Freelance writing advice | Words on the Page

The Freelancer’s Self-Assessment Guide (or what I learned from a week in the woods)

Posted on by lwidmer

To say it was a good week away would be a stretch. It was relaxing. It was necessary. But it was full of memories and, for me, tears. Maybe the decision to head to the cottage in Ontario right after a memorial for my father wasn’t the best idea. It was all too raw yet….

5 Ways to Vet Freelance Writing Advice

Posted on by lwidmer

I’m still up north enjoying what I hope is a rain-free week. I’m so over the weather in the Northeast. Today, let’s talk about freelance writing advice. In particular, those who give it, and those who give it and have no business doing so. Take a look at Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any social media…

7 Lousy Marketing Tactics (and how to fix them)

Posted on by lwidmer

I’m in Ontario at the moment, enjoying the company of family. But I’ve dug into the archives and left something for you to ponder. Marketing sins. We’ve all seen some pretty awful marketing tactics. We’ve also probably made our own mistakes. Like the writers who tout constantly their one success that everyone can do (and…

4 Excuses That Get in the Way of a Freelance Writing Career

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m listening to: Late March, Death March by Frightened Rabbit I’m sitting here in the usual August lull. There’s something about the last weeks of August that sends clients into silent mode. That hasn’t been the case for quite a few years, but even so it’s not concerning. I have projects coming up this…

The Clash of the Freelance Writing Promise

Posted on by lwidmer

Yesterday started out with 3 additional inches of rain. Three. Additional. Inches. Yep, there went my morning. There was so much water, the basement window well was filling fast, threatening to leak through the window. I spent an hour in the rain, bailing. For the record, The North Face rain jacket does not repel water….

Luck and the Freelance Writer

Posted on by lwidmer

Luck. I’m seeing a lot of posts and forum discussions around how luck plays into the lives of freelance writers. Luck is why we found those clients, luck is the reason we landed that great client, luck is how we came across that one post that altered our business approach for the better. Luck gets…

5 Lessons Mister Rogers Taught Me About Writing and Life

Posted on by lwidmer

In my hometown area, he was an icon, just short of a deity. But we worshipped Mister Rogers anyway — that quiet, unassuming man who just oozed love and understanding. When he spoke, it was in a soothing, quiet voice. Amid all the noise of television, it was a voice you couldn’t help but stop…

7 Things I’ve Learned During My Freelance Writing Career

Posted on by lwidmer

Recently, I dropped out of a LinkedIn writers’ group. I was already disenchanted by some of the conversations, which revolved around how miserable it was to be a freelancer these days. When a rather sketchy job posting was allowed to stay on the forum — and was defended by the moderator — I knew it…

Running Your Freelance Writing Business Like a Boss

Posted on by lwidmer

I’ll admit it — at times, I still get a case of the guilts. I’ve been freelancing since 2003, so you think I’d be over that feeling of having to be at this desk at a certain time. Yet every vacation, every day off I took (aside from weekends), I felt like I was playing…

The Return of the Freelance Leech (and how to protect yourself against one)

Posted on by lwidmer

It happened again. I was on a social media site a while back and I accepted a connection request. “Hi Lori! Thanks for accepting my connection! Hey, I have a website and I really need someone to critique it…” Seriously. On first contact. It’s like being proposed to on the first date. No, wait. It’s…

Cathy Miller

The right-out-of-the-gate leech is easy to spot. Like your latest leech, Lori, they barely get out the greeting before asking for something from you. But, there are those leeches who you may already know and they use that relationship to try to suck you dry. Any work you can throw their way? Can you introduce them to one of your LI connections (when they’re basically going after the same services you offer)? They are those who ask and take without any form of reciprocation. Because we are a generous group. I’ve said that about writers from the start of my freelancing career. Most support each other and that means a different kind of s word – not sucking a contact dry, but sharing.

1. lwidmer
  
  Oh, that one I don’t like either, Cathy! I get the requests to funnel my “overflow work” quite a lot. If I know you and that mythical overflow work ever existed, sure. I did refer a writer friend to a favorite editor recently, but he’s someone I’d happily help. He’s communicated with me for over 10 years, and he’s never asked a favor before. And I trust his writing and work ethic.
  
  That has to enter into it or it’s a no-go. One other time I referred someone to a client, she nearly killed it for me, too.
Paula Hendrickson

In my early days on LinkedIn I had a couple of people message me after seeing that I’m a regular contributor to a high-profile publication, asking me to put them in touch with my editors.

Um, no. I had to work to land my contacts there, and I just started with the name of one editor. I snail mailed him some clips, he called, assigned me something on the spot and then he passed my info on to some of his fellow editors, and I’ve worked my tail off for each an every one of them. (Which is probably why one of them sent me two new assignments last night.)

Instead of offering this guy my contact—and risk him annoying my editor, who might in turn get annoyed with me for giving away his info—I told him to look at the website, check the bylines for people who are listed as editors in areas he might be interested in writing about, then sending his clips.

Contrast that with one of the editors from that particular publication emailing be to ask if another place he’d seen my byline in was a good place to write for. He didn’t ask for contact info, he just wanted to know if I liked writing for them. I said it was a great place to write, and his byline started showing up a few months later. Because he did his own leg work.

1. lwidmer
  
  Oh Paula, I don’t blame you. A writer friend I’ve known for two decades just asked for an editorial introduction. That is perfectly okay with me because I know and trust his professionalism.
  
  That courtesy does not extend to people I don’t know or haven’t known for very long. I worked hard to get that contact, to build and nurture that relationship. I’m not about to risk it all on a new contact. I’d even hesitate if it were someone I knew but didn’t have the experience working with. Years ago, that one time I did and was burned, was enough for me.
  
  Good for that editor. He knew enough to just ask about the working conditions. I remember an email from an editor I’d worked with years prior. She wanted me to review something she’d edited and “maybe put an Amazon review up” for it. I couldn’t finish the intro — it was so poorly edited, it was almost unreadable. Made me rethink my relationship with her, for sure.
2. Paula Hendrickson
  
  Amen!
Sharon Hurley Hall

There are so many of them around, and there seem to be more lately. As well as asking for critiques, they want you to make introductions, add links to their services to content you’ve published, and a whole lot more. I’ve lost patience with this (hmm, seem to be saying that a lot more lately 🙂 ) so I usually just remove the connection on LinkedIn or delete the email. I’ve even been known to mark persistent offenders as spam.

1. lwidmer
  
  Oh gawd, Sharon. You’ve hit on all the worst offenses! I’m getting these link “offers” (they frame it as that so I don’t think they’re requesting perhaps?) for this blog. This week, three of them. One a few weeks ago actually did read the site enough to know I had the resources list. She suggested I add her company to it. Funny — she didn’t read the blog page that said “No companies” in the guidelines….
  
  I’m with you — remove them altogether. It’s so frequent, there’s just no way to respond to them all without wasting time. Maybe we should craft a stock response? LOL