Sometimes you just need a little royalty in your life. That’s where Princess Jones comes in.
Princess is one of those people you just want to know. Desperately. From her tweets to her Facebook posts, Princess has this wit, this razor-sharp awesomeness to her that I can’t help but want to be around. On top of that, she’s a fantastic, successful freelance writer.
So imagine my happy dance when I finally got the courage to connect with her on Twitter, for something about her made me shy (I know, right?). I gushed a little (a lot) when she then connected with me on Facebook (or me stalking her and she agreeing to be stalked).
Friends, meet my newest friend, Princess Jones.
Q: How long have you been freelancing?
Q: If you could tell new freelance writers one thing to help them build a better business, what would that be?
Princess: I’ve technically been freelancing since college, which would make it 15 years. But I went full time in 2008, which makes it 9 years.
Q: What’s your area of focus?
Princess: I specialize with food, drink, and hospitality businesses. In terms of work, I’m a copywriter and I’ve recently branched out into WordPress design.
Q: How were those first few years of freelancing?
Princess: They were both the magical and terrible. I had no idea what I was doing. I jumped without a plan or a net. I had no savings and no regular clients. But I wouldn’t say I was that scared. I didn’t know enough about what I was doing to be scared. I just felt like if someone else could do it, I could, too. Strangely enough, things went really well. I had some new clients right off the bat and then I got a regular gig within two weeks. I wouldn’t experience those tough lean periods until I was in the middle of a business reboot years later.
Q: What’s been your toughest challenge? Why?
Princess: My toughest challenge has always been the prospecting. It was the most time consuming and the most soul crushing part of the work. I have issues with going through “pick me” processes–apartment hunting, dating, job searches, etc. I’ve always had to work to make it less of an active activity and more of a passive one.
Q: What was your a-ha moment – the event or circumstance that shifted your perspective or had you changing the way you do things?
Princess: Specialization was my a-ha moment. For years I circled it but couldn’t quite make it happen. I knew it was going to be necessary to take my business to the next level but I kept finding excuses not to do it. (Note: this is a universal problem in my life.) I hesitated because I was worried I wouldn’t get to work on anything outside my specialty and I’d get bored. Wrong! I work on so many different things but I make more money and my prospecting process is so much more efficient. The only thing keeping me from doing it was the challenge of wrapping my mind around it. I wish I’d done this on year two instead of year eight.
Q: If you could tell new freelance writers one thing to help them build a better business, what would that be?
Princess: I would tell them that building a better business starts with acting like a business. It’s really easy to get into the habit of treating it like it’s some side gig because the start up costs are minimal and you can do it in your pajamas. But if you treat it like some side gig, you will limit your income and scope to side gig territory.
Writers, do you specialize? If so, when did that occur and how did it come about?
Do you hate the prospecting process as much as Princess does? What do you do to make it easier?
I first really got to know more about you, Princess, on Jenn's podcast — so much fun, so much laughter, and a lot of good insights – and now here. It was interesting to learn that you started freelancing straight out of college, too. That was a good time for me to start because I really had nothing to lose.
Get ready for another "stalker," Princess!
I've always had the same specialty–environmental sciences. It has expanded to include agricultural sciences, landscape architecture, historic structures, and higher education in the past few years.
I like the process of identifying and researching people and organizations I should target as possible clients, and I don't mind writing the cold emails. But the followup calls when I don't hear back from them will never be my favorite thing, although they've gotten easier just this past year or so.
Joy Drohan
I first got to know Princess through Jenn, as well, but a few years ago. I read your posts you had back then, Princess. Always loved your sense of humor and no BS attitude. Good to see you here. ☺
A comment maybe only Princess will understand: Poop.
I'm just over the moon to have Princess here on the blog. Thank you, Princess! Happy to share you with others, though my first reaction was to keep you to myself, no matter how stalker-ish that may sound.
Great to learn more about you, Princess. I forget where and when we first bumped into each other online, but it's always been a pleasure.
Like Lori, I've known about this gem named Princess for a while, and it's lovely to get to hear more about your journey! I especially like your advice at the end about having to run the business as a business instead of "treating it like it’s some side gig because the start up costs are minimal and you can do it in your pajamas" HA! I always took freelancing seriously, but didn't start actually treating it like a business until relatively recently. Things just keep improving since then!
I love that Lori thinks she's stalking me. Because it is *I* that is stalking *her*! I just got her to think it was her idea. [INSERT EVIL LAUGH HERE]
"building a better business starts with acting like a business. " <– Yes, yes YES 😉
Great interview!!!