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….
Client issues
6 Sh*tty Tricks Bad Freelance Clients Pull
I love every one of my clients. I bet you love your clients, too. But before any of us found such great freelance writing clients, we had to wade through some fairly questionable people who tried a lot of different tactics to get more work for less cash. That’s just sh*tty behavior. Fortunately, such people…
The Sentence That Can Save Your Freelance Writing Bacon
We see a lot, we freelancers. We see countless job postings promising “Make money freelance writing!” that turn into some pretty questionable terms just after the initial “We want you, freelance writer!” call to action. They do want us. However, they want freelance writers who are willing to compromise on quite a lot in order…
Spotting Lousy Freelance Client Prospects
At first, the excitement is almost palpable — a new client prospect has reached out. You respond quickly (but not too quickly — don’t want to seem too eager). They write back. The dialogue has begun. Maybe it moves to the phone at that point. If so, you talk about project needs, your background, their…
The “What Should I Do When” Freelance Post
Not long ago, I followed up with a client with whom I’d gotten all the way to the part where they send the NDA and contract. It never arrived. It wasn’t as though they weren’t eager to get going on the projects, nor was it that I’d done anything to make them bolt. A pandemic…
Freelance Writing Projects: Warnings Signs (& fixes)
A writer friend called me the other day about a project a contact had proposed. As I listened to my friend’s overview of the project, I got the same gut response she did — This project is, and always will be, a nonstarter. Not everything we writers deem to be a lousy business idea is…
Why Burning Freelance Writing Bridges Sucks
A short while back, I got an email from someone I’d done some projects for once upon a time. The note set me back on my heels. Let me back up — the fact that I got a note from this particular contact at all was a pretty major shock. This is a former client,…
Freelance Technique: Getting to the Meat of the Project
A number of years ago, I was hired by an association to rework their website. Turned out, the job was a bit bigger than just the website content. A bit more about that in a minute. The client wanted a rewrite of their existing content, so I went to the site. I read through four…
Writer Beware: Employee Syndrome
I got another marketing email the other day from a one-time prospect that will never be a client. That’s by my choice. The emails were what first made me reach out to this particular company, which is in my specialty area. They were signed up for the same conference I was hoping to attend. So…
The Freelance Client Balancing Act
You may have heard me whine talk about how busy my workdays have been lately. Because I’ve recently added two new clients to the stable, it’s been interesting trying to please them and keep up with the work that was there before they reached out. I was just able to keep up with all the…