I was talking with a fellow freelance writer a few days ago and the subject of Freelancers Getting It Wrong came up, like it tends to do. You can’t really blame anyone for discussing how writers can get it so wrong, so often. It’s prolific. This particular case was another of those “How dare they”…
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Your Freelance Career Speed Bumps
If you look online long enough (two minutes), you’ll find ample evidence of why some freelance writers are still struggling with running a successful freelance business. I present Exhibit One here, a writer who, upon attempting to identify the roadblocks to their success: My credentials don’t align with straightforward career trajectories. (They go on to…
6 Revealing Freelance F-Ups
Ah, December. A time in which you’re either refreshing your email constantly looking for client work or so busy you forget to wrap presents. Or buy them. No matter what camp you’re in this year, let’s start December with some fun facts. Freelance tells, let’s call them. Observations from some of the shit that’s been…
The 2022 Freelance Writing Career Reboot
I hate resolutions. But many of you know that already. Why they suck — Resolutions are promises, empty ones at best. We promise to lose five pounds. We promise to get a better job. We promise to find more clients. Notice anything about these promises? Not one of them is a plan. Not one thing…
Free Advice Friday: Your Freelancing Questions, Answered
It’s Friday, we’re all stressed, so let’s just keep it light today, shall we? Over the 17 years I’ve been freelancing full time (plenty of part-time freelancing before that), I’ve received questions. I’ve asked them, too. Some are always the same: “How do I get started?” (Which, quite frankly, takes volumes to answer, so please,…
Boredom and the Freelance Writer
Bored. I’ve felt that in the past with a few projects, particularly strings of projects that are just. The. Same. Thing. I get that way when I feel they’re too manicured, so to speak — when the client is too intent on massaging every word, dumbing it down, or creating what turns out to be…
Free Advice Friday: The Words that Spell Doom to Your Freelance Writing Career
What I’m listening to: Ghost in the Machine by Our Last Night “Terms are terms. They aren’t good or bad until we add context.” That’s the argument I received after objecting to someone’s use of the term “liberal snowflakes” to describe my Facebook video of the recent snowstorm. It seems I made it political by…
Free Advice Friday: Free Marketing for Freelancers
What I’m listening to: Timeless by The Airborne Toxic Event Recently a family member expressed interest (and a little frustration) in starting a small business. He’s doing it right — starting with his circle of contacts, spreading word to their contacts, and using social media to get the word out. He’s also running into the…
Free Advice Friday: The Freelance (Under)Sell
What I’m listening to: Caledonia by Dougie MacLean It’s a Robert Burns kind of weekend — time for poems written by the bard, whisky tasting, and haggis. (Take my advice — skip the haggis.) Hence the link to the song by Dougie MacLean, who was homesick for his native “Caledonia” when he wrote what has…
Free Advice Friday: Your Streamlined Writing Life
What I’m listening to: Zombie by The Cranberries (RIP Delores O’Riordan) This is the year I get my shit together. That’s what I vow every year. Every year, I’m going to make that one change that pushes me into a new category of productivity. I’m going to streamline the hell out of my freelance writing habits, and it’s…