A close relative of mine is a stickler for obligations. That’s good. And bad. See, if a doctor’s office hands her an appointment time, she accepts it, even if it means rearranging her entire life to make that appointment. It never occurs to her to say “That won’t work. What other days do you have?”…
Client issues
Your Freelance Client Magnet
What does a successful freelance writing career look like to you? Ask a hundred freelancers and you’ll probably get that many different answers. Success could be something as lofty as making enough to retire by age 50. It could be making enough to pay the bills and bank a little. Or it could be working…
When Freelance Clients Behave Badly
Sometimes you come up against someone who, for whatever reason, cannot help being an asshole. The person who tells you that your assigned article is not the one you should be writing, but this one is better, and proceeds to talk about their chosen topic. Or the person who blames you for their mistakes. Or the…
How to Vet that Freelance Gig
A friend of mine called me last week. She had an inquiry about a writing gig and, on the surface, that sucker sounded great. The dilemma — the client needed someone ASAP for a large project. My friend was already tied up with a big project and wondered if I had room on my calendar….
How To Increase Freelance Article Rates
I love it when someone shines a light on a truth and your own lightbulb comes on. That’s how it was for me in 2013 when Walt Kania (whose blog is pretty fabulous, by the way) wrote this guest post for Writers Worth that still resonates. What you charge is determined by one person —…
4 Ways to Reinforce Your Freelance Boundaries
It’s the holiday season. One down, several to go before January. Now is the time when client budgets are either spent or being spent rapidly. It’s also a time when clients make unusual requests. Some of those requests are boundary breakers. And it’s up to us writers to know when to say no. One example:…
Freelance Artist or Just Freelance?
I was talking with a writer chum yesterday about some reno work she’s having done. The contractor doing the job suggested a trim board that he said would cover a problem area and look great. Then she saw the piece of trim. Let’s just say the guy is better at repairing than planning. It’s also…
Clarifying Your Freelance Writing Project
I saw this tidbit in Michelle Garrett’s newsletter this week: Did you hear the mic drop right there? Or was that your head nodding wildly? I know for me, it was the moment I went “YES, thank you.” Because like you, like nearly every single freelancer who has ever worked for a client, I have…
A Freelance Decision You Don’t Want to Make (but should)
Something happened a while back that’s been sticking in my mind. It’s not one of those “Look what that nasty client did to me” events, either. It was subtler than that. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I wouldn’t have noticed. It was when the work outpaced the pay. The client was a fairly new…
Bad Freelance Deals (and how to spot them)
About four months ago, I was contacted by someone on LinkedIn regarding doing some writing for their company. I had a conversation with the owner, which I thought went quite well. I heard about their needs, gave a price estimate, then we agreed to talk further. A month later, I heard back from the company….