DISQUS

I think that it's also really useful to connect with bloggers and other online publications in your niche. Commenting, guest posting and otherwise establishing a presence can help direct traffic to all the useful content on your site, too.

I'm not sure that I would agree that this is a justification for blogging rather using social networking — instead, I'm considering it more a reminder that we need to take time to consider just where we're putting out content.

It's not just an issue of remembering not to post photos of ourselves doing something particularly idiotic to Facebook — it's a question of taking into consideration how any information is going to be used before we start spreading it across the web. It's not a bad thing to share content or information: it just a decision we actually need to consider before we make it.

I'd actually like to note that when I started putting together the Freelance Bloggers list, I started by looking at the bloggers I follow — especially on Twitter. It was a great starting point for a project of that magnitude.

I think there's also a lot of value to giving away ideas — I love the working through an idea stage, but while I have time to discuss quite a few ideas with my friends, I don't have time to follow through on them. So I try to take sharing ideas that extra step regularly.

I find that a lot of what I use online tools for — with regards to the holidays — is behind the scene stuff. I've found that being able to share information easily has decreased my prep time significantly. Even just sharing a spreadsheet of who I plan to send out cards to with my husband saves time because he can add people without having to ask for my help.

The in-person parts of the holidays are why we bother — but we can get a lot of the backend stuff taken care of with social media.

I totally agree that freelancers (and pretty much all other small businesses) should have a business plan. It's been a pet peeve of mine for a while: after all, if you don't know what your goals are, how do you know when you've achieved them?

Thanks for this opportunity. I'm a freelance writer, covering productivity, small businesses and personal finance for the most part — and I blog all over. My personal blog, ThursdayBram.com, focuses on helping freelancers create business.

At the very least, I think employees should have contact pages — sort of an online business card that we can easily link to. But I also think that it's imperative that most people take action for themselves and create an online presence — after all, most of us won't have the same job three years from now, even if we're with the same company. The only way to have the necessary flexibility in a web presence is to have it under your own control.

Start with the best result in mind. If you know what you want (and what you're willing to settle for) negotiation is much easier than if you only have a vague idea of wher you want to go.

I'd be interested in hearing about more marketing people, rather than the bloggers and such who keep making the rounds. People who are a little more behind the scenes, maybe?

Is there any way to make people listing want ads for freelancers on Craigslist to read this list before they actually get to post? Pretty please?

Thanks for the mention. My grandparents' story has always been an inspiration to me, and I think that it really drives home the point that anyone can succeed — if they're willing to work hard.