcoghill
http://twitter.com/danidraws
http://twitter.com/rachelvalley
http://twitter.com/Mercuralis

Application mentioned for categorizing your twitter network:
http://tweetdeck.com/

Measure your twitter influence:
http://twitter.grader.com/
psst… I’ve gone up to 99.8 since we recorded the show
heed me my freelance warriors. There are worlds to be conquered.

Call for Intros (14:20):
We need intros. Record a short intro. Introduce and pimp yourself; who you are, what you do, where we can find you, and then finish with something like “and you’re listening to Creative Independence with Chris and Bob.” Or “Bob and Chris.” The guy in second billing won’t hold it against you. And as always, just be creative. And try to keep it under 30 seconds.

CI Sketchbook (16:20):
Bob has started a new site where artists can have fun. He posts monthly assignments that are pretty open to interpretation. Grab your pencil and drawing pad and head over to:
http://cisketchbook.ning.com/
Set up a profile and start drawing. Remember, just have fun.

Contact Info (22:20):

General
site - http://answers-for-freelancers.com/
email - answersforfreelancers (at) gmail.com

Bob
http://twitter.com/bobostromstudio
http://bobostromstudio.com

Chris
http://twitter.com/aithene
http://www.livestrong.com/profile/aithene/
my livestrong account is chronicling my 100 everything challenge, based on the 100 pushups challenge:
http://hundredpushups.com/

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 CI Ep 1-1: Chris Ventures Forth [32:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Welcome one and all to the first ever episode of Bob Ostrom’s and Chris Wilson’s new show, Creative Independence!  The goal of the show is to explore and highlight the many and varied ways that intelligent and creative people are using their talents to create and run businesses that generate income that does not include billing for hourly, project or any other rate.

We hope you enjoy it!

Opening:
Chris is all over the mic with a cold and Bob apologizes about having completely dissed the twitterverse by accident.

The Content:
First up, at 10 minutes in, Chris starts talking about his and his wife’s first foray into the online sales business, Intelligent Acne Treatment.  They operate the IAT website under the business umbrella of their company, Light Therapy Options.  Light Therapy Options was the idea of Chris’ wife and its purpose is to educate people on the healthy natural benefits of light, especially sunlight, which for most of the year is a free resource, that can be used to stave off a multitude of diseases from acne to cancer, and where necessary, to make products affordable so that most people are able to purchase them.

Intelligent Acne Treatment - http://intelligentacnetreatment.com/
Light Therapy Options home site - http://lighttherapyoptions.com/

Other links referenced in the site:
Twittermail - http://twittermail.com/
Enlux - http://enluxled.com/
High Rankings with Jill Whalen - http://highrankings.com/
Overture - http://overture.com/
Google Ad Words - https://adwords.google.com/
Wordtracker - http://www.wordtracker.com/

Books mentioned in this episode:
E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Amazon (book)
Amazon (CDs)

The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
Amazon

Books of possible interest:
Light: Medicine of the Future by Jacob Liberman
Amazon

Contact Us:
site - http://answers-for-freelancers.com/
email - answersforfreelancers (at) gmail.com
twitter (bob) - http://twitter.com/bobostromstudio
twitter (chris) - http://twitter.com/aithene

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 Ep 3-4 - Moving On: The Final Episode [29:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

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 Ep 3-2 - We'll Always Have Paris (or, The Legend of Chris Wilson) [37:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

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 Ep 3-1-REAL: "Grab Your Gun and Bring in the Cat" - A Quick Update and Mailbag -:- answersforfreelancers@gmail.com [43:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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 EP-3-1_Answers4Freelancers_3-15-08 -:- answersforfreelancers@gmail.com [18:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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.

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 Ep 2-16 - Wheel of Misfortune: Freelance Blues w/ Jonny Goldstein -:- answersforfreelancers@gmail.com -:- http://answers-for-freelancers.com [31:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This episode has been reposted. Somehow the file became corrupted or changed on Libsyn’s servers, and very few people were actually able to download it. Since neither Bob nor I had this problem, we were unaware of it until listener Katie mentioned it to us. Those who have already heard this, feel free to ignore it. We hope the rest of you enjoy it. c.w. - 21 April, 2008

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 »

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 Ep2-15 Answers for Freelancers_11_06_07 -:- answersforfreelancers@gmail.com: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

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 Ep2-14 Answers for Freelancers 10-10-07 -:- answersforfreelancers@gmail.com: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

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 Ep 2-13 - Chris & Bob Ramble. In memory of Pucker. -:- answersforfreelancers@gmail.com [42:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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!