Today is an auspicious day for two reasons. First, it’s my own personal holiday, and all work stops so I can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Also, today marks the 10th anniversary of this blog.
It’s funny how far this blog has come and, in some ways, how much it’s remained the same. From the first post, the message has been about worth. It’s a theme that repeats throughout the year, and especially during what’s now known as Writers Worth Month, our annual celebration of freelancing and the value we bring to our clients.
Thank you to those who have been there from the start. Notably, Devon Ellington, who left the first (and only) comment from post #1. She’s an exceptional writer and a great friend. Then there are the rest of you — some who have come and gone, some who visit occasionally, and those of you who are here reading every post. Many of you have contributed guest posts, and many of you have contributed your comments, which have taught plenty of us (even us old dogs) some new ideas.
I’ve witnessed many a freelance writing career start and blossom. I’ve made dear friends of lots of you, and I’ve heard stories that were uplifting, heartbreaking, and real. All right here and thanks to each of you. You are the necessary ingredient in this blog’s success, for you are the backbone of this blogging space. Not me. You. Over the years you’ve changed my mind, introduced me to career-boosting ideas, incited great debates, and become friends.
Today isn’t about advice or rants or righting wrongs that will always plague the profession. It’s about giving a virtual hug to you all and thanking you for elevating this little blog from just a woman ranting in a corner of cyberspace to a community of smart, successful writers who extend help to others willingly and without expecting compensation.
Thank you. Give yourselves hugs and a round of applause.
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Okay, so maybe it is about advice (you knew I couldn’t help it). Since I can’t afford to give you all a small token of my appreciation, let’s do this — one person who comments between now and Friday will get a $20 Amazon gift card.
What you need to do in order to get it:
Tell us one thing you’ve learned in the last ten years that’s improved your business.
That’s it. Comment between now and Friday at 6 pm and your name will go into a random drawing for the gift card. Obviously, no anonymous comments can be included (for how could I ever get it to you?). And no promotional stuff (it will be deleted). Just share what’s worked for you. Comment between now and Friday at 6 pm ET.
14 responses to “Ten Years Later, Still Taking No Prisoners”
Happy St. Pat's day! One thing I learned, and acted upon, was that if you are a specialist vs a generalist, your income is likely to be better. So that's what I did; in the first year, I doubled my income.
Wow, Lori, you've been doing this a long time. Congratulations, and Happy St. Patrick's Day.
I've learned many things from you in the past 6 months or so I've been reading, but the biggest for me is probably the importance of doing monthly assessments.
Wow! I hadn't realized you'd been blogging here for so long ~ congrats!!
Yours is one of the absolute best blogs on freelance writing I've ever come across, always offering practical advice for writers of all levels. There are SO many freelance writing blogs out there now, but many of them are just full of fluff, or only focus on beginners. I appreciate this blog so much, and all the hard work you put into it!!!
I hope you have a wonderful holiday 😀
Congrats and Happy Paddy's Day to you! You, your blog, and the other amazing people who comment on it were all a huge inspiration to me when I was working in finance, writing on the side, and DREAMING of doing it for real one day.
One of the (many!) things I've learned from your posts is that it shouldn't always be about selling – building relationships are just as important. I'm signing contracts now with clients who didn't need my services when we first met/got in touch, and all because I built those relationships and we stayed in touch.
What an appropriate day for your 10-year anniversary. 🙂 Congratulations, Lori, and thank you for caring and sharing. 😉 I haven't hit the 10-year mark in my business – yet (that will be 2018)but I would say one thing that improved my business is knowing when to say No. I stopped taking underpaying and most "one and done" small projects. That resulted in more time to concentrate on productive work.
Congrats again, Lori! I am so blessed to have stumbled across your blog and cherish the friendship that evolved. 🙂
Wow – so much to celebrate, Lori. Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy blogiversary. I didn't realize how long it's been, but I've been reading your blog for a long time, though in the old days I didn't comment much.
I'm coming up to 10 years of freelancing this year too (and a staggering 29 years of professional writing). The thing I've learned that's improved my business is that I'm in charge of setting my worth and managing my time. If I don't do both properly, no-one else will. That means, as Cathy mentioned, learning to say no.
I stumbled upon your blog after it had been around a year or two, but I wish I'd been there at the start. Congratulations on a great 10 years and many more to come.
It's not easy narrowing this down to one thing, Lori, but today you're demonstrating it: don't allow your clients consume your entire life. As freelancers we don't have to be on call 24/7, so it's okay to have your own holiday, quit early sometimes, and tell a client you can't get something to them on Monday simply because you earned a free weekend.
Yes, I worked part of last weekend, but it was my choice. (I also quit early on Tuesday to go to Puppy School, so it balanced out.)
I'm not one to comment much here or on social media in general – just kind of a private person, I guess. But I've been a lurker for at least 8 or 9 years, a freelancer for 12, and a corporate copy mgr/creative director for years before that. I really appreciate your blog and enjoy reading the comments from others. Yours is one of just a couple that I continue subscribing to and read every day for all the reasons others have already mentioned.
One thing I've learned (the hard way, like I seem to learn everything else): so many clients are in a rush when they first call: they need copy NOW NOW NOW. They didn't factor in any time upfront in the schedule for research/writing and are in a bind. Can I help them out? I'd jump at the chance to help almost every time.
Then, once they have that rush draft in hand, it was fascinating how many found time to ponder the merits of similar word choices at length…route to 12 of their colleagues for opinions…re-examine their needs, approach and direction. Or my favorite: they let the work sit on their desk for a week because they're suddenly too busy or they leave for vacation.
So I'm very cynical these days about "urgent" deadlines and question every rush request. I'll still do them – especially for long term clients that truly need the work quickly. But I've found after declining quite a few that 8 or 9 out of every 10 weren't really "rush" at all.
Since I don't contribute as much as the others here, should I be the lucky winner, please keep the prize $$$ for yourself…consider it a round of drinks from me to you…for all the hard work you do keeping this blog going! 🙂
Whoops my bad…just saw it was $20 Amazon card…since they can't deliver a margarita or beer to your door (how cool would THAT be on one of those aggravating afternoons?) I won't be able to buy you drinks: so use the card to splurge on yourself.
Congrats on the anniversary Lori! My baby's 10 this fall. I had no idea we started our writing blogs so close to each other!
And Happy St. Patty's Day! Next year I will definitely have to pop in over at Molly's. I've been wanting to do that to celebrate for years anyway.
Wow! Ten Years!!! What a milestone! You started this in Jr. High, right?
Always a wealth of knowledge and always full of class, may you have as many of these special anniversaries as your heart desires. You're a special person to share your gifts, Lori. Best wishes to you!
Thanks, Eileen. It was a great time. 🙂
Good point about specializing. It does make a difference, at least in yours and my experiences. That's not to say generalization can be equally lucrative. It may take a bit more work is all.
Joy, I'm just going to start calling you the Monthly Assessment Goddess. In the short time you've been doing that, I've seen your results just skyrocket. You're doing a phenomenal job!
Keri, thank you. That means a lot! I appreciate your contributions — you've done a great job growing your business, and we have much to learn from you.
Emily, it's an amazing (and rather freeing) thing to discover, isn't it? Relationships aren't just how you find work, but how you build a strong business. As you say, they may not need you today, but there's always tomorrow.
Cathy, you have been one of the core building blocks of this blog — your contributions have always been so smart and actionable. Here again is your wisdom! The one-and-done job is such a time sink, and it doesn't allow you to build any kind of relationship. And the low-paying stuff? Don't get me started!
Thanks, Sharon! I appreciate it. And you're right about defining your own worth and managing time. It's up to us to make the most of every hour, isn't it? And you and Cathy are twin daughters of different mothers, I swear — you often echo each others' sentiments. 🙂
Paula, don't allow clients to consume your life. AMEN. Even when it's busy, give yourself time away. You have to, or you can't bring your best to the project. Clients have to respect your time (and your time constraints) if you're to have a great working relationship.
Sheri, I'm glad you've come out to say hello. I know you lurk here — you've responded to me privately in the past. Glad to see you're still here! And I LOVE that you've uncovered the main problem with the "rush" job. Often, it's an arbitrary race to the state of inertia. 😉
And if you win, you're getting that doggone card, woman. 🙂
Jenn, I missed you yesterday! Sorry you weren't up to it. We need to plan for it next year, though. It's always a good time!
Dana, thank you! So glad to see you here. Yep, ten years. I won't tell you how old my oldest kid is — you'll think I'm collecting Social Security! Thanks for the kind words, my friend.
Ten years? Wow! Happy Anniversary! I love the way this blog has grown and thrived. It's helped me so often during the hard times, and been a joy to share in the good times. May it run another 10!