A common question I get — and have gotten over the years — from struggling freelancers is: How do I improve my freelancing results? Mind you, that’s a big question. I don’t know you or your efforts well enough, nor do I know who your client is or what specialty or focus you prefer. It’s…
Marketing
5 Freelance Writing Truths to Boost Earnings
I should stay off the internet. Really. My problem is that I read too many forums and social media sites where plenty of writers are either lamenting the death of freelancing (which is alive and well) or bragging about their ability to write about anything (which is going to burn them at some point). Lost…
Marketing 101: 4 Client Prospects to Give Up On
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Those moments when we meet that sure thing, that client prospect who is so enthusiastic and is itching to work with you. Followed soon after by those moments (days, weeks, months) that are devoid of any communication from that enthusiastic prospect. You, my friend, have been ghosted. It’s not…
Freelance Marketing 101: The Relationship
Freelancers and writers, did you have a chance to read through and try the strategies I mentioned in my last post? How are you finding it going? Ready for a little more? Continuing the Freelance Marketing 101 theme, I thought it was best to talk about this bit at the outset. That is, how to…
Guest Post: Crafting a Freelance Writing Portfolio That Gets You Hired
Sometimes a great idea lands in your email. This guest post is a prime example, in fact. When Jenn Mattern told me to expect a message from Monica Shaw, little did I know that the message would result in this great little post you’re about to read. The back story: Monica runs WritersResidence.com, a site…
How to Fail at Freelance Writing
If you’ve been freelancing for a while, you’ve seen a lot. I’d bet you’ve seen something like what Randy Hecht shares with us today. Randy is the moderator of the popular LinkedIn forum LinkEds & Writers, which has a large population of working freelance editors and writers — the site’s target audience. As you might…
How to Lose $$ with Bad Freelance Marketing (and how to fix it)
Freelancers, are you killing your chances of gaining a client or a network connection? Do you know if you are? Hint: you are if you do anything like this: Writer Jane submitted a thread to a writers’ forum. The moderator, another writer, turned it down because it was promotional, which is against the forum rules….
Freelance Marketing Roundup: 9 Posts to Change Your Biz
Side hustle. Gig worker. Ugh. What I hate about these terms – and what you should hate, too – is how they diminish what you do. These terms suggest you’re dabbling. You’re not serious. You’re hustling. You’re just part of the latest fad, that “gig” economy. Screw that. You, my freelance friend, are a business…
3 Steps to Winning Freelance Client Work
I’m a Hidden Brain junkie. No surprise then that this idea comes from a Hidden Brain podcast. The episode talked about hidden obstacles: why consumers don’t buy, why people aren’t convinced of facts, etc. It’s all about friction. More to the point, it’s about removing friction. Friction is that thing that stops you from acting….
No-Marketing Guide to Freelancing
Everyone has a sweet spot. It’s that place where the struggle is over, the work and clients come easily, and that working-hard mode you’ve been in for ages has shifted to the hardly working mode. And you’re actually better off. Man, what a sweet spot that is. But what a ton of work you put…