I just realized the other day that I’ve been in business for myself – freelancing – for almost seven years now. Funny how time flies when you’re busy. And it’s amazing the lessons you learn as you go. As I cruised some weblogs last week, I realized there’s some reaaaaallly bad advice circulating out there,…
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Worthy Tip: Staying Professional
There are days when I wish like mad I could drop the professional demeanor and really speak my mind. It’s on days when clients change contract terms randomly, promise “royalty” payments, expect 50-percent drops in fees, or make you jump through a dozen hoops just to find out the job pays a whopping penny an…
The Payment Plan
Lorraine Thompson has a great post up about the pros and cons of long-term projects on her Market Copywriter blog. She does a great job showing it from both sides. We talked a bit in her comments section about the other issue with long-term projects: payment. It’s not about making sure to get it, but…
Is Mediocrity the New Benchmark?
By now you know how much I hate a typo in a published work. Just visualize any scene involving Linda Blair and a spinning head – that’s me when I encounter the little devils. Typos online – in conversations such as these, there’s a level of forgiveness. But in books, magazines, advertisements, or anywhere a…
Listen Up!
Don’t you hate when you give advice to someone – advice that you have a particular expertise in giving – and they look at you as though you’ve grown three heads? But it happens. Despite our best efforts, some of our clients are going to think we’re nuts or worse, that their friends’ advice is…
Monthly Assessment – January 2010
Wow. Another month gone by. Can you believe we’ve got one under our belt for this year already? For me, it’s been a busy January – happily so. After a December that was busier than expected but still weak, I was glad for the extra work. Just in time for April’s taxes. Joy. Freakin’ joy….
Worthwhile Tip: Stop Apologizing
This week’s worth-inducing tip attempts to undo what could be a genetic flaw, but that’s never stopped me from trying. Too often writers, mostly those at the beginning of their careers, will insert an apology alongside a proposal. Raise your hand if you’ve said or typed any of the following paraphrased lines: – “I’m sorry,…
Checks, Lies, and Silly Red Tape
Some of them are good – very good. I’m talking about the clients and pseudo-clients who cajole us into sticking our necks out or taking on work or working conditions that normally we’d run from. But haven’t we all said, “But they were so nice!” Yes, they were. It’s how they get you. By investing…
Partnering for Perfection
It’s been a bit of an angst-filled week so far. One of my newer projects isn’t going well, and it seems it’s more a matter of I-don’t-get-their-business-model rather than I can’t please them. The client is hanging in there with me and giving me some additional attention, which is great. I love when we all…
Myth Busting
It cracks me up to read writer advice columns sometimes. So many of them parrot what they think to be true without really considering if it holds up in practice. My least favorite: Write what you know. Considering that back a few decades ago when I first heard this advice I was living in the…