7 Tasks A Freelance Graphic Designer Can Get Done for You

 

You’re probably wondering what exactly freelance graphic designers can do for your brand. Maybe you have a vague idea in mind, but here are some additional duties that you can assign to a remote professional. Let’s clear things up and talk about 7 graphic design tasks that can be done by a freelancer.

1. Improving on your company’s visual identity

First things first, you can make a freelance graphic designer in charge of working on your company’s visual identity. This comprises of a bunch of elements such as logo, slogan, colors, fonts, stationery (letterheads, folders, business cards, envelopes) and many other visual elements that help customers and partners recognize your brand or organization and represents an essential part of the communication strategy.

Regardless of the size of your company, graphic designers are able to work their magic and polish an awesome logo, as well as a flawless corporate kit. This will help you pave the way for your business’ future success but also keep your business appeal fresh and up to date. If this is something you need, you can start here.

2. Product packaging design

When you need to dress up your products in some brand new, eye-catching outfits, a skilled graphic designer will create the perfect appearance to match and highlight your items’ identity, as well as attract customers. The freelancer will make your products stand out, turn them into the target audiences’ signpost to the category, and drive them off the shelves. Moreover, the specialist will have practicality in mind; so we’re not only talking about the label or wrap, but also about the actual shape, size, and functionality of the packaging. You can find a graphic designer to take this on here.

3. Designing marketing materials

From brochures and flyers to postcards and posters, freelance graphic designers are able to design your well-needed marketing materials. This process requires research, creativity, and knowledge. Having these professionally crafted, your company will make a great impact and deliver a positive customer service experience. So, whenever you need to advertise an upcoming event, market your organization at conferences or job fairs, inform the target audience about your company, have a marketing package for potential partners and investors, or simply attract more customers, all you have to do is hire a talented graphic designer.

4. Creating infographics

Whenever you need a catchy visual representation of some information or data, get in touch with a freelance graphic designer. Infographics are great for synthesizing key facts for the audience, they are extremely shareable via social media, and enhance your organization’s online visibility. Although there are several online tools for creating infographics, they are not always able to match your company’s needs. Therefore, the safest option is to find a graphic designer who has a minimal experience with this kind of materials. All you need to do is to let the person in charge know about the branding guidelines (so that the style approached maintains the consistency of the messages that have been previously shared), as well as providing them with clear information about the results you’re looking for. To tackle this type of graphic design project, click here.

5. Ebook design

There are graphic designers who specialize in crafting your manuscript and can craft it into a finished ebook. For this task, you have to find someone with awesome digital design and typography skills, who understands e-readers and has a strong grasp of traditional book layout principles. (Click here to get started). These professionals will also help you if you plan to add some advanced formatting features as well as rich media (for example video and audio) to your ebook.

6. Book cover design

If you want outstanding book covers for your publications, a highly creative and innovative designer will be a perfect fit for this job. Besides the cover, designers can also work on the interior of the books. These individuals usually have a mastery of skills with Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Creative Suite, and InDesign – which is exactly what they need for achieving stellar results. Plus, their thorough understanding of design principles, composition, layout, and color are excellent for the great outcomes you’re looking for. If you’re looking to get your book cover designed, you can start here.

7. Designing e-mail newsletter

Graphic designers are able to craft visually appealing e-mails that get straight to the point and help you make the most of the brief chance you have with your target audience. A nicely created newsletter is essential for converting leads into customers, maintain engagement, and build long-term customer relationships. Think about it: people check their inbox every single day and they’re flooded with a bunch of promotional e-mails. You want yours to stand out, don’t you? Well, a beautiful design will not only please your audience’s eyes but will also make the text easier to read, call to actions easier to click, and people to stay away from that unsubscribe button.

It’s amazing how many tasks a freelance graphic designer can get done for you! Not to mention that everything happens remotely. Just make sure that you provide clear instructions and information about your project and expectations. To hire a freelance graphic designer to take on your project, click here.

7 Benefits of Hiring a Freelancer

Nowadays, the labor force is constantly becoming more fluid, embracing flexibility, and slowly shifting away from the classical 9-to-5 working hours. Companies that are able to adapt to change are certainly the ones that will get the upper hand. Most likely than not, your business is in need of skilled and knowledgeable professionals but is short of the required resources or doesn’t need full-time staff. These situations can be easily solved by hiring a freelancer.

Here are 7 mega-awesome benefits of working with freelance talent.

1. Vast Experience

Think about it – great freelance professionals have lots and lots of experience. They work on several projects for different businesses, which helps them constantly improve and expand their skills. Each and every task they do helps them add to their craft and valuable knowledge, building an impressive arsenal. As they are not full-time employees, they are always aiming at doing a flawless job and delivering wonderful outcomes in order to be hired again and get some good references and reviews – which also helps them enhance their expertise quickly and efficiently. Therefore, your beloved business stands to gain from all that broad experience. Awesome, right?

2. Immediacy and Quick Turnaround

Independent contractors are continuously focused on performing a superb job in a timely manner. Reliability and exceeding your expectations are high priorities for them, as they fully understand that meeting the deadlines and exceeding the client’s expectations are great ways to make a profit and be hired for other assignments in the future. When you’re collaborating with a freelance professional, you can forget about water-cooler chit chat, pointless meetings, or office politics – their goal is to get their job done as soon as possible and flawlessly.

3. Flexibility

One of the reasons why freelancers have decided to freelance is the flexibility of choosing their very own working hours. And this is an amazing benefit for your business, as well. Let’s say you own a shop that is only open from 9 to 6. However, your target audience is mainly browsing the World Wide Web early morning (before they get to work) and during the evening (after they get out of work). Therefore, if you want to get your potential customers’ attention, the best time to be active on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), to update your blog, or to send newsletters is before and after business hours. And here is where the freelancers’ flexibility kicks in – they will craft their schedule in order to do the job at the right time, without worrying about classical working shifts. This is just one of the examples of how your independent contractor’s flexibility can work wonders for you, but there are so many others! Not to mention that if you hire a freelancer that works during weekends, you can even e-mail him or her assignments at the end of the week and have them done by Monday. Yes, you’ve heard it right!

4. Affordability and 5, Independence

When you’re hiring a freelancer who is working from the comfort of his or her home, you don’t have to worry about overhead costs. This also allows the independent contractor to charge affordable rates while covering their insurances and other expenses. While it’s nice having full-time employees who can bond, there are jobs that can be done in a cost-effective and efficient way by freelance talent. Of course, price does not have to be the only and main factor when you choose the freelancer you’re going to hire, but as long as you ask the right questions, rest assured you will get top-notch work at pocket-friendly rates.

Freelancers are used to working on their own and are able to contribute to the business bottom line right away. You will, therefore, skip the hassle you go through every time when you employ on-site staff and have to spend time and money on training long before seeing any tangible results. With freelancers, it’s enough to define your expectations, the work parameters, provide them with useful resources, and they’re good to go. Simple as that!

6. Innovation at its Finest

Usually, freelancers have the tendency to be more innovative and keep up to date with new ideas, cutting edge technology, as well as being extremely receptive to suggestions. Unlike many corporations, independent contractors are generally not dealing with pre-conceived attitudes, which gives them the freedom to offer amazing innovative ideas and easily put them into practice. Therefore, they can come up with novel solutions to any of your business issues.

7. Freedom

When you hire a freelancer, you have the absolute freedom of conveniently collaborating with an independent contractor on a need basis. This means that you don’t have to engage a full-time employee – you are able to collaborate with an external expert who will help you with streamlining your business only when you need it.

As you can see, it makes great business sense hiring freelance talent. There are a bunch of benefits of collaborating with independent contractors whose entrepreneurial spirit is lively and thriving. And, as more and more professionals are leaving their full-time jobs and choose the freelancing path, you will find the right expert in no time!

To hire a freelancer for one of your projects, click here.

7 Key Tips to Get Market Feedback about Your Business Idea

So you’ve got your business idea, now the important thing is to get honest feedback to be sure your assumption is worth following through.

This step is crucial – an assumption about what the market needs or wants is great, but if it isn’t embraced by your target customer you’ll end up spending time, effort, and money unnecessarily.

Here are our 7 effective tips on how to get feedback from your target market.

 

 

1. Define your Target Market

This step almost seems so obvious that it doesn’t need to be stated, but defining your target market is perhaps the single most important step.

If you’re asking the wrong people about your idea, you’re going to get inaccurate feedback. This feedback will incorrectly alter your perception of your idea which may lead you down the wrong path. It’s just as bad not following a great idea through as it is following a bad idea through which won’t sell.

Objectively define your target market. Who will benefit most from your product? Do they have a likely age range? A particular area they live or work in?

Honestly answering these questions will allow you to tailor your approach, maximizing your chances of reaching the right people and getting the right feedback. Plus, you’ll save a ton of time by not getting having conversations with the wrong set of people.

 

2. Get Over The Idea That You Shouldn’t Tell People Your Idea for Fear of Them ‘Stealing it’

 Working with entrepreneurs (and being one myself), this is a phrase I have heard more times than I can count.

‘My idea is amazing, but I don’t want to tell other people because they might steal it.’

The only time anyone would actually put the effort into copying your idea is only if you make a huge success out of it, at which point it wouldn’t matter anyway because you would already be successful. And from the looks of it, the copycat never really wins.

The simple fact is, if you have a great idea, the best thing you can do is share your idea with everyone you can.

Now don’t get me wrong, in the last tip we’ve said that you should strictly define your target market, but there’s no harm in telling people who are not part of your target market because they may know other people who’d benefit from what you have to offer.

The trick is not to put nearly as much emphasis on opinions from people who are not from your target market; they won’t directly know the benefits/drawbacks of your idea because they won’t be thinking as potential customers.

3. Ask Your Potential Customers Face-to-Face

Physically asking your potential customers for feedback is hugely valuable. Asking specific questions and having conversations face-to-face can bring you highly valuable information that no other form of feedback can.

Face to face we’re much better able to read facial expressions and body language, getting a feel for what someone really thinks. Maybe they’ll be animated and enthusiastic, maybe they’ll be a bit more held-back, or maybe they’ll want more information and turn into one of your first customers.

The drawback of this method is something called ‘demand characteristics’ – that people may tell you what you want to hear. By and large though, these people are few and far-between. To alleviate thiss, remember to ask open-ended questions as much as possible.

4. Ask People Already in the Industry

If you can find anyone already in the industry your idea is based in, you can gain massively valuable feedback because it comes from a place of knowledge and practical experience. Imagine talking to Tiger about golf club comfortability. Imagine the value of the feedback you’d get from him.

This type of feedback is unique, the type your potential customers won’t be able to directly give you. One of the dangers, though, is in making sure not to ask someone who is a potential competitor. If they are, then of course their advice will be biased to their own interests.

If you manage to find someone objective however, their feedback will be as honest as it comes, because they’ll have nothing to lose in offering their advice.

 

5. Survey Your Target Market Online

Creating your own online survey is hugelyeasy these days. Using google surveys or the plethora of survey websites makes it so simple to get feedback on anything at all.

Online surveying can bring you huge feedback. If you go out for a day and speak to people face-to-face, you may be able to speak to 40-50 max. Because people can fill surveys in simultaneously, you have the opportunity to get massive amounts of data/feedback from relatively little effort.

The trick with this method is to ask the right questions and get your survey in front of the right people. Keep your questions short and concise, people don’t want to spend too much time on things they don’t get much out of.

Ask 2/3 questions at the beginning to define whether the person is a potential customer, then ask the most important questions to whether your idea will be well received. Keep it short, sweet and to the point.

 

 

6. Use Social Media Channels

Everyone is on social media these days. Putting surveys or questions on blast using multiple social media channels has the potential to bring you all the honest feedback you could ever need.

Facebook, LinkedIn and others offer specific targeting to get content in front of exactly who you want. Facebook charges relatively little to allow you to choose the age-range, location, gender plus other factors of who you’d like to target.

In this way you could share a survey or create content (like an article, blog post, video etc) with valuable content which then asks for feedback.

The great thing about online feedback is that people are more honest than in real life. Because it’s online, there isn’t much consequence on comments so generally people are far more willing to say what they really think.

This type of feedback can be invaluable and will help you make an informed decision on your idea.

7. Offer Something in Return for Feedback

 

Okay, maybe not that much…but we’re all busy these days and as a general rule people won’t be inclined to do something if they won’t get much out of it.

The way to get around this is to offer something small in exchange for someone’s feedback or opinion.

The trick is to give something which would be massively valuable to your target market, and less so to everyone else. Here’s where you’ll have to get creative; what would your target market really benefit from, but which won’t cost you a lot?

The best answer for this is specific information. You have your target market – think about what information they would benefit from and offer that in exchange for their honest feedback. Perhaps an article or a very short free e-book which you would then give them on receiving their feedback.

This will entice your potential customers to communicate and connect with you and because it’s online, they’re more likely to be honest. This also has the added bonus of catching their email addresses so you can stay connected with them for future.

 

Who are we?

A bunch of super cool tech junkies. Try out our innovative biz dev platform here and let us know what you think.

 

7 Emergency Ideas Startup Entrepreneurs Should Adapt Now

Several startup entrepreneurs have great ideas in mind but fail to turn them into successful businesses because of some common and avoidable mistakes known to the startup world. Were they avoided, these entrepreneurs might have been another set of names among celebrity founders like Mark Zuckerburg and Evan Spiegel. So, what has WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Uber and AirBnb (to name a few companies) done that other businesses failed to do? And what are some of the mistakes that most of them avoided to procure success? Let’s take a look below.

1. Conduct Feasibility Studies

Startup businesses usually start with an idea fueled by a deep intrinsic motivation to make it a reality. While that’s great, founders often assume their business ideas will work without adequately researching their respective industry and market. There’s a reason you’ll see this mentioned as a commonly made mistake in several entrepreneurial and startup articles – and thankfully so. Studying the industry and the market you plan to enter will provide invaluable insight and information necessary for success. Questions like “Will my business work for all age groups or will it just work for millennials?” are crucial to consider, research, and answer before doing anything else, even so much as designing a logo (no pun intended). Answering these questions can also help founders assess whether their current savings is enough or whether funding sources like angel investors, venture firms, or crowdfunding services are needed in the short term. Entrepreneurs who know their market and industry and can determine how their business fits in, will be rewarded nicely.

2. Develop a Business Plan 

Since the dawn of time, a promise by word of mouth is less valuable than the tangible. In this case, your business plan is the tangible word and foundation to your idea. An idea remains nothing but an idea until it has been carefully outlined and translated into planned out thoughts and action. Ask Napoleon Hill. There are no countries without borders and there is no business without a business plan. Business plans help in several ways and here are a few things to consider when developing yours:

• It should clearly state what problem your business is addressing.
• It should clearly describe how your business will address the problem.
• It should clearly explain how you plan to create a sustainable (and profitable depending on your business) company.

Successful founders avoid being naive and thinking their idea is quick and easy to execute. Rather, they are diligent and execute a critical thinking process every step of the way. Successful founders write down ideas and organize their thoughts to achieve better results.

3. Create an Online Presence

It’s 2016 in the 21st century. Successful entrepreneurs use the online world to build momentum. A commonly asked question to business owners is, “Do you have a website?” or “Is there an app?” Companies without an online presence risk being seen as unprofessional, strange, and non-friendly to the consumer. Successful startups take advantage of social media platforms to reach their audience, adapt extensive engagement strategies such as email marketing, and attempt to increase organic engagement. These strategies should help produce better results and positive earnings at the end of the fiscal year. Most successful companies have a modern and user-friendly website that’s also mobile friendly. If you can afford to, consider investing in a mobile app for all common devices. Find bloggers in your industry or niche to write about your product, submit press releases, and utilize Google Analytics to monitor various online metrics.

4. Build a Strong Team

Relationships are key to successful startups despite many of the stories we’ve seen where business partners go after each other in court. People tend to ignore the fact that those “fall-outs” usually happened after the company grew. Focus on building a strong team of diverse individuals with different skills and strengths. They’ll have their weaknesses (as much as you do) and might not necessarily be passionate about your business (which is fine). Settle personal differences early on and build a coercive front. As the saying goes, “It’s not personal. It’s business.”

5. Share Equity

There’s always a global economic crisis (check the news) and one thing that individuals wouldn’t mind opting for is ownership, especially in a successful or promising company. Sharing out equity to potential partners has its benefits when relationships and commitments are clearly defined. Owning equity in a company changes one’s relationship from associate/employee to “part owner”, thereby increasing that individual’s stake in the business. There’s now a greater sense of responsibility towards the startup and stronger desire for the company to succeed. Handing out equity is a nice way to keep your startup running, so avoid a take-it-all approach and share some of the pie.

6. Be Smart and Financially Conservative

Fundraising can be a pain but when it goes well, you’ll be able to bring all the prospects of your startup to life; however, be smart and conservative with your finances. Avoid buying expensive services early on. Failing to do so might thwart the progress of your startup and certainly avoidable with the range of online resources available. Always remain keen on your objectives and try to cut costs and save time by outsourcing tasks and connecting with multi-talented individuals who can effectively take on one or two roles. Outsource through platforms like Giggrabbers to save money while bringing your startup to life.

7. Determination

Many well-established companies have been praised and dressed with a number of awards for their innovations and success, but people often ignore the challenges that stood as temporary roadblocks along the way. Startups are made to make or break and it takes extreme determination and discipline to obtain the former. Everyone won’t say yes to you the first time around and all your strategies and plans won’t work out the way you want it; but be determined and resilient. Friends and colleagues might say, “Hey, your product is great!” but never buy it, and your response to that and similar challenges will determine your success. Dr. Charles Stanley once said, “Disappointments are inevitable but discouragement is a choice.” You have the power to stop or be determined enough to startup your company even when the engine fails to start.

Adapt and/or maintain these tips while avoiding the mistakes outlined above and you’ll be well on your way to building a successful startup.

Visually Map Out, Outsource, Crowdfund. All On One Platform.

We’re doing project management like never before. Visually map out the tasks of your venture, business, or event. Outsource those tasks to freelancers and raise funds to pay for them through a crowdfunding campaign, all on one platform.

 

Try it today. It’s free.

www.giggrabbers.com

Just Begin, and Nothing is Impossible

You’ve probably heard them all: “Boldly ventured is half won.” “Well begun is half done,” and a common one, “He who has begun, has half done.” —Horace’s. These are proverbs about the importance of taking action or pursuing your calling now, sayings that were probably mouthed by your past professors in the battle against procrastination. And they’re all true—whether you are bogged down by mundane paperwork in a cubicle, or by a hesitance towards your lofty dreams, action is the only way forward.

Millions of people conjecture and analyze, but how many people put their thoughts into concrete action? Everyday, you probably witness this phenomenon: people thinking vs people doing. Perhaps, you can categorize your friends or family into one or the other. The truth is, the doer often intrigues and excites.

Remember Steve Jobs?

This is because we are judged by what we accomplish, not by what we plan to accomplish, or would like to accomplish. The moments in which we ponder or articulate ideas are typically moments of dreamy eyes and attentive ears – cheap moments. Conversely, simply starting or acting on whatever it is we want to do is high-priced and traditionally difficult, not just on a personal and local level, but also on a global, historical level.

For instance, the space exploration community is enthused at the prospect of life on Mars.  Experts and media speculators alike predict that by the year 2020, humans will begin to set up a base on the planet. Yet, how much of this talk will actually result in concrete action?  What nation, what organization, what individual will take the necessary steps towards legitimately colonizing Mars, rather than merely analyzing how it can be done?

A mission as such takes years and years of planning, to be sure. However, NASA or a competing organization could very well choose to today take that first crucial step towards a successful mission; perhaps it already has.

Hopefully, because this will need a lot of work…

The great news for you is, by adhering to a strict philosophy of beginning your project, or taking the first step towards your lofty aspirations, you can literally achieve anything. With this attitude and initiative, what appeared to be impossible will soon appear very much possible.

Speaking of space travel, who would have assumed in the first half of the 20^th century (and for all time before) that man would set foot on the moon? Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong symbolically and literally took that first step, a step that represented, for the men themselves, a culmination of a career.

Undoubtedly, somewhere along their journey, Aldrin and Armstrong each took their own “first step” towards becoming world-class astronauts. This process involved initial research, networking, schooling, intense study, concentrated training and lifestyle adjustment and, of course, eventual experience with NASA.

Whatever your dreams are, you can begin to pursue those dreams today by boldly taking that first step. But courage is not the only ingredient here; intelligence and awareness are important. You need to know which organizations or individuals to contact and how to contact them; you need to know which skills to acquire and how to acquire them; you need to assemble a plan for all of this, as well as a budget that will be useful in reaching your goal. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this alone because in the modern digital age, help is always available.

We call them Giggrabbers

Giggrabbers was founded on this premise: that skilled and talented people who can help make your dreams a reality should be readily available. Giggrabbers is an interactive project and gig space that allows users to introduce their ideas or projects and hire individuals that can help achieve them.

You can create your own “dream team” for your own mission to Mars (or to anywhere else) and you can compensate your team members safely and securely through Giggrabbers’ platform. You will also have easy communication with your team through Giggrabbers’ exclusive “gig room” along with payment tools to safely reward your new partners.

If you are on the fence about moving forward with this type of format to achieve your project’s goals or accomplish your dreams, be careful not to give up before taking that first step! Just begin, and nothing is impossible.

 

By Colin Keane

 

 

In the New Year

Happy New Year!

Our new year celebrations commemorate a specific physical occurrence. Namely, the planet Earth has returned to the same spot, relative to the sun, where it was 365 days ago. For a lot of us, our lives seem to have taken a parallel course. It’s been 365 days, and we’re still stuck in the same place. But we needed those days.

Last year, we made resolutions and didn’t keep them. We promised ourselves that we would quit McDonald’s and smoking. We said we’d drink less, but we knew that was a lie. Some of us resolved to be nicer, and on some days we were. We felt like queens and kings for a few seconds, raining down grace on our loyal subjects, until the day someone let you hold the door for them and didn’t say thank you and all that grace went right out the window. And that was on January 18th.

Some of us were supposed to get more exercise, cut down on video games, work less, and save more money. A few of us swore up and down that we would say “no”, more. Some of us should have said “yes”, more. We resolved to be happy. We resolved to be more eloquent and more independent. We resolved to have a bit more resolve. Be more industrious, gregarious, more present, more punctual, more spontaneous, and to walk more.

We were going to practice guitar, bass, piano, drums, violin, trumpet, sitar, and bagpipes more this year. Our credit card/student loan/borrowed time would have been paid down this year, but we splurged one day in April and never looked back. There’s a day marked on your calendar, the day you were to audition for a role in your community theater’s production of Li’l Shop of Horrors, but that day came and went without you noticing, and actually, you stopped turning the pages on the calendar back in June.

We were going to chase our dreams. But our day jobs got in the way. Or we couldn’t manage to juggle family time and our passion. Or we were too tired. Or it occurred to us that we might be too old.

Last year was to be the year that we started our catering business, our event planning service, or started production on the script that’s been steadily gathering dust on top of the bookshelf.

Writing an amazing script wasn’t enough, it turned out. You needed to find a great cast and crew who can work on a shoestring budget. You needed someone who knows the ins and outs of shooting in New York City. You needed an amazing cinematographer and an editor, and eventually, someone to market it. And in the face of all the things you needed and didn’t have, you gave up.

But last year wasn’t a failure. We needed those days. The days when we wondered what we were doing with our lives. The days we felt regret and beat ourselves up for never doing the thing we wanted to do more than anything else. The memories of those days can be transmuted into one of two things: the snacks at an existential pity party or the karmic fuel you need to make your dream a reality, THIS YEAR.

Giggrabbers is an interactive gig and project management portal. It allows users to present their idea, hire the people that will make their big dream a reality, and transfer money, safely and securely. People who have a vision to share with the world no longer have to let their dream languish, while they search high and low for missing puzzle pieces; now the pieces are at your fingertips. And Giggrabbers is the only platform that provides a “gig room”, a convenient way to stay in contact with your Dream Team.

Giggrabbers was built specifically with the success of your life-changing undertaking in mind, and it’s FREE.

The future is now. We have the fuel that we need to push through the difficult and rewarding days ahead, and in Giggrabbers, an invaluable tool that will help us to make this year the year that our dreams came true. Don’t put off for another year, the dream that you could live today. Charge Giggrabbers with what you want, now.

 

By Michael Koene

 

 

The Pursuit of Happiness

In 1943, the noted behavioral psychologist Abraham Maslow released a paper in Psychological Review detailing the things which everyone needs in life to achieve happiness and fulfillment. This framework is known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

According to Maslow, there are 5 levels of need. Each individual requires certain basic needs like food and clothing to be met before they can begin to focus on the next rung in the hierarchy, safety. Once an individual has achieved some level of safety and security he can begin to spend more time focusing on less tangible needs like social acceptance and the need for love. Those who succeed in fulfilling their social and emotional needs will in turn strive to fulfill the need for self-esteem or respect in their chosen career or life path. Only after the fulfillment of each of these needs will the individual be in the position to reach for the ultimate human need, self-actualization.

While the levels of need near the bottom of the pyramid may be interchangeable at times (as evidenced by anyone who’s ever thrown caution to the wind and jeopardized their own safety in a bid for acceptance), each of these needs must be met before a person can aspire to self-actualization.

What is self-actualization? One who is self-actualized has discovered her/his purpose in society and the world and follows that path without fear or regret. A person who is self-actualized has a bird’s eye view of the world’s events and the events in her/his own life and understands their place and significance within the bigger picture. A person who is self-actualized accepts constructive criticism with grace and curiosity as opposed to fear and defensiveness. Those who have attained self-actualization exude confidence and calm. They also understand that failure doesn’t exist; each perceived failure is an opportunity to learn, as well as a potentially important chapter in a grand story. To the complete human, the world isn’t a scary place at all. Every day is an adventure full of things to learn and solutions to uncover. Put simply, one who is self-actualized has achieved HAPPINESS.

If you’re happy and you know it, slow down bullets!

If you’re reading this on a computer screen from the comfort of your living room, chances are your physiological needs and need for safety are being met to a practical extent. For our purposes, we’ll assume that your social needs are being met as well. You have a place to live, you have ample food and clothing, and you have close friends and family who love you and would love to see you succeed. You have all of these things, yet… something is missing.

Perhaps there’s a dream sleeping inside of you that you’ve neglected for too long. Why has it been neglected?  Maybe you have a “good job.” Maybe pursuing your passion in earnest would mean relocating to a different city, but you’re loathe to move. Why chase an impractical dream now that you have so much to lose? Well, the short answer is: your life-long happiness depends on it.

The poet Langston Hughes explored this dilemma to great effect when he asked, “What happens to a dream deferred?” In the poem, Hughes illustrates perfectly the urgency and the need for us to do everything in our power to make our dreams reality. A dream deferred is akin to a cancer of the soul, destined to shrivel up or explode chaotically with the desire to be. Dreams that emerge from confinement in this way are gnarled and twisted and often bear little resemblance to the bright dreams of youth. These dreams turned nightmares emerge ugly, angry and full of resentment.

Very much like this gentleman…

So, there is a clear connection between the pursuit of one’s dream and the pursuit of happiness. Some might even say they are identical. It is telling that in one of our nation’s bedrock documents, The Declaration of Independence, an implicit distinction is made between “happiness” and “the pursuit of happiness.” Should we be striving for a stagnant, impotent happiness or a happiness that is constantly shifting and changing, evolving, and discovering new things about itself?  We need a happiness that is alive and growing, the antithesis of stagnation. In this light, happiness is not an end in and of itself but rather a life-long journey to be entered upon joyously, without fear. And what better road to travel down in this timeless pursuit than the road that only your dreams can plow? Our dreams are not secret diadems glistening far off in the future. They are vehicles that exist here and now, just waiting for us to drive them off into the never-ending horizon of self-actualization.

Sounds easy, right?

The truth is, following your dream is never easy. Many people seem to think that happiness and hard work are mutually exclusive. In fact, the opposite is true. Your dream will sit and gather dust and rust until the moment you get back behind the wheel and drive it into the future; but whenever that moment arrives, it will be a joyous one.

Whether you want to renovate the home of your dreams, open a record store, or make a movie, the first step to making your big dream a reality is the realization that you will probably need help. The beautiful thing is that there are talented and highly-skilled people all around you who are traveling on their own path to self-actualization. They are production designers, programmers, hair stylists, personal assistants, and writers, all looking for the opportunity to realize their dreams, and in the process, help to realize yours. Giggrabbers is a free, interactive online platform that helps bring your dreams to a reality. You tell the platform what you need, along with a budget that works for you, find and hire the right people you need to get things moving, and pay them securely all on one user-friendly platform. It’s the only platform that provides this much creative space under one roof, specifically with the success of your dream in mind. We can’t let our big ideas whither on the vine. No, we owe it to our family, ourselves, and the world to make them a reality.

Join Giggrabbers today to take one step closer to self-actualization or to help someone else get there. It’s free.

By Michael Koene