Totally different topic today, but one that some of the more established freelancers have had to deal with. Someone (a female) in my orbit is right now dealing with a grabber. The grabber in question has adjacent property to hers, and in every interaction over the last year has started with an ask. Each subsequent…
Client issues
Freelance Writing and Why Rate Isn’t Everything
Here’s a freelance fact that may be somewhat unpopular (though no less true): Your freelance career outcomes are more important than your hourly rate. That’s right. I’m saying that while what you charge matters, it matters equal to what you’re getting out of that client relationship. Confused yet? Let me explain myself. Suppose your lowest-paying…
Freelance Writing Guide to Managing Client Expectations
What’s the toughest aspect of your client relationship? Managing expectations. What’s the easiest aspect of your client relationship? Managing expectations. Both are true. Hear me out. In the 17+ odd years I’ve been running a freelance writing business full time, I’ve come to realize one truth: [bctt tweet=”Managing your #freelancewriting client’s expectations is both the…
3 Ideas for Successful Freelance Marketing (Yes, even now)
There’s an entire country of people who are about to do — or are already doing — what we do every day: Work from home. You already know the impact that’s having on businesses, particularly small businesses and those that were struggling before the pandemic. Some companies are scaling back drastically (Macy’s, Lush, Sephora, and…
The Freelance Writing Sniff Test
Not long ago, I had an email from a potential client. Well, let me back up a little. It was an email from someone I’d just connected with on social media. I mean, I’d connected with them in that same minute. The email was a thank you, but it was also a request. The person…
One Writer’s Superpower That Could Land You More Clients
I was talking with a writer friend a few days ago. She was relating an interaction with a potential client when it dawned on me: This writer has a superpower. Moreover, her superpower is so stealth, it’s taken me numerous conversations before I realized she had it. This is a writer who has an impressive…
The Worst (and Longest-lasting) Freelance Writing Mistake
This post is about entitlement. It’s also about the big mistake some writers are making while thinking they’re entitled to something. I saw an exchange on a forum I frequent that made me wonder about a lot of things, but mostly about how some writers must truly love shooting themselves in the foot. Here’s how…
Tales From the Stranger Side of Freelance Writing
This post is serious. Seriously weird. Know those clients and interactions and projects that you get that make you wonder WTF years later? For some reason, one of those popped into my head last week. It was random, too. I was playing Solitaire before I got to my emails and boom! I’m thinking about one…
How to Be a Freelance Writing Failure (and how to change)
Typically, I don’t get frustrated when another writer asks for help. But sometimes, the situation is far from typical. In a recent exchange, the writer expressed a level of angst that was troubling. Nothing in this writer’s marketing was working. Things weren’t coming easy anymore. The work wasn’t paying off. Been there. Haven’t you? I…
Keeping Customer Service Fails Out of Your Freelance Writing Business
Here’s a lesson in how customer support can go so very wrong: Got an email from a company I no longer do business with. Once again (it’s a recurring problem), I looked for the opt-out link. Once again, I didn’t find one. Given that I had some time (not a lot), I decided to read…