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!

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!

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.

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! 🙂

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 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.

Congrats again, Lori! I am so blessed to have stumbled across your blog and cherish the friendship that evolved. 🙂