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…
Networking
6 Ways to Sabotage Your Freelance Career
A friend of mine asked me the other day what I knew about a certain freelancer. It was someone who crossed her email, and there was some evidence I was connected to her. “Oh, not that freelancer,” I said. That response was telling. I hadn’t heard from said freelancer since 2015. And yet I still knew…
Market in 2021 Like a Freelance Boss
A few weekends ago, I sat down to tally up my invoices for 2020 and pay that final self-employment tax installment. It’s an exercise that used to fill me with untold amounts of angst. I loathe figuring taxes. I never get the percentage right no matter how high I estimate. This year, I still owed…
The Freelance Networking Success Recipe
What I’m listening to: Scars by James Bay Are you a drive-by networker? You are if you have accounts on several social media sites, but fail to show up on any of them with any kind of regularity. You are if you contact clients one time and never follow up. You are if you talk…
3 Networking Wins for Freelancers
What I’m listening to: The Night Visit by Christy Moore Even lousy interactions can net something. I was thinking about that the other day. It’s funny how some of my best clients came from network contacts whom I’d not have thought would promote me to get coffee. In one case, a contact I’d shared a…
Why Freelance Writers Should Separate Networking from Selling
What I’m listening to: Heathens by twenty one pilots It’s been a relatively slow week. I’m dealing with three projects at the moment, but there’s time between interviews and calls to get some much-needed admin work out of the way. There was also time on my agenda to schedule a meetup with a contact who wanted…
Why Your Freelance Writing Career is Stalled
What I’m listening to: Drive by The Cars Interesting week. I’m trying to locate off-the-record comments for a client project, but no one is talking. I had to come up with an alternate plan for the client, which he likes, but I really wanted to get feedback from these people so we could hit on a…
Writers Guide to Choosing a Trade Show
What’s on the iPod: The Wrestle by Frightened Rabbit It’s been a nice, short week for me. I was off on Monday, and now I’m in Cape May enjoying some time off. Okay, as a hurricane bears down, but it’s an adventure, and it means I’m not in front of a project. It’s been a…