Freelancing Tips for 2014

With 2014 drawing near, it's only natural to look back on the past year and look ahead to the one forthcoming. The world of freelancing is witnessing rapid changes like never before.

Today, more and more people are leaving their regular jobs to "go freelance" or moonlighting a freelancing career as a secondary means of income. Because after all, what with the job market still not fully recovered and of course the dream of working from home and being your own boss, freelancing is more than ever the destination of choice for those looking for work.

Apart from the traditional offline freelancing practice of subcontracting, the online freelancing world is dominated by less than a dozen major websites. We have global freelance "marketplaces" like Elance, Fiverr, Freelancer, Guru and oDesk as well as more unconventional destinations like www.craigslist.org, www.freelancewriting.com, www.microlancer.com, www.seoclerks.com, www.99designs.com and other more specific niche-oriented freelance websites.

So looking forward to the year ahead, what are some great tips that freelancers can apply? We at Frontier Freelancing have come up with the Top 10 Freelancing Tips for 2014 below:

Wordpress Basics for Websites

The most popular content management  system (CMS) used by websites and blogs throughout the world is no doubt WordPress. It's used by well over 50% of all blogs and websites in order to create, modify, edit and publish text, videos and links on the internet.


CMSs are basically computer programs that can be accessed and run through a central interface. Most CMSs have their own 'dashboards' enabling users to control every aspect of content management. The 3 most popular CMSs in use today are WordPress, Drupal and Joomla.

When it comes to running your own blog or website, using WordPress is

The Top 5 Web Hosting Companies for Businesses

After last talking about the right web host for your specific needs, we now focus our attention on some of the best web hosting companies for businesses out there.

As a rising freelancer, internet marketer or small business, you need to be sure that the web hosting service that you sign up to will guarantee what you are looking for. Of course, you want to make yourself and your website look professional, neat and attractive for your clients and visitors to notice and go 'wow.' Based on the price plan that you choose, you would either be focusing on affordability and ease of use or performance and therefore expect greater costs.

Below, is Frontier Freelancing's list of the Top 5 Web Hosting Companies for Businesses:

1. HostGator

Known around the globe for its affordable plans, abundant features and reliable customer service, HostGator is

BREAKING NEWS: Elance and oDesk to Merge!

I just found out today through email that two of the giants of the online freelancing community are all set to merge into one monstrous entity. Ironically enough, I got the news email from BOTH the Elance and oDesk websites signed by the two CEOs themselves.

This is obviously big news for anyone following the freelancing industry as well as for those actively practicing freelancing themselves. After all, we are talking about two of the very biggest freelance websites out there!

What makes this merger particularly significant are the numbers involved. Elance has

How to Find the Right Web Host for Your Business

In order to carve out your very own place on the internet, it's important that you first establish and set up a domain from where you can announce, inform and persuade others about your ideas and products. Whether you're a growing business with a lot of potential, an entrepreneur seeking fortunes through internet marketing and affiliate programs or just a lone freelancer who wants to get noticed professionally and be taken seriously, then you NEED to start thinking about developing a blog or website to shelter your content, thoughts and products.


For affiliate marketing in particular, you need to establish a credible base by which you can attract visitors with useful content and then later encourage them to click through your affiliate partners' links and buy from their company websites. Blogs can also be leveraged for affiliate programs, but just don't have the same power as your own independent theme-based (niche specific) website.

Below are a list of steps (not necessarily in chronological order) that you can expect when finding and signing up for the right host for your business.

1. Choosing Your Domain Name

To begin with, you need to first find the right companies providing domain names. You must decide whether you will be going for a custom or top-level domain (for example, www.amazon.com) or a sub-domain name using the names of the service providers like Blogger, Wordpress, Weebly, Geocities, etc. (like www.frontierfreelancing.blogspot.com). The choice is up to you. However, as a rule of thumb, if you want to go for the independent and professional look, then buy your own domain - after all, for any growing business, you want others to take you seriously and have the conviction that you can at least pay to keep up your site!

For searching available domain names, you can either use