Not long ago, I had an email from a potential client. Well, let me back up a little. It was an email from someone I’d just connected with on social media. I mean, I’d connected with them in that same minute. The email was a thank you, but it was also a request. The person…
Category: Client issues
One Writer’s Superpower That Could Land You More Clients
I was talking with a writer friend a few days ago. She was relating an interaction with a potential client when it dawned on me: This writer has a superpower. Moreover, her superpower is so stealth, it’s taken me numerous conversations before I realized she had it. This is a writer who has an impressive…
The Worst (and Longest-lasting) Freelance Writing Mistake
This post is about entitlement. It’s also about the big mistake some writers are making while thinking they’re entitled to something. I saw an exchange on a forum I frequent that made me wonder about a lot of things, but mostly about how some writers must truly love shooting themselves in the foot. Here’s how…
Tales From the Stranger Side of Freelance Writing
This post is serious. Seriously weird. Know those clients and interactions and projects that you get that make you wonder WTF years later? For some reason, one of those popped into my head last week. It was random, too. I was playing Solitaire before I got to my emails and boom! I’m thinking about one…
How to Be a Freelance Writing Failure (and how to change)
Typically, I don’t get frustrated when another writer asks for help. But sometimes, the situation is far from typical. In a recent exchange, the writer expressed a level of angst that was troubling. Nothing in this writer’s marketing was working. Things weren’t coming easy anymore. The work wasn’t paying off. Been there. Haven’t you? I…
Keeping Customer Service Fails Out of Your Freelance Writing Business
Here’s a lesson in how customer support can go so very wrong: Got an email from a company I no longer do business with. Once again (it’s a recurring problem), I looked for the opt-out link. Once again, I didn’t find one. Given that I had some time (not a lot), I decided to read…
The Freelance Writer’s Client Screening Kit
A few years ago, I was in conversation with a potential client over a few projects they were looking to complete. The conversation went well. However, I didn’t agree to work with them. Oh, they did ask me to take on their projects, but I turned them down cordially. The reason: They didn’t pass the…
How to Look Like a Dweeb to Potential Freelance Writing Clients
There’s plenty of freelance writing advice out there to help you get clients. But not a lot of it is telling you what not to do. I cruise around social media a lot. That’s where many of the worst offenses occur because, for some reason, people do not realize that everyone and his Uncle Fester…
4 Ways to Get Your Freelance Writing Client to Yes
A while ago, I had a client who liked to talk about how well we might work together. Trouble was that’s all he did — talk about it. It never amounted to anything. Call it analysis paralysis or just lack of knowing how to go forward, but sometimes clients just can’t pull the trigger on…
Cutting Ties with Freelance Writing Prospects
A number of years ago, I had connected briefly with a client prospect at a trade show who showed interest in working with me. Let me rephrase that: I connected repeatedly with that client prospect, first at the trade show, then close to two dozen times over the years via email and in person. After four years…