Self-Marketing for the Freelance Web Geek

South by Southwest Interactive panel, Austin, TX

Sunday, March 11, 5-6PM

Why this topic

Web geeks are part nerd, part artist - and in many cases, totally missed out on the self-promotion gene. The one thing I've realized in my journey from cog-in-the-wheel programmer to independent freelancer is that marketing yourself is do-or-die skill when you're on your own.

Besides an excuse to get together with a smart people I like in Austin, my goal with this panel is to have a conversation about how freelancers can best establish their expertise and advertise their skills in ways that are effective - but not creepy.

Official Description

This one's going in the SXSW materials: "Tooting your own horn doesn't come easy to geeks and programmers. When you decide to go freelance, how do you market and advertise your skills as an individual?"

Participants

Introduce yourself here on your very own wiki page:

• GinaTrapani - (GinaTrapani.org)
• AnnaleeNewitz - (Techsploitation)
• MattHaughey - (A Whole Lotta Nothing)
• MollyDitmore - (MollyBloom.com)
• PenelopeTrunk - (Brazen Careerist)

Discussion outline

Moved to the QnA page

Resources

Stuff worth looking at from around the interwebs.

• Self-Promotion for the Creative Person (Amazon) by Lee Silber - not focused at web professionals but chock full of great advice anyway
• 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed (Steve Pavlina)
• Pretty much any post on Penelope's career advice blog, Brazen Careerist