With vacation time drawing nearer, I spent the weekend planning, packing, and doing chores outside (and working). I pushed the lawn mower around Sunday and then made the stupid decision to wash and wax my car. I say stupid because it was 85 and insanely humid here. That wash/wax nearly put me in a hospital….
Tag: client issues
Yes, We ARE Worth It
In a discussion on one of my newest forum haunts, the writers are discussing the obvious prejudice clients seem to have about writers. If you can design a website, more often than not your clients will see the value in your work and compensate you accordingly (not always, but I digress). If you write copy…
I Surrender
That would be a white flag I’m waving. I’m giving up, and it’s only Tuesday morning. After losing those two great regular jobs this month, I was hopeful because here came a new client just on the heels of the old one leaving (literally seven minutes between their emails). As you read yesterday, I was…
Can You Hear Me Now? Hello?
It happened again. Right in the middle of negotiations with a new client, smack dab at the intersection of “I like this person” and “Here’s my fee” – silence. Cold, echoing silence at the mere mention of what I’d charge for this project. My price was fair. It may even have been negotiable. But it’s…
The Ultimate Hangover
Never fails that after a really cool party, you end up with either a headache or a hangover, right? Yesterday was no exception. Still high on the fumes of a Friday full of surprises, I got a rude awakening. One of my regular clients – an association magazine – has lost its freelance budget. No…
Can You Tell Them the Truth?
There are two days left before the Second Annual Writers Worth Day! If you’re posting something on that day or you’re putting up the widget, Twittering, or Facebook-ing it, let me know in the comments section here, send me an email, send a pigeon gram… just let me know and you’ll be entered in the…
Yet I’m Not Waiting
I joined Twitter because many of you convinced me I’d have access to, and possibly work from, other tweeters. Lo and behold, I did get a note from someone looking for exactly my writing experience, but I’m not getting the job. See, it’s the same company I’d turned down once before. They pay well, but…
When to be Unreliable
There are a few people from my past who keep showing up occasionally wanting favors. They don’t ask how I am, nor do they care. They want help. Free help. And they want it yesterday. They’re life suckers – they roll into my life and suck up any and all free time, help, money, etc….
Murphy’s Law and Putting Your Foot Down
It never fails – the minute I’m facing a slow day and I think maybe I’ll take the laptop and disappear into the local cafe, the work comes flying at me like those monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. That was my yesterday. Two small projects that I could have finished by 11 am were…
Giving Good Phone
Last week I had a call that was expected to take 20 minutes. An hour and a half and several failed attempts to interrupt the talker later, I made excuses and hung up. It was gawd-awful. Worse, the caller was offended when I halted the one-sided conversation. Devon came to my rescue beeping in on…