What I’m listening to: Hey There Delilah by Plain White T’s After a week that, for the most part, was internet-free, I’m back to a mountain of emails. I was thinking about an encounter I’d had a while back, and it was one that tested my ability to draw clear boundaries. And if you know…
Author: lwidmer
This Job, Not That Job
What I’m listening to: Nature (I’m offline all week) I’m still out of the office, but you know me — I’m leaving bread crumbs. And because it’s such a popular topic, I’m leaving a rather interesting offer behind for the This Job Not That Job series. This one comes to us via Sharon Hurley Hall, who…
Monday Muse: 6 Warning Signs of a Bad Client/Freelance Writer Match
What I’m listening to: Misery by Green Day In my entire freelance career, I’ve never been so glad to see the backside of a week. I was working through what I thought was a relatively slow week when a writing emergency — an actual one — was dropped in my lap midweek. It was an…
5 Ways to Avoid Late Payment Woes
Right now, I’m owed just over $9,000 from one client. That’s just over two-thirds the amount I have in outstanding invoices at the moment. Am I worried? Sure. Who wouldn’t be? Yet I’m contracted with this company and they have, of last week, shown their ability and willingness to pay (they cleared up two forgotten invoices within…
Job Proposals 101
What I’m listening to: When We Were Young by Adele A late post today. It’s raining here — exactly what we needed. But rain makes me want to curl up somewhere comfy and read. That’s actually on my agenda today. First, though, I have to outline a project and get my own project off the ground….
Tuesday Take: How to Blow it with Ineffective Marketing
What I’m listening to: Iceberg by We Invented Paris Another week, another project list to work through. I have an ongoing project that I’ve been chipping away at. This week’s workload, so far, is light, so I may have a chance to really catch up. I have one article assignment due this week, and I’m…
Why Freelance Writers Should Separate Networking from Selling
What I’m listening to: Heathens by twenty one pilots It’s been a relatively slow week. I’m dealing with three projects at the moment, but there’s time between interviews and calls to get some much-needed admin work out of the way. There was also time on my agenda to schedule a meetup with a contact who wanted…
4 Freelance Writing Safeguards to Protect Your Earnings
What I’m listening to: I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love by Santana with Los Lonely Boys I was reading Jake Poinier’s posts on both the Mode Media bankruptcy and his own experience with a client declaring bankruptcy. It’s a lousy position to find yourself in, and it’s then that you scramble to learn all you…
4 Ways to Stop Being a Whiny Freelance Writer
I’m about to piss off a few people. And I’m okay with that. That’s because I’m here to tell you if you’re still cruising job boards for work, if you’re still arguing with clients over your rates, if you’re still taking a verbal beating over simple edits from over-demanding client, if you’re still thinking that…
The Year of Living Dangerously
What’s on the iPod: Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love by Carlos Santana w/Los Lonely Boys I’m about to admit something to you that I’ve hidden for close to a year — I haven’t marketed at all this year. Maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. Yes, definitely an overstatement. Let me rephrase: I haven’t had…