Multiple hats
Oh, the joy of being freelance. Weekends disappear in a flurry of urgent briefs.
Had a request on Friday to edit an enormous piece for Sunday morning. Delighted, of course: I love to work.
But it did put a dent in the weekend.
The life of a freelancer seems peachy, I'm sure. Work your own hours. No boss. Wear what you want. No office politics.
The reality? I've never worked so hard in my life.
You don't just have to do the work (as if that wasn't enough). There's the accounting. Cashflow. Tax and BAS.
You're also the new business director, social media manager, IT department and HR support. Personal trainer, cab driver and nutritionist. The list goes on.
That's a lot of hats to wear.
After 20 years of working for myself, I wouldn't have it any other way. And (before you say it) I know no-one would employ me, anyway ...
But it does take a certain type of personality. Organised, hardworking, brilliant? Just a workaholic, I suspect.
It's not for everyone, that's for sure.
Still. I start the week with one large project already done, dusted and completed. Phew.
Onto the stuff that caught my eye last week ...
Free tools
Well, that got your attention...
From Digital Synopsis, eight (mostly free) design tools.
The one I tried straight away was AutoDraw. Being a wordsmith (not a visual person), I struggle to draw. AutoDraw takes your scribbles and offers tidied up suggestions.
There's a free tool to remove image backgrounds.
Didn't try that one, but did try DeepArt. Upload an image, then pick a famous image/style from a well-known artist. It recreates your image in the style of that artist.
There's an image enhancer. And a couple more.
I always like free stuff.
Negotiating tactics
I enjoyed this - from Quick and Dirty Tips.
Six tactics for negotiating. And I recognise a couple (from Chris Voss and Robert Cialdini).
1.Talk less, listen more. This is classic Chris Voss, the former FBI hostage negotiator. Empathise, with open-ended questions.
2. Use your emotions wisely. Positive emotions build trust, whereas negative emotions like anger can tear down trust.
3. 'Foot in the door', and 'door in the face'. Cialdini's 'ask for something small to get something big' and 'ask for something big to get something small'. Classic.
4. Give people a sense of control.
5. Pretend you’re negotiating on behalf of someone else.
6. Invest in the long-term relationship rather than emphasizing one-off wins.
Nice.
Tech pivots
Oh, this is fun.
How some famous tech companies started. Then pivoted.
Samsung's early products included dehydrated fish.
In 1945, Sony (sorry: the 'Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute') launched with a wooden rice cooker.
Twitter was podcasting site Odeo in 2005.
YouTube was launched as a video-dating site with the tagline: 'Tune in, Hook up.'
Nokia was a successful rubber boot company in 1973.
There's hope for us all. Except Nokia, maybe.
QotW
Quote of the week:
'Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.'
Aristotle
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