I’ve been writing professionally since 2000, freelancing since 2003. Friends, I’ve seen some shit. Maybe you’ve struggled with the same issues over your freelance career. Some of the things that frustrated me are pretty universal, I suspect. The know-it-all freelancer I’ve had a lot of people tell me what I’m doing wrong in my freelance…
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Your Stalled Freelance Writing Career (and how to un-stall it)
Once upon a time (2003), I was thrust into the world of freelance writing when I lost my job. Through connections I’d made on the job, I was able to start working independently the very next day. This freelance stuff was going to be easy. Yes, I was that naive, my freelance friends. What followed…
Removing Freelance Roadblocks
In a conversation with a fellow creative not long ago, I realized just how often we creatives put roadblocks up. I greeted this creative, whom I’d met previously, and asked how things were going. Ten minutes later, I now knew more about how things weren’t going. And I was done. The conversation went something like…
Freelance Marketing 101: Research
Not long ago, I saw a writer lament that she was never told any “actionable” advice on freelance writing blogs. I understand the frustration. In many cases, it’s true. Not here, because I’ve made it my thing to show you how to do what I’m suggesting. Part of her frustration came from a weird place,…
NDAs and Clips: A Writer’s Guide
I saw an interesting post recently regarding the nondisclosure agreement (NDA). In it, the poster was asking how to show prospective clients the kind of work one handles if the NDA is in place. There are a few disturbing issues with the original post, but let’s start with the first issue. #1: The poster wondered…
Freelance Files: Is This Client Worth It?
It’s been a while since we exercised our client-vetting skills, which is what this Is This Client Worth It segment is about. If we see real scenarios and how it turned out, we might get better at vetting potential clients. Let’s consider this scenario: The client reached out via an established contact. He needed a…
Freelance Files: Is This Client Worth It? #2
A while back we started exploring various client scenarios to see if the offer in front of us was worth it. The reason: If you can get used to vetting them, you can certainly be able to respond accordingly — or at least have a system in place by which you can measure their offer….
6 Ways Freelancers Are Leaving Money on the Table
I mentioned in my last post that in 2021, I left way too much money on the table. I undercharged. Given the huge amount of work I had, that was a serious oversight. No tears for me — I still had a phenomenal year. But if I’d been paying attention, I could have retired in…
Freelance Shorts: Random Advice to Improve Your Writing Biz
With summer bearing down, it’s a great time to reassess your freelance writing business. Anytime is a good time, but if things are slowing down or you’re needing to step away, use the time to find better footing within your business. Since it’s also a time when my life goes into vacation mode and utter…
1 Top Freelance Switch for Better Clients
I saw an article promoted last week on Twitter that was labeled “excellent” by the poster. It was writing-related, so of course I clicked. Should have saved my digits the energy. It turned out the article was the basic beginner freelancer stuff. Not that there’s a single thing wrong with helping freelancers get started. I…