What’s on the iPod: Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford & Sons
That’s more like it — I spent yesterday actually getting out some portfolios to my conference contacts. The morning was nuts; we had a meditation monk staying over and the check-engine light on his car was flashing like mad. Luckily, it was a $70 issue caused by squirrels (would you believe walnut shells in the spark plug compartment?) and not an expensive transmission issue. That took most of my morning, as I had to get breakfast on the table, take him and his car to the mechanic, answer emails, prepare lunch, then take him back. But all was well by 1 pm and I was able to get back to mailing out portfolios.
With the portfolios, I’m doing things slightly differently. I created an electronic portfolio (nothing more than a PowerPoint slide show with clickable links) and sent it rather than killing trees and creating more waste with the portfolio booklets I usually use. And I have my first client thanks to the show — we’re talking specifics today.
I was thinking back to my first courses in journalism. We’re taught how to put together the news story (who/what/when/where/how/why), how to interview sources, how to stick to certain journalistic ethics…. but there are some things that J school doesn’t teach you:
Someone somewhere is going to want to bend the rules. I’ve had people ask me to rewrite existing content (not mine or theirs) to create “new” content. I’ve been asked to write term papers, write articles that featured clients (and not tell the editors? Are you nuts?), lift copyrighted images, or blatantly blast competitors by name. None of which I will ever agree to. I’ve heard “But it’s not journalism — it’s marketing.” It’s still wrong. They will ask — you already know your answer.
Sometimes being right is still wrong. File this under “the customer is always right even when he’s not.” Sometimes you can do the job exactly as discussed only to find it’s not acceptable. I remember a client once telling me exactly what she wanted. I delivered it to the letter. Nope, not right. So we discussed it on the phone and again I delivered what she asked for. Apparently, two strikes and you’re out for she didn’t like it and didn’t want to try again. I was her fourth writer. The problem wasn’t necessarily that I was wrong, but that perhaps she didn’t know what she wanted.
Not everyone thinks you’re worth being paid properly. That’s true in a full-time job too, but no more true than at the freelance level. Most of your clients, if you choose wisely, will appreciate your skill and will compensate you fairly for it. However, there are still those “employers” who think paying you with ad revenue or giving you free exposure is all you deserve.
There’s opportunity in every contact. I learned about interviewing sources. What I learned later was that those sources could be, for any writer, a great contact for future stories or future work. So far in my shortish freelance career, I have worked with no fewer than a dozen interview subjects who became clients (some are still clients seven years later). I can’t tell you how many interview subjects gave me countless ideas for more articles. Treat every person you talk to as a colleague and a business friend.
What are some things you’ve learned along the way that no school could have taught you?
I learnt that I will sometimes get it wrong. The trick is to learn to deal with it as graciously as possible and fix it, instead of panicking, blaming someone or wallowing in self-pity. Acknowledge it, fix it, move on. Most clients will appreciate how you handled the mistake instead of dwelling on the fact that there was a mistake in the first place.
No one will respect you until you respect yourself. Don't use qualifiers in your speech or pitches — use definitive words. But be sure you can back them up.
Damaria, that's actually a great lesson. We have to know how to graciously accept fault and quickly fix it.
Devon, exactly the reason I'm here — to show how that self-respect can help you create a fantastic business. Good one!
Back in the '80s, my dad refused to sell our old Ford LTD stationwagon for less than $250, if I recall correctly. He parked it in a little notch in the woods next to our driveway…where it became a mouse hotel. Eventually, it got towed away for $50 bucks to the junkyard.
To point #1: One of my newsletter clients has another writer who did exactly what you're talking about. Yesterday, the client received a cease and desist letter to take down a press release that this guy had literally cut and pasted two paragraphs into. I was stunned that my fellow writer, who seems like a decent enough guy from our internet chatter, would do that.
One thing you learn on the job is people always want to change things, when they're the client it's within their right. When they're the source, it's not.
It's human nature to want to come across in the best light possible, but what some "changers" don't realize is too much change does more harm than if they'd just trusted the writer and editor to do their jobs.
I wonder why they don't teach this sort of thing in schools… they're all life lessons, except maybe the cease and desist order – Jake that's just weird.
Of course they don't teach balancing checkbooks in school either…
How to run the business side of things, how to take rejection without critique, how to cope when you need to create your own job description (after all, with 1 out of 2 college graduates unemployed, survival skills are necessary) – there's a LOT that wasn't taught that I needed to learn in the survival/life skills arena.
Knowing your own limits and having the confidence to stick up for yourself is crucial. I try very hard to put others first, but that doesn't mean I let people walk all over me. I'm providing a service and if they feel that my service isn' worth my fee, then they have the right to look else where.
I must ask, what is a meditation monk?
Jake, these monks share the car and it really is a mouse/squirrel hotel. The monks park it for long periods, so the critters just eat whatever they can find.
Stolen content on a press release? That's not just illegal — it's pathetic! How hard are press releases, and honestly, why would you need to steal the content? I'm guessing he stole someone else's descriptors. Geez. That's kind of sad.
Paula, they're leaving their mark on it. In most cases, that's perfectly fine. There are, however, those cases of a committee-reviewed piece that goes through twelve changes because everyone wants to show they contributed. Yuck.
Anne, I suppose because those teaching don't have the real-world experience. How many professors have actually worked as a freelancer? Probably very few.
Actually, I had a tenth-grade English teacher who did teach us how to make out checks and keep the register. She took one class to do it, and it's been serving me well for years. I still thank her every time I balance my accounts. She had good insight into what we'd need in life.
Ronda, it's as if they need to include some kind of real-life boot camp to get us up to speed. You're so right on every point. These are things we have to learn ourselves — sometimes the hard way!
Wade, super comment. Yes, knowing our limits keeps us from devaluing our own businesses and skills.
A meditation monk — the meditation group I belong to (from India) has male and female monks. They're like priests in that they teach meditation and the meaning behind it, along with the lessons of the guru, and they also live a celibate life and are not allowed to conduct commerce, so they rely solely on the charity of others. They're the ones who run the schools in Haiti, Russia, Africa, etc. and who start programs for the homeless, for battered women, to feed people who don't have food…. I don't mind giving to people so actively engaged in service to others. 🙂
Wow, that is amazing work they are doing. I learn something new everyday.
Given a monk's sensibilities, he probably doesn't want to harm the animals, but he *should* realize that they'll chew on the wiring, which will be a lot more expensive than $70! 🙂 Maybe the engine compartment is big enough for a Hav-a-heart trap…
And as far as the plagiarist situation, I know–is there anything easier to blah blah out than a press release? Lazy.
Ah Wade, they even wear orange garb! It really is amazing work they do. They inspire me to do whatever I can in my own area.