Comments on: The Freelance Writer’s Fact Book

By: Weekly translation favorites (Mar 25-Apr 7)

Weekly translation favorites (Mar 25-Apr 7) — Sat, 03 Feb 2018 18:03:52 +0000

[…] 12 Proven Productivity Hacks to Help You Win Every Day 15 Best Productivity Apps for Your Mac The 5-Minute Move That Wins Over Clients Myths vs Realities of a Writer’s Life The Freelance Writer’s Fact Book […]

By: Lori Widmer

Lori Widmer — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 13:01:10 +0000

Keri, you've actually highlighted another interesting fact -- if you're getting advice from someone, make sure the advice resonates and is accurate. Lately there's been quite a lot of self-labeling of people wanting to frame themselves as experts. While I believe everyone has something to teach the rest of us, I just don't see the quality all the time.

A simple vetting process -- do an Internet search on the topic of the post. Do that for a week. If the advice shows up in droves elsewhere, there's a good chance the "expert" is either repeating what's hitting the tops of the search engines (trying to drive traffic) or is "borrowing" ideas (and do look for whether the borrowing is often and too similar to other sources).

Ideas cannot be copyrighted (and there really are no new ideas to speak of). However, there's a level of trust someone is building with a following. If there's money being exchanged based on what followers think is original material, that, in my opinion, is deceptive.

Cathy, exactly. I could preach to you all day about how to run your business, but I don't really know your business or your clients. Maybe your clients love being called instead of emailed. Maybe they hate the kind of marketing approach I think you should be shoving down their throats. Maybe you hate the phone as much as your clients do. There are way too many variables for every writing business to be the same. While we do share similar elements, we have our own ways of being successful.

Paula, it's so funny how little time is wasted when you express up front how little of it you have to spare! Also, I think you just increased the urgency with the client. He now knows you're not someone who's waiting for work. He's got to schedule it!

By: Paula Hendrickson

Paula Hendrickson — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 18:29:58 +0000

Funny how I read this while waiting for a new-to-me client to call back. When he wanted to chat last week, I said I was extremely busy (seven active assignments), so I'd need to schedule a 15-minute call. We set it for today at noon. I called. He asked if he could call back from another line in 4 or 5 minutes. Eight minutes later he called. When he thanked me for my patience, I reminded him I was on a tight deadline and gave him 10 minutes. I even set a timer. He spoke very quickly.

I decided to take a trio of short assignments from him since he offers a bonus for turning them in quickly, and if any require more than one interview, he'll pay extra. We'll see how it goes.

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 14:37:39 +0000

Like KeriLynn, the FACT that resonated with me was the What works for you works for you. I am in a different spot than a lot of writers. We all are. I don't want the same things as many writers who are earlier in their working life. So how can someone insist there is only one way to work and it's his or her way?

Using another's ruler of success will often find you short. Make your own ruler. ;-)

By: KeriLynn Engel

KeriLynn Engel — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 13:36:02 +0000

This post is packed full of more good advice than you can find reading entire "expert" blogs out there!! A lot of these were very hard lessons for me to learn, and some I'm still learning!! Sometimes I have to learn something over and over again for it to really stick ;)

You're right about pricing being a difficult change to make psychologically. It's all too easy to think "I wouldn't pay that much for this, so why would anyone else??" But you're not your target audience.

I also love "What works for you works for you" ~ Yes!! All those posts out these saying you MUST do this or that really rub me the wrong way. Everyone's different, and every business is different.

Saying no is still tough for me. I just recently renegotiated a few deadlines for the first time! And it's still tough for me to tell new prospects that I'm booked and can't possibly work with them until next month. I'm always tempted to squeeze them in even when I'm already crazy busy, because I don't want to scare them away.

Awesome advice as always, Lori :)