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Author: lwidmer

The Best Unnoticed Blogs

Posted on November 18, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Late Wife by Claudia EmersonWhat’s on the iPod: Keep Yourself Warm by Frightened Rabbit Once upon a time, I was named to a Top Blog list. It was when Maria Schneider was heading the Writer’s Digest blog, and she called this blog “the little black dress” of blogs. I was over the…

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Turning Over Rocks

Posted on November 17, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Alleluia by Rufus Wainwright Finally over that cold that grabbed hold of me last week. It was a strangely short-lived one – three days and vanished. There are remnants of it, but not the usual symptoms of stuffiness, sore throat, aching, etc. I was feeling better by Wednesday. I like that…

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Change the Things You Can Change

Posted on November 16, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading downstairs: The Maytrees by Annie DillardWhat’s on the iPod: Late in the Evening by Paul Simon Yesterday we talked about reasons to part ways with clients – and frankly, they have similar reasons, I’m sure. It’s all about meeting each others’ needs. And while it’s sometimes wise to walk away from a…

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Hanging on to Dead Wood

Posted on November 15, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading upstairs: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David SedarisWhat’s on the iPod: Quiet Little Voices by We Were Promised Jetpacks Sitting idle the last week gave me some time to get much-needed website work done, and get some invoicing out of the way. Also, it gave me time to re-evaluate. In looking…

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Driving Traffic the Organic Way

Posted on November 12, 2010 by lwidmer

What I’m reading: The Maytrees by Annie DillardWhat’s on the iPod: Restless by Chris Bathgate Another slow day yesterday, but I’m making hay with it. I met another freelancer for lunch and we enjoyed swapping not so much work stories, but life stories. Those are infinitely more interesting, and you get to see the layers…

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Mixing Up the Marketing

Posted on November 11, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd Happy Veteran’s Day to all who have served. We appreciate you. At the moment, I am what you’d call “between projects.” I’d panic, but I have some things coming up that will keep me busy through the rest of the month. Plus one of my regular clients,…

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Details, Details

Posted on November 10, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Timshel by Mumford & Sons Yesterday was a frustrating day of trying to get something to work. The new printer came. I’d love to tell you how much nicer it is than the old, reliable Canon. I’d love to go on about its wireless capabilities and I’d love to give it…

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Stick a Fork in Me

Posted on November 9, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: The Wishing Well by The Airborne Toxic Event Interesting day yesterday. Not bad, not great. Just….interesting. If I had a nickel for every client who tried to use the old “had to fix numerous errors” message in an attempt to avoid payment, I’d never have to put fingers to the keyboard….

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Weekend Colds and Wireless Wonders

Posted on November 8, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Sunshine by The Clarks Every time I fly, I end up with a cold. Until yesterday, I thought I’d gotten lucky. But I woke up unable to breathe and sounding like I was channeling Kermit. What was a nuisance stuffy nose on Saturday turned full-blown cold yesterday. He enticed me to…

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The Cycle Turns

Posted on November 5, 2010 by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: To the Sea by Jack Johnson Interesting day yesterday. I managed four projects and the beginning of a fifth (project, that is) before 3 pm. How I’ll never know. Maybe it was my eagerness to return to working. Nothing done on NaNo. Every time I started I remembered another project that…

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  1. Cathy Avatar
    Cathy
    November 5, 2010

    Bummer, Lori, but you're right, it's the life of a freelancer. I just had a 2 article/month regular pull the plug for who knows how long.

    Earlier in the year, ongoing projects from one of my 1st clients completely dried up. And along came a new, better-paying one. I have Pollyanna tendencies, but it never ceases to amaze me when one window closes, another opens up. But, that didn't happen by itself. You are so right about the marketing. And marketing includes the soft marketing aspect of social media. It took me a while to get more strategic about it and narrow my focus to just a few venues. For me, that's LinkedIn. I get a lot of business from LinkedIn. The other "soft marketing" is having a site that showcases your work. Your next great client may be lurking around there so put your best words forward. 🙂

    Have a great weekend everyone!

    Reply
  2. Jake P Avatar
    Jake P
    November 5, 2010

    I hear ya. One of my longtime clients cut their business in half last year, then filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, so there went the other half. It was a low-five-figure annual account, so not an insignificant departure — but, not a darn thing I could do about it. When they cut the newsletter from 4x/yr to 2x/yr, I saw the trajectory.

    (I've never really thought of it till just now, but it's what my dad dealt with all the time as an independent sales rep: If he started to do really well, they'd cut his territory in half.)

    How to recover? Dark rum, mourn, move on.

    You're right that prevention is the only satisfactory strategy. The overarching message for me has always been to diversify: different types of media (i.e., web, print, video, audio) and industries as well as a variety of clients. I've always believed the saying on Wall Street holds true on Freelance Street: "There's always a bull market somewhere."

    Reply
  3. Paula Avatar
    Paula
    November 5, 2010

    Sorry about losing the gigs. I think we've all been there at least once.

    The thing is freelancers are very resourceful. I've had friends say how scary it would be not to have a regular paycheck. Well, yeah. It can be. But getting loads of irregular checks isn't bad, either, when you consider we never have to worry about being laid off. We win clients, we lose clients, but we never lose our ability to win new clients. At least not when we follow your lead and market-market-market.

    Reply
  4. Georganna Hancock M.S. Avatar
    Georganna Hancock M.S.
    November 5, 2010

    Remember the old network, network, network? It really works!

    Would you consider one-off literary manuscripts to edit? Or a collection of short stories headed to be a book. Or laying out a book for self-publishing? Or ghostwriting yet another book about domestic violence (this one in the military)? Actually it is a proposal that's needed for that project.

    These are only the latest I've talked the clients out of hiring me to work on. If you're game, I'll start sending them your way!

    Hey! I just remembered you're a writer — slow time? Write something valuable and if no one buys it, publish it yourself! Although I have enough work, I'm taking time to prepare my first book for Amazon's DTP (Kindle format). If it sells as well as the reviews and articles are, I'll be able to retire some day!

    Good luck. I know you are a versatile and resilient woman with a lovely tweet side!

    Reply
  5. Lori Avatar
    Lori
    November 5, 2010

    Georganna, definitely! Let me shoot you a note.

    Reply
  6. Lori Avatar
    Lori
    November 5, 2010

    Cathy, I'm a believer in that, as well. Doors closing now mean someone's prying open another, better one.

    Great point, Jake. Diversifying keeps the damage to a minimum. And dark rum heals deep scars. 🙂

    Paula, it's odd, but it gets less scary as time passes. Maybe because we've learned how to be resourceful? I feel now that I'll never be unemployed. There's always work to be had somewhere. Mind you, I have to look for it and ask for it, but it's there if I do the legwork.

    Definitely interested, Georganna. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Wendy Avatar
    Wendy
    November 8, 2010

    Communicating with your current clients is something that I've dealt with recently.

    My dad's health has taken a turn for the worse and it looks like he won't be hanging around with us much longer, so I contacted my current clients to let them know the basics of what's going on (not every personal detail though) and that I won't be available for a bit.

    Since I want to spend some time with him in case he does go, I worked hard at getting ahead of the regular projects, so those clients are not hanging high and dry and I can be with my dad as much as possible and not have to worry about my business as much.

    No one has a problem with it and they say they plan to contact me later on to see if I'm up for more projects. Being open, honest and communicating with them keeps a bond going, so that they're kept in the loop. In some cases, they stick by you and that's one of the things I love about my freelancing experience.

    I won't be around much, but I plan to come back later on. In the meantime, I hope work picks up for you and you gain more clients.

    Reply
  8. becky Avatar
    becky
    November 9, 2010

    @Lori – ugh! Sorry to hear that. I know you'll replace the income in no time, though.

    @Georganna – we all need friends like you! I've been trying to network more for referrals and it *is* slowly working. How nice of you to offer that up to Lori. 🙂

    @Wendy – so sorry to hear about your dad. You'll be in my thoughts.

    Reply
  9. Sal Avatar
    Sal
    November 10, 2010

    I am actually heading to a business breakfast sponsored by a local radio station. Each month they put one on for local businesses to network together. I am actually looking forward to getting more involved in the local market and as Georganna said, "Network, network, network."

    Does anyone else try to utilize local businesses or magazines when things slow down a bit?

    I figured it is a good way to supplement the holiday-months income as businesses are still trying to gear up for the big shopping days.

    @Wendy – I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I wish I could have been in the same position as you are now, to take some time off to be with my dad. Relish the moments and make sure you tie up any loose ends in your relationship if there are any. You will be in my thoughts.

    Reply
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