The Science Behind Why We Should Never Work From Bed

This article was submitted by Hailley Griffis and originally appeared on Buffer Open. It has been republished with permission and does not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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There is a lot of imagery that comes to mind when someone says “working from home.” A quick Google Search yields results that are anything from someone working on the floor surrounded by pets, to people holding babies during calls, to someone working in pajamas.

A lot of these things (the pajamas and family at least) are things you can’t always do at a regular office. Sometimes the pets as well, but I know plenty of offices that are becoming dog-friendly recently.

What these images represent isn’t that working from home is like working from a comfortable zoo (although sometimes it is) it means that when people think of remote work they tend to associate it with freedom. The freedom to wear what you want to work, the freedom to spend more time with family, and the freedom to have a zoo at home if that’s your cup of tea.

In a lot of ways, I do think that remote work does allow a lot more freedom than a traditional office. But from another perspective, to work smarter and healthier, it helps to adopt a level of self-control and a set of boundaries when working remotely. This is especially important if you’re working from your own home, versus a coworking space or cafe where you might still have some work and home separation.

Working from your own home means it would be effortless to spend all day in bed (often the comfiest place in the house.) According to one study, that’s precisely what some people do. This study found that 80% of young professional admit to working from bed. Who can blame them, right?

Well, while I agree that beds are the best, working from bed is something I’ve actively avoided throughout my career. When I started working 100% remotely at Buffer, I set the rule for myself that I would never work from bed. In this post, I want to go over the three reasons why let’s dive in!

Three reasons I never work from bed

1. The bedroom isn’t as relaxing

There is something about having separate spaces in your home. It’s nice to eat in a place where you don’t relax and sleep in an area that you don’t work. These mental associations can be complicated to maintain, though.

At one point I was living and working from a bachelor apartment. I still managed to create different spaces for eating, working, and sleeping, even though it would have been a lot easier just to work and eat from my bed.

The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard backs up the idea that work shouldn’t happen where you sleep, too. They say, “Keeping computers, TVs, and work materials out of the room will strengthen the mental association between your bedroom and sleep.”

Meaning that if you’re working from bed, it can become more difficult to fall asleep since your brain will think you’re in a place of work.

2. Separation Between Work and Home

Unless you leave home to go to a coffee shop or coworking space, working from home can mean it’s tough to separate work from your regular life because you both relax and work in the same place. It’s easy to start mixing the two, but it’s best not to.

According to the Harvard Business Review’s Guide to Being more Productive, they mention: “Unless you are careful to maintain boundaries, you may start to feel like you’re always at work and losing a place to come home to.”

Being “always at work” doesn’t sound like anyone’s idea of a balanced lifestyle. This is another reason to stay out of bed while working, but also have a space dedicated to work and another dedicated to relaxing.

3. Quality of sleep will decrease

If I’m working from bed, it would mean bringing a laptop, or sometimes my cell phone, into bed, and I’m sure the same is true for many others. This can be bad for a person’s quality of sleep, though.

Working right before going to sleep, and looking at a bright screen, reduces the melatonin you need to fall asleep. This means it will be more challenging to get a better quality of sleep, which will affect your productivity the next day. Not only does this not sound relaxing at all, but it seems like something that affects both your work and your relaxation, a lose-lose situation.

What to do instead of work from bed

Just like there are plenty of reasons not to work from bed, there are also plenty of things we can all do to avoid working from bed, get a better night’s sleep, feel comfortable in our own homes, and be more productive the next day. Here are the main two:

1. Keep your devices far away from your bed

Creating that space for your bed and bedroom to be primarily for sleep goes a long way. This means not bringing devices into bed so that you can’t work there. Not only will this help you sleep better, but it’ll also help create that divide between home and work, so it doesn’t feel like you’re always working.

2. Create a separate space for work

Since work shouldn’t happen in bed, it should have its own space. A space for work might be a specific table or an area of your home. If that’s tough for you, maybe you can check out a local coffee shop or coworking space to try and create that divide.

More remote work tips

This post was put together in association with Trello’s Guide: How To Embrace Remote Work. Give it a read if you can’t get enough remote work strategies like this one.

Over to you

Getting a good night’s sleep means being more productive and alert the next day, which helps us all do our best work. Plus, for people who want to work remotely from home long term, it’s essential to maintain that physical and mental break between work and rest.

Find out how to contribute an article to the Upwork blog.

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Trending Hair Colors This Week – Vol. 52

Springtime is the best season to take your creativity and technical skills to the next level. Here are some Spring hair colors to give you some ideas.

Check out our top picks below!

Blue Opal Hair Color Formula

Hair by Desiree Kleypas

Bleaching and treating virgin hair can be a delicate task. But because Oway is so gentle, Desiree was able to give her client her dream hair color!

Prelightened except Baby Root: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 40 Volume Cream Developer

Toned at the bowl: Oway Hcolor 11.17 Frosted Platinum + Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer

Dry Hair (Roots): 15g Oway Hcolor 6.1 Ash Dark Blonde + 5g Oway Hcolor 90.11 Intense Ash Super Bleaching Blonde + Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer

Ends: 37g Oway Hcolor 90.11 Intense Ash Super Bleaching Blonde + 5g Oway Hcolor 10.1 Ash Extra Light Blonde + 3g Oway Hcolor 0.8 Blue Booster + 2g Oway Hcolor 0.7 Purple Booster + Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer

Rinse: Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment + Oway Hrestore Protein Treatment Spray

Sea Nymph Hair Color Formula

Hair by Kai Fujimoto

Here’s a useful tip from Kai: “Using a primer helps neutralize all the warmth and slows down fadage. Additionally, Hmelt shows even nicer pastel colors on a prepped canvas.”

Pre-lightened: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 30 Volume Cream Developer

Primer: 40g Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment + 20 drops Oway Hmelt Blue Charm + 20 drops Oway Hmelt Mysterious Purple

Processing time: 20mins

Rinse: Oway Hrestore Protein Treatment Spray + Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment in the bowl

Blue Shadow Root: 40g Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment + 120 drops Oway Hmelt Blue Charm + 80 drops Oway Hmelt Mysterious Purple

Colormelt into 3 formulas

1. Aqua Blue: 60g Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment + 20 drops Oway Hmelt Blue Charm + 10 drops Oway Hmelt Mysterious Purple
2. Sea Green: 60g Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment + 15 drops Oway Hmelt Green Harmony + 15g Oway Hmelt Blue Charm
3. Neutral Blue: 60g Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment + 30 drops Oway Hmelt Blue Charm + 30 drops + 30 drops Oway Hmelt Mysterious Purple

Processing time: 30mins

Sapphire Glow Hair Color Formula

Hair by Evelyne Pink

Opal is a huge trend this season. And if your blonde babes are looking to get hints of that color on their hair, Evelyne’s formula would be very useful.

Prelighten: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener

Toner: Equal Parts Oway Hcolor 11.17 Frosted Platinum + Oway Hcolor 10.1 Ash Extra Light Blonde + 5 drops Oway Hmelt Mysterious Purple

Imperial Blonde Hair Color Formula

Hair by Amy Miller

Amy has only recently started with Oway but her toning game is already on point! Check out the dimensions in this Imperial Blonde she created with the formula below.

Babylights: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer

Toner: Oway Hcolor 11.17 Frosted Platinum + Oway Hcolor 9.1 Ash Very Light Blonde with Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer + Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment

Heirloom Red Hair Color Formula

Hair by Miranda Bouffanie

Reds are great for Spring too! Oway Hcolor scarlet shades are perfect for adding some richness and intensity to your client’s hair this season.

Roots: Oway Hcolor 7.43 Copper Golden Blonde + an inch of Oway Hcolor 6.4 Coppery Dark Blonde

Blended into: Oway Hcolor 8.44 Deep Coppery Light Blonde + Oway Hcolor 8.43 Copper Golden Light Blonde (half and half) with Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer

True Champagne Hair Color Formula

Hair by Siobhan Blair of SPAtacular Escapes

Pass the champagne, please. This sparkling wine inspired hair color is a great hair color for clients who want blonde that’s not to cool but not too golden as well.

Prelightened: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener with half Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer and Oway Hcatalyst 30 Volume Cream Developer

Toner: Oway Hcolor 90.11 Intense Ash Super Bleaching Blonde with Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer diluted with Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment for 10-15mins

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10 Quick Tips to Help You Check Off Everything on Your To-Do List

This article was submitted by Rose Leadem and originally appeared on Calendar. It has been republished with permission and does not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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Sometimes it doesn’t feel like there are enough hours in a day to get everything done. And when you have twenty things on your to-do list, there’s a constant stress to get through everything. Oftentimes that stress can lead to burnout. However, it doesn’t have to. The truth is, there’s a right way and a wrong way when it comes to to-do lists. One major red flag is not being realistic about what you can get done. Fooding your to-do list with anything and everything that comes to mind is another big blag. Instead, focus on fewer, more effective projects, prioritize the most important and stop saying “yes” to anything that comes your way.

To learn more, here are 10 quick tips to help you manage your time and create effective and actionable to-do lists.

1. Start saying “no”

It’s tough to say “no” sometimes. We all want to do favors for others but sometimes we’ve got to put ourselves first instead. In fact, when you’re constantly saying “yes” and adding more and more to your to-do list, you’ll eventually stretch yourself too thin and that can easily cause burnout. When someone asks you to help with something or take over a project, assess your own schedule and priorities and be realistic about whether or not you can take this on for them.

2. Be realistic

Instead of jotting down everything that comes to mind, be specific and realistic when writing out your to-do lists. Ask yourself questions like: What are the most important things I need to get done today? How long will each of these tasks realistically take me? What things can wait until tomorrow? By prioritizing and writing down the tasks that you need to get done that day and giving yourself enough time to efficiently complete them, you’ll be less stressed and feel more successful.

3. Focus on quality, not quantity

To-do lists are great ways to help us stay focused and motor through our work, but it’s not all about trying to pack millions of things in one day. It’s incredibly important to make sure you’re doing thorough and quality work. Keep in mind the mentality, “quality over quantity.” It’s easy to feel like you’ve accomplished many things when you’ve got a long list of items crossed off on your to-do list. But that’s not the case — it’s most important to understand how effective you’ve been and that the work you did actually mattered.

4. Keep it short

You might not believe this one but if you truly want to be successful, keep your to-do list very, very short. In fact, it’s advised not to have more than three things on your to-do list everyday. Some of the most successful people only have one thing on their to-do list. Ask yourself: What is the one thing that I can do today that will move my business, or myself, forward?

5. Write it out the night before

Try writing out your to-do list the night before. This will help give you a clear idea of what your day is going to look like. Then, from the moment you wake up, there’s no time to waste. You can quickly get started on task number one.

6. Don’t multitask

Research shows that multitasking can actually make us less productive. When you’re constantly juggling multiple things at one time, you’re never going to be able to hone in on one thing, give it your all and get it done to the best of your ability. Multitasking can also cause stress and anxiety, which will prevent you from moving forward in business and life.

7. Use “if-then” planning

“If-then” planning is a strategy aimed to help you reach your goal or finish a project, and it not only involves listing out your to-do list in advance but also when and where you will do the things too. The format — which is backed by psychologists and reported to increase the likelihood of reaching a goal by 200-300 percent — looks like this: “If (or When) ____ occurs, then I will ____. For example, “When it is 3 p.m. today, then I will stop whatever I am doing and work on this project.” Another example could be, “If it is Monday or Tuesday, then I will go to the gym after work.”

8. Do not check your email constantly throughout the day

Sometimes a simple refresh of your inbox can turn into hours responding, deleting and writing emails. Instead of getting trapped in the email black hole, pick two or three times a day when you will check your email. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. It’s especially important not to open your email the minute you wake up in the morning. That can lead you to doing other tasks and distract you from the most important ones listed on your to-do list.

9. Put yourself first

Sometimes when we’re too focused on getting everything done, we forget to take care of ourselves. Don’t become overly obsessed or involved in getting everything done on your to do list that you put your own health and well-being at risk. Make sure you maintain a healthy balance that includes exercise, diet, socializing and other things that you enjoy to make sure you don’t reach burnout. A good way to do this is by constantly checking in with yourself. Ask questions like: How are my relationships with my friends and family? Have I spent enough time outdoors this week? Have I gone to the gym this week?

10. Breathe

Breathe, take breaks, go for a walk, read a few pages of a book, listen to music. Don’t let your head spin just because of your to-do list. If you start to feel anxious or stressed, take a few minutes to breathe and disconnect. You’ll feel much more clear-headed and ready to tackle that list after.

Find out how to contribute an article to the Upwork blog.

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Upwork Huddles: The Perfect Excuse to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

There can be a lot of benefits to freelancing, but a boost to your social life isn’t typically one of them: Being self-employed can get lonely. That’s how Marilou Mousni, a digital brand strategist in the Philippines, felt when she decided to spark a change by becoming an Upwork Huddle host.

Mousni has now hosted three Upwork Huddles in her hometown Cagayan de Oro. Here’s a look at what these events are like and how Mousni uses them to help balance all the time spent working on her own.

Connecting with fellow Upwork rockstars

Upwork Huddles are independently organized meetups, hosted by experienced Top Rated freelancers for the local Upwork freelancer community. The goal: To help local freelancers connect and create their own communities.

Upwork Huddle — Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Mousni loves that the nature of her work allows her to work in the comfort of her own home. However, she also knows how important it is to socialize with people who aren’t family members. Her favorite part of hosting Upwork Huddles is to inspire and share experiences and laughter with others who understand the freelance lifestyle.

“As a host, I get the privilege to listen to everyone’s wonderful story of dreams, struggles, joys, failures, and happiness of what freelancing has brought in their lives.

Her own journey on Upwork started while working in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. She first heard about Upwork at a party; ready for a new challenge, she created her profile the next day. After a week of hustling on Upwork, she landed her first client — a business based in Australia. Since then life has been better. “I was able to change my life financially. I was able to send my kids to a great school and support my family. I was able to invest in real estate, stocks and was able to buy my 1st (2nd hand) and 2nd (brand new) car!”

Mousni’s personal recipe for success? “The attitude of gratitude. How you build your relationship with clients and not just because of the monetary reasons. Patience is the key and constantly reinventing ourselves to keep pace with the ever-changing demands of my clients.”

In 2017, Mousni organized three Upwork Huddles and is excited about moving forward this year since their group is growing: 23 fellow freelancers joined her last Upwork Huddle.

The best part about these events? “We all have gained friends, mentors, and chat buddies because of the Upwork Huddle.” Mousni is already looking forward to hosting the next Huddle in Cagayan de Oro!

Upwork Huddle — Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines

Interested to meet with fellow freelancers in your city, too?

Upwork has a network of dynamic Upwork Huddle hosts all around the world. Becoming a host is a great way to expand your network, connect with other freelancers in person, and have fun! To learn more about Upwork Huddles and how you can become a host, check out this help article. Please note that becoming a Huddle host is a perk for freelancers who have obtained Top Rated status.

Thanks to all Upwork Huddle hosts and attendees for helping to develop local Upwork freelancer communities. Watch for an upcoming Huddle in your community and follow the buzz online: #upworkhuddle on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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4 Ways A Business Development Professional Can Help Your Business Grow

No matter what stage your business is in, opportunities for growth exist. During the first few years, it can be a rush as a business starts to gain momentum. But then, even for successful businesses, growth can stagnate.

Business development is all about identifying ways to grow your business and putting steps in place to take advantage of those opportunities. By making this a priority, you can help mitigate the risk that your business could plateau or even decline. How? By adding value to the current product, creating other sources of income, or tapping into a new market.

You live and breathe your business every day. So it’s understandably difficult to see beyond the vision you have already created to identify new opportunities.

Enter business development specialists. They use research, experience, and market knowledge to identify opportunities for growth and tend to have a penchant for outside-the-box thinking. A fresh mind and experience in growth strategies for businesses can bring an incredible return on investment. Here are four ways a business development specialist can assist in setting you up for future success.

Expand your offering

Whether you have a product or a service, there is always room to improve, refine, and/or add new offerings. Maybe it’s as simple as adding a new color to your product line or giving it an additional feature that adds value. Perhaps there is a complementary yet untapped product that your customers would also love.

When brainstorming and identifying these opportunities, an expert product developer can look at your current offering, analyze the market, and make recommendations for further opportunities that might be a good fit.
Reach your target audience
When you promote your business, are you reaching the right people? One form of business development can be to audit your marketing channels to ensure you are reaching your target audience.

An expert marketer that specializes in strategy and market development can help you get your product or service in front of the people most in need of what you have to offer, so you’re well positioned when they’re ready to make the purchase.

Utilize strategic partnerships

Tying into both product development and marketing efforts, strategic partnerships can be the spark that ignites a huge opportunity. There are probably other companies out there who have the same target market you do, but you sell completely different or complementary products. It could be a win-win to combine your campaign dollars to cross promote.

Have you ever wondered how Instagram and YouTube personalities make money? In the case of YouTube, they typically get ad revenue, but often that isn’t where the bulk of their income comes from—and Instagram doesn’t have the same ad revenue opportunity for account holders. What they’re able to leverage is a demand for their audience. Instagram and YouTube influencers can pitch, use, or review your products in exchange for payment as long as your product might be of interest to their audience.

A partnership manager can help identify businesses and influencers you may want to connect with and get the ball rolling.

Leverage the right technology

The breakneck speed with which technology is evolving can be intimidating. You’ve heard you need a website, an app, and a VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), or MR (mixed reality) experience. You’ve heard terms like blockchain technology mentioned as the way of the future. But it isn’t clear how any of this applies to you or if it would be beneficial to leverage one, all, or any of these technologies to make your product or service even better.

The answer to this is not the same for everyone. Maybe your market doesn’t care about your web presence. It might be they wouldn’t use your app even if you had one. If you sell something like toilet bowls, will a blog bring in new customers? And if it would, would the ROI be high enough? A technology consultant can audit what you’re currently doing, analyze whether or not what you’re currently doing is enough, poll your target audience, and make recommendations for your future activities based on expected ROI.

What are you waiting for? Check out Upwork’s Hiring Resources for more information about how to get started.

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Oway Hydro-dhara: Healing Ayurvedic Treatment for Salons [VIDEO]

How You Can Improve Your Portfolio for More Strategic Projects

Put yourself in the shoes of a hypothetical client for a second. Imagine you’re an e-commerce website owner trying to find a writer to help revamp your product descriptions. After posting your project, you receive two applications to consider:

• Freelancer A sends a customized proposal with a portfolio of writing samples that, while good, doesn’t really correspond to the work you’ve outlined.
• Freelancer B sends a customized proposal that is supplemented by targeted portfolio samples of past e-commerce projects that involved optimizing product-related content.

Chances are you’re going to choose Freelancer B—especially if you’re looking for a freelance copywriter who can offer not just completed work but strategic support as well.

If you tailor your proposals to each project but still aren’t getting the kind of projects you want—or the caliber of projects you want to see—your portfolio may be the culprit. Take the following steps to help transform yours into one that—like Freelancer B’s—showcases both your skills and strategic value.

Find your niche

“Jack of all trades; master of none” isn’t just an expression. It’s a reality in the world of freelancing. In the example earlier, “writer” isn’t compelling. “E-commerce copywriter” is. That’s the value of specialization.

According to Lindsay Van Thoen, writing for the Freelancers Union, there are plenty of reasons to specialize in a particular skill set or niche, including that:

“Expertise is naturally perceived of as being of higher value, and clients are willing to spend more for it. If you decide to specialize, you can increase your rate.”

When you specialize, you may:

• Be able to charge higher rates
• Be more likely to get the projects you apply for
• Find it easier to complete the projects you’re assigned, since you’ve already developed mastery in your chosen skill set
• Be more likely to earn repeat projects, thanks to the top-of-mind awareness you’ll build with your clients as an expert

You may be afraid that locking yourself into one particular specialization will mean missing out on opportunities. Most who take this route, however, find that the opposite is true—that any lost revenue from projects outside of your niche is more than made up for from clients who respect your expertise.

To help find your niche, begin with the following questions:

• Which of my past projects best used my skills and interests?
• What kind of work could I see myself focusing on long-term?
• What demand exists for the specializations I’m considering?
• What are the highest paid / most in-demand skill sets in my industry?

Aim to find a balance between specializations that pay well, that have significant enough demand for your needs, and that you actually enjoy doing.

Establish your expertise

With your niche chosen, it’s time to build your reputation through portfolio samples. First, take a look at your existing examples and consider the following questions:

• Does the work relate to my chosen specialization?
• Does the work prove my expertise in my chosen specialization?
• Will the work impress a potential client looking to hire for my chosen specialization?

Remove pieces that don’t align or that don’t demonstrate your value in your new niche, even if the quality of the work is good. When it comes to proving your strategic value as a freelancer, consistency counts.

If your analysis reveals gaps in your portfolio—or if you’re trying to transition to a new specialization and don’t have any related projects—you may need to put in some extra effort to develop new examples. A few options for doing so include:

• Temporarily cutting your rate or offering a discount to land more of the kinds of projects you want to do in the future.
• Doing sample mock-ups to include in your portfolio.
• Looking for opportunities to build your portfolio through volunteer work with local non-profits, with the understanding that you’ll be using your work in your portfolio.

If you do offer a discount, make it clear that you’re doing so for a limited time to establish your portfolio. Building a strategic, premium brand requires charging professional rates. Otherwise, you risk potential clients not taking your skills seriously.

Optimize your portfolio examples

As you’re building portfolio examples, don’t just add them to your profile and call it a day. Instead, take a few moments to write up a description for each, sharing:

• What specific work you did
• Why you approached the project the way you did
• What results the clients saw

Adding this context to your portfolio pieces gives you an edge when it comes to clients who are looking for freelancers with whom they can develop strategic relationships. Mention these insights in your cover letters. Expanding on both your approach and the results you were able to achieve separates you from freelancers who simply crank out work without much thought.

But don’t stop once you’ve added your existing work. Put it on your to-do list to revisit your portfolio whenever you complete a new project and the impact of your work is fresh in your mind.

Never stop investing in your portfolio

Your portfolio can make or break your freelance business. Don’t treat it as an afterthought. Continually look for ways to add to it, ensuring that everything you put into it reflects positively on your skills with your chosen specialization.

Over time, both the number and quality of projects you’re being offered should reflect the impact of this investment.

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How to Quickly Create Web-Friendly Business Images

This article was submitted by Eric Rosenberg and originally appeared on Due. It has been republished with permission and does not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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Business images are an important part of any business website. Whether they are photos you took from your phone or a professional camera, animated images, or advertising graphics, business images can make or break first impressions of your business. You only get one chance for a first impression, and a poorly designed website with ugly images can spoil an otherwise excellent customer experience. Follow along to learn about the tools you can use to quickly create professional, high-quality business images for your website and social media marketing needs.

Why use images?

In the early years of the internet, slow speeds led webmasters to use as few images as possible and to upload only low-quality images that would quickly load on user’s dial up internet connections. These days smartphones offer blazing fast speeds and 73 percent of US adults have broadband internet at home. Now megabyte sized files load in milliseconds, not minutes. This allows business websites to include larger, higher quality images and even videos across their websites.

When potential customers land at your little corner of the internet, you have moments to wow them. It takes about a half a second for web visitors to decide if they like a site or not. If they don’t like your site instantly, because of bad images or no images, you can expect them to click away seconds later, never to return. Whether your goal is email subscribers, leads, or sales, you won’t get any if you have an ugly website.

Many business owners choose to hire professional designers to make sure they don’t suffer from ugly website syndrome, but if you have a little time and energy to dedicate to your design, you can easily create images yourself. Thanks to some great tools, some of them free, you can quickly create those website images from your favorite web browser.

Best online editors for business images

While you used to need a resource heavy graphic editor installed on your desktop or laptop computer to create quality graphics, it is much easier today. You can quickly load up any of the graphic creation apps to build your business images quickly. Here is a quick rundown on the features and costs of some of the most popular options.

Canva – Canva has grown to be the leader in online graphic creation tools for bloggers, as is evidenced by my non-scientific study asking blogging friends what tools they use. I am a premium subscriber myself, and pay about $120 per year ($10 per month) for its advanced features. Canva allows you to easily and quickly create website images and social media images from pre-built templates. Paid users can create and save their own templates and brand colors and logos as well, making for faster image creation than going the manual route. It has many fonts, backgrounds, layouts, and clip art style images to add to any creation. If you don’t know where to start, you can’t go wrong with a free account at Canva.

PicMonkey – PicMonkey was my longtime favorite online graphic editor before Canva, but that all changed when PicMonkey dropped its free plan that I regularly used. That said, if you are willing to pony up for the paid version, it is a powerful online graphic editor with plenty of features. Where Canva is strongest for social media style images, PicMonkey is strongest in editing photos. If you are take your own photos with a phone or dSLR camera, for example, you may want to do some nice touch ups before publishing. PicMonkey is great for that, as well as creating collages of multiple photos. After a free trial, fees are $5.99 to $8.99 per month depending on your needs and annual versus monthly billing.

Pablo by Buffer – Before upgrading to a paid Canva account, I created almost every single social media image using Pablo. Pablo doesn’t have nearly the number of features as Canva and PicMonkey, but what it does, it does quite well. Pablo lets you quickly pull in free stock photos for backgrounds, add text, and export. You have a handful of font choices as well as the option to edit font colors and filters over the background image. That’s pretty much it. But it’s easy to use, fast, and free.

RelayThat – I’m admittedly less familiar with RelayThat, but it has a strong fan base across the web. It has a free demo account option, but full-featured accounts are a bit pricier than the previous mentions, with plans running $25 per month or $69 per month with annual billing discounts. Features are designed for serious graphic design needs, and it includes great features to create images with consistent branding. Plus, you get access to a library of 350,000+ design elements included. At Canva, you have to pay extra for many elements even with a paid account. So while RelayThat costs a bit more, you get what you pay for through powerful design tools and a massive library.

Adobe Spark – Adobe gives me the same love/hate relationship as Microsoft and Intuit. I find I use their products as they are the best in many ways, but still have some reluctance to go with the 800-pound gorilla in in the industry. But getting over my silly mental block, Adobe offers some of the best graphic and video editing programs on the market today. Spark is Adobe’s answer to the lightweight graphic creation programs listed above, and comes with both a free plan and a $9.99 per month plan. It comes with everything you need to create beautiful images for your website, with a giant library of fonts, graphics, and photos to boot. For graphics, you will want to use Spark Post, as the other two Spark apps are focused on web page and video creation.

Looks matter!

If none of these apps do the trick, you can always buy Photoshop, the luxury airliner version of graphic editors. But these free and low-cost apps offer anything most business owners need to create fun, quick, and professional business images for any online purpose. Creating those images quickly is important for busy entrepreneurs. Don’t waste hours on image perfectionism. Log into one of these programs, create your graphics, and move on to the next task. You won’t be disappointed with the results.

Find out how to contribute an article to the Upwork blog.

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Upwork Ambassador Builds Community So Freelancers Don’t Have To Go At It Alone

Spring 2018 Hair Color Trend: Ultra Violet Colormelt [Tutorial]

Stuck in a Rut? How About Working Abroad for a Month!

This article was submitted by Larry Alton and originally appeared on Huffington Post. It has been republished with permission and does not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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Have you ever found yourself in a work funk? You know, the kind of slough where you find yourself staring off into space, only to realize you haven’t done a productive thing for the better part of an hour?

We all experience such ruts — some more than others — but they can be especially frustrating when you’re a remote worker. There’s nobody around to snap you back into the groove; the solitude of makes it difficult to remain energized and engaged.

You probably have some quick fixes to get your rhythm back, but every now and then, you might get stuck in a deep rut. These call for bold solutions. Since you’re able to work remotely, why not take advantage of that circumstance and transform your working environment?

And I’m not just talking about moving your computer from the study to the living room. I’m talking about booking a plane ticket and leaving the country — for a month! It sounds crazy, but it could have a profoundly positive impact on the course of your career.

Benefits of traveling abroad

If you’ve never traveled abroad while working remotely, you’re in for a treat. It’s an experience that’s unlike anything else. You’ll be doing the same work you’ve done for years, but it’ll feel totally different.

Everything around you will be new, and you’ll experience a level of energy and excitement that you’ve been lacking. Though you may think you’re the sort of person who thrives on routine and has to operate on a strict schedule, you’ll probably discover this is simply not the case.

It could be your “plain Jane” routine that’s really holding you back and stifling your creativity. Travel abroad has a way of exposing this. Because time zones are different, early in the morning or late at night may be more ideal for your work, which will definitely be a new experience.

Maybe you’ve been a night owl, but you learn that you function just as well early in the morning, and maybe even better, with a hot cup of coffee in your hand.

Do you fear it may be too expensive to live abroad for a month while you have a mortgage payment and other bills to meet at home? That doesn’t have to be the case. There are plenty of affordable places to call home for a few weeks.

Take gorgeous Wellington, New Zealand. Remote contractor Jeffrey Trull recently spent a month living there. He found it was quite reasonably priced.

“According to the site Nomad List, the average cost of monthly expenses in Wellington is $2,191, and the average price for a one-bedroom apartment is $866 a month,” explains Jackie Lam of Credit Sesame. “To keep his costs down, Trull travel-hacked his airfare to Wellington, using reward points to fly. He paid just $100 for taxes.”

If you’re seriously worried about cost, you could sublease or rent your apartment or home while you’re away. By doing this, you might be able to break even on housing for the month.

Similarly, most of the excuses that hold remote workers back from travel aren’t that valid. You’ll have to make some sacrifices and deal with a few logistical complications, sure, but you can (and should) make it work.

Four tips for maximizing productivity

The key to working while traveling abroad is to make sure you remain productive. There should be plenty of time for fun and exploring, but you aren’t traveling strictly for pleasure; you’re traveling for work and need discipline yourself to that end.

Here are a few tips for maximizing productivity along the way:

1. Have a plan for Internet

Internet access is your first priority. Given the free and easy access we have to the web here in the U.S, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Internet access can be more challenging to depend on in other parts of the world.

Do the necessary research to be sure you’ll have solid access wherever you plan to go. This isn’t something you want to stress over once you’ve arrived.

2. Pack the right tools and gadgets

From your experience working remotely stateside, you’ll have a variety of gadgets and tools that you can’t operate without. Make sure you have these packed and accounted well before you leave. A quality pair of noise-canceling headphones, for example, is one item that may not be obvious but could turn out to be invaluable as well as hard to pick up overseas if you don’t have it.

“Trust me, you’ll need them,” entrepreneur Katie Doyle says. “Although the standard Apple earbuds, or their generic equivalents, are convenient to pack, they aren’t the best for blocking out the noise. Even with the volume on full blast, I’ve found my Apple earbuds don’t do a great job of blocking out background noise, especially when it’s a boisterous conversation in Russian or the drone of motorbikes whizzing by.”

3. Get on the same page with everyone

“One of the most difficult parts of business travel is keeping up with your normal workload when your day-to-day routine is suddenly nothing like normal,” travel blogger Michele Herrmann points out. “So, preparation is key to make sure everything at the office stays on track while you’re away.”

Before you hoist sail, notify all employers, clients, and business partners. Let them know you’ll be out of the country, but still readily available. Apprise them of the time changes, your plan for communication, and how you can be contacted. Doing this in advance will reflect well on you.

4. Give yourself some time off

Remember, the reason you’re traveling is to get out of a rut. Work is paramount, but you’ll also want to schedule some time off so you can experience the places you visit. You’ll return to home base and your regular work routine considerably refreshed.

Rediscover your passion

You may love your life here at home: You enjoy your family, friends, and comfortable schedule. But sometimes these comforts have a way of lulling you into a funk.

Before you know it, productivity has fallen nearly to zero and you’re struggling to make ends meet. So here’s the challenge: The next time you find yourself in a rut you can’t get out of, start planning a trip.

Even better, have one planned in advance so you’re ready to deal with that rut when you hit it. One month is a suitable duration for most people and will allow you to slip away for a decent amount of time before returning to the comforts of home.

Just make sure you prioritize productivity while you’re away … otherwise your “business trip” will become a missed opportunity.

Find out how to contribute an article to the Upwork blog.

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4 Personal Issues That Can Keep Entrepreneurs From Success

This article was submitted by Larry Alton and does not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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There’s no roadmap to success as an entrepreneur. No matter what other people tell you or how much you believe in a philosophy, it’s important for you to remember that success is highly personal. That being said, there are some common issues that can hold people back. By recognizing these problems and being proactive about them, you can increase your chances of being successful.

Don’t let these personal issues hold you back.

On the personal side, there are a number of shortcomings, issues, and factors that can negatively impact your growth and development as an entrepreneur. Stopping them should be a major focus in the coming year.

1. Poor credit

Most entrepreneurs don’t have the money they need to self-fund a startup or launch an extensive business operation. Therefore, your ability to secure outside financing could be a critically important piece to the puzzle. If you have bad credit—something millions of Americans deal with—then your chances of getting affordable financing (or financing at all) could be slim.

If you have bad or poor credit, it may take a conscious effort to repair your credit. There are some steps you can take on your own, but it may be helpful to hire a credit repair service to do the heavy lifting.

2. Lack of work-life balance

It’s easy to feel like you’ll get more work done if you put in a 14-hour day versus a 10-hour day, but this might not be true. At some point, most people experience diminishing returns. As a result, you can end up spending more time working, without getting a meaningful boost in production or output.

While it might seem like you’re wasting your time, carving out some personal time helps create work-life balance and can give your mind and body the break they need to return to your entrepreneurial pursuits with greater vigor and focus.

3. Fear of failure

“We fear failing. There are two possible reasons for this; either we are too accustomed to winning over small things/goals, or we don’t have the courage to risk all that we have achieved till now for something with an uncertain future,” entrepreneur Nitinkumar Gove explains. “People fear failure primarily when they have low self-confidence, and a lack of faith in their own efforts, skills and the opportunity.”

The only way to overcome your fear of failure is to take risks, fail, and realize that failure doesn’t mean the end of the world. While there can be some pain in this process, there’s also the potential for great freedom.

4. Addiction to learning

There is power in learning, but don’t get so caught up in accumulating “head knowledge” that you forget to actually put some of that education into action.

Maybe you’ve seen statistics or studies that show successful people read more books than the average person. Expanding your knowledge by reading is a good goal, but don’t focus so much on the number of books you read that you fail to extract value from them. For example, read a book then work on applying what you learned before moving on to the next one.

Realize your entrepreneurial potential

The funny thing about potential is that it means nothing until it’s realized. Potential is arbitrary and intangible until you go out there and seize it. At that point, potential becomes reality.

As you pursue your entrepreneurial potential, face your personal issues head-on so they don’t hinder your growth. While they can be easy to push to the side in favor of business-specific challenges, they can have just as much impact on your long-term success. The sooner you realize this nugget of truth, the better off you’ll be.

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Earth Hour 2018: 7 Energy Conservation Tips for Salons

Your Cover Letter: The Secret to a Good First Impression

You’re a skilled freelancer. You’re at the top of your game, and you know you could do a great job for any prospective client. But they don’t know who you are. They don’t know the caliber of your work and, in fact, yours is just one of many proposals they’ve received for their next project.

If you want your proposal to stand out, grab their attention, and get the contract, it helps to know how you can optimize your best shot: your cover letter.

Why it pays to improve your cover letter

Not to make you nervous, but research from Princeton psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov suggests that we form first impressions in as little as a tenth of a second.

And, despite how quickly they’re formed, changing these first impressions is rarely easy. The University of Toronto’s Nicholas Rule, in a presentation to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) annual conference, explained that, “With effort, we can overcome this to some extent, but we are continually tasked with needing to correct ourselves. The less time we have to make our judgments, the more likely we are to go with our gut, even over fact.”

Put simply, you have a tiny window in which to make a good first impression—and little chance of changing it once it’s been established. That’s what makes your cover letter so critical.

What makes a good cover letter?

To understand what a potential client might look for in your introduction, try to put yourself in their shoes and make it easy for them to find the details that will be most helpful when it comes to making a decision.

1. Tailor your letter to the project description

Customizing your cover letter is a balancing act. Although a fully personalized cover letter may be more likely to get attention, creating one for every project may not be feasible if you send out a lot of proposals.

A different solution might be to create a template for your first and concluding paragraphs, with a middle section that can be modified to address the project’s description. Then, to the degree that’s appropriate for your circumstances, you can:

• Relate your skills and experiences to the project’s unique requirements
• Share examples of similar projects you’ve worked on in the past
• Reference any research you’ve done into the client’s background and your understanding of their needs

Another note: Watch out for questions that might seem out of context. Some clients include questions designed to serve as an initial screening test. For example, if a potential client asks you to list your favorite color, give your favorite movie, or tell a funny joke, make sure your answer is included.

2. Differentiate yourself

As you customize your cover letter, keep the following two objectives in mind:

• Emphasize why you’re the best fit for the project
• Highlight the specific benefits of partnering with you

Some freelancers describe the benefits of engaging them in terms of their own needs—for example, by saying things like, “Working on projects like this one give me the flexibility to take care of my family.”

While that may be true, a client’s focus is finding the right talent for their project. Whenever possible, frame your statements in terms of the benefits to them. For instance, you could reframe the above example: “My flexible availability means I can take care of projects when you’re asleep, so you’ll be ready to go in the morning.”

Your cover letter checklist

Once you think you’ve nailed down the meat of your cover letter, run it through the following checklist to prevent unintended errors from making a bad first impression:

• Are there any spelling or grammatical mistakes?
• Did I leave any sentences or sections unfinished?
• Did I spell the company’s name correctly?
• Have I used the appropriate salutation?
• Did I answer all the questions the project description requested?
• Did I reference the skills or experiences they’re looking for?
• Have I formatted my cover letter so it’s easy to read?
• Does my proposal need any supporting documentation, such as specific work samples or references? If so, have I included all required documents in the appropriate format?

A little due diligence can be your friend here: Searching for information that can help your introduction come across as thoughtful, professional, and personalized can go a long way toward getting your proposal on the short list.

Test responses to your cover letter

Think of your cover letter as a living, breathing document. Experiment with the length, content, and different types of appeals. Eventually, you can find a winning combination that leads to higher response rates and projects won.

Got another tip on writing a great cover letter? Leave it in the comments below.

The post Your Cover Letter: The Secret to a Good First Impression appeared first on Upwork Blog.

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3 Ways to Learn How to Say No in Business

This article was submitted by Amanda Abella and originally appeared on Due. It has been republished with permission and does not constitute the views or opinions of Upwork.

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I’m currently taking another group of students through my group coaching program and one theme keeps coming up. That theme is about learning how to say no to things that don’t serve their business. They want the confidence to say no without the fear that they could be missing out on something.

I feel like this is something that affects all of us at some point. I know I’ve had to learn how to say no and that it was very difficult in the beginning. However, I also know that learning how to say no is what helps move my business forward. Here are a few tips for learning how to say no to things that don’t serve your business.

Realize it’s about respect.

The main pushback I hear when I advise that someone start learning how to say no is that they fear they will lose money. For example, if they say no to a low-ball offer they don’t want, then they lose the chance to make money – even though the offer is terrible!

To that, I say this: If you take up all of your time with low-ball offers, you won’t have the space for the good ones. Period. Additionally, saying no to low-ball offers is about respect. You must respect yourself in business in order for others to respect you in return.

Barbara Stanny has an excellent quote in one of her books that gets this point across. Essentially, when she was learning how to earn real money, she realized she would rather be respected than well-liked. That one shift changed her finances forever.

Besides, usually when we say no to something that doesn’t serve us then something better comes in. I’ve seen it happen way too many times to deny it.

Make your decision based on experience.

If you know something won’t serve you, it’s because it probably won’t. It’s also probably because you learned the hard way. If you can remember this as you’re learning how to say no, it becomes much easier to decline offers that don’t make any sense for you.

For example, I no longer do telesummits that I’m asked to participate in. Quite frankly, they have always been a waste of my time. This is the time I could be using to take more sales consults or pitch clients which do lead to more money.

Build multiple streams of income.

If there is just one thing that gives you the confidence to say no it’s having your money coming from different places. This allows you to turn down projects you don’t want and turn away clients you know will be a headache because you have options.

For example, I recently turned down a project I didn’t really want to do. It’s easier for me to do this because I know I don’t need to take it to pay my bills. Just note that in order to get to this space, you must first respect yourself and say no to things that you know won’t lead to any money.

Final Thoughts

The ability to say no in business will yield more time, more money and less stress. With practice, it becomes much easier to drop what isn’t serving you so you can move toward what will.

The post 3 Ways to Learn How to Say No in Business appeared first on Upwork Blog.

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Trending Hair Colors This Week – Vol. 51

There’s only a few before the First Day of Spring, and what better way to ring in the new season a Spring-inspired hair color? Take a cue from the hair colors shared by our #HolisticHairTribe this week.

See our favorites below!

Bubblegum Hair Color Formula

Hair by Cass O’Mara of Mane Hair Boutique

There’s no other color that screams Spring than Pink, making this charming, delicate hue a great way to make a statement this season. Be sure to use Oway Hbalance Mask to lock in that shine.

Roots: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer with Oway Hscreen Skin + Scalp Protector for 45mins

Toner

Roots: 16g Oway Hcolor 11.17 Frosted Platinum + 1g Oway Hcolor 6.66 Deep Red Dark Blonde for 5mins

Ends: 16g Oway Hcolor 11.17 Frosted Platinum + 1g Oway Hcolor 6.66 Deep Red Dark Blonde Alternating Oway Hcolor 10.1 Ash Extra Light Blonde + Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer for 10 mins

Cosmic Pink Hair Color Formuka

Hair by Maureen Fox-Meyer of The Change Salon

Not into muted pink? Check out this Cosmic Pink hair color! Maureen open air colormelted the formulas below to give the color some spice.

Regrowth: Triangle Sections of Oway Hcolor 4.77 Deep Purple Brown + Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer

Rest of regrowth: Oway Hcolor 5.56 Red Mahogany Light Blonde + Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer

Triangle Sections (Colormelt)

Formula 1: Oway Hcolor 11.17 Frosted Platinum with a dot Oway Hcolor 0.6 Red Booster + Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer

Formula 2: 10g Oway Hcolor 10.33 Extra Light Deep Golden Blonde + 10g Oway Hcolor 9.43 Copper Golden Very Light Blonde + Oway Hcatalyst 30 Volume Cream Developer

Formula 3: 10g Oway Hcolor 6.77 Deep Purple Dark Blonde +10g Oway Hcolor 7.35 BT Tobacco Blonde + 10vol

Processing Time: 40mins

Cherry Cinnamon Hair Color Formula

Hair by Kailin Bezel

Red hair for Spring? Why not? Rich hair colors like this Cherry Cinnamon by Kaitlin are actually on trend this season.

Regrowth: Oway Hcolor 6.44 Deep Coppery Dark Blonde + Oway Hcolor 6.66 Deep Red Dark Blonde + Oway Hcatalyst 20 Volume Cream Developer
Balayage: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 30 Volume Cream Developer
Ends: Oway Hcolor 8.44 Deep Coppery Light Blonde + Oway Hcolor 8.66 Deep Red Light Blonde + Oway Hcolor 0.6 Red Booster + Oway Htone 9 Volume Cream Developer

Wild Lilac Hair Color Formula

Hair by Erica Walker

Can we say perfection? This shade is fast becoming our favorite for 2018 and the year has just begun. The color, the style, and the cut are everything!

Rooty Balayage + Babylights: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener to Levels 8-9

Toner (Roots): O&M CØR.color Lilac Toner + a ribbon of O&M CØR.color Silver Toner and O&M CØR.color Charcoal Toner with O&M CØR.color 10 vol Activator

Kabuki Hair Color Formula

Hair by Josie Ragains

Don’t you just love it when you highlight a client and you don’t need to tone them at all? That’s Oway Hbleach mixed with Kukui Butter for you! Add some Hmilk and the hair will come out even healthier than before.

Full Foil Highlights: Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 30 Volume Cream Developer with Oway Hmilk No Stress Conditioning Treatment

Sunglow Hair Color Formula

Hair by Kristen Kneeland

To achieve this gorgeous Butter Blonde, Kristen painted according to the part line. A great technique if you’re going for a balanced balay especially on a client with thick hair.

Balayage (1:1): Oway Hbleach Butter Cream Lightener + Oway Hcatalyst 30 Volume Cream Developer

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