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Backup

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Betty in Backup, Freelance Business, Technology and Software No Comments
Not this kind of backup

It’s funny how many different meanings words can have. A backup could be a person who provides help, musicians who play behind the main person in a band, a traffic jam, or a copy of computer data. If you haven’t already guessed, that last one is what I’m talking about here. My computer setup: A […]

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How do you track your mileage?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Betty in Freelance Business, Freelance Q & A Recommends, Mileage, Taxes in the USA, Technology and Software No Comments
A long and winding road

You probably track your business mileage. At least you should, or you could be paying more in taxes. The 2012 IRS mileage rate is 55.5¢ a mile: that means that you get to deduct 55.5¢ from your taxable income for every mile you drive for business. It’s gone up to 56.5¢ for 2013. Going to […]

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Why?

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Betty in Books, Freelance Business No Comments
Start with Why by Simon Sinek

Lately I’ve been trying to get away from thinking too much about how to run my business. Instead I’ve been trying to focus on why. Why do I do what I do? It’s a much tougher question than it seems. So why do I care? I believe that I need to understand the why so […]

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Where to work?

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Betty in Freelance Business, Where to Work No Comments
Would you work here?

I usually work in my home office. Ok, it’s a little desk in the corner of the little living room in the little apartment that I share with my hubby and teenage son. When son is out or at school and hubby is out or working at his little desk in the other corner of […]

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Uncovering the good stuff

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Betty in Freelance Business, Organizing, The Rest of Your Life No Comments
Play on

I’ve been decluttering and organizing. I just brought a pile of stuff to my local thrift shop. And it was just stuff: nothing with sentimental value or that would cost much to replace. And you know what? When I got rid of the stuff that was cluttering up the surface, I gained access to the […]

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Freelance Famine

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Betty in Freelance Business, Marketing, Mistakes No Comments
Not much growing here

You’ve heard it before: freelance work can be feast or famine. Busy one day, nothing to do the next. Over the past 5 years or so of my freelance life I’ve been lucky. The famine times have been rare. Right now, my business is in a famine. Up until last week I was fairly busy. […]

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Using a contract

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Betty in Contracts, Freelance Business No Comments
Don't just shake on it

You’ve heard it before. Use a contract, use a contract, use a contract. But what should be in a contract? A disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. There are lots of sources for contracts out there, which I’ll write about another day. When I first started my business (AKA […]

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Pricing: How much does a logo cost?

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Betty in Copyright Issues, Freelance Business, Pricing & Rates No Comments
What's the price?

Logos are a special case for design pricing. Here are some of the things I think about: Company size (ie is there one “decider” or will you be having multiple meetings and feedback from a whole committee’s worth of people) Research required (bigger company probably requires a lot more research) Value to company Is an […]

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Online distractions

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Betty in Freelance Business No Comments

Let me know if this happens to you. You’re working away, diligently designing or writing. “Oh,” you think, “I’ll pop onto the internet to look up this very important fact.” A half hour later you quit your web browser only to realize that you spent 30 minutes browsing Facebook (or whatever site you like so […]

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What if I’m self-taught?

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Betty in Freelance Business No Comments
Big Red Schoolhouse

Q: Is it possible to have a successful freelance career as a designer (or web developer or writer) if I don’t go to school for it? A: I’m a designer, so my answer is directed to someone who wants to be a designer. Yes, it’s possible. To do it well takes work. It takes time […]

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About me

I'm Betty, and I created Freelance Q & A to share what I've learned as a successful freelance graphic designer.

I'm based in Boulder, CO and work with clients across the USA. You can visit my business site and see my portfolio at
Betty Taylor Design.

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