Meet the person behind the project; learn what makes your employer comfortable, what they expect from you, and take a look at yourself from their point of view. Learn how to connect with North American and European culture, with notes on names, religion, and social standards. Start building credit with your employer today, and discover how best to show them that you’re committed to the project.

Topics:

• Understanding the employer’s point of view; what makes them comfortable, and what they expect from you
• Fitting in and “connecting” with North American and European cultures; names, religion, social expectations
• Building credit with your employer
• Showing your engagement/commitment to the project

Learn what it takes to be a successful freelancer, and why you already be one step ahead of the game. Discover ways to reverse-engineer the success of your competitors so that you can surpass them. Explore common interview questions and start to practice your new skills with your coworkers.

Topics:

• Surpassing your offshore competition
• Learning from your competition
• Knowing your strengths

Discover one major “deal breaker” problem that employers have with their freelancers. Discuss the difference between a “language barrier” and variable word meaning.  Learn the importance of asking questions during remote collaborations, and explore 4 ways this directly benefits the freelancer. Analyze your past communications with employers, and understand the importance of “kickoff meetings.”

Topics:

• The importance of asking questions during overseas collaborations
• How questions benefit the freelancer

Learn how to identify your strongest skills and stay inside your comfort zone to save time, make more money, and retain clients. Review a web development case study. Explore ethical ways you can accept projects in unfamiliar fields, while improving your reputation with the employer. Analyze your employment record, and master your market niche.

Topics:

• Identifying your strengths and sticking to them; how this saves you time, makes you money, and helps you retain clients
• How to proceed with a project whose subject matter you’re unqualified in

Understand the challenge and reward of honesty during remote collaborations. See dishonesty from the employer’s perspective, and learn how it hurts the reputation of your fellow freelancers. Learn how often you need to update your employer to maintain a positive working relationship. Review common reasons why freelancers lie to their employers, and why it pays to tell the truth. Find out which excuses employers are sick of hearing, and explore ways to express yourself honestly.

Topics:

• Honesty is one of the biggest problems employers face working with freelancers; why it pays to tell the truth
• Common reasons why freelancers lie to their employers
• Introducing the importance of communication

Experience an employer’s point-of-view when discussing the reputation of the freelance industry today. Learn how the mistakes of others may be hurting your chances to secure projects with Western employers, and why some companies are turning their backs on freelancers today. Review a marketing company case study, and find ways to rise above the failure of other freelancers.

Topics:

• Overseas freelance hiring pools are filled with low-quality workers
• Low-quality hiring pools may hurt your chances of being taken seriously
• You can stop the negative migration away from freelancers

Explore different marketing assets for overseas freelancers, including AdWords, websites, Elance profiles, social media, Google Organic, Blogs, email marketing, forum posts, phone calls, and more. Discuss the pros and cons of each to maximize the cost-effectiveness of your advertising efforts. Learn a simple formula to measure and evaluate whether your current marketing plan is working for you. Begin to form your marketing plan.

Topics:

• Exploring different marketing assets for overseas freelancers; Adwords, websites, Elance profiles, social media, Google Organic, Blogs, email marketing, forum posts, phone calls, and more.

Learn best practices in money management for freelancers. Find new ways to save money. Discover the proper protocol and pricing to use when billing employers, and never work for free again. Use some simple strategies and software recommendations to protect yourself from extra expenses.

Topics:

• Money management practices for freelancers; how to save, how to charge clients, how to protect yourself from extra expenses, how much to charge your employer

Learn one common problem that kills business for freelancers, and how to avoid it. Find your maximum capacity, and never miss another deadline. Discuss why it pays to stay in your comfort zone, rather than overloading your task list. Build a business plan that makes the most of your working hours.

Topics:

• The problems that arise when freelancers take on too much work at once
• Identifying your comfort zone and staying within it

Discuss the importance of visualizing your success. Read insider information on what the “perfect project” looks like from the perspective of an experienced Canadian employer. Learn what to do, and what not to do when hired as a freelancer, comparing two detailed case studies. Create your own “perfect project,” and use it to guide your business practices in the future.

Topics:

• Insider information on the “perfect project” from the perspective of an experienced Canadian employer; what to do, and what not to do

Discover your employer’s preferred testing process, and learn what they’re expecting from products in the alpha or beta stage. Explore ways to complete your testing obligations without paying for QA out-of-pocket. Learn why it pays to discuss testing protocol with your employer early on. Determine how many times you need to test your project before sending it to your employer. Discuss how you can team up with a fellow freelancer to start saving money on testing right away.

Topics:

• Employer expectations for testing and alpha/beta-stage products
• How to complete testing on a project without paying out-of-pocket
• How many times to test your project before sending it to your employer

Discover why more referrals are needed within the freelance industry, and see how they can both benefit you financially. and improve your relationship with the employer. Learn best practices for selecting and managing your referrals. Find out how to protect yourself from any liability if a referral goes badly. Start populating a list of quality companies for referrals today.

Topics:

• Why more referrals are needed within the freelance industry
• How referrals can benefit you
• How to select and manage your referrals

Discuss the importance of trust in the eyes of your employer. Discover ways to build trust with your employer. Avoid common mistakes freelancers make once they’ve earned their employer’s trust. Learn how to resist our natural urge to abuse trust, and see how offering a discount to return clients can actually make you more money.

Topics:

• The importance of trust in overseas collaborations
• How to build trust with your employer
• How to avoid breaking trust, and resisting the natural urge to abuse trust

Insight from a Canadian employer on the effects of delayed work during collaborations with freelancers. See the cost of late submissions from their point of view, and review a web development case study. Learn how to manage delays so that you can start retaining more clients, and improving the reputation of the freelance industry.

Topics:

• Insight from a Canadian employer on the effects of delayed work during freelance collaborations

Reinforce the need for clear communication during overseas collaborations. Learn how to develop a connection with your employer, and understand their expectations. Review 7 steps you can take to ensure healthy communication is present in your working relationship. Determine the minimum level of contact you have to maintain with your clients.

Topics:

• The need for communication in an overseas collaboration
• Developing a connection and understanding expectations
• 7 steps to clear communication

Learn the right and wrong way to announce an upcoming vacation or period of time off to your employer. Discuss the consequences of short notice announcements. Add vacation protocol to your business plan so that you never waste your employer’s time again.

Topics:

• The right and wrong way to announce a vacation to your employer

Discuss how time zone differences cause delays and end up costing both parties money. Learn how to overcome time zone differences by overlapping your working hours. Review your business plan, and determine the minimum number of hours you need to overlap with your employer each day.

Topics:

• How time zone differences cause delays and cost both parties money
• How to overcome time zone differences with overlapping hours

Your employer may be an excellent business person, but have little experience with your area of expertise - how do you handle “ignorant” requests from your employer? Review a web development case study and learn when and how to correct your employer’s mistakes. Add a new communication strategy to your business plan.

Topics:

• When and how to correct your employers’ mistakes

Discuss the impact copyright violation has on your career, and how to avoid it. Learn why so many freelancers violate copyright law, and discover how to protect yourself from legal repercussions and angry clients in all future projects. Add copyright-compliant resources to your business plan.

Topics:

• The impact copyright violation has on your career, and how to avoid it.