All Graphic Design Portal is a directory of resources, articles, & design education links for graphic designers & web designers including a design forum, blog, & directory.
Take a look at these creative templates for brochures, flyers, newsletters, stationery, postcards, ads, menus and posters for a variety of businesses. If you're faced with time limitations, budget constraints or simply need new creative ideas, let these designs do the work.
SELF-EMPLOYED FREELANCERS & HOME-BASED BUSINESS PARENTS WITH YOUNG KIDS: How to Handle Working at Home with Children for Self-Employed Moms and Dads
Home Office Distractions vs. Employer’s Office Distractions (Offsite vs Onsite) - Of course, distractions are different depending on whether you are working from home or working in an office. Both kinds have their pros and cons so let’s take a look at some of the basic ones so that you can start getting a grasp on good vs. bad distraction behavior.
Can You Afford To Stay At HomeIf
you are considering having one parent stay at home, the
best thing to do is to actually calculate your income and
expenses
Cereal Mom Do You Feed Like a Mom First and a business
owner second?
Work From Home Mothers – Family Strategy - Working from home in any capacity is a change to your family’s life no matter what the business. Many mothers have been faced with the choice of returning to the typical ‘working world’ and passing my children into someone else’s care, or juggling to bring in an income while caring for them myself.
Making Phone Calls When the Kids are There - The phone call comes in from your dream client when your four-year-old pinches your two-year-old over ownership of a particular toy. The ensuing chaos causes your Golden Retriever to start barking. You dream client makes a hasty excuse to end the call while you try to salvage the call with some semblance of professionalism.
Keeping What's Important in Focus Working at home is a dream to many people, and it comes with many benefits. We have the ability to work around our children's schedule. We have the freedom to come and go as we please. We are in control of our future and ourselves. Working at home is great, but it does come with drawbacks.
10 Ways to Avoid Scams - Before investing in any home business opportunity, we strongly recommend that you take steps to research the opportunity and the company to reduce your chances of losing your hard-earned money.
10 Money-Saving Tips For Work at Home Parents - In either case, starting and running a home-based business takes money. How much money, will depend partly on you and the type of business you choose to run. In this article you will find 10 tips to save you and your home business money.
Parents in a Bubble - This article is about mothers who put their entire life into raising their kids ... when the kids leave it is hard to find themselves again.
An Office Baby: Working When Your Littlest is a Babe in Arms - Most new moms-to-be have a delusional fantasy about all the work they will be able to get done once their baby is born. But when reality sets in with a baby who never sleeps more than two hours in a row, running a home business with a baby becomes a unique challenge.
Loving Parent - Are you a parent of either young teenagers or "grown-up" children? if so, maybe we can share our views and experiences and give each other valuable advise.
How To Be a Cheap Freelance Parent - When you decide to become a freelancer, it can be a difficult decision, especially financially. If you're a parent, the decision may be even harder.
Helpful Guidelines For Mothers Who Work at Home Working from home can seem like the answer to a mom’s prayer. Adding another full-time job to this already hectic schedule can be more than any mortal woman can handle. But many mothers are proving every day that with lots of energy, dedication, and organization, they can rise to the task.
Child Care When Both Parents Work at Home - Families where both parents work from the home are rare. But there are definately advantages from the child care point of view with this set up. But for this to work successfully, and without resentment, a schedule can easily be set up to accomodate this.
Should I Return to Work? “When are you going back to work?” I’m often asked this question as my youngest child nears kindergarten age. Some assume that since my children are now school-aged, I will automatically want to return to a job outside the home.
Help! Mary Poppins Please Reply! Still, working at home with small children can be difficult, exhausting and presents a unique challenge. Boundaries overlap and blur. Formerly "work time" and "home time" was clearly defined, now time runs in a continual line forming an everlasting day. Integrating your work schedule with your child's can be done with a little effort and patience on your part.
How do work at home parents get health coverage? - It's wonderful being able to work at home, whether for another company or by starting your own business. However, many work at home options do not include insurance coverage, which is a major problem, especially if you have children. Fortunately, there are options, depending on the degree of coverage required.
Getting Your Family Involved In Your Home Business - Do you own your own home business? Is your family involved with your daily business? Yeah, I know at times it seems easier to just do everything yourself. It is an easy trap to get into. Why take the time to explain the job, show them how it should be done, make sure it is done properly, and then possibly have to redo the project if it is not done to your liking? Yes, we have all been through this at some point. The question is: what are you going to do about it?
Five Tips to Become an At-Home Parent - American two-income families earn 75 percent more than their single-income counterparts of a generation ago, but actually have less discretionary income according to Elizabeth Warren and Amelai Tyagi in their book The Two Income Trap.
Toddlers and Business ~ How to Make it Happen- Working from home while caring for toddlers can be an extreme challenge. Trying to find the time to work on your business, without depriving your toddler of the love and attention they need can be hectic. Often times, work at home moms find that either their toddler is spending too much time in front of the TV or that the business is neglected. So, how do you get your business thriving while still being a good mom?
Tips for Working at Home With Kids - You’re one of the lucky ones. You have managed the best of both worlds by choosing to stay at home with your children while still advancing in your career. So how do you make it work? Here are a few tips.
Balancing Motherhood with a Career - One of the biggest decisions a new mother faces is whether to stay home with her
children or work outside the home. If she takes outside work, she faces
separation from her child and the expense of a caregiver. If she stays home, she
loses income and the stimulation of challenges in the workplace.
A Dozen Tips For Working At Home - Many moms are attracted to working at home while raising their children but the juggle and struggle of managing both effectively can be challenging!
How to Talk on the Phone When You Have a Preschooler - Finding a way to have a phone conversation when you have a toddler or small child can be quite a challenge. How do you do it? Here are some tips from an experienced single-mother, now grandmother.
Why Do You Do It? (Confessions of a Work at Home Mother) Launching a home business is not easy. In the beginning, you deal with income that comes in erratically, expenses you didn't count on and hours you would have balked at if requested by an employer. So why would anyone *choose* this life?
Working from Home Tips for Parents - More than ever, parents are searching for more flexible work options and more than ever, kids need parents who are available. If you've ever considered working from home or telecommuting, take a look at some tips we've uncovered.
Summertime Activities & Your Business - Summer time activities-business… summer time activities - business… Hot day - data to enter! Invite to the beach - calls to make. Lunch on the patio - lunch at the office. Being an entrepreneur is fantastic but sometimes it does have its drawbacks. Many of us are entrepreneurs so we can be home with our children - the problem in the summer is they are home with us!
Summer Sanity for Moms Juggling Home-Based Career - The relaxed pace of summer is peeking just around the corner. And it is definitely welcome to many of us, but the challenge and sometime stressful moments of balancing motherhood and work is not always so welcome.
Helpful Guidelines For Mothers Who Work From Home
- Adding another full-time job to this already hectic schedule can be more than any mortal woman can handle. But many mothers are proving every day that with lots of energy, dedication, and organization, they can rise to the task.
9 Tips for Separating Your Home from Your Business - Working from home can make you long for the days when you had an actual office. Dealing with daily family issues and running a business at the same time can push even a well-balanced person to the brink
How to: Have children and a freelance career - Employed mothers are entitled to six months paid maternity leave, but the self-employed must rely on their own resources. So how do freelancing parents manage? Helen Kaut finds out.
Remote possibilities - Separating home and office in your home office benefits everyone
How to Build a Strong Relationship with Your Customers - A Guide to Customer Relationships for Freelancers & Self EmployedOne of the best ways to run a good business as well as keep the clients which you currently have is to build a strong relationship with your clients. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and this is true for those who have a business relationship. The clients want to feel as if they matter to the business owner as they are part of the reason why the business is still in existence. There are a few ways for business owners to build a strong relationship with their customers as doing so will not only maintain their client base but possibly expand it as well through recommendations.
A complete, secure, online billing application that maintains hourly service billing, flat fee billing and recurring charges. Integration with Authorize.Net and other leading payment gateways provides hands-free recurring billing with a sophisticated CRM system.
If you feel like you are just going through the motions, and that you have no idea whether or not you are running your business properly, then you will be happy to know that there are many free small business courses, workshops, and seminars online. Below you will find a large list of these free educational courses.
A freelancer developing an effective marketing plan must have the right tools to foster success in business. The following list contains several links of marketing plan tools to produce a successful business.
A solid, well-prepared marketing strategy is the foundation of success in business. The freelancer or any type of business owner must become informed on the development of an effective marketing plan. The following links will focus on marketing plan articles for the freelancer to have a successful business.
In any type of the business including those people that perform freelance work, the proper tools are necessary to become a success. The following links consist of selected online tools for the freelancer to develop an effective business plan.
Business plans are necessary in all types of businesses … and this also includes freelancers. Writing an effective business plan will help you plan out the success of your future business. Factors such as customer base, profit potential, as well as many other factors will be placed in this document. The business plan will help you, the freelancer, think through every aspect of your future successful business. We found the following business plan articles to be very helpful and we hope that you will find them to be useful too.
A freelancer’s time is precious and he/she must follow precise tasks to maintain productive performance and income. The following link list will examine useful online tools that will keep the freelancer in a productive manner. The following list is a list of To-Do Lists and Task Management Lists tools and software.
In a previous list, the freelancer was presented with a list of tools for creating invoices. The following links will present the manner and methods in which to develop a proper invoice for the freelancer of any business type. With the following helpful guides and tutorials, you as a consultant will understand the steps that you will need to take in order to invoice your customers properly.
The Invoice is an important part of any type of business out there, including for the freelancer as well. The basic definition of an invoice is a detailed list of goods shipped or services rendered with an accounting of all costs included in the document. As a freelancer, we might not feel comfortable dealing with invoices or money in general. The links below offer a vast variety of online invoicing and billing tools for the freelancer in all business types.
Helpful hints and tips to overcome the dreaded White Page Syndrome - There is probably nothing more dreadful and problematic for a writer than not being able to get going, being stuck on a menacingly white page. Many a time, one or more writing assignment make us feel like Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”; one step shy of freezing to death in a haunted hedge maze. Once the choke has started its nefarious effect, it becomes quicksand, drowning us further and further into an inability to come up with something to properly put down on paper.
In the world of freelance, customer referrals are everything. The amount of customer referrals will often determine how successful one’s business can really be. As word spreads quickly, having customers refer others to you and your services is a wonderful way of gaining new business and making more money. There are a few distinct ways to get more customer referrals for your business.
A complete, secure, online billing application that maintains hourly service billing, flat fee billing and recurring charges. Integration with Authorize.Net and other leading payment gateways provides hands-free recurring billing with a sophisticated CRM system.
Browse through our extensive list of free Business, Computer, Engineering and Trade magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills and interests; topics include management, marketing, operations, sales, & technology. Simply complete the application form and submit it. All are absolutely free to freelance professionals who qualify.
The followup to Brendan Sinclairs successful Web Design Business kit is a comprehensive look at all the business aspects of working as a web designer. It's thorough and has some excellent advice in it.
All Graphic Design Portal is a directory of resources, articles, & design education links for graphic designers & web designers including a design forum, blog, & directory. 
Billing Orchard's Invoicing for Freelancers
