January 18, 2016 — During their career, every freelancer develops their own strategies for pricing their services most often charging by the hour or per project. In this talk, Tomaz is going to highlight some of the mistakes we all do, that hurt is as individuals and as the industry as a whole.

January 6, 2016 — Development is clear cut. It works or it doesn’t. The code is well-written or it’s a mess. Design on the other hand, is subjective, with the success of a project often based on the client’s ideas, perceptions, opinions, and personal experiences of what good design is.

As a freelancer, I have sold well over a million dollars in design services alone, and the journey has been good, bad, and at times, down right ugly as I learned along the way.

In this session, we’ll skip the sugar coating and I’ll share with you the mistakes made, lessons learned, and contract changes implemented. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of the role design plays in business, how to sell design, and how to navigate the sales process with clients.

If you’re a designer who rocks at design but feels a little less confident selling your services, you’re a business or agency owner who now find themselves selling design, or you’re a developer who wants to better understand pitching design to clients, this talk is for you.

January 4, 2016 — There is group of people who began using WordPress as a hobby, then soon began getting paid for WordPress work as freelancers. Once you start getting paid, the government sees it as income — even if it’s just a side job. In this session, we will be cover basic things to consider when you begin working as a freelancer, what to include in a basic business plan, and tips from other freelancers.

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December 23, 2015 — I’ll talk about stress, anxiety and self-doubt that I personally and many freelancers, business owners and everyone can feel in our Open Source community. We are harsh on ourselves when we don’t kill it like Pippin, or build a world-renown agency like 10up within our first few years of opening our doors. I talk about my journey, the mental toll it’s taken and how I’ve tried to cope.

December 19, 2015 — Freelance Business Panel Discussion with Shane Powers, Andy Stratton, Drew Poland and Bill Gadless

December 17, 2015 — As a content writer who has collaborated with various web agencies on a freelance basis, I’ve experienced some issues that have made my role harder than it should be and problematic for the client. I’d like to talk about how web agencies can work with content writers more efficiently to assist with speedier projects and happier clients. In my talk, I would like to cover these main areas: attitudes towards content writing / content writers, communication and the systems to put in place to aid it positively and how your client and content writer can work together to assist a successful project.

December 17, 2015 — After freelancing for just over a year now and having left a well paid job this talk outlines lessons I have learned from taking the plunge to being a freelancer and some tips and tricks I have learned along the way. This talk will benefit anyone looking to become a freelancer or any current freelancers that are looking for some tips and tricks on getting by.

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December 7, 2015 — You never discuss rates with a plumber. You never try to pay them in visibility. You would never let your 13 years old cousin fix your leaking pipes. But your clients do that all the times with you. My presentation analyses how a WordPress consultant can become a better marketer, a better professional, and more profitable leveraging what plumbers do every day.

November 22, 2015 — In this session we explore different professional skill sets that are utilized by freelancers, small agencies and large WordPress companies. With an emphasis on investing in the community at large, we will cover how to network your way to the top! (Or, at least …. how to grow your career in WordPress!)

November 21, 2015 — Are you a WordPress freelancer who’s not quite living the dream you had in mind when you started? Are you working long hours making small sites for too little money? In the past year, I’ve studied with some of the most successful entrepreneurs both in and out of the WordPress ecosystem. I’ll share the cliff notes on everything I’ve learned that can help you transform your business and start doing higher value work for better clients to build the life you want. Come learn how to get off the freelance roller coaster by giving your customers what they need instead of just what they’re asking for.

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