What I’m listening to: Get On Your Boots by U2 Here it comes. A snow day for my region. The state of emergency for my town was put out early yesterday when the sun was blazing and the skies were a gorgeous blue. Not today. The latest forecast: 18 to 24 inches. That minimum number kept…
Client issues
The Freelance Client Mix
What I’m listening to: Out Loud (Live) by Dispatch I forget where in conversation I was the other day, but the topic of clients came up. Hey, I’m a freelance writer — the topic will always come up. That’s a promise to you writers out there and a warning to those who aren’t. But I…
Tuesday Take: When to Pull the Plug on a Freelance Project
What I’m listening to: Incomplete and Insecure by The Avett Brothers A good start to the week. I got a project finished, got some marketing in, took care of some unfinished business, and had a call with a colleague. That last item was eye-opening. The colleague and I have had dealings with the same client. In…
How a Shift in Attitude Changed My Freelance Writing Business
What I’m listening to: Heathen by twenty one pilots We’re four days into 2017 and already the possibilities are encouraging. Some easy marketing has netted some scheduled follow-up calls, and the calendar is filling quickly. There’s potential on the horizon. There’s also a shift in my own attitude, one that was small, but one that…
5 Ways to Sell Your Writing Value
What I’m listening to: Light as the Breeze by Leonard Cohen Looking back, I’m glad that week is over. I loathe politics, and even more so now. I saw people I thought were decent humans become these taunting, gloating, name-calling animals. I saw posts on Facebook that said “Let’s move on and come together” and…
Tuesday Take: Declining Freelance Work
What I’m listening to: I Remember Her by Ingrid Michaelson Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit! If you don’t know that tradition, read about it here Still recovering from the weekend. Friday, I was happy to spoil my husband for his birthday, so the day was spent baking his favorite cake (carrot) and taking him to dinner at…
Monday Muse: Knowing Your Boundaries
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…
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…
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 Writers Can Impress New Clients
My daughter was interviewing to hire an assistant recently, and her experience was eye-opening. She had two resumes in front of her — one was a young man whose college credentials were a match for the kind of job he’d be doing. On paper, he looked amazing. The other resume was that of a young man…